Everyone should give a round of applause on this board for Kaminsky putting away the pussycayuts in 2015.
add best player from your school's history to current roster, how many teams win NCAA title?
- Thread starter WeAreDePaul
- Start date
I don't think it's really close between Laettner the college player and Grant the college player. The rankings tend to agree as Laettner is always listed as a top 10 player of all time and Grant is around #50.
my bad, forgot about Bernard. He would definitely be ahead of Houston. That said, the team is so stacked this year that you could take any of Tennessee's top 20 players of all time and add them to the current group to make a massive title favorite.
Grant is my favorite player ever at Duke but I’d still say Laettner. He is on a short list of the best college players ever.
so we are going by best player in college not best player period correct? i mean if we're just going by college resume clearly it's Laettner and he would probably be the best fit for this team.
yep, as I said in OP, best college player during his college prime. So definitely Laettner for Duke. UNC has a much closer decision to make with MJ, Hansbrough and Phil Ford.
I may actually have to change my selection from Wilt to Manning. Danny Manning is recognized as probably one of the top 15 best college players of all time. Wilt's up there too but Manning's career and peak was probably better, atleast from an accomplishment standpoint.
Yes. If we are going by the best “college” player. He was the best player on teams that had Grant Hill on them.
It's real close. Wilt never won a title like Manning, but came in 2nd in what is considered the greatest title game ever (3OT loss to UNC), was named MOP of that 57 tourney and was a 2x 1st team AA. Manning won the title, was MOP, NPOTY and also a 2x 1st team AA. Ranking sites have Wilt about 10 places higher, but I think its closer than that. Wilt might be getting by a bit on his name cause his accomplishments don't appear to be better than Mannings.
I will take Wilt Chamberlain. Add him to any of the good KU teams and its a no brainer.
Len Bias makes Md a FF contender with all that youth getting better each week.
Since Tennessee has been covered, I will ante up Pistol Pete Maravich for LSU. Pete would be good for 40 points a game with today’s 3 point line.
The thought of surrounding Ralph Sampson with our shooters makes me want to nut directly into my own sweatpants
Might have been the best CBB no one talks about. His death overshadows just how good he was....I mean, dude was the real deal.
McGinnis was a hoss. This team though needs so many things---one dude ain't helping. Not close to IU's best, but man I'd take an AJ Guyton on this team., Even better.....another AJ.....in Moye. This team needs a dude like Moye.
This was my point. Yes, there are teams this turns into title favorites. But not 50 of them.
alright, let's see if I can come up with 50, maybe not all title favorites but at least high level title contenders as in teams that would most likely be #1 seeds. Let me know the ones that you disagree on.
Duke (Laettner)
UNC (MJ, Hansbrough)
UVA (Sampson)
Va. Tech (Curry)
NC State (David Thompson)
Louisville (Griffith, Unseld)
Florida St (Cassell)
Syracuse (Carmelo)
Villanova (Brunson)
Marquette (D Wade)
DePaul (Mikan)
Georgetown (Ewing)
St. Johns (Mullin)
LSU (Pistol)
Tennessee (King)
Kentucky (AD)
Auburn (Barkley)
Michigan (Rice)
Michigan St (Magic)
Maryland (Bias)
Purdue (Mount, Big Dog)
Minnesota (McHale)
Indiana (Zeke, May)
Ohio St (Lucas)
Texas Tech (Battie,Emmett)
West Virginia (West)
Kansas (Wilt)
Oklahoma (Blake)
Iowa St (Hornacek, Hoiberg, Tinsley)
Kansas St (Richmond)
Texas (Durant)
Houston (Hakeem, Hayes)
Cincy (Big O)
Indiana St (Bird)
Nevada (Fazekis)
UCLA (Kareem ,Walton)
San Francisco (Russel)
Gonzaga (Stockton)
That's 38 teams there. Might be a few who don't belong, but might've also left off a few who do belong. Maybe not 50 total, but still a pretty good number.
Jordan left after his junior year, so he's clearly not starting for Roy.
Grant Hill would fit better, and what he did in 1994 was special.
Does that butt in your avatar belong to your wife?
Yeah, but UMBC with *checks Wikipedia* Larry Simmons (class of 1990) would be pretty tough to beat, no?
Hot take: Bias is vastly overrated due to his tragic death (same thing we do with musicians). He would have been a good pro, maybe made a couple of All Star games, but he was unlikely to be better than, say, a Reggie Lewis type. That's not bad, but it's not the next Jordan, either. For more https://bballhistory.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/how-good-would-bias-have-been/.
Assuming the team only gets one where you identified two, I strongly disagree that the bolded would be title favorites or even likely FF teams. I'm skeptical of the italicized. I think we all tend to underrate how much supporting casts and fit matter.
Right off the bat, how can you say that Indiana State wouldn't be a title contender when Bird already proved he can exactly that with no supporting cast?
yea, looking at the teams you bolded I think you're way off. Some of those are already top 20 teams that are now adding a superstar HOF level player. Do you really think D Wade wouldn't turn a top 20 Marquette team into a title contender?
How can you say that Nevada wouldn't be a title contender with Fazekis when they are already a title contender without him?
Kansas State was an elite 8 team last year with the same roster. When healthy they are a top 15-20 team easily. Adding Mitch Richmond would be massive.
I really think you are undervaluing just how much an elite All American type player can add to a team, especially a team that's already good.
In 1979 with a supporting cast that included Carl Nicks, who was good enough to have a five year NBA career as a first round pick (and was All-MVC in 1979 with Bird and 1980 after Bird left). Two other of Bird's teammates were drafted in the 6th round (lol, but some evidence that his teammates were at least decent). And right before Bird arrived ISU had Rick Williams, Sporting News All American honorable mention, so while it's hard to know what ISU would have been like without Bird, I think they'd be better than they are right now ISU (around 166th in the country).
I also think it's harder now than it was then for an individual player to drag a crappy program along with him. Think Durant at Texas for an example.
Yes, Kansas State made the Elite 8 last year, but I wouldn't say they were "an elite 8 team" in the sense that we normally mean. And I think there's normally a huge gulf between the top, say, 8 teams that can win a title (the Grant Wahl/Luke Winn Magic 8 Ball test) and the rest that will eventually get exposed even if they make it to the round of 8 (or even 4).
Edit: you also seem to put a lot more stock in the AP poll than I do. Marquette is likely closer to the 35th best team than their top 20 AP status.
In any event, this is a good topic for this board, so kudos @WeAreDePaul.
Hell I'd take Olden Polynice as well. A little heavier and played with a bit more attitude.
Wilt only played 2 years (freshman weren't eligible his freshman year and he left before his senior year). If he plays 4 years the numbers he would have put up at KU would be Pete Maravich level numbers. His first unofficial game was a scrimmage the freshman against the varsity: the freshman won by ten and he put up 42 and 29. In his first official game as a Sophomore he went for 52 and 31 (both still records at KU). Him on our team this year would make us on a very short list of teams that could win it all as he would be unstoppable. (although I would be pay big money to see him against Kareem, Shaq or AD all in their primes).
Did you see Len Bias play? I did. He was a 2X ACC POY. Averaged 23ppg as a senior. He was the 2nd pick in the NBA draft. This what then Celtic scout Ed Badger had to say:
He's maybe the closest thing to (Chicago guard) Michael Jordan to come out in a long time. I'm not saying he's as good as Michael Jordan, but he's an explosive and exciting kind of player like that.
Not sure if you seen this kid play. But he was anything but overrated. That's the most absurd take I have ever heard.
Yep. THough after giving it some thought-----McGinnis certainly would make this team really, really good.
Did you read that article? It covers that quote and goes into detail about how his college numbers don’t suggest that he would’ve been anything too extraordinary. It’s not saying that he couldn’t have become an NBA All-Star, just kind of points out that it looked more like a situation where people probably went overboard romanticizing about his “what could have been” potential.
Also, think about how many sure thing/can’t miss busts we’ve seen over the years who were clearly playing way above everybody else in their last season there. I have always heard that people thought Bias was supposed to be a perennial all star but he just as easily could’ve been a bust or a role player in the league.
Fun little side topic. Sucks we never got to know.
Sure he could have been a bust. Could have been a star. He certainly wasn't overrated as Big Blue 79 stated. He led the ACC in scoring his Jr and Sr seasons. ACC POY back to back. Now, does that equal star(in the NBA)? No. But I'd take my chances that it would have turned out that way. He was really, really good.
Lol, not likely to be better the Reggie Lewis type. Based on odds? Da Fuq? Get the **** out of here with that BS.
Grew up in PG Co w Bias and saw Reggie come of age in Baltimore.
Athletically not even in the same ball park. Reggie obviously was a late bloomer and exceeded most expectations. His game was cerebral that blossomed
Len was an explosive athlete who’s potential wasn’t even close to being tapped yet.
Guys who played w and against are on record pretty much anywhere you want to look as saying he was about the best player they ever played against (John Salley, Brad Dougherty)
How he would have done in the pros? Who knows. He would have had to develop some, extend his range about 4 feet on his shot and refine his ball handling and passing skills a bit. I'll tell you one thing, though. I certainly thought he was a can't miss prospect, as did every other ACC fan around at that time. Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski say he was the best college player they ever saw.
"...In scouting reports, it is customary to make player comparisons. Our basic report characterized Bias as a 'Michael Jordan type who was bigger, with a better jump shot, but who didn't go to the basket as well.' "
What if every team gets to add their all tme best player, not just one team? Then who's the favorite?
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