The 1986 Louisville Basketball Roster: Where Are They Now?

The 1986 Louisville basketball roster Where Are They Now?

The 1986 Louisville basketball Roster

The Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball team won the NCAA championship in 1986. They finished the season with a record of 32-7 and were coached by Denny Crum. The team’s leading scorer was Pervis Ellison, who was also named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Thirty years later, what ever happened to the members of that championship team? Here is a look at where they are now:

Pervis Ellison: After being named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1989, Ellison had a disappointing career plagued by injuries. He last played in the NBA in 1996 and is now a Motivational Speaker

Milt Wagner: Wagner played four seasons in the NBA before going overseas to play professionally. He is now an Assistant Coach at his alma mater, Louisville.

Billy Thompson: Thompson also had a four-year NBA Career re Playing professionally in Europe and South America. He is now an assistant coach at Florida International University

Ricky Berry: Berry’s NBA career was cut short by injuries after just two seasons. He is now a financial advisor in California.

Jeff Moore: Moore only played Professional Basketball for one season before becoming a coach. He is currently an assistant coach at Lamar University

Where Are They Now?

In 1986, the Louisville Cardinals men’s Basketball team made it to the Final Four. Led by Head Coach Denny Crum, the team featured several unlikely heroes, including walk-on player Jeff Allen and transfer student Billy Thompson. The team went on to win the National Championship finishing the season with a record of 32-7.

Where are they now? let’s take a look at what happened to some of the Key Players from that historic team:

Jeff Allen: After graduation, Jeff Allen played professional basketball overseas for several years before returning to Louisville to start a real estate development company. He is now a successful businessman and philanthropist, and he remains involved with the Louisville Basketball Program as an alumni ambassador.

Billy Thompson: Thompson played professionally for several years after his college career ended, including a stint with the Miami Heat He is now a basketball analyst and commentator, working for ESPN and CBS Sports

Milt Wagner: After graduation, Wagner played briefly in the NBA before embarking on a long career overseas. He is now an assistant coach at his alma mater, Louisville.

Pervis Ellison

Pervis Ellison was the number one overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft selected by the Sacramento Kings He was traded to the Louisville Cardinals prior to his rookie season, and helped lead them to the NCAA Championship in his only year with the team. He played eight seasons in the NBA before retiring in 1994. Since then, he has worked as a youth coach and motivational speaker.

Billy Thompson

Billy Thompson, a 6-foot-6 forward from Brooklyn, was a key player on the 1986 Louisville basketball team that went on to win the NCAA Championship. After a successful college career, Thompson was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the second round of the 1988 NBA Draft He played two seasons in the NBA before injuries forced him to retire.

Thompson then embarked on a successful coaching career, starting as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Louisville. He later served as head coach at several colleges, including Temple University and Florida National University Thompson is currently an assistant coach for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies

Milt Wagner

Milt Wagner is a retired American professional basketball player He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1986 to 1993. After his playing career, he became a coach. He is currently an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.

Wagner was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He played college basketball at the University of Louisville where he was a two-time All-American. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 1986 NBA Draft He played for the Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Lakers in his seven-year nba career.

Wagner has been an Assistant Coach for several NBA teams including the New Jersey Nets Toronto Raptors Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic He was hired by the Grizzlies in 2013.

Rodney McCray

Rodney McCray was born on July 1, 1963, in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a 6-foot-7-inch small forward who played college basketball at the University of Louisville from 1981 to 1986. As a freshman, McCray was a member of the Cardinals’ National Championship team. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in Louisville’s 72-69 victory over Duke in the Championship game

McCray played four seasons for the Cardinals and was part of two more NCAA tournament teams. He averaged 14.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in his career at Louisville and was named first-team All-Metro Conference as a senior in 1986.

After his college career, McCray was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the 1986 NBA draft with the 34th overall pick. He played three seasons in the NBA with Seattle and the Houston Rockets before being traded to the Indiana Pacers in 1989. McCray played six seasons for the Pacers and was part of Indiana’s Eastern Conference championship team in 2000. He retired from professional basketball in 1996 after 11 seasons in the NBA.

Since retiring from basketball, McCray has been active in several businesses ventures, including a minority ownership stake in an Indianapolis car dealership and various real estate holdings. He has also been involved in several philanthropic endeavors, including serving on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and participating in numerous fundraising events for charities such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Tony Kimbro

Tony Kimbro was a shooting guard for Louisville from 1982 to 1986. He is now an assistant coach at the University of Louisville

Jeff Hall

Jeff Hall played two seasons for the Louisville Cardinals from 1984 to 1986. He was part of the team that won the 1985 NCAA championship. After his playing career, he became a coach.

David Johnson

David Johnson was a 6’7″ forward from Jeffersonville, Indiana. He played his College Basketball at the University of Louisville from 1982-1986. As a senior, Johnson was a member of the Louisville team that lost to Duke in the 1986 NCAA Championship game Johnson is still involved with Louisville basketball as the radio color analyst for the Cardinals.

Wiley Brown

After a storied college career at Louisville, Wiley Brown went on to have a short but successful NBA career. He was drafted in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers and went on to play for four different teams over the course of his seven-year career. Brown was known for his defensive prowess and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1991. He retired from the NBA in 1993 and went on to coach at his alma mater, Louisville, from 2001 to 2006.