SEC Storied

“Shaq & Dale,” narrated by Louisiana native and music superstar Tim McGraw, follows former basketball great Shaquille O’Neal as he returns to LSU to visit with Dale Brown, the coach who helped make it all possible. The relationship between these two men goes back to the time when Shaq was 13 and living on an army base in Germany when he asked the coach for some exercise tips. Since that day, O’Neal has received at least one letter or email from Brown every week—and a lot more of them during their three years together in Baton Rouge. Back then, they might have seemed very different, but they forged a deep friendship that they cherish to this day. Source: ESPN

Before the basketball world came to know him as “The Human Highlight Film,” a teenage Dominique Wilkins quickly became the toast of his new hometown of Washington, North Carolina. The 6’8” basketball star led the Pam Pack to 56 straight victories and two state titles. But when he chose the University of Georgia over local ACC schools, the cheers turned to jeers and resentment twisted the high school highlights into a lowlight. That betrayal left ‘Nique distrustful of fans until a community of support in Georgia convinced him otherwise and paved the way for his return home. Source: ESPN

When Rick Pitino was hired to coach the Kentucky basketball team in 1989, the once-proud program was reeling from NCAA probation and the loss of scholarships. He needed to shake things up and give the players who stayed a fresh perspective. To help achieve this, in 1990 he hired Bernadette Locke, only the second female assistant coach in Division I men’s basketball history. A former star point guard with the University of Georgia, Locke brought knowledge, spirit and academic discipline to the Wildcats. In two years, Kentucky basketball returned to prominence and, though still undermanned by the loss of scholarships, the Wildcats made it all the way to the Elite 8 in 1992. As Pitino and her fellow assistants Billy Donovan and Tubby Smith attest, Coach Bernie made a difference. Source: ESPN

The best team never to win the College World Series? It might have been the 1985 Mississippi State Bulldogs, who produced four Major League Baseball All-Stars. Two of them, Bobby Thigpen and Jeff Brantley, became Relievers of the Year, while the other two, Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro, formed the imposing one-two hitting punch known as “Thunder and Lightning.” The brash and bold Clark was born in New Orleans, the son of a pool hustler, while the soft-spoken and shy Palmeiro was a son of Cuban immigrants who did his talking at the plate. As teammates at Mississippi State, they nearly propelled the Bulldogs to a College World Series title. Thirty years later, director Rory Karpf revisits those fabled Bulldogs, tracks the complicated relationship between Clark and Palmeiro, and brings closure to men who should be remembered for what they did, and not for what they didn’t do. Source: ESPN

Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel's journey from winning the Heisman Trophy and a national championship to spearheading the Desire Street Academy in New Orleans and leading recovery efforts for that community outreach program after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina ten years ago.

On April 23, 2013, the oaks at Toomer's Corner had to be removed. More than two years earlier, those trees at Auburn University's historic landmark had been poisoned, casting a dark shadow over the school. Meanwhile, the Auburn football team went from National Champions in 2010 to the bottom of the SEC by 2012. Head coach Gene Chizik was fired and replaced by Gus Malzahn, the offensive coordinator of that national title team. Expectations were bleak entering the 2013 season, as Malzahn inherited a team coming off its worst season in 60 years. What followed was one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in college football history - a year of implausible finishes, cinematic heroics, games for the ages...and, eventually, the symbolic return of those mighty oaks.

A look inside the sudden and tragic death of Bo Rein before he ever coached his first game at LSU.

A story about the acceptance that All-American defensive end Michael Sam found at the Missouri.

The odyssey of the late Alabama star linebacker Derrick Thomas through the eyes of a son he never knew.

From country music superstar Kenny Chesney, this documentary explores the iconic play-by-play personalities of the SEC's past and present, chronicling the most memorable voices, calls and storytellers in conference history.

The one-hour film chronicles the championship run of the 1957 Auburn football team and the dark secret one of its stars kept for more than 30 years.

The hour-long documentary, “CATCH98,” reveals the story of Tamika Catchings and the 1997-98 Tennessee Lady Vols – unequivocally the best in the country at the time.

Relive the greatest games and moments that have played out in primetime on ESPN and ABC over the years.