Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of looks back at the highlights of Durand “Rudy” Macklin’s career at LSU in preparation for his jersey retirement ceremony at halftime of the LSU-Kentucky game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Monday we looked at his freshman year, Tuesday his sophomore season. Today the series resumes with a look at what would be two junior seasons and on Friday, a look at his final senior campaign that concluded with LSU reaching the NCAA Final Four.
JUNIOR SEASONS (1978-79, 1979-80)
The junior season of Rudy Macklin had several developments but on the floor the 1978-79 season was a short one indeed for the Louisville, Ky., product. He would play just two games before a rather freak practice injury put his career on hold.
“We were preparing for a big Oral Roberts team with drills and new offensive sets,” Macklin recalled. “Our strategy was going to be to run the ball after every shot, missed or made. I went up for an uncontested rebound, a drill I had performed thousands of times, and the right side of my foot awkwardly hit the floor and I heard a snap. We thought at first it was sprained ligaments. The X-rays revealed a split to the bone on the right side of my foot. I was faced with the decision to heal and come back in six or eight weeks, or redshirt. Well, I chose to redshirt which was the right decision because my foot took longer to heal than expected plus, it really gave me an extra year to graduate on time.”
But of course with any major injury there is the necessary rehab, both physically and mentally.
“My rehab came in the form of gaining confidence in my ability to cut, change direction and jumping on hard surfaces. Physically, my foot healed well, but mentally it took some time. I needed my wheel to cut on a dime and shoot that quick pull-up jump shot. So I had to gain confidence in my ability to perform those skills in order to help my team the next season. I played against the best every summer in Louisville with my best friend Darrell Griffith. When I returned for my redshirt junior season, my mind and foot were on the same page.”
The Captain couldn’t play, but he was there on the bench rooting his team through the SEC campaign, one that would lead to the first SEC Championship in 25 years.
“Winning the SEC title without me was great,” Macklin said, “Because it gave my returning teammates confidence going into the next year. I was constantly double-teamed, the main focus of every opponents scouting report. But after my team won it without me, our opponents couldn’t focus just on me any longer. They realized that any one of us could beat them at any time. This was the mark of a great team.”
Macklin was ready to go when his second junior season began and the 1979-80 season saw him average 17.6 points and 9.7 rebounds, scoring 563 points to move to No. 4 in the scoring list at LSU with a season to go. He hit a perfect 12-of-12 field goals against Mississippi State. He was named All-SEC, SEC All-Tournament and a first-team All-American by Sporting News.
The league title came down to a Sunday afternoon at the Assembly Center between LSU and Kentucky. The game would go to overtime and Kyle Macy hit a devastating shot at the buzzer to give Kentucky the title and a 70-64 win. But this team was resilient going to Birmingham for the SEC Tournament and beating Florida and Alabama and, just one week later, won the school’s only SEC Tournament title to date with an 80-78 decision over Kentucky.
“Kyle Macy devastated us the week before, but we bounced back to win the tournament. Our team was so mentally strong, and it was difficult to keep us down,” Macklin said.
The Tigers would go on to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, Macklin’s first post-season games. He had 31 points and 19 boards in a first-round win over Alcorn State that put LSU in the final 16 where LSU beat Missouri, 68-63. Louisville would end LSU’s 1980 season with an 86-66 decision.
But streaks and ultimate highs for LSU would await Macklin’s final campaign. That’s on Friday.