No Kin to Me

SEC Storied • Season 9 • Episode 1

About this episode

Rudy Macklin's jersey is hanging from the rafters at LSU's Pete Maravich Assembly Center, and for good reason: Macklin is the school's all-time leading rebounder and second-leading scorer. Macklin led the Tigers to the 1981 Final Four in Philadelphia, where an injured finger hampered him in a semifinal loss to Indiana. Back then, the NCAA Tournament included a third-place game, and that's where the trouble started for Macklin. Just before the consolation game against Virginia, President Ronald Reagan was shot, and after the loss, Macklin was asked if the news might have affected the team. His widely-reported response-"He's no kin of mine"-was so blown out of proportion that he feared for his life. In "No Kin to Me," Macklin talks about the fight to restore his honor.