Cincinnati Bearcat Carl Bouldin had a year to remember in 1961

There have been multi-sport athletes who maybe achieved more, but you would be hard-pressed to find one who had a better year than the University of Cincinnati's Carl Bouldin in 1961.

Sure, there's been Deion Sanders who played in a World Series in baseball and two Super Bowls in football. Bo Jackson won a Heisman and bowled over Brian Bosworth in the NFL before breaking bats over his knee in MLB. Todd Helton of the Rockies may have given Peyton Manning a run for his money in college football at Tennessee. Going further back, Danny Ainge starred in the NCAA tournament for BYU, played for the Toronto Blue Jays and had a 14-year NBA career. Dave BeBusschere played big-league baseball for the White Sox and started for the NBA Pistons and Knicks. Heck, TV's "Rifleman" Chuck Connors not only played for the Boston Celtics, he also swung the lumber for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.

Carl Bouldin may politely defer to all of those standouts, but few accomplished what he did in a few short months during and afer his senior year as a Bearcat.

'61 a banner year in Queen City

The year 1961 was magical in Cincinnati as Ed Jucker, in his first year as Bearcats basketball head coach, led UC to the national championship with a 70-65 overtime win over Ohio State who featured future NBA players Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek. Bouldin had scored 21 points in UC's semifinal win over Utah, 82-67. He added 16 in the Bearcats takedown of the Buckeyes in Kansas City.

"It was a different game then," Bouldin said. "They didn't have 60-plus teams like they do now in the tournament. You had to win your league (Missouri Valley at the time). There were just 16 teams so to win the NCAA we only had to win four more games after we had won the league."

Of the game, Bouldin says the rules were different in that there wasn't as much contact permitted. As such, he picked up three fouls in the first half. Watching the rework of the game produced by David Ashbrock Bouldin disputed the fouls and admitted the game looked slower.

"Playing defense I look like I'm not even guarding anybody because I'm four or five feet away trying to break up a pass into the middle," Bouldin said. "Nobody shot threes then. They didn't have threes. A shot from the top of the foul circle was a long shot."

A big basketball resumé eventually leads to another chance of a lifetime

UC's triumph over Ohio State was March 25. Bouldin would have another milestone moment just shy of his 22nd birthday months later.

Drafted by the NBA Cincinnati Royals in the 14th round, he felt he had a better shot at playing baseball. This despite being in three consecutive Final Fours and having the "One Shining Moment" his senior year. He subbed behind Naismith Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson and starters Ralph Davis and Mike Mendenhall and averaged 2.3 points as a sophomore (remember freshmen couldn't play varsity college sports then). As a junior, he started and averaged 5.8 points per game, but the big scorer was still "The Big O".

His senior year he hit for 11.7 points per game on UC's 27-3 national champion. After a 5-3 start, they won 22 straight. He hit 80% of his free throws and had there been a 3-point shot, his averages would have increased. His roommate, Bob Wiesenhahn led UC with 17.1 points and 10 rebounds.

"We had to get dressed in our hotel then walked two blocks in our warm-ups in the middle of winter to the ballgame," Bouldin recalled of the '61 national title game. "We heard some announcer from Ohio State say that UC's 'hatchet man', the 'Big Bear' Bob Wiesenhahn was no match for the great Hondo (John Havlicek). The red was creeping up Wiesey's face. He says, 'I'll kill him! I'll kill him!'. He held Havlicek to four points. That radio program was a big turning event in that whole game."

Could UC and Bouldin also have won an NCAA baseball crown?

At the time, it wasn't unusual for college coaches to head up multiple sports. so when future athletic director George Smith was basketball head coach, his assistant Ed Jucker had a spring gig as baseball coach. Jucker was the coach when Sandy Koufax, who came for UC basketball, threw wild fastballs for the Bearcats. Bouldin out of Norwood High School was also an accomplished pitcher. His 2.38 career ERA is No. 6 all-time for the Bearcats and his season-best of 1.41 in 1959 is No. 3 overall.

By the 1961 season, Glenn Sample took over the UC baseball program and the Bearcats went 19-5-2. They might have been even better had Bouldin and some other basketball players not been declared ineligible for the postseason. Jucker had allowed some of the guys to play baseball as freshmen, which at the time was allowed.

"Our senior year, the NCAA passed a rule that said you only had three eligible years," Bouldin said. "We had a good chance I thought of winning the NCAA in baseball after we had won in basketball but the NCAA wouldn't let us do it because some of us had played a couple innings as freshmen. The NCAA wouldn't grandfather it and wouldn't let us participate."

From NCAA champion guard to MLB pitcher 161 days later

After his graduation, Bouldin decided he'd turn pro in baseball and spent time with the Appalachian League in Middlesboro and later in the Alabama-Florida League with Pensacola. He was 9-5 between the two clubs. Before Labor Day, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound righty was called up to the big leagues. On Sept. 2, 1961, he pitched two innings for the Washington Senators against the White Sox allowing a run. He threw the fourth and fifth innings against a team featuring Hall of Famers Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. In his first frame, he got Fox and Minnie Minoso out and retired the side 1-2-3.

On the mound for Chicago was Don Larsen who threw a perfect game in the World Series for the Yankees in 1956.

"That was just a dream," Bouldin said. "I expected to be in baseball a lot longer but when I was 26 I tore a rotator cuff and they didn't have any operations for it then. If you were a pitcher and had a bad arm, it was over. I had played winter baseball with Tommy John in Puerto Rico. They came up with an operation for him, but they didn't have one for me."

Post-1961, he spent parts of the next three seasons in the big leagues with the Senators before retiring in 1965 from Indianapolis, the Pacific Coast League affiliate of the White Sox. Overall he was 3-8 with a 6.15 ERA in 26 games. He was traded from the Senators over a debate on velocity.

"I didn't throw every fastball as hard as I could," Bouldin said. "I'd throw one outside so I'd set the guy up and come in on his hands. We didn't have agents and nobody was there to stick up for me, so I was traded."

A man for all seasons

While it pales in comparison to his college basketball accomplishments, it is noteworthy that Bouldin reached the highest level of another sport just a shade over four months after helping UC to college basketball's highest honor.

"People asked me which sports I liked the most," Bouldin said. "I liked whatever season it was. I practiced basketball all year because my dad built a goal out back when I was 10 and I had three brothers that used it after me. I'd shoot any day, all day if I wasn't in school."

Bouldin stays connected with the current Bearcats attending baseball and basketball games on occasion. He's golfed with basketball coach Wes Miller and admires the way he hits the Titleist in addition to how he runs a basketball team.

"He's building a strong program there," Bouldin said. "He's a good coach and a good person. I wish him the best."

Where to find UC's two-sport wonder?

Bouldin lives in Northern Kentucky and has enjoyed watching his grandson's endeavors in sports. He's somewhat proud, but jealous of his preteen grandson who recently hit seven 3-pointers. His grandsons have attended Highlands, Ryle and Covington Catholic. Bouldin turned 84 years old Sept. 17.

His own grandfather thought he should work rather than play sports. For Cincinnati Bearcats fans who remember the year 1961, he's forever grateful his parents allowed to him be an athlete.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Carl Bouldin: National title for UC basketball, MLB pitcher in 1961