Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Mid-Major fans and fans across the country.
Loyola Chicago is honoring Sister Jean with a statue this Friday on what would have been her 107th birthday.
So, that got us thinking: who should be the next mid-major legend to be given a statue?
Pete Carril, Greg Kampe, Bill Russell, Steph Curry, Steve Nash or Buddy the Street Dog?
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Carril was the architect of the Princeton offense. His Tiger teams were rock solid on defense and led the nation in scoring defense 14 times. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall-of-Famer won 13 Ivy League championships and retired as the only coach to win 500 games without scholarship players. Carril led Princeton to the 1975 NIT championship.
Greg Kampe
Kampe is gearing up for his 43rd season with Oakland and is the longest-tenured active Division I men’s basketball coach, ranking third all-time in DI behind Jim Phelan (49 seasons), Phog Allen (49 seasons), and Jim Boeheim (47 seasons). The 2026-27 season moves Kampe ahead of Mike Krzyzewski. Kampe oversaw the Golden Grizzlies’ transition to Division I and pioneered one of the best March Madness upsets in recent memory as Oakland and hot-shooting Jack Gohlke took down Kentucky.
“Consistency is the hallmark of success,” is one of Kampe’s favorite quotes.
After all, he was voted our sexiest mid-major coach back in 2022.
Bill Russell
One of the greatest players in basketball history, Russell suited up for San Francisco before winning 11 titles with the Boston Celtics. He played with the Dons in the 1950s and guided them to back-to-back national championships in 1955 and 1956. USF won 55 consecutive games, and Russell is the career leader in rebounds for the program with 1,606. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Russell was a staunch advocate for social justice. The WCC adopted the “Russell Rule,” which ensures that all schools in the conference consider candidates from underrepresented groups when interviewing for athletic administrator and coaching vacancies.
Steph Curry
We all remember Curry nearly shooting No. 10-seed Davidson into the Final Four. The guard’s run in the 2008 NCAA Tournament was nothing short of miraculous. It put his name in the national lexicon of basketball before he became the NBA career 3-point leader and changed the game with his approach to shooting. Curry led the nation in scoring in 2009 and broke the single-season 3-point record in 2008. Four NBA titles and a couple of MVPs later, Curry and his legacy live on.
Steve Nash
Nash put together one of the best college careers with Santa Clara and led the Broncos to three WCC championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. He ranks among the top 10 in program history in points, steals, assists, and free-throw percentage. The two-time NBA MVP led both the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals and had his number retired by both Santa Clara and the Suns. He went on to become a consultant and helped guide the Warriors to back-to-back titles with Curry as one of the star players.
Buddy the Street Dog
OK, let’s have a little fun with this one. Buddy the Street Dog is the “spirit animal” for the Queens men’s basketball team. The two-foot replica of a German Shepard joined the Royals this season as they reached the NCAA Tournament in their first season of eligibility after transitioning to Division I. Buddy is awarded postgame to the player whose contributions to the team’s success may not show up in the box score (taking charges or diving for loose ball).
“We want [the players] to embody the street dog mentality of fighting for everything you can get,” Queens head coach Grant Leonard said.
Both Queens and Buddy are a perfect 1-for-1 when eligible to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Editor note: Damian Lillard and Artis Gilmore were also discussed.
Lillard is painted on a horse statue in Ogden, Utah, where he starred for Weber State.
Why a horse and not an actual statue depicting Lillard? Lillard has a fear of statues.
“I’ve always been scared of historic stuff like that. If I see statues of Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. — all that stuff kind of gives me a funny feeling,” Lillard said back in 2012 on a trip to Washington, D.C. during his rookie season with the Portland Trailblazers.
Gilmore will have his statue at Jacksonville University unveiled next May. Nicknamed “The A-Train,” Gilmore led the 1970 national championship game, where the Dolphins fell to UCLA.
Gilmore went on to have a hall-of-fame career in the ABA and NBA. He began his college career at Garner-Webb before playing his final two seasons at Jacksonville.