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my top 20 favorite college bball players of all time

WeAreDePaul

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This should be fun. I started following around 1984-85 season. My first championship game was the amazing coked up Villanova Wildcats shooting 80% from the field to beat Ewing and Georgetown. For this list I tend to favor guys who were there longer since I got to cheer them on more.

1. Chris Jackson: I became an LSU fan in 1987. Still have the SI mag with him on the cover, "He's a Pistol".

2. Steve Alford: I started as an Indiana fan and he was the star who led them to my first ever championship of my sports fandom life in 1987.

3. Chris Mullin: first player I stanned. I learned how to shoot from looking at black and white still photos of his post release form in Street & Smith magazine.

4. Christian Laettner: Was a Duke fan back then (barf) and was a massive fan of those first title runs. Loved Laettner, such a great college player. So clutch.

5. Rocket Rod Strickland: First DePaul player on the list, but he won't be the last. Watching him battle and beat his childhood rival Mark Jackson in OT in the first round of the NCAA at Rosemont Horizon as as 17 year old was still the greatest game I've ever seen in person.

6. Derek Rose: Followed him since sophmore year of high school, my highest ranked 1 and done.

7. Bobby Hurley: Same with Laettner, such a great college PG. I think he went the entire tourny the second repeat and committed one TO the entire 7 games. And clutch too despite not being a great shooter.

8. Trae Young: The next 1 and done to make my list. Fell in sports love with him the second I saw him play in the PK80 tourny and haven't missed a game he's played since either college or pro

9. Tommy Kleinschmidt/DePaul: 2nd DePaul player, all american who went toe to toe with Penny. I'll admit he's high on this list because he was also my drinking buddy in college.

10. Mark Aguirre/DePaul: my first favorite player but a little before my time. We had season tickets his last year when they were #1 all season long and then choked in the first round of the tourney yet again.

11. Howard Nathan/DePaul: IMO one of the greatest what if's in basketball history. He was so good his freshman year and dominated senior Nick Van Exel all season long in every matchup. Some people remember where they were when they found out a President got shot. For me, i stil remember where I was when I heard that Nathan had failed out of school after his freshman year. Such a travesty he later became paralyzed and then died a few years ago.

12. Scott Skiles: such a stud. He's the reason they don't allow teams to host games in the tournament anymore. The way he got screwed by the time keeper IN Kansas vs Kansas is still one of the worst moments in NCAA history

13. Lonzo Ball: Another one and done, he's the guy who brought me back to basketball after 15 year hiatus

14. Jalen Brunson: Followed him since high school since he's from the town next to mine and went to wife's high school (and Jamie Gertz).

15. Quentin Richardson/DePaul: hard to believe that this lunch pail hard hat undersized PF who dominated inside in college would turn around and become a 3pt specialist in the NBA. Maybe he was the true precursor of what was to come to the game even before Curry made everyone pay attention

16. Jason Kidd: Loved the way he played and loved seeing him play vs Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley in person in the tourney

17. Shaq: Another LSU legend. Too bad the refs treated him like crap

18. Hersey Hawkins: Chicago legend who played center till he got to college which explains why he only got recruited by Bradley

19. Tremont Waters/LSU Almost like a poor man's Trae in college. he had some of tghe best off the glass finishes I've ever seen.

20. Glen Robinson: Big Dog!
 
BJ Armstrong was one of my last cuts.

Rice was awesome and would be on anyone's greatest players list, but he's no Steve Alford in my eyes!


BJ was a great Hawkeye.

Rices run in the NCAA tournament was way more impressive than Alfords IMO
 
Rices run in the NCAA tournament was way more impressive than Alfords IMO
no one is gonna argue that. Rice had one of the best runs of all time, maybe even the best. But this is about FAVORITE players, not the best players. As good as Rice was you can't make me like him more than Alford 🤣
 
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I started as an Indiana fan

Was a Duke fan back then

Lonzo Ball

You disgust me.

giphy.gif
 
Why would anyone ever be jealous of Illinois? We’ve won more national titles than you.
Do tell. The illini have won one (albeit on 1915) while you guys have gagged in the tournament harder than a porn star in her first feature film.

You guys have been in the Big East since 2005 and have never finished higher than 7th
 
This should be fun. I started following around 1984-85 season. My first championship game was the amazing coked up Villanova Wildcats shooting 80% from the field to beat Ewing and Georgetown. For this list I tend to favor guys who were there longer since I got to cheer them on more.

1. Chris Jackson: I became an LSU fan in 1987. Still have the SI mag with him on the cover, "He's a Pistol".

2. Steve Alford: I started as an Indiana fan and he was the star who led them to my first ever championship of my sports fandom life in 1987.

3. Chris Mullin: first player I stanned. I learned how to shoot from looking at black and white still photos of his post release form in Street & Smith magazine.

4. Christian Laettner: Was a Duke fan back then (barf) and was a massive fan of those first title runs. Loved Laettner, such a great college player. So clutch.

5. Rocket Rod Strickland: First DePaul player on the list, but he won't be the last. Watching him battle and beat his childhood rival Mark Jackson in OT in the first round of the NCAA at Rosemont Horizon as as 17 year old was still the greatest game I've ever seen in person.

6. Derek Rose: Followed him since sophmore year of high school, my highest ranked 1 and done.

7. Bobby Hurley: Same with Laettner, such a great college PG. I think he went the entire tourny the second repeat and committed one TO the entire 7 games. And clutch too despite not being a great shooter.

8. Trae Young: The next 1 and done to make my list. Fell in sports love with him the second I saw him play in the PK80 tourny and haven't missed a game he's played since either college or pro

9. Tommy Kleinschmidt/DePaul: 2nd DePaul player, all american who went toe to toe with Penny. I'll admit he's high on this list because he was also my drinking buddy in college.

10. Mark Aguirre/DePaul: my first favorite player but a little before my time. We had season tickets his last year when they were #1 all season long and then choked in the first round of the tourney yet again.

11. Howard Nathan/DePaul: IMO one of the greatest what if's in basketball history. He was so good his freshman year and dominated senior Nick Van Exel all season long in every matchup. Some people remember where they were when they found out a President got shot. For me, i stil remember where I was when I heard that Nathan had failed out of school after his freshman year. Such a travesty he later became paralyzed and then died a few years ago.

12. Scott Skiles: such a stud. He's the reason they don't allow teams to host games in the tournament anymore. The way he got screwed by the time keeper IN Kansas vs Kansas is still one of the worst moments in NCAA history

13. Lonzo Ball: Another one and done, he's the guy who brought me back to basketball after 15 year hiatus

14. Jalen Brunson: Followed him since high school since he's from the town next to mine and went to wife's high school (and Jamie Gertz).

15. Quentin Richardson/DePaul: hard to believe that this lunch pail hard hat undersized PF who dominated inside in college would turn around and become a 3pt specialist in the NBA. Maybe he was the true precursor of what was to come to the game even before Curry made everyone pay attention

16. Jason Kidd: Loved the way he played and loved seeing him play vs Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley in person in the tourney

17. Shaq: Another LSU legend. Too bad the refs treated him like crap

18. Hersey Hawkins: Chicago legend who played center till he got to college which explains why he only got recruited by Bradley

19. Tremont Waters/LSU Almost like a poor man's Trae in college. he had some of tghe best off the glass finishes I've ever seen.

20. Glen Robinson: Big Dog!

Can Jevon Carter, your fellow Chicago-land guy, get an honorable mention? 😉

Lightly recruited kid who turned himself into a consensus All American and 2x Defensive POY. Now going on his 6th year in the NBA.
 
Can Jevon Carter, your fellow Chicago-land guy, get an honorable mention? 😉

Lightly recruited kid who turned himself into a consensus All American and 2x Defensive POY. Now going on his 6th year in the NBA.
lol you don't need to tell me who Jevon Carter is. Same legendary high school as Michael Finley, Doc Rivers and a lot more. But no, not on my list. Michael Finley came close, but not Carter.
 
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Do tell. The illini have won one (albeit on 1915) while you guys have gagged in the tournament harder than a porn star in her first feature film.
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 you're actually trying counting a "national championship" that was handed out 25 years before the actual first real national championship was awarded? A championship that wasn't even won in a competition but was instead awarded out by some foundation? Seriously? YOu really that pathetic?


Come talk to me when you actually WIN an natty like Depaul did in 1945 when they won the NIT with George Mikan during an era when the NIT was considered every bit as impressive as the NCAA.

1915! LOL you just made yourself look really silly, not easy to do in an argument about hoops with a DePaul fan.
 
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 you're actually trying counting a "national championship" that was handed out 25 years before the actual first real national championship was awarded? A championship that wasn't even won in a competition but was instead awarded out by some foundation? Seriously? YOu really that pathetic?


Come talk to me when you actually WIN an natty like Depaul did in 1945 when they won the NIT with George Mikan during an era when the NIT was considered every bit as impressive as the NCAA.

1915! LOL you just made yourself look really silly, not easy to do in an argument about hoops with a DePaul fan.
Ah yes, the ‘40s. Thank you for reminding me of that decade. It would’ve been interesting to see how many nattys the Illini would’ve won had the Whiz Kids (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942–43_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men%27s_basketball_team) not been drafted into WWII and never had the chance to play in the NIT.
The 42-43 team was retroactively awarded the natty…is that close enough to George Mikan?
 
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Ah yes, the ‘40s. Thank you for reminding me of that decade. It would’ve been interesting to see how many nattys the Illini would’ve won had the Whiz Kids (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942–43_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men%27s_basketball_team) not been drafted into WWII and never had the chance to play in the NIT.
The 42-43 team was retroactively awarded the natty…is that close enough to George Mikan?
retroactively awarded a natty? WTF are you even talking about?

Also are you saying that Illinois is the only team to lose players due to WW2?

Face it, only two schools in Illinois have won a natty and neither of those is named University of Illinois.
 
retroactively awarded a natty? WTF are you even talking about?

Also are you saying that Illinois is the only team to lose players due to WW2?

Face it, only two schools in Illinois have won a natty and neither of those is named University of Illinois.
Actually one, Loyola University Chicago. That’s it.

One of my two alma maters. Alma mater one has 5 football nattys and alma mater two has 1 hoops natty, the only from the state of Illinois.

Now run along and wallow in Ray’s history of flaming out in the first weekend…Joey too for that matter.

Or shall we get into the Fat Pat, Oliver Pernell, Jerry Wainright and Tracy Webster eras?
 
Actually one, Loyola University Chicago. That’s it.

One of my two alma maters. Alma mater one has 5 football nattys and alma mater two has 1 hoops natty, the only from the state of Illinois.

Now run along and wallow in Ray’s history of flaming out in the first weekend…Joey too for that matter.

Or shall we get into the Fat Pat, Oliver Pernell, Jerry Wainright and Tracy Webster eras?
nope it's 2. DePaul 1945 NIT national champs.


Don't bring up Ray and Joey, hated both those clowns.


Fat Pat is still the greatest coach we've had in the past 75 years. At least he could buy good recruits.
 
Actually one, Loyola University Chicago. That’s it.

One of my two alma maters. Alma mater one has 5 football nattys and alma mater two has 1 hoops natty, the only from the state of Illinois.

Now run along and wallow in Ray’s history of flaming out in the first weekend…Joey too for that matter.

Or shall we get into the Fat Pat, Oliver Pernell, Jerry Wainright and Tracy Webster eras?

also just stop for a minute and think about how pathetic you look right now. There's guys on here arguing if their school is better or worse than Kansas/Kentucky and you're over here coming after DePaul to make yourself feel better. What next, start flexing on Chicago State?
 
also just stop for a minute and think about how pathetic you look right now. There's guys on here arguing if their school is better or worse than Kansas/Kentucky and you're over here coming after DePaul to make yourself feel better. What next, start flexing on Chicago State?
Yes. You are correct. I cannot believe I engaged in an internet argument with such a moron as you.
Thank you for slapping me back to reality.
 
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To appease the DePaul guy…my favorite non-Illini college hoopsters in no particular order:

Calbert Chaney - Indiana
Maceo Baston - Michigan
Jimmy King - Michigan
Johnny Dawkins - Duke
Hersey Hawkins - Bradley
Jim Jackson - Ohio St
Michael Redd - Ohio St
Larry Johnson - UNLV
Ed Pinckney - Villanova
Jeff Sheppard - Kentucky
 
This should be fun. I started following around 1984-85 season. My first championship game was the amazing coked up Villanova Wildcats shooting 80% from the field to beat Ewing and Georgetown. For this list I tend to favor guys who were there longer since I got to cheer them on more.

1. Chris Jackson: I became an LSU fan in 1987. Still have the SI mag with him on the cover, "He's a Pistol".

2. Steve Alford: I started as an Indiana fan and he was the star who led them to my first ever championship of my sports fandom life in 1987.

3. Chris Mullin: first player I stanned. I learned how to shoot from looking at black and white still photos of his post release form in Street & Smith magazine.

4. Christian Laettner: Was a Duke fan back then (barf) and was a massive fan of those first title runs. Loved Laettner, such a great college player. So clutch.

5. Rocket Rod Strickland: First DePaul player on the list, but he won't be the last. Watching him battle and beat his childhood rival Mark Jackson in OT in the first round of the NCAA at Rosemont Horizon as as 17 year old was still the greatest game I've ever seen in person.

6. Derek Rose: Followed him since sophmore year of high school, my highest ranked 1 and done.

7. Bobby Hurley: Same with Laettner, such a great college PG. I think he went the entire tourny the second repeat and committed one TO the entire 7 games. And clutch too despite not being a great shooter.

8. Trae Young: The next 1 and done to make my list. Fell in sports love with him the second I saw him play in the PK80 tourny and haven't missed a game he's played since either college or pro

9. Tommy Kleinschmidt/DePaul: 2nd DePaul player, all american who went toe to toe with Penny. I'll admit he's high on this list because he was also my drinking buddy in college.

10. Mark Aguirre/DePaul: my first favorite player but a little before my time. We had season tickets his last year when they were #1 all season long and then choked in the first round of the tourney yet again.

11. Howard Nathan/DePaul: IMO one of the greatest what if's in basketball history. He was so good his freshman year and dominated senior Nick Van Exel all season long in every matchup. Some people remember where they were when they found out a President got shot. For me, i stil remember where I was when I heard that Nathan had failed out of school after his freshman year. Such a travesty he later became paralyzed and then died a few years ago.

12. Scott Skiles: such a stud. He's the reason they don't allow teams to host games in the tournament anymore. The way he got screwed by the time keeper IN Kansas vs Kansas is still one of the worst moments in NCAA history

13. Lonzo Ball: Another one and done, he's the guy who brought me back to basketball after 15 year hiatus

14. Jalen Brunson: Followed him since high school since he's from the town next to mine and went to wife's high school (and Jamie Gertz).

15. Quentin Richardson/DePaul: hard to believe that this lunch pail hard hat undersized PF who dominated inside in college would turn around and become a 3pt specialist in the NBA. Maybe he was the true precursor of what was to come to the game even before Curry made everyone pay attention

16. Jason Kidd: Loved the way he played and loved seeing him play vs Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley in person in the tourney

17. Shaq: Another LSU legend. Too bad the refs treated him like crap

18. Hersey Hawkins: Chicago legend who played center till he got to college which explains why he only got recruited by Bradley

19. Tremont Waters/LSU Almost like a poor man's Trae in college. he had some of tghe best off the glass finishes I've ever seen.

20. Glen Robinson: Big Dog!
Damon Bailey. Played with national media eye since the seventh grade. Played in front of huge crowds through HS and excelled four years under Knight on two bad knees.
 
Calbert Cheney. No one I am aware of develops his game more than the way Calbert did.
 
Damon Bailey. Played with national media eye since the seventh grade. Played in front of huge crowds through HS and excelled four years under Knight on two bad knees.
He was on my long list of candidates before I narrowed it down. Got to see him in person when Indiana played Wisconsin in Madison (one of my many stops in my college tour). One of the most hyped basketball players of all time. I think he had a cup of coffee with the Pacers and that was about. It.
 
A player from each of the power schools...

ACC
Boston College- Troy Bell
Clemson- KJ McDaniels
Duke- Zion Williamson
Florida State- Bobby Sura
Georgia Tech- Matt Harpring
Louisville- Peyton Siva
Miami- Shane Larkin
NC State- Julius Hodge
North Carolina- Will Johnson
Notre Dame- Pat Connaughton
Pittsburgh- DeJuan Blair
Syracuse- Etan Thomas
Virginia- Ty Jerome
Virginia Tech- Deron Washington
Wake Forest- Randolph Childress

Big 12
Baylor- Jared Butler
Iowa State- Jamaal Tinsley
Kansas- Kirk Hinrich
Kansas State- Markquis Nowell
Oklahoma- Buddy Hield
Oklahoma State- Bryant Reeves
West Virginia- Joe Alexander
TCU- Desmond Bane
Texas- Kevin Durant
Texas Tech- Jarrett Culver

Big East
Butler- Gordon Hayward
Creighton- Kyle Korver
Connecticut- Kemba Walker
DePaul- Quentin Richardson
Georgetown- Allen Iverson
Marquette- Dwyane Wade
Providence- Austin Croshere
Seton Hall- Samuel Dalembert
St. John's- Marcus Hatten
Villanova- Mikal Bridges
Xavier- Romain Sato

Big Ten
Illinois- Brian Cook
Indiana- Trayce Jackson-Davis
Iowa- Jarrod Uthoff
Maryland- Greivis Vasquez
Michigan- Nik Stauskas
Michigan State- Jason Richardson
Minnesota- Bobby Jackson
Nebraska- Isaiah Roby
Northwestern- Evan Eschmeyer
Ohio State- Aaron Craft
Penn State- Tim Frazier
Purdue- Robbie Hummel
Rutgers- Cliff Omoruyi
Wisconsin- Frank Kaminsky

Pac-12
Arizona- Miles Simon
Arizona State- Eddie House
California- Tony Gonzalez
Colorado- Chauncey Billups
Oregon- Payton Pritchard
Oregon State- Tres Tinkle
Stanford- Casey Jacobsen
UCLA- Toby Bailey
USC- Sam Clancy
Utah- Keith Van Horn
Washington- Isaiah Thomas
Washington State- Kyle Weaver

SEC
Alabama- Brandon Miller
Arkansas- Joe Johnson
Auburn- Chris Porter
Florida- Mike Miller
Georgia- Jarvis Hayes
Kentucky- Tayshaun Prince
LSU- Stromile Swift
Mississippi- Justin Reed
Mississippi State- Dontae Jones
Missouri- Kareem Rush
South Carolina- BJ McKie
Tennessee- Vincent Yarbrough
Texas A&M- Tyler Davis
Vanderbilt- John Jenkins

Big 12 Newbies + Gonzaga/Memphis
BYU- Jimmer Fredette
Cincinnati- Kenyon Martin
Gonzaga- Drew Timme
Houston- Marcus Sasser
Memphis- Chris Douglas-Roberts
UCF- Tacko Fall
 
He was on my long list of candidates before I narrowed it down. Got to see him in person when Indiana played Wisconsin in Madison (one of my many stops in my college tour). One of the most hyped basketball players of all time. I think he had a cup of coffee with the Pacers and that was about. It.
Damon and Calbert are among my top for different reasons and I am absolutely IU biased. #12 is in my top 5 as well with Zeke and Hornsby (for a very different reason)
 
Dang some of yall on medicare with those lists. Getting discounts at perkins dudes.
 
This should be fun. I started following around 1984-85 season. My first championship game was the amazing coked up Villanova Wildcats shooting 80% from the field to beat Ewing and Georgetown. For this list I tend to favor guys who were there longer since I got to cheer them on more.

1. Chris Jackson: I became an LSU fan in 1987. Still have the SI mag with him on the cover, "He's a Pistol".

2. Steve Alford: I started as an Indiana fan and he was the star who led them to my first ever championship of my sports fandom life in 1987.

3. Chris Mullin: first player I stanned. I learned how to shoot from looking at black and white still photos of his post release form in Street & Smith magazine.

4. Christian Laettner: Was a Duke fan back then (barf) and was a massive fan of those first title runs. Loved Laettner, such a great college player. So clutch.

5. Rocket Rod Strickland: First DePaul player on the list, but he won't be the last. Watching him battle and beat his childhood rival Mark Jackson in OT in the first round of the NCAA at Rosemont Horizon as as 17 year old was still the greatest game I've ever seen in person.

6. Derek Rose: Followed him since sophmore year of high school, my highest ranked 1 and done.

7. Bobby Hurley: Same with Laettner, such a great college PG. I think he went the entire tourny the second repeat and committed one TO the entire 7 games. And clutch too despite not being a great shooter.

8. Trae Young: The next 1 and done to make my list. Fell in sports love with him the second I saw him play in the PK80 tourny and haven't missed a game he's played since either college or pro

9. Tommy Kleinschmidt/DePaul: 2nd DePaul player, all american who went toe to toe with Penny. I'll admit he's high on this list because he was also my drinking buddy in college.

10. Mark Aguirre/DePaul: my first favorite player but a little before my time. We had season tickets his last year when they were #1 all season long and then choked in the first round of the tourney yet again.

11. Howard Nathan/DePaul: IMO one of the greatest what if's in basketball history. He was so good his freshman year and dominated senior Nick Van Exel all season long in every matchup. Some people remember where they were when they found out a President got shot. For me, i stil remember where I was when I heard that Nathan had failed out of school after his freshman year. Such a travesty he later became paralyzed and then died a few years ago.

12. Scott Skiles: such a stud. He's the reason they don't allow teams to host games in the tournament anymore. The way he got screwed by the time keeper IN Kansas vs Kansas is still one of the worst moments in NCAA history

13. Lonzo Ball: Another one and done, he's the guy who brought me back to basketball after 15 year hiatus

14. Jalen Brunson: Followed him since high school since he's from the town next to mine and went to wife's high school (and Jamie Gertz).

15. Quentin Richardson/DePaul: hard to believe that this lunch pail hard hat undersized PF who dominated inside in college would turn around and become a 3pt specialist in the NBA. Maybe he was the true precursor of what was to come to the game even before Curry made everyone pay attention

16. Jason Kidd: Loved the way he played and loved seeing him play vs Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley in person in the tourney

17. Shaq: Another LSU legend. Too bad the refs treated him like crap

18. Hersey Hawkins: Chicago legend who played center till he got to college which explains why he only got recruited by Bradley

19. Tremont Waters/LSU Almost like a poor man's Trae in college. he had some of tghe best off the glass finishes I've ever seen.

20. Glen Robinson: Big Dog!
No Terry Cummings. Loved him.
 
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