Jameel McKay would be on this list if he wasn't an incredibly lazy defender.
Rather obvious that there haven't been a lot of great shot blockers in ISU MBB history. Cato is head and shoulders above the rest.
If we're doing what-ifs, Cam Lard could have been a special player, including shot blocker, with a different mindset.
Lol, what???? He was the Big 12 defensive POY in 2015. He was the first and only Iowa State player to win the award.
That's quite the take.
Anyone remember Azziz? I don't , so Cato is my only choice. The entire Floyd defense was based on Cato as a rim protector.
There's one part of the statistics in the original article that is debatable. McKay average 2.4 blocks per game in '14-'15 and in my opinion should be on the blocks per game list. It has to do with Jameel only playing in 25 games that season (73.5% of the teams games that year), but he averaged over 27 minutes per game. The typical threshold is 75% of the teams games averaging over 20 minutes per game for single season statistical categories.
www.sports-reference.com
Jameel McKay College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Jameel McKay - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
www.sports-reference.com
This is a no-brainer for Kelvin Cato. Dude was a first-round draft pick specifically because of his ability to erase any sort of offense in the lane for the other team. Made a lot of money in the NBA from that specific skill as well.
Great in rim runner/help swatter role but iirc straight up defending was about on par with most of the Hoiball era.
Was a cool award and all but always kind of out of nowhere especially for someone who didn't even play the full season.
You can only help yourself and he was sent away for treatment or whatever for that one summer but I'll die on the hill that he was one coach who didn't waffle on where things stood from being an absolute stud.
The ying-yang that he and Wigginton had at times in 17-18 was so promising. Alas...
Does anyone else remember watching the Olberman-Patrick Sportscenter in the late 90s when they would do Rockets highlights and call out "Cato!" in an Inspector Clouseau voice whenever they showed him blocking someone?
It's weird the things that stick in your head forever.
It's weird the things that stick in your head forever.
Cato set the ISU record in just 2 years, it took Homan 4 years to break it. Cato still holds the single season block record by a lot. Not much of a debate really.
Blocks, Season
1. 118 Kelvin Cato, 1997
2. 73 Jared Homan, 2004
3. 71 Kelvin Cato, 1996
4. 64 Jared Homan, 2005
5. 63 Cameron Lard, 2018
6. 59 Jameel McKay, 2015
7. 58 Jared Homan, 2003
8. 55 Jameel McKay, 2016
9. 51 Victor Alexander, 1991
10. 50 George Conditt IV, 2020
Blocks, Career
1. 235 Jared Homan, 2002-05
2. 189 Kelvin Cato, 1996-97
3. 134 Loren Meyer, 1992-95
4. 128 George Conditt IV, 2019-22
5. 120 Victor Alexander, 1988-91
6. 115 Sam Hill, 1984-87
7. 114 Jameel McKay, 2015-16
8. 109 Rahshon Clark, 2005-08
9. 99 Craig Brackins, 2008-10
10. 92 Cameron Lard, 2018-19
Blocks, Season
1. 118 Kelvin Cato, 1997
2. 73 Jared Homan, 2004
3. 71 Kelvin Cato, 1996
4. 64 Jared Homan, 2005
5. 63 Cameron Lard, 2018
6. 59 Jameel McKay, 2015
7. 58 Jared Homan, 2003
8. 55 Jameel McKay, 2016
9. 51 Victor Alexander, 1991
10. 50 George Conditt IV, 2020
Blocks, Career
1. 235 Jared Homan, 2002-05
2. 189 Kelvin Cato, 1996-97
3. 134 Loren Meyer, 1992-95
4. 128 George Conditt IV, 2019-22
5. 120 Victor Alexander, 1988-91
6. 115 Sam Hill, 1984-87
7. 114 Jameel McKay, 2015-16
8. 109 Rahshon Clark, 2005-08
9. 99 Craig Brackins, 2008-10
10. 92 Cameron Lard, 2018-19
I remember Cato's 10-block game. Dude was a machine
