ADVERTISEMENT

my top 20 favorite college bball players of all time

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.
Bailey was a very, very good college player. IMO not only one of the most underrated kids to ever play at Indiana, but in college. His knees were an absolute wreck. Yet ................

9th All-time in scoring at Indiana
5th(tied) All time in assists
10th all time in steals

19.9ppg/4.4rpg/4.3apg,,,43% from three as a senior.

B10 FOY

Won 108 games in 4 years(most ever?) Two B10 titles...One FF.

I mean if this is "Joe Blow", folks would be talking about one of the best ever to play at IU, and one of CBB's best.

But the hype the kid got, just impossible to live up to the hype---And the hype was deserved---Kid was very good.

One of my fav's to ever play at Indiana.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDMEvergreen
Bailey was a very, very good college player. IMO not only one of the most underrated kids to ever play at Indiana, but in college. His knees were an absolute wreck. Yet ................

9th All-time in scoring at Indiana
5th(tied) All time in assists
10th all time in steals

19.9ppg/4.4rpg/4.3apg,,,43% from three as a senior.

B10 FOY

Won 108 games in 4 years(most ever?) Two B10 titles...One FF.

I mean if this is "Joe Blow", folks would be talking about one of the best ever to play at IU, and one of CBB's best.

But the hype the kid got, just impossible to live up to the hype---And the hype was deserved---Kid was very good.

One of my fav's to ever play at Indiana.
Games had to be moved to other venues to accomodate the crowds.

40K for a State tourney game?

Lot for a young guy to deal with.
 
Games had to be moved to other venues to accomodate the crowds.

40K for a State tourney game?

Lot for a young guy to deal with.
His senior year, game vs Salem was moved to Seymour. Game vs TH South moved to Hullman Center. Moved Carmel game to Hinkle....

Crazy shit.

Tickets for Seymour Regional were selling for $500!! I saw people trading IU basketball tickets for BNL tickets. That is insane.
 
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!
How in the world is Pistol Pete Maravich mot in your favorites? You to young to remember him?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bert Higginbotha
People outside of the state, just don get HS basketball in Indiana. I tell dudes all the time. Some of the most intense games, environments I;ve ever been a part of, were HS basketball games in Indiana.

Shit is crazy. Not what it once was, but its still unmatched.
Most top talent has left Michigan for the prep academies in the last decade. It will never be the same. Sucks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IUfanBorden
His senior year, game vs Salem was moved to Seymour. Game vs TH South moved to Hullman Center. Moved Carmel game to Hinkle....

Crazy shit.

Tickets for Seymour Regional were selling for $500!! I saw people trading IU basketball tickets for BNL tickets. That is insane.
What does Seymour/Jackson Co seat nowadays?
*nvm. Just googled it. I didn't realize it was 2nd largest in the state.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IUfanBorden
Most top talent has left Michigan for the prep academies in the last decade. It will never be the same. Sucks.
Its not the talent----its the love. For some small , rural communities, HS basketball is above religion...Its in its own way, a religion. Especially before the advent of class basketball. HS hoops in Indiana is , I mean, man its a serious passion. It has fallen off some, but not much. You have Barr-Reeve/Loogootee. Two, 1A(smallest class) powerhouses, that is just a crazy, intense rivalry...Then Jeffersonville/New Albany. As fierce as it comes..

The love/passion for HS hoops in Indiana is not rivaled by any state. Not even close.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sparty_57
Its not the talent----its the love. For some small , rural communities, HS basketball is above religion...Its in its own way, a religion. Especially before the advent of class basketball. HS hoops in Indiana is , I mean, man its a serious passion. It has fallen off some, but not much. You have Barr-Reeve/Loogootee. Two, 1A(smallest class) powerhouses, that is just a crazy, intense rivalry...Then Jeffersonville/New Albany. As fierce as it comes..

The love/passion for HS hoops in Indiana is not rivaled by any state. Not even close.
Ex-wife graduated from North Miami HS outside of Denver, IN (population 498). Her younger sister graduated from Peru.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IUfanBorden
Ex-wife graduated from North Miami HS outside of Denver, IN (population 498). Her younger sister graduated from Peru.
Former Peru HC recently passed; Jim Metcalf. North Miami has been turrrble last 10+ years...

I;ve actually worked some Peru games----vs Kokomo and Logansport.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sparty_57
People outside of the state, just don get HS basketball in Indiana. I tell dudes all the time. Some of the most intense games, environments I;ve ever been a part of, were HS basketball games in Indiana.

Shit is crazy. Not what it once was, but its still unmatched.

Not sure if this is up to date but it's still pretty wild to consider. Kind of like football in Texas.


 
Pretty accurate...I know NC added some seats---again. That place can hold up to 10,000. Not on this list and no longer open, is the Wigwam. Once home to the Anderson Indians. Held close to 9,000.

Wigwam back in the day...

default.jpg
 
I knew Kyle Macy. He was coached at Kentucky by my friend Joe B. Hall. Great young man.

His remarkable free throw shooting ability gave UK a title.
Do you remember Kevin Greevy from that team? Years later his nephew was a big time prospect from my home town. named Ryan Hogan. Great kid. during the summers he would play with all us college kids at the outdoor court in town. We became buddies. He really wanted to go to Kentucky like his uncle, but I was always teasing him that he should go somewhere a little smaller to ensure playing time. No I never told him to go to DePaul. Like I said, we were friends. I would never do that to my worst enemy let alone a friend.

As you know he ended up going to Kentucky, but only lasted a couple years before transferring to Iowa where he got a little more playing time, but still wasn't a starter.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Bert Higginbotha
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!

Word on the street is that there’s a lot of overlap between Trae Young fans and gay butt sex fans.

No judgement.
 
Do you remember Kevin Greevy from that team? Years later his nephew was a big time prospect from my home town. named Ryan Hogan. Great kid. during the summers he would play with all us college kids at the outdoor court in town. We became buddies. He really wanted to go to Kentucky like his uncle, but I was always teasing him that he should go somewhere a little smaller to ensure playing time. No I never told him to go to DePaul. Like I said, we were friends. I would never do that to my worst enemy let alone a friend.

As you know he ended up going to Kentucky, but only lasted a couple years before transferring to Iowa where he got a little more playing time, but still wasn't a starter.
Kevin got to UK before Macy. Grevey graduated in Spring of 1975 and Macy started playing in the Fall of 1977.

I also remember Ryan Hogan. He got to play on Tubby Smiths Title team. He is standing right behind Tubby:
370477667_6514446635337532_6273135430590140228_n.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: WeAreDePaul
Kevin got to UK before Macy. Grevey graduated in Spring of 1975 and Macy started playing in the Fall of 1977.

I also remember Ryan Hogan. He got to play on Tubby Smiths Title team. He is standing right behind Tubby:
370477667_6514446635337532_6273135430590140228_n.jpg
I remember watching the 1977-78 team defeat MSU 52-49 in an Elite Eight matchup. That was Magic's first year. He shot the ball poorly, 2-10 from the field. I was disappointed that they underperformed. Of course, they made up for it the following year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bert Higginbotha
I remember watching the 1977-78 team defeat MSU 52-49 in an Elite Eight matchup. That was Magic's first year. He shot the ball poorly, 2-10 from the field. I was disappointed that they underperformed. Of course, they made up for it the following year.
That was Macy's second year. Magic was the first really big guard that I had seen.

'79 produced the magical Bird and Magic matchup.

Jud Heathcote was a fine man and fine coach. Kentucky's Joe B. Hall had a lot of nice thing to say about Jud while he was coaching and after he was coaching. They liked and respected each other.
 
I remember watching the 1977-78 team defeat MSU 52-49 in an Elite Eight matchup. That was Magic's first year. He shot the ball poorly, 2-10 from the field. I was disappointed that they underperformed. Of course, they made up for it the following year.
That must’ve been pretty awesome getting to follow Magic playing for your college.
 
That must’ve been pretty awesome getting to follow Magic playing for your college.
From 1977-79, I was a JV BB statistician at MSU. I received one ticket behind the bench to each varsity home game. I sat half-court at the scorers table a couple of times. I was lucky to see almost every home game Magic played in a Spartan uniform. Good times.
 
That was Macy's second year. Magic was the first really big guard that I had seen.

'79 produced the magical Bird and Magic matchup.

Jud Heathcote was a fine man and fine coach. Kentucky's Joe B. Hall had a lot of nice thing to say about Jud while he was coaching and after he was coaching. They liked and respected each other.
Jud was an intense coach but didn't take himself too seriously. Off the court, he was laid back and was quite the comedian. He used this line at a roast for his friend Bobby Knight: "Most people don't like Knight when they meet him, but after they get to know him, they hate him." Pretty funny.
 
Last edited:
  • Haha
Reactions: Bert Higginbotha
Not worth starting a new thread for this, but I was watching USA Basketball and Kerr started Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges. Those guys all played together at Villanova during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. And, of course, Brunson and Bridges were there for the 2018 title run, as well. Crazy to have 3 college teammates starting on Team USA.
 
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 Len Bias?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bert Higginbotha
ADVERTISEMENT