Louisville basketball: Most underrated players of the 21st century

Louisville basketball: The most underrated players of the 21st century

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 20: Wayne Blackshear #25 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrates after defeating the UC Irvine Anteaters during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KeyArena on March 20, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

3 of 9

LEXINGTON, KY – DECEMBER 31: Rakeem Buckles #4 of the Louisville Cardinals shoots the ball while defended by Anthony Davis #23 and Terrence Jones #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats during 69-62 Kentucky win at Rupp Arena on December 31, 2011 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Rakeem Buckles

Career Stats: 7.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG

Here’s a guy you haven’t heard about in a while.

When you think of Buckles, you think of a traditional, old school power forward. Rakeem the dream was a do-it-all type of guy in his time with the Cards.

He was a rebounding machine with a tough-minded defensive presence.

Buckles is a lesser thought of player because he was with the Cards for some down years in 2009 and 2010, and suffered a number of injuries that sidelined him for much of his three seasons at Louisville.

He eventually went on to have a really solid final season, starting 30 games for Florida International.

If you want to talk about a guy that made the most of his minutes at the forward spot, Buckles was a dream player for any coach. Looking back, he would have been another key piece for the Cards had he not been injured during their 2012 final four season.

Home/Louisville Basketball