A few households celebrating Father’s Day will feature two different NCAA men’s basketball national champions. Here are four father-son duos in which both former college players cut down the nets as a player.
Scott and Sean May
The vitals: Scott May | Sean May
School: Indiana | North Carolina
Height/weight: 6-7, 215 lbs. | 6-9, 266 lbs.
Years active: 1973-76 | 2002-05
National championship: 1976 | 2005
Scott May was the consensus National Player of the Year while leading the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to an undefeated season, culminating in the national championship. That puts the elder May in rarefied air among college greats. Almost 40 years later — 39, to be exact — his son Sean led North Carolina to the Tar Heels’ fourth national title, bringing them one shy of his father’s Hoosiers’ five championships.
While the younger May wasn’t the National Player of the Year, he was North Carolina’s leading scorer at 17.5 points per game, which earned him consensus Second Team All-American honors, along with being named First Team All-ACC and the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
With Scott and Sean May’s career averages of 17.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, and 15.8 points and 10.0 rebounds, respectively, the father-son duo combined for 2,806 points and 1,365 rebounds in six college seasons.
Henry and Mike Bibby
The vitals: Henry Bibby | Mike Bibby
School: UCLA | Arizona
Height/weight: 6-1, 185 lbs. | 6-1, 190 lbs.
Years active: 1969-72 | 1996-98
National championship(s): 1970-72 | 1997
Henry Bibby was a perfect 3-for-3 in winning national championships while playing varsity at UCLA as he helped the Bruins win their sixth, seventh and eighth national championships under legendary coach John Wooden. He was third on the team in scoring in 1970 (15.6 points per game), fourth in 1971 (11.8) and second in 1972 (15.7). Bibby’s final season of college, the 1971-72 campaign, was a perfect 30-0 season as the 6-1 guard played alongside National Player of the Year Bill Walton.
As a senior, Bibby was a consensus First Team All-American and a Second Team All-Pac-8 selection. Here’s a fun fact: Bibby then won the 1973 NBA championship with the New York Knicks, meaning he actually won four championships in a row.
Henry Bibby’s son, Mike, attended one of UCLA’s Pac-12 rivals, Arizona. He helped the Wildcats win their first national championship in 1997 under coach Lute Olson. The younger Bibby was just a freshman when he averaged 13.5 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game, alongside Michael Dickerson, Miles Simon and Jason Terry. Bibby was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 1997, before becoming a consensus First Team All-American and the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Derek and Nolan Smith
The vitals: Derek Smith | Nolan Smith
School: Louisville | Duke
Height/weight: 6-6, 205 lbs. | 6-2, 185 lbs.
Years active: 1978-82 | 2007-11
National championship: 1980 | 2010
Exactly 30 years apart, Derek and Nolan Smith both won the national championship in Indianapolis. Tragically, however, Derek Smith didn’t see his son cut down the nets with the Blue Devils. The elder Smith passed away from a heart attack at age 34 in 1996.
Derek Smith had a breakout sophomore season for Louisville, which then played in the Metro Conference, when his scoring average jumped from 9.8 points per game as a freshman to 14.8 as a sophomore. He was the team’s second-leading scorer, behind Darrell Griffith (22.9 points per game). As a junior, Smith was named the Metro Conference Co-Player of the Year after averaging 15.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game for the first-place Cardinals.
Nolan Smith didn’t have his father’s height, standing at 6-2 — four inches shorter than his father — but he was a highly regarded high school played and enrolled at Duke in 2007. In four seasons in Durham, Smith’s teams went 125-23, highlighted by a 35-5 season in 2010 when Duke won the NCAA tournament. That was Smith’s junior campaign, when he had a breakout season and his scoring average climbed from 8.4 points per game to 17.4 points per game — the third-highest on the team.
As a junior in 2010, Smith was named Second Team All-ACC, before having a great senior year that saw him be named a consensus First Team All-American and the ACC Player of the Year.
Marques and Kris Johnson
The vitals: Marques Johnson | Kris Johnson
School: UCLA | UCLA
Height/weight: 6-7, 218 lbs. | 6-5, 220 lbs.
Years active: 1973-77 | 1994-98
National championship: 1975 | 1995
Marques and Kris Johnson are the only father-son duo on this list who won a national championship at the same school. Marques Johnson, as a sophomore, helped the Bruins win UCLA’s last national title under John Wooden, as he was the team’s third-leading scorer at 11.6 points per game. His son, Kris, then was part of UCLA’s most recent national championship team in 1995 as the team’s fourth-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game as a freshman.
Marques Johnson saw his scoring average make notable improvements in each of his four seasons in Westwood: 7.2 points per game to 11.6 to 17.3 to 21.4. As a senior, Marques Johnson was the National Player of the Year and Pac-8 Player of the Year, while being named both a consensus First Team All-American and First Team All-Pac8 selection.