For all of the unseemly and uncomfortable things recruiting throws our way -- the scrutiny of teenage decision-making, the third-party runners and hangers-on, the existential questions we have to ask ourselves about exactly how much we should allow ourselves to care about 15-year-old basketball players -- there is one aspect that makes it immensely fun: You never know. The best and most widely touted prospects occasionally show up to the college game woefully unprepared; relatively under-the-radar players (see: Trey Burke) end up changing a program's next decade. No matter how well-scouted the country's best players are, there is still a enough variability in outcomes that it always feels like anything is on the table.
Which brings me, as usual, to Andrew Wiggins. Perhaps no prospect in the past decade -- at least since Greg Oden and Kevin Durant in 2006-07 -- is considered as much of a sure thing as Wiggins; anything less than a dominant freshman season at Kansas will, on some level, be considered a disappointment. And yet, for all of the YouTube clips and and hours of scouting, it remains entirely possible that Wiggins will be merely very good, or even (gasp) just OK. There are no foregone conclusions in recruiting.
On Saturday, Wiggins arrived in Lawrence, Kan., and soon thereafter participated in his first practice and workout session with the Jayhawks. How did it go?
This is from CBS' Gary Parrish:
This is from SNY's Adam Zagoria:
Sounds like it went pretty well, huh?
Impressions from a first practice aren't much to go by, but they're what we'll have to go on from now until early November, which is a brutally long time until Wiggins' official unveiling. The supply of impressions from his workouts at Kansas won't come anywhere close to matching the demand for news about his game. It can't. It's not possible. So I expect this will only be the first in a long stream of tidbits flowing from Lawrence over the next month, which are sure to range from the mundane to the mythical; by September, Wiggins will be in Paris co-producing a follow-up to "Yeezus." Consider yourself forewarned.
Which brings me, as usual, to Andrew Wiggins. Perhaps no prospect in the past decade -- at least since Greg Oden and Kevin Durant in 2006-07 -- is considered as much of a sure thing as Wiggins; anything less than a dominant freshman season at Kansas will, on some level, be considered a disappointment. And yet, for all of the YouTube clips and and hours of scouting, it remains entirely possible that Wiggins will be merely very good, or even (gasp) just OK. There are no foregone conclusions in recruiting.
On Saturday, Wiggins arrived in Lawrence, Kan., and soon thereafter participated in his first practice and workout session with the Jayhawks. How did it go?
This is from CBS' Gary Parrish:
"Wow!" the source said. "Like watching a video game. He'd be the No. 1 pick this year."
This is from SNY's Adam Zagoria:
Kansas source on @22wiggins' 1st practice Monday: 'Best athlete that we have ever been around.'
Sounds like it went pretty well, huh?
Impressions from a first practice aren't much to go by, but they're what we'll have to go on from now until early November, which is a brutally long time until Wiggins' official unveiling. The supply of impressions from his workouts at Kansas won't come anywhere close to matching the demand for news about his game. It can't. It's not possible. So I expect this will only be the first in a long stream of tidbits flowing from Lawrence over the next month, which are sure to range from the mundane to the mythical; by September, Wiggins will be in Paris co-producing a follow-up to "Yeezus." Consider yourself forewarned.
Roy Williams still uncertain on P.J. Hairston
June, 18, 2013
Jun 18
4:15
PM ET
By
Myron Medcalf | ESPN.com
The 2013-14 season should be a landmark year for ACC basketball. Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pitt will join the league next season. And Louisville will follow a year later in 2014.
The Big Ten has held the “best conference in America” title in recent years. But the ACC could be a juggernaut that overtakes the Chicago-based league next season.
But one of the vital components in the latter scenario involves North Carolina returning to a national perch following last season’s up-and-down campaign. And that possibility is tied to the availability of junior P.J. Hairston (14.6 PPG), the team’s leading scorer in 2012-13.
The details of his arrest earlier this month are still somewhat murky. But this much is clear: police discovered drugs in a rented vehicle occupied by Hairston and two other men, and a gun was found at the scene during the highly publicized stop in Durham, N.C.
On Monday, Roy Williams discussed the situation in a conversation with USA Today. Williams told the publication that he’s awaiting all the facts related to the case. But he also mentioned the he has “some ideas” of a possible punishment for Hairston, who opted to play another year of college basketball after considering the NBA a few months ago.
From Eric Prisbell of USA Today:
Now, I think Williams is right to wait until the facts are revealed. Can’t punish a guy without knowing his true role in the matter.
Midway through June, however, Tar Heels fans still don’t know how the incident will affect one of the most crucial members of a squad that is expected to compete for the ACC crown next year.
So it’s still a waiting game in Chapel Hill.
The Big Ten has held the “best conference in America” title in recent years. But the ACC could be a juggernaut that overtakes the Chicago-based league next season.
But one of the vital components in the latter scenario involves North Carolina returning to a national perch following last season’s up-and-down campaign. And that possibility is tied to the availability of junior P.J. Hairston (14.6 PPG), the team’s leading scorer in 2012-13.
The details of his arrest earlier this month are still somewhat murky. But this much is clear: police discovered drugs in a rented vehicle occupied by Hairston and two other men, and a gun was found at the scene during the highly publicized stop in Durham, N.C.
On Monday, Roy Williams discussed the situation in a conversation with USA Today. Williams told the publication that he’s awaiting all the facts related to the case. But he also mentioned the he has “some ideas” of a possible punishment for Hairston, who opted to play another year of college basketball after considering the NBA a few months ago.
From Eric Prisbell of USA Today:
"We are doing one thing: We are waiting until all the information comes out," Williams told USA TODAY Sports on Monday. "The good thing is, I don't have to make a decision right now because we're in summer school, fall semester has not started, basketball has not started. We're going to wait and see what happens. I've got some ideas, but right now those ideas are staying in my mind.
"I am waiting until all the facts come in and then I will take care of everything that needs to be taken care of."
Now, I think Williams is right to wait until the facts are revealed. Can’t punish a guy without knowing his true role in the matter.
Midway through June, however, Tar Heels fans still don’t know how the incident will affect one of the most crucial members of a squad that is expected to compete for the ACC crown next year.
So it’s still a waiting game in Chapel Hill.
Manley Field House is a name most college basketball fans should recognize. Built in 1962, Manley housed Syracuse basketball until 1980, when the team moved into the Carrier Dome. It is still on Syracuse's campus, where it hosts volleyball and other events, but it is most famous for its service to the Georgetown-Syracuse blood feud. Before 1980, the Hoyas and Orange were competitors, and little more. When John Thompson delivered his famous "Manley Field House is officially closed," he managed to pack so much ether into six words that a rivalry was born on the spot.
It's been that way ever since.
Of course, the move from Manley to the Carrier Dome was common sense: Manley was an older building with a capacity of just 9,500; the Carrier Dome was at the time a larger, modern building that could serve Orange football, and help the basketball team pack the thousands and thousands of fans Jim Boeheim's elevated success fosters. Since 1980, visiting the Carrier Dome for a basketball game has seemed to be (note: I've never been, hence "seemed"; I'm sure 'Cuse fans can correct me if I'm wrong) an impressively incongruous experience. Basketball isn't supposed to be good in domes. We purists are supposed to advocate for arenas. And yet for 33 years, Syracuse home crowds have managed to not only be large, but extremely loud and very engaged. At this point, the Carrier Dome feels more like a basketball building than anything else, doesn't it?
Still, it is 33 years old, which has folks in Syracuse -- namely Post-Standard writer Sean Kirst -- trying to figure out what comes next:
This is also coming up because the Syracuse Crunch, the city's American Hockey League franchise, is currently competing for the Calder Cup; they play Grand Rapids at the old Onandoga County War Memorial, a charming but aging 6,000-seat stadium that could actually give Syracuse University at least one partner in a new arena venture somewhere down the line. There are plenty of municipal concerns to be dealt with, but the thought of a brand new, centralized 20,000-seat arena is at least a little bit exciting.
Is there any doubt the Orange could turn a new building into a pulsating Orange fortress? Even from afar, it'd be fun to see Syracuse in a basketball arena, right? Or is the Dome too beloved, even in its rapidly increasing age, to discuss it?
It's been that way ever since.
Of course, the move from Manley to the Carrier Dome was common sense: Manley was an older building with a capacity of just 9,500; the Carrier Dome was at the time a larger, modern building that could serve Orange football, and help the basketball team pack the thousands and thousands of fans Jim Boeheim's elevated success fosters. Since 1980, visiting the Carrier Dome for a basketball game has seemed to be (note: I've never been, hence "seemed"; I'm sure 'Cuse fans can correct me if I'm wrong) an impressively incongruous experience. Basketball isn't supposed to be good in domes. We purists are supposed to advocate for arenas. And yet for 33 years, Syracuse home crowds have managed to not only be large, but extremely loud and very engaged. At this point, the Carrier Dome feels more like a basketball building than anything else, doesn't it?
Still, it is 33 years old, which has folks in Syracuse -- namely Post-Standard writer Sean Kirst -- trying to figure out what comes next:
Even so, the limitations of the aging building are evident. The lack of air conditioning beneath the vast ceiling makes many Central New Yorkers reluctant to give up precious autumn Saturdays in return for a few warm and sweaty hours of watching indoor football. Bet on this: At the university and in the halls of government, there is already conversation about the life span of the dome, and what comes next whenever it reaches the end of its run.
This is also coming up because the Syracuse Crunch, the city's American Hockey League franchise, is currently competing for the Calder Cup; they play Grand Rapids at the old Onandoga County War Memorial, a charming but aging 6,000-seat stadium that could actually give Syracuse University at least one partner in a new arena venture somewhere down the line. There are plenty of municipal concerns to be dealt with, but the thought of a brand new, centralized 20,000-seat arena is at least a little bit exciting.
Is there any doubt the Orange could turn a new building into a pulsating Orange fortress? Even from afar, it'd be fun to see Syracuse in a basketball arena, right? Or is the Dome too beloved, even in its rapidly increasing age, to discuss it?
In the weeks leading up to the June 27 NBA draft, we’ll be taking a look at the 20 schools that have produced the best pros in the modern draft era (since 1989, when the draft went from seven to two rounds). Click here to read Eamonn Brennan’s explanation of the series, which will be featured in the Nation blog each morning as we count down the programs from 20 to 1.
Top Five NBA Draftees Since 1989
The rest: Matt Barnes, Darren Collison, Luc Mbah a Moute, Jordan Farmar, Ryan Hollins, Malcolm Lee, Tyler Honeycutt, Jason Kapono, Dan Gadzuric, Earl Watson, Cedric Bozeman, Dijon Thompson, Jerome Moiso, Toby Bailey, Jelani McCoy, J.R. Henderson, Charles O'Bannon, George Zidek, Ed O'Bannon, Tyus Edney, Mitchell Butler, Richard Petruska, Darrick Martin, Tracy Murray, Don MacLean, Gerald Madkins, Keith Owens, Greg Foster, Trevor Wilson, Pooh Richardson
Why they're ranked where they are: Because Ben Howland did a few things right.
Many things can be said about the Howland era at UCLA, many of them unflattering; his final season in Westwood felt like one long postmortem. After Sports Illustrated's George Dohrmann made public a litany of stories about Howland's penchant to coddle stars, it took a last-gasp recruiting class just to keep Howland around for that final 2012-13 season. For most of his UCLA tenure, he was the guy who resurrected Bruins basketball with three straight Final Four runs. At this point, he's more likely remembered as the guy who gave Reeves Nelson license to torment teammates, student managers, his roommate and pretty much everyone else.
This is the prevailing narrative of Howland's final years, and deservedly so. But it shouldn't be the only thing we remember about his tenure, because no UCLA coach since John Wooden has done more to add to the storied ranks of UCLA products in the NBA.
The funniest thing about this? There was a time not too long ago when Howland was considered anathema to NBA prospects. While Coach K was returning from the 2008 Olympics with a new Suns-style up-tempo offense and John Calipari was touting the benefits of the dribble-drive to every talented high school basketball player in the Virgo Supercluster, Howland was taking talented guys and cramming them into his slow, grinding man-to-man style. With the occasional exception of a jaw-dropping Kevin Love outlet pass, UCLA's best teams embodied this style, which to many NBA types had the alleged adverse effect of "hiding" the abilities of some of Howland's best players, causing them to be drafted lower than their eventual NBA performance deserved. Other coaches began using this against Howland. That may not have been as important as the recruiting bridges Howland burned within California, but it was one piece in the larger puzzle.
And yet, for all the theoretical back-and-forth here, at the end of the day Howland sent some top-notch talent the NBA's way. (This exercise doesn't care where a player was drafted; it judges only his career after the fact.)
We can start with Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook, two of the best young players in the NBA at any position. Westbrook's brilliance has at times been overshadowed by his role alongside Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, but there are few scoring guards in the league better at creating points than Westbrook, and no players -- with the possible exception of LeBron James and Derrick Rose -- who harness more speed and fast-twitch athleticism when attacking the rim. Westbrook is a sight to behold.
Love, meanwhile, has a legitimate chance at the Hall of Fame. Saying that about a guy who has played just five seasons for one of the worst teams in the league feels like hyperbole, but it really isn't: When healthy in 2010-11 and 2011-12 (his 2012-13 season was limited to 18 games due to injury), Love averaged 23 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. In 2011, he broke Moses Malone's record for most consecutive double-doubles (51) and led the league in offensive and overall rebounds; in 2012, he averaged 26.0 points and 13.3 rebounds. When Love entered the league, he was regarded as a generational passer with a decent outside shot who had to figure out whether he was a small forward or a power forward. Instead, he's become a stretch 4 who makes 3s (he shot 39 percent in 2011 and 2012) while also somehow managing to be the best rebounder in the league. There aren't any players in the league -- and few in NBA history -- who have combined these disparate skills so successfully. The best part? Like Westbrook, Love is still just 24 years old.
But the noteworthy Howland-era NBA draft products don't stop there. Arron Afflalo has morphed into one of the league's best shooting guards on both ends of the floor (the shooting guard position is in drastic straits in the NBA these days, so that feels like faint praise, but it really isn't -- he's genuinely good). Jrue Holiday struggled in 2013 but has otherwise looked like a very promising young scoring point guard, promising enough to get an adidas deal and an appearance in those weird A$AP ads. In each of his four seasons, Darren Collison has averaged double-digit points and at least five assists. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has turned into a readier player than anyone expected and Trevor Ariza has carved out a nice brand at small forward. Jordan Farmar and Ryan Hollins are ... well, they're in the league. Let's give them that much.
And that's just the Howland-era haul. There is also the matter of Baron Davis, plus the rest of the veteran/glue/specialist guys on the list (Jason Kapono, Earl Watson, Tracy Murray, Greg Foster, even Dan Gadzuric). Put it all together -- recent star power combined with sheer strength in numbers -- and this No. 7 slot feels just about right.
Why they could be ranked higher: I don't think they could, honestly, not above the teams we still have on our list. If you were someone who did think they belonged higher it's probably because you think Davis is underrated at No. 3 here and that he deserves more credit than he is being given. So let's talk about Baron Davis. After two seasons and arguably the greatest behind-the-back fake in the history of college basketball (just Google it, you'll see what I mean), Davis was drafted third overall by the Charlotte Hornets in 1999. In 2002, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.5 assists and 2.1 steals; in 2004, he went for 22.9, 7.5 and 2.4 steals. He was an All-Star both seasons.
In 2005, Davis was traded by the Hornets to the Golden State Warriors for (wait for it) Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton. The 2007 playoffs brought arguably his finest moments as a pro, when Golden State shocked No. 1-seeded Dallas and the reigning MVP in one of the most entertaining upsets in the history of pro hoops. (Mavs fans prepped for a redemptive title run after the brutal 2006 loss to the Dwyane Wade Foul Machine did not find it so entertaining.) That was the same year Davis destroyed Andrei Kirilenko with a one-handed dunk which, again, just Google it.
And then, at 29, with plenty of basketball left in the tank, Davis signed a five-year, $65 million deal with his hometown L.A. Clippers and just ... fell off. Not only did he not play well, he didn't even play hard. The team was always bad (the Elton Brand opt-out just killed it), but Davis was also frequently out of shape, and by the time the team started to get exciting with Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon, he had worn out his welcome. The Clippers had to throw Cleveland a first-round pick (which would eventually become Kyrie Irving) to get Mo Williams and Jamario Moon in return.
Nothing grates on NBA fans (or maybe it's just me) more than wasted potential. At the very least, everyone can work hard, right? In Davis' case, work ethic and clashes with management almost constantly undercut his performance and value around the league. He was talented enough to be Chris Paul before there was a Chris Paul, but he squandered too many valuable years. When he did pop up and flash that talent -- as in 2007 -- it was only more frustrating. Why couldn't Davis do this all the time?
That's why, despite the differences in tenure, I've got Westbrook and Love above Davis. Has either of them had a better individual career than Davis? Not quite yet. But both are almost guaranteed to, and not because they're more talented. Sad, but true.
Why they could be ranked lower: If you are even lower on Davis' career than I am, you could make this argument. You could also argue that for all of UCLA's many picks since 1989, only Love and Westbrook are blue-chippers, and the rest are just mediocre. I don't agree -- there are some solid players in that group, Afflalo, Holiday, Collison and Ariza especially -- and actually, based on where we are in the list right now, I think the Bruins' combination of young players and long-term depth fits in perfectly here.
What’s ahead? Tyler Honeycutt's and Malcolm Lee's decisions to leave UCLA in 2011 were widely panned at the time, and they've panned out about as well as anyone expected. There is a bit more hope for the future, though. Not only are the Bruins' top current players in the league all very young, but Shabazz Muhammad is a likely lottery pick in this year's draft, and his future looks like Cuttino Mobley Part Deux at the bare minimum. Kyle Anderson is a wildly intriguing talent back at UCLA for another season under new coach Steve Alford; if Alford can figure out how to best meld his unique talents, there's no reason he can't play in the league.
Final thoughts: Before 2004, any accounting of UCLA's pro products was bound to be disappointing. Even the best years under Jim Harrick were led by players (the O'Bannons, Tyus Edney) who never panned out in the NBA, and Davis was the only non-role player in the group. But 2004 was the first year under Howland. For everything else his tenure at UCLA will be remembered for -- from the three straight Final Fours to Nelson missing his plane to the Maui Invitational, and all that followed -- Howland should also be remembered for putting a large number of players into the NBA draft, a couple of whom are already among the best of their generation.
Top Five NBA Draftees Since 1989
- Kevin Love (2008)
- Russell Westbrook (2008)
- Baron Davis (1999)
- Arron Afflalo (2007)
- Jrue Holiday (2009)
The rest: Matt Barnes, Darren Collison, Luc Mbah a Moute, Jordan Farmar, Ryan Hollins, Malcolm Lee, Tyler Honeycutt, Jason Kapono, Dan Gadzuric, Earl Watson, Cedric Bozeman, Dijon Thompson, Jerome Moiso, Toby Bailey, Jelani McCoy, J.R. Henderson, Charles O'Bannon, George Zidek, Ed O'Bannon, Tyus Edney, Mitchell Butler, Richard Petruska, Darrick Martin, Tracy Murray, Don MacLean, Gerald Madkins, Keith Owens, Greg Foster, Trevor Wilson, Pooh Richardson
Why they're ranked where they are: Because Ben Howland did a few things right.
Many things can be said about the Howland era at UCLA, many of them unflattering; his final season in Westwood felt like one long postmortem. After Sports Illustrated's George Dohrmann made public a litany of stories about Howland's penchant to coddle stars, it took a last-gasp recruiting class just to keep Howland around for that final 2012-13 season. For most of his UCLA tenure, he was the guy who resurrected Bruins basketball with three straight Final Four runs. At this point, he's more likely remembered as the guy who gave Reeves Nelson license to torment teammates, student managers, his roommate and pretty much everyone else.
[+] Enlarge
John McDonough/SI/Icon SMIWhere you think UCLA belongs on this list likely hinges on your opinion of Baron Davis.
The funniest thing about this? There was a time not too long ago when Howland was considered anathema to NBA prospects. While Coach K was returning from the 2008 Olympics with a new Suns-style up-tempo offense and John Calipari was touting the benefits of the dribble-drive to every talented high school basketball player in the Virgo Supercluster, Howland was taking talented guys and cramming them into his slow, grinding man-to-man style. With the occasional exception of a jaw-dropping Kevin Love outlet pass, UCLA's best teams embodied this style, which to many NBA types had the alleged adverse effect of "hiding" the abilities of some of Howland's best players, causing them to be drafted lower than their eventual NBA performance deserved. Other coaches began using this against Howland. That may not have been as important as the recruiting bridges Howland burned within California, but it was one piece in the larger puzzle.
And yet, for all the theoretical back-and-forth here, at the end of the day Howland sent some top-notch talent the NBA's way. (This exercise doesn't care where a player was drafted; it judges only his career after the fact.)
We can start with Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook, two of the best young players in the NBA at any position. Westbrook's brilliance has at times been overshadowed by his role alongside Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, but there are few scoring guards in the league better at creating points than Westbrook, and no players -- with the possible exception of LeBron James and Derrick Rose -- who harness more speed and fast-twitch athleticism when attacking the rim. Westbrook is a sight to behold.
Love, meanwhile, has a legitimate chance at the Hall of Fame. Saying that about a guy who has played just five seasons for one of the worst teams in the league feels like hyperbole, but it really isn't: When healthy in 2010-11 and 2011-12 (his 2012-13 season was limited to 18 games due to injury), Love averaged 23 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. In 2011, he broke Moses Malone's record for most consecutive double-doubles (51) and led the league in offensive and overall rebounds; in 2012, he averaged 26.0 points and 13.3 rebounds. When Love entered the league, he was regarded as a generational passer with a decent outside shot who had to figure out whether he was a small forward or a power forward. Instead, he's become a stretch 4 who makes 3s (he shot 39 percent in 2011 and 2012) while also somehow managing to be the best rebounder in the league. There aren't any players in the league -- and few in NBA history -- who have combined these disparate skills so successfully. The best part? Like Westbrook, Love is still just 24 years old.
But the noteworthy Howland-era NBA draft products don't stop there. Arron Afflalo has morphed into one of the league's best shooting guards on both ends of the floor (the shooting guard position is in drastic straits in the NBA these days, so that feels like faint praise, but it really isn't -- he's genuinely good). Jrue Holiday struggled in 2013 but has otherwise looked like a very promising young scoring point guard, promising enough to get an adidas deal and an appearance in those weird A$AP ads. In each of his four seasons, Darren Collison has averaged double-digit points and at least five assists. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has turned into a readier player than anyone expected and Trevor Ariza has carved out a nice brand at small forward. Jordan Farmar and Ryan Hollins are ... well, they're in the league. Let's give them that much.
And that's just the Howland-era haul. There is also the matter of Baron Davis, plus the rest of the veteran/glue/specialist guys on the list (Jason Kapono, Earl Watson, Tracy Murray, Greg Foster, even Dan Gadzuric). Put it all together -- recent star power combined with sheer strength in numbers -- and this No. 7 slot feels just about right.
Why they could be ranked higher: I don't think they could, honestly, not above the teams we still have on our list. If you were someone who did think they belonged higher it's probably because you think Davis is underrated at No. 3 here and that he deserves more credit than he is being given. So let's talk about Baron Davis. After two seasons and arguably the greatest behind-the-back fake in the history of college basketball (just Google it, you'll see what I mean), Davis was drafted third overall by the Charlotte Hornets in 1999. In 2002, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.5 assists and 2.1 steals; in 2004, he went for 22.9, 7.5 and 2.4 steals. He was an All-Star both seasons.
In 2005, Davis was traded by the Hornets to the Golden State Warriors for (wait for it) Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton. The 2007 playoffs brought arguably his finest moments as a pro, when Golden State shocked No. 1-seeded Dallas and the reigning MVP in one of the most entertaining upsets in the history of pro hoops. (Mavs fans prepped for a redemptive title run after the brutal 2006 loss to the Dwyane Wade Foul Machine did not find it so entertaining.) That was the same year Davis destroyed Andrei Kirilenko with a one-handed dunk which, again, just Google it.
And then, at 29, with plenty of basketball left in the tank, Davis signed a five-year, $65 million deal with his hometown L.A. Clippers and just ... fell off. Not only did he not play well, he didn't even play hard. The team was always bad (the Elton Brand opt-out just killed it), but Davis was also frequently out of shape, and by the time the team started to get exciting with Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon, he had worn out his welcome. The Clippers had to throw Cleveland a first-round pick (which would eventually become Kyrie Irving) to get Mo Williams and Jamario Moon in return.
Nothing grates on NBA fans (or maybe it's just me) more than wasted potential. At the very least, everyone can work hard, right? In Davis' case, work ethic and clashes with management almost constantly undercut his performance and value around the league. He was talented enough to be Chris Paul before there was a Chris Paul, but he squandered too many valuable years. When he did pop up and flash that talent -- as in 2007 -- it was only more frustrating. Why couldn't Davis do this all the time?
That's why, despite the differences in tenure, I've got Westbrook and Love above Davis. Has either of them had a better individual career than Davis? Not quite yet. But both are almost guaranteed to, and not because they're more talented. Sad, but true.
Why they could be ranked lower: If you are even lower on Davis' career than I am, you could make this argument. You could also argue that for all of UCLA's many picks since 1989, only Love and Westbrook are blue-chippers, and the rest are just mediocre. I don't agree -- there are some solid players in that group, Afflalo, Holiday, Collison and Ariza especially -- and actually, based on where we are in the list right now, I think the Bruins' combination of young players and long-term depth fits in perfectly here.
What’s ahead? Tyler Honeycutt's and Malcolm Lee's decisions to leave UCLA in 2011 were widely panned at the time, and they've panned out about as well as anyone expected. There is a bit more hope for the future, though. Not only are the Bruins' top current players in the league all very young, but Shabazz Muhammad is a likely lottery pick in this year's draft, and his future looks like Cuttino Mobley Part Deux at the bare minimum. Kyle Anderson is a wildly intriguing talent back at UCLA for another season under new coach Steve Alford; if Alford can figure out how to best meld his unique talents, there's no reason he can't play in the league.
Final thoughts: Before 2004, any accounting of UCLA's pro products was bound to be disappointing. Even the best years under Jim Harrick were led by players (the O'Bannons, Tyus Edney) who never panned out in the NBA, and Davis was the only non-role player in the group. But 2004 was the first year under Howland. For everything else his tenure at UCLA will be remembered for -- from the three straight Final Fours to Nelson missing his plane to the Maui Invitational, and all that followed -- Howland should also be remembered for putting a large number of players into the NBA draft, a couple of whom are already among the best of their generation.
1. Conference USA will take 15 of its 16 teams to El Paso now that Florida International has been banned for the 2014 postseason because of a poor APR score. New FIU coach Anthony Evans knew this could occur. CUSA coaches and athletic directors had just recently voted at the league meetings to send all 16 teams to the conference tournament. Teams will now slide up in the tournament seeding based on where FIU finishes. The league will likely only play three games on the first day of the tournament on Tuesday for seeds 10-15. The top four seeds will get a double bye.
2. Providence College coach Ed Cooley said he called as many schools as possible and could not schedule a home-and-home game out of the region. Providence has consistently had issues trying to get games, regardless of who their head coach is. There have been a few series with schools like Alabama and Texas, due to the connection of former coach Rick Barnes. PC also had one with Wichita State. That's why Cooley had to think out of the box with the new 18-game, round-robin Big East schedule. The Friars play Boston College at home, go to UMass (because Cooley said he was convinced the Minutemen would be a high RPI game), play Kentucky at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and have the annual series with Rhode Island (this time in Kingston). They will also play in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, against Vanderbilt and with La Salle as a possibility in the second round (Explorers play Morgan State). Maryland is on the other side of the bracket (with Northern Iowa as another player on that side). The Friars reached the NIT quarterfinals before losing to Baylor. Kris Dunn and Bryce Cotton give the Friars a shot to get back to the postseason and Cooley did a solid job of building a legitimate schedule to make the Friars potentially matter in March.
3. Memphis coach Josh Pastner knew when he took over for John Calipari he had to manage his staff as effectively as he did the team. He hired veteran head coach Willis Wilson. He later added former teammate Luke Walton during the lockout and also hired Damon Stoudamire. Stoudamire left and Pastner went back to his alma mater and hired former teammate Jason Gardner, who had been an assistant at Loyola. Gardner was on the 2001 national runnerup Wildcats and was one of the most competent four-year point guards in the last 14 years. He should immediately help the youthful backcourt for the Tigers. He's a winner and was a tough, rugged point guard. Meanwhile, Missouri coach Frank Haith added former Drake coach Mark Phelps on his staff. That gives Haith another former head coach on his veteran staff to go along with former DePaul and Virginia coach Dave Leitao.
2. Providence College coach Ed Cooley said he called as many schools as possible and could not schedule a home-and-home game out of the region. Providence has consistently had issues trying to get games, regardless of who their head coach is. There have been a few series with schools like Alabama and Texas, due to the connection of former coach Rick Barnes. PC also had one with Wichita State. That's why Cooley had to think out of the box with the new 18-game, round-robin Big East schedule. The Friars play Boston College at home, go to UMass (because Cooley said he was convinced the Minutemen would be a high RPI game), play Kentucky at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and have the annual series with Rhode Island (this time in Kingston). They will also play in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, against Vanderbilt and with La Salle as a possibility in the second round (Explorers play Morgan State). Maryland is on the other side of the bracket (with Northern Iowa as another player on that side). The Friars reached the NIT quarterfinals before losing to Baylor. Kris Dunn and Bryce Cotton give the Friars a shot to get back to the postseason and Cooley did a solid job of building a legitimate schedule to make the Friars potentially matter in March.
3. Memphis coach Josh Pastner knew when he took over for John Calipari he had to manage his staff as effectively as he did the team. He hired veteran head coach Willis Wilson. He later added former teammate Luke Walton during the lockout and also hired Damon Stoudamire. Stoudamire left and Pastner went back to his alma mater and hired former teammate Jason Gardner, who had been an assistant at Loyola. Gardner was on the 2001 national runnerup Wildcats and was one of the most competent four-year point guards in the last 14 years. He should immediately help the youthful backcourt for the Tigers. He's a winner and was a tough, rugged point guard. Meanwhile, Missouri coach Frank Haith added former Drake coach Mark Phelps on his staff. That gives Haith another former head coach on his veteran staff to go along with former DePaul and Virginia coach Dave Leitao.
If Marshall basketball fans are smarting, it's easy to understand why. After a very solid 2011-12 season, and the return of most of the Herd's key contributors, coach Tom Herrion's team looked set to compete for a spot in the NCAA tournament in 2012-13 and possibly even challenge Memphis for Conference USA supremacy. Instead, Marshall fell off the face of the Earth. The Thundering Herd went 13-19, ending with a first-round C-USA loss to Tulane; they finished the season ranked 217th in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted efficiency rankings, all the way down from 79th a season before.
If that wasn't bad enough, this spring DeAndre Kane, the team's star guard, left the program after meeting with Herrion. Herrion's statement at the time -- "After meeting with DeAndre, I have decided it is in our program's and his best interest that he seek opportunities elsewhere," it began -- clearly hinted at a turmoil that couldn't be solved. You don't decide to send your best player away after a 13-19 season unless something is really wrong.
Whether the departure was the fault of Herrion or Kane (or both) has been a subject of much discussion among Marshall fans, which is part of the reason why Kane's farewell letter to Huntington, W.Va., published this weekend in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, is so interesting. Opinion on Kane has always been split, and some blamed him for the poor performance last season; Herrion has always drawn his fair share of critics for failing to bring a talented but frustrating player under his wing.
The other reason why this is interesting is because Kane -- who is transferring to Iowa State for his final year of eligibility this summer -- wrote a genuinely impressive, even moving statement about his time in Huntington and his gratitude for everything he learned there. It is worth a read based entirely on its own merits:
It's really good -- the kind of stuff you hope to hear from someone who has grown from four years at an institution of higher learning. At least from the outside, there have been few indications Kane saw that bigger picture, but he's clearly learned something, and that may make his departure even more difficult for Marshall fans to swallow.
In the meantime, it should be noted that this is now the second time in the past month that the citizens of Huntington have been the addressees of glowing, classy open letters from departing players. The first came in late May, when No. 1-ranked recruit Andrew Wiggins penned a farewell thank you note for the support he was shown during his years at Huntington Prep. There may be some measure of public relations at work here, sure, but I'd prefer to think Huntington is basically the Pawnee, Ind., of West Virginia. Chris Traeger would love this stuff.
[+] Enlarge
Spruce Derden/US PresswireDeAndre Kane displayed class to Marshall supporters after transferring from the program.
Whether the departure was the fault of Herrion or Kane (or both) has been a subject of much discussion among Marshall fans, which is part of the reason why Kane's farewell letter to Huntington, W.Va., published this weekend in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, is so interesting. Opinion on Kane has always been split, and some blamed him for the poor performance last season; Herrion has always drawn his fair share of critics for failing to bring a talented but frustrating player under his wing.
The other reason why this is interesting is because Kane -- who is transferring to Iowa State for his final year of eligibility this summer -- wrote a genuinely impressive, even moving statement about his time in Huntington and his gratitude for everything he learned there. It is worth a read based entirely on its own merits:
Coming from where I come from sometimes the end of the road is high school if you're lucky enough to make it that far and your path could be chosen for you after that. It took a while for me to see that and with the support the city has given me through the ups and downs I appreciate my education experience and struggles that I've learned from here that much more.
I know that things didn't end here the way I wanted them too and I apologize for not leading the team to the NCAA Tournament because this city deserves it. What I do promise though is to bring something back to this community better than a basketball championship -- hope and fun for the kids. Whether I play pro basketball or just become a business man, I'll continue to contribute to the youth in this area once I get my career.
It's really good -- the kind of stuff you hope to hear from someone who has grown from four years at an institution of higher learning. At least from the outside, there have been few indications Kane saw that bigger picture, but he's clearly learned something, and that may make his departure even more difficult for Marshall fans to swallow.
In the meantime, it should be noted that this is now the second time in the past month that the citizens of Huntington have been the addressees of glowing, classy open letters from departing players. The first came in late May, when No. 1-ranked recruit Andrew Wiggins penned a farewell thank you note for the support he was shown during his years at Huntington Prep. There may be some measure of public relations at work here, sure, but I'd prefer to think Huntington is basically the Pawnee, Ind., of West Virginia. Chris Traeger would love this stuff.
In April 2010, when the NCAA chose Mark Emmert to be its fifth executive director, the organization Emmert inherited was beset on all sides by structural and optical challenges.
There were the minor things the NCAA has always dealt with: a laughably byzantine rulebook, the belief that its punishment of cheaters was arbitrary and often (at least to fans) ill-founded, the notion that student-athletes were far more the latter than the former, and so on. But there were greater issues, too. Suddenly, thanks to ruthless competition for TV contracts, a new wave of conference realignment was beginning to remake college athletics. The idea that universities didn't need the NCAA any more for its basketball postseason than it did for football, which the NCAA lost control over in 1984 at the hands of the Supreme Court, was gaining widespread credence.
Even more threatening was the sudden skepticism of amateurism itself. The Ed O'Bannon case was already churning through the court system by then; civil rights historian Taylor Branch exposed the less-than-flattering history of the organization's amateurism credo; and soon everyone from "South Park" to the New York Times was hammering away. Long accepted with little public outcry, the amateur "ideal" -- the NCAA's entire raison d'etre -- was withering under its most intense scrutiny ever.
The stakes were high. There would have to be changes. Emmert knew it, and almost immediately began laying them out. A streamlined rule book. More enforcement staff with smarter rules and clearer results. An increased emphasis on Academic Progress Rate. Perhaps most radically: A cost-of-living stipend for athletes -- $2,000 or so a year -- to cover expenses that don't fall under the strict scholarship guidelines. The stodgy old NCAA wouldn't go into the 21st century without a strong push, and Emmert, the public face of the membership, was willing to deliver that message.
Three years later, it may be too late.
Two weeks ago, Yahoo!'s Pat Forde detailed how withered and depleted the NCAA enforcement staff had become in the wake of mishandled investigations at Miami and (to a lesser extent) UCLA, and how the sudden exodus had created something like an open season for cheaters. That was bad enough, but last week it got worse: SI's Pete Thamel and Alexander Wolff examined at length the botched Nevin Shaprio case at Miami, and Thamel followed that up with more detail about the state of the Indianapolis office over which Emmert presides. It's not a pretty picture:
After a wave of departures, the enforcement staff has dwindled to the point where just two staffers have experience on football or basketball cases. Thamel details a corrosive office environment in which staffers felt sold out by Emmert's response to the Miami disaster (Emmert acted shocked upon hearing the news, despite it having been known inside the NCAA office for months, and then scapegoated Julie Roe Lach, a widely respected and deeply experienced staffer). That's bad enough, because there aren't all that many people in the world both willing and capable to be an NCAA cream-cheese cop. The enforcement effort -- such a key part of Emmert's reform agenda -- is in shambles.
Far worse, though, is the impression both inside the NCAA offices and among membership that Emmert is hefty on flash and paper-thin on substance:
And then there's this:
Yep: That's a college administrator already predicting Emmert's eventual departure from NCAA leadership. How much longer until he is considered a lame duck? Are we there now?
To be fair, not all of Emmert's struggles have been his own doing. His stipend push serves as a good example: After garnering widespread support among major conference commissioners like Jim Delany and sounding like common sense to pretty much everyone else, the proposal died on the vine, voted into oblivion by hundreds of small schools worried about adding more liabilities to their athletic department balance sheets. Reforms are always hard to pipe through the NCAA's circuitous bureaucratic veins, but the speed with which this tentpole was torn down, and the relative lack of movement in the wake of that defeat, showcased just how difficult it really is to get the NCAA's membership to change.
But along with the enforcement debacle, it showed something much simpler: There is a difference between saying something and doing it. That is the fundamental disconnect of the Emmert tenure. For all of the press availabilities -- like April's hilariously overwrought Final Four performance -- there has been a massive gulf between what Emmert has promised and what he has accomplished. He set out to make NCAA enforcement the real deal. Instead, the staff is gutted. His tenure began with a historic chance at reform in the face of massive structural threats to college athletics as we know it. Instead, very little has changed.
Now dozens of former staffers are making fun of his PowerPoint presentations to the press, and the rest of us are searching for accomplishments to match the defiant rhetoric. How much longer can this go on?
There were the minor things the NCAA has always dealt with: a laughably byzantine rulebook, the belief that its punishment of cheaters was arbitrary and often (at least to fans) ill-founded, the notion that student-athletes were far more the latter than the former, and so on. But there were greater issues, too. Suddenly, thanks to ruthless competition for TV contracts, a new wave of conference realignment was beginning to remake college athletics. The idea that universities didn't need the NCAA any more for its basketball postseason than it did for football, which the NCAA lost control over in 1984 at the hands of the Supreme Court, was gaining widespread credence.
Even more threatening was the sudden skepticism of amateurism itself. The Ed O'Bannon case was already churning through the court system by then; civil rights historian Taylor Branch exposed the less-than-flattering history of the organization's amateurism credo; and soon everyone from "South Park" to the New York Times was hammering away. Long accepted with little public outcry, the amateur "ideal" -- the NCAA's entire raison d'etre -- was withering under its most intense scrutiny ever.
[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/David J. PhillipNCAA president Mark Emmert has recently seen his enforcement staff alarmingly dwindle.
Three years later, it may be too late.
Two weeks ago, Yahoo!'s Pat Forde detailed how withered and depleted the NCAA enforcement staff had become in the wake of mishandled investigations at Miami and (to a lesser extent) UCLA, and how the sudden exodus had created something like an open season for cheaters. That was bad enough, but last week it got worse: SI's Pete Thamel and Alexander Wolff examined at length the botched Nevin Shaprio case at Miami, and Thamel followed that up with more detail about the state of the Indianapolis office over which Emmert presides. It's not a pretty picture:
SI spoke with more than 20 current or former NCAA employees about the troubles of the NCAA enforcement staff for a lengthy story in this week's Sports Illustrated. A portrait emerged of a department battered by turnover, afraid of lawsuits and overwhelmed by scandal. One ex-enforcement official told SI, "The time is ripe to cheat. There's no policing going on."
After a wave of departures, the enforcement staff has dwindled to the point where just two staffers have experience on football or basketball cases. Thamel details a corrosive office environment in which staffers felt sold out by Emmert's response to the Miami disaster (Emmert acted shocked upon hearing the news, despite it having been known inside the NCAA office for months, and then scapegoated Julie Roe Lach, a widely respected and deeply experienced staffer). That's bad enough, because there aren't all that many people in the world both willing and capable to be an NCAA cream-cheese cop. The enforcement effort -- such a key part of Emmert's reform agenda -- is in shambles.
Far worse, though, is the impression both inside the NCAA offices and among membership that Emmert is hefty on flash and paper-thin on substance:
In many interviews with NCAA officials about enforcement, the topic quickly shifted back to the leadership of Emmert, who is known internally at the NCAA as the "King Of The Press Conference." That's not a compliment.
And then there's this:
As the NCAA moves forward, the reality of Emmert's future is tricky. "When you get to the position Mark is in right now," said another college administrator, "it's how and when you are leaving, not if."
Yep: That's a college administrator already predicting Emmert's eventual departure from NCAA leadership. How much longer until he is considered a lame duck? Are we there now?
To be fair, not all of Emmert's struggles have been his own doing. His stipend push serves as a good example: After garnering widespread support among major conference commissioners like Jim Delany and sounding like common sense to pretty much everyone else, the proposal died on the vine, voted into oblivion by hundreds of small schools worried about adding more liabilities to their athletic department balance sheets. Reforms are always hard to pipe through the NCAA's circuitous bureaucratic veins, but the speed with which this tentpole was torn down, and the relative lack of movement in the wake of that defeat, showcased just how difficult it really is to get the NCAA's membership to change.
But along with the enforcement debacle, it showed something much simpler: There is a difference between saying something and doing it. That is the fundamental disconnect of the Emmert tenure. For all of the press availabilities -- like April's hilariously overwrought Final Four performance -- there has been a massive gulf between what Emmert has promised and what he has accomplished. He set out to make NCAA enforcement the real deal. Instead, the staff is gutted. His tenure began with a historic chance at reform in the face of massive structural threats to college athletics as we know it. Instead, very little has changed.
Now dozens of former staffers are making fun of his PowerPoint presentations to the press, and the rest of us are searching for accomplishments to match the defiant rhetoric. How much longer can this go on?
Path to the Draft: Top 10 from the Big Ten
June, 17, 2013
Jun 17
11:00
AM ET
By
Jason King | ESPN.com
The Big Ten ranks last among the six power conferences in active NBA players (25) and first-round NBA draft picks (28) since 2000 -- the last year a Big Ten team won an NCAA title.
Still, a large chunk of Big Ten standouts who have entered the professional ranks have fared quite well.
Here’s a look at the 10 Big Ten products who have enjoyed the most successful pro careers since 1989, the year the NBA draft was whittled down to two rounds.
1. Chris Webber, Michigan: Webber played 14 full seasons in the NBA and averaged more than 17 points in all but one of them. For his career, he averaged 20.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest, earning first-team All-NBA honors after scoring 27.1 points and grabbing 11.1 rebounds in 2000-01. Webber, who led Michigan to the NCAA title game in 1992 and 1993, was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft and went on to earn NBA Rookie of the Year honors. A five-time All-Star, Webber retired in 2008.
2. Deron Williams, Illinois: Currently one of the NBA’s top point guards, Williams has averaged a double-double in four of his seven NBA seasons and boasts career marks of 17.8 points and nine assists per contest. His numbers are even more impressive in the postseason, when he has stepped up to average 21 points and 9.4 assists in 51 playoff games with Utah and Brooklyn. Williams has been on three All-Star squads and was named second-team all-league in 2008 and 2010. He also was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic squad that won a gold medal.
3. Zach Randolph, Michigan State: With career averages of 17.2 points and 9.3 rebounds, Randolph is currently one of the top power forwards in the NBA. This season, he led Memphis to the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history. Randolph was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2004 and was named third-team All-NBA in 2011. Randolph has averaged a double-double in seven of his 11 NBA seasons, and he’s averaged more than 20 points five times. In his one season at Michigan State in 2000-01, Randolph led the Spartans to the Final Four.
4. Glenn Robinson, Purdue: In his junior year at Purdue, “The Big Dog” averaged 30.3 points and 11.2 rebounds, making him the first Big Ten player since 1978 to lead the league in both categories. The No. 1 pick in the 1994 NBA draft averaged 20.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in 11 NBA seasons. He made the All-Star team in 2000 and 2001 and made four playoff appearances with Milwaukee (three times) and San Antonio (once). Robinson’s best year came in 1997-98 when he averaged 23.4 points for the Bucks. He played his last NBA game in 2005.
5. Glen Rice, Michigan: By the time he retired in 2004, Rice had played 846 games for six teams in 15 NBA seasons. The forward averaged 18.9 points during that span and shot 85 percent from the foul stripe. The fourth overall pick in the 1989 draft played in three All-Star games and earned the game's MVP honors in 1997 -- the same year that he was named second-team All-NBA. That was also the year Rice averaged a career-high 26.8 points. Known for his long-range prowess, Rice was a 40 percent career 3-point shooter.
6. Michael Redd, Ohio State: After proving himself against top players such as Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson in practice, Redd became a star for the Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged more than 21 points for six straight seasons (2003-2009) and was a third-team all-league selection in 2004. Redd also was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. He’s currently the NBA record holder for 3-pointers made in one quarter (eight). Redd averaged 19 points in 12 NBA seasons.
7. Juwan Howard, Michigan: Howard has had the longest career of any member of “The Fab Five.” He’s played in 1,257 games in 18 NBA seasons and boasts career averages of 13.4 points and 6.1 rebounds. Howard’s best season came in 1995-96 when he averaged 22.2 points and 8.1 boards. Following that season, he was named third-team All-NBA. Last season, as a seldom-used reserve, he earned an NBA title as a member of the Miami Heat.
8. Jason Richardson, Michigan State: The current Philadelphia 76er has posted a double-digit scoring average in each of his 12 NBA seasons. His best year came in 2005-06 when he scored 23.2 points a game for Golden State. Richardson is averaging 17.3 points for his career and 17.1 points in the playoffs. Known as one of the NBA’s top high-flyers, Richardson won the NBA Slam Dunk title in 2002 and 2003. Richardson was the fifth overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft.
9. Michael Finley, Wisconsin: A small forward, Finley averaged 15.7 points during his 15 NBA seasons. Nine of those were spent with the Dallas Mavericks, including his best season in 1999-2000 when posted career highs in both scoring (22.6) and rebounding (6.3). Finley was selected to the NBA All-Star team in 2000 and 2001, and he won an NBA title in 2007 as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 11.2 points in the playoffs that season. Finley retired in 2010.
10. Steve Smith, Michigan State: The standout guard averaged 14.3 points in 14 NBA seasons, including 20.1 points in both 1996-97 and 1997-98. He was strong in the postseason, where he averaged 14.9 points in 90 games. Smith played in the 1998 All-Star game and was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. He won an NBA title with the Spurs in 2003, though he received little playing time that season. He is one of just three players in league history to drain seven 3-pointers in a single quarter.
Ten more notables: All of these players have excelled in the NBA, including a few who almost cracked the top 10 and/or could be there soon (names in alphabetical order).
Nick Anderson, Illinois
Mike Conley, Ohio State
Jamal Crawford, Michigan
Ricky Davis, Iowa
Kendall Gill, Illinois
Eric Gordon, Indiana
Devin Harris, Wisconsin
Jim Jackson, Ohio State
Brad Miller, Purdue
Jalen Rose, Michigan
Too soon to tell: These guys haven’t been in the league long enough to make the top 10, but all appear to have bright futures (names in alphabetical order).
Draymond Green, Michigan State
Meyers Leonard, Illinois
E’Twaun Moore, Purdue
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Evan Turner, Ohio State
*Note: Of the 25 names on these lists, five are from Michigan, five are from Ohio State, four are from Illinois, four are from Michigan State, three are from Purdue and two are from Wisconsin. Indiana and Iowa boast one player each.
Still, a large chunk of Big Ten standouts who have entered the professional ranks have fared quite well.
Here’s a look at the 10 Big Ten products who have enjoyed the most successful pro careers since 1989, the year the NBA draft was whittled down to two rounds.
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US PresswireEx-Michigan star Chris Webber used his power around the rim to average over 20 points per game in his 14-year NBA career.
2. Deron Williams, Illinois: Currently one of the NBA’s top point guards, Williams has averaged a double-double in four of his seven NBA seasons and boasts career marks of 17.8 points and nine assists per contest. His numbers are even more impressive in the postseason, when he has stepped up to average 21 points and 9.4 assists in 51 playoff games with Utah and Brooklyn. Williams has been on three All-Star squads and was named second-team all-league in 2008 and 2010. He also was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic squad that won a gold medal.
3. Zach Randolph, Michigan State: With career averages of 17.2 points and 9.3 rebounds, Randolph is currently one of the top power forwards in the NBA. This season, he led Memphis to the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history. Randolph was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2004 and was named third-team All-NBA in 2011. Randolph has averaged a double-double in seven of his 11 NBA seasons, and he’s averaged more than 20 points five times. In his one season at Michigan State in 2000-01, Randolph led the Spartans to the Final Four.
4. Glenn Robinson, Purdue: In his junior year at Purdue, “The Big Dog” averaged 30.3 points and 11.2 rebounds, making him the first Big Ten player since 1978 to lead the league in both categories. The No. 1 pick in the 1994 NBA draft averaged 20.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in 11 NBA seasons. He made the All-Star team in 2000 and 2001 and made four playoff appearances with Milwaukee (three times) and San Antonio (once). Robinson’s best year came in 1997-98 when he averaged 23.4 points for the Bucks. He played his last NBA game in 2005.
5. Glen Rice, Michigan: By the time he retired in 2004, Rice had played 846 games for six teams in 15 NBA seasons. The forward averaged 18.9 points during that span and shot 85 percent from the foul stripe. The fourth overall pick in the 1989 draft played in three All-Star games and earned the game's MVP honors in 1997 -- the same year that he was named second-team All-NBA. That was also the year Rice averaged a career-high 26.8 points. Known for his long-range prowess, Rice was a 40 percent career 3-point shooter.
6. Michael Redd, Ohio State: After proving himself against top players such as Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson in practice, Redd became a star for the Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged more than 21 points for six straight seasons (2003-2009) and was a third-team all-league selection in 2004. Redd also was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. He’s currently the NBA record holder for 3-pointers made in one quarter (eight). Redd averaged 19 points in 12 NBA seasons.
7. Juwan Howard, Michigan: Howard has had the longest career of any member of “The Fab Five.” He’s played in 1,257 games in 18 NBA seasons and boasts career averages of 13.4 points and 6.1 rebounds. Howard’s best season came in 1995-96 when he averaged 22.2 points and 8.1 boards. Following that season, he was named third-team All-NBA. Last season, as a seldom-used reserve, he earned an NBA title as a member of the Miami Heat.
8. Jason Richardson, Michigan State: The current Philadelphia 76er has posted a double-digit scoring average in each of his 12 NBA seasons. His best year came in 2005-06 when he scored 23.2 points a game for Golden State. Richardson is averaging 17.3 points for his career and 17.1 points in the playoffs. Known as one of the NBA’s top high-flyers, Richardson won the NBA Slam Dunk title in 2002 and 2003. Richardson was the fifth overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft.
9. Michael Finley, Wisconsin: A small forward, Finley averaged 15.7 points during his 15 NBA seasons. Nine of those were spent with the Dallas Mavericks, including his best season in 1999-2000 when posted career highs in both scoring (22.6) and rebounding (6.3). Finley was selected to the NBA All-Star team in 2000 and 2001, and he won an NBA title in 2007 as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 11.2 points in the playoffs that season. Finley retired in 2010.
10. Steve Smith, Michigan State: The standout guard averaged 14.3 points in 14 NBA seasons, including 20.1 points in both 1996-97 and 1997-98. He was strong in the postseason, where he averaged 14.9 points in 90 games. Smith played in the 1998 All-Star game and was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. He won an NBA title with the Spurs in 2003, though he received little playing time that season. He is one of just three players in league history to drain seven 3-pointers in a single quarter.
Ten more notables: All of these players have excelled in the NBA, including a few who almost cracked the top 10 and/or could be there soon (names in alphabetical order).
Nick Anderson, Illinois
Mike Conley, Ohio State
Jamal Crawford, Michigan
Ricky Davis, Iowa
Kendall Gill, Illinois
Eric Gordon, Indiana
Devin Harris, Wisconsin
Jim Jackson, Ohio State
Brad Miller, Purdue
Jalen Rose, Michigan
Too soon to tell: These guys haven’t been in the league long enough to make the top 10, but all appear to have bright futures (names in alphabetical order).
Draymond Green, Michigan State
Meyers Leonard, Illinois
E’Twaun Moore, Purdue
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Evan Turner, Ohio State
*Note: Of the 25 names on these lists, five are from Michigan, five are from Ohio State, four are from Illinois, four are from Michigan State, three are from Purdue and two are from Wisconsin. Indiana and Iowa boast one player each.
In the weeks leading up to the June 27 NBA draft, we’ll be taking a look at the 20 schools that have produced the best pros in the modern draft era (since 1989, when the draft went from seven to two rounds). Click here to read Eamonn Brennan’s explanation of the series, which will be featured in the Nation blog each morning as we count down the programs from 20 to 1.
Top five NBA draftees since 1989
The rest: Darius Morris, Manny Harris, Ekpe Udoh, Courtney Sims, Chris Hunter, Bernard Robinson, Robert Traylor, Maceo Baston, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Jimmy King, Eric Riley, Demetrius Calip, Terry Mills, Loy Vaught, Rumeal Robinson, Sean Higgins
Why they’re ranked where they are: By the early 1990s, hip-hop had permeated all facets of American society. It was apparent then that the music had gone beyond the audio element and evolved into a burgeoning culture that enveloped the songs that defined the genre.
Within this new domain, athletes became expressions of the art.
Enter the Fab Five.
The baggy shorts, the high-top fades and the overall swagger personified the music. It all magnified their arrival.
Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King reached back-to-back national championship games in 1992 and 1993. But they fell short of the immense hype, in the eyes of some, because they didn’t win a title.
The NBA legacy of this group -- and Michigan as a whole -- is also criticized because the quintet did not make the splash many had anticipated when they all left the program.
Jackson never earned a spot on an NBA roster. King played just 64 games at the next level. Rose, Webber and Howard all had impressive NBA careers. But there is not one first-ballot Hall of Famer among them.
That general assessment of the Fab Five’s (and Michigan’s) NBA success masks this reality: The Wolverines have produced one of the most talented collections of pros since the 1989 draft, the cutoff for our “Path to the Draft” rankings.
Sure, King and Jackson couldn’t match their teammates.
But Rose pushed the Indiana Pacers to the 2000 NBA Finals and averaged 25.0 PPG during that series against the Los Angeles Lakers. He also put together this four-season stretch that somehow failed to warrant one All-Star appearance for the Detroit native: 18.2 PPG, 4.0 APG, 4.8 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 39.3 percent from the 3-point line in 1999-2000; 20.3 PPG, 6.0 APG, 5.0 RPG in 2000-2001; 20.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, 36.2 from the 3-point line in 2001-02; 22.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.8 APG and 37 percent from the 3-point line in 2002-03. Rose hit more than 80 percent of his free throws during that stretch, too.
Howard, somehow, is still on a pro roster. Yes, he’s the grizzly veteran who seems to play a fatherly role for the Miami Heat more than anything else. It’s not easy to play 18 seasons in the NBA, though. Howard has just one All-Star appearance on his résumé. But he’s averaged 13.4 PPG and 6.1 RPG throughout his career (and shot 47 percent) and was a legit star in the 1990s with Washington.
And then there’s Webber, who some consider a future Hall of Famer. He doesn’t have a title, but the former NBA rookie of the year (1994) was a five-time All-Star.
He never quite achieved “best power forward in the game” status because Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone and others were all making their cases for that title during his tenure. But let’s reconsider C-Webb’s numbers: 20.7 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.4 BPG, 48 percent from the field over a 15-year NBA career. Wow.
Webber is arguably the best the player that the Big Ten has produced since 1989. And he was definitely one of the best power forwards in the NBA when he played. The only guys you’d want over Webber -- in his prime -- were perennial All-Stars and future Hall of Famers.
Rose, Webber and Howard have enough street cred to place Michigan in the top-20 conversation.
But there’s also Glen Rice, the sharpshooter who led the program to the 1989 national title. The three-time NBA All-Star hit 40.4 percent of his 3-pointers over his 15-year career. He also averaged 18.8 PPG and hit 85 percent of his free throws. Plus, he won a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.
Jamal Crawford, the 2010 sixth man of the year, averaged 16.5 PPG for the Los Angeles Clippers this season. For the last 12 seasons, Crawford has been a critical player for multiple teams. Mo Taylor had a few big years with the Clippers. Terry Mills hit 38 percent of his 3-pointers over 11 years. Loy Vaught was a beast for a short time with the Clippers in the mid-1990s.
Michigan stands at No. 8 in our “Path to the Draft” rankings because the Wolverines have produced substantive pros who’ve played for 10 or more years in the league.
The Wolverines have one of the most balanced nucleuses among our top 20. Michigan is responsible for a variety of fruitful careers.
The players mentioned throughout our rankings prove that it’s far easier to get into the NBA than it is to stay there. Michigan’s best pros -- the school has produced 22 overall since 1989 -- enjoyed lengthy terms in the NBA. That’s why we’ve given them so much credit.
Why they could be ranked higher: The longevity within this group is impressive. That would be the top criteria to elevate Michigan. Vaught, Taylor and Mills all played for more than a decade in the NBA. The top five were all high-level starters in the league.
We’ve listed other programs that produced more pros. But most of their draftees missed the five-year mark. Production, longevity and overall impact have all been considered throughout these subjective rankings. Michigan has all three.
Why they could be ranked lower: Well, Michigan hasn’t sent many prospects to the NBA over the past decade-plus. That’s a serious drought. The Wolverines are ranked over programs that established strong NBA legacies based on what they accomplished in the past and what they can accomplish in the future with current players in the NBA and other prospects in the pipeline.
Michigan is relying on the past because that’s really all it has to justify its placement in our rankings. Its current rocky stretch might demand a lower ranking. You can’t earn credit for “production” if you’re not consistently “producing,” right?
What’s ahead? The good news is that the future seems bright. Trey Burke, the Wooden Award winner in 2012-13, might crack the top five in this summer’s NBA draft. He has the talent to excel at the next level for many years. Tim Hardaway Jr. could be a first-round pick, too.
And Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary could ultimately crack the lottery in the 2014 NBA draft. Both players had pro potential last season but opted to return to school for another season. John Beilein’s program could give the school’s overall NBA legacy a push in the coming years.
Final thoughts: The Fab Five was a polarizing group. And I think the mixed reviews of its overall impact have fueled negative commentary about the group’s -- and the school’s -- ability to develop future pros. Again, that’s not a fair assessment. First, it neglects the other pros Michigan has produced over the last 20-plus years. And it misjudges the collective careers of three players (Howard, Rose and Webber). The latter trio was far above average. Add Rice, Crawford and a few guys who were standouts for stretches and it’s easy to see why Michigan is No. 8 in our rankings.
Top five NBA draftees since 1989
- Chris Webber (1993)
- Glen Rice (1989)
- Juwan Howard (1994)
- Jamal Crawford (2000)
- Jalen Rose (1994)
The rest: Darius Morris, Manny Harris, Ekpe Udoh, Courtney Sims, Chris Hunter, Bernard Robinson, Robert Traylor, Maceo Baston, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Jimmy King, Eric Riley, Demetrius Calip, Terry Mills, Loy Vaught, Rumeal Robinson, Sean Higgins
[+] Enlarge
AP PhotoMichigan's players have had some success at the NBA level.
Within this new domain, athletes became expressions of the art.
Enter the Fab Five.
The baggy shorts, the high-top fades and the overall swagger personified the music. It all magnified their arrival.
Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King reached back-to-back national championship games in 1992 and 1993. But they fell short of the immense hype, in the eyes of some, because they didn’t win a title.
The NBA legacy of this group -- and Michigan as a whole -- is also criticized because the quintet did not make the splash many had anticipated when they all left the program.
Jackson never earned a spot on an NBA roster. King played just 64 games at the next level. Rose, Webber and Howard all had impressive NBA careers. But there is not one first-ballot Hall of Famer among them.
That general assessment of the Fab Five’s (and Michigan’s) NBA success masks this reality: The Wolverines have produced one of the most talented collections of pros since the 1989 draft, the cutoff for our “Path to the Draft” rankings.
Sure, King and Jackson couldn’t match their teammates.
But Rose pushed the Indiana Pacers to the 2000 NBA Finals and averaged 25.0 PPG during that series against the Los Angeles Lakers. He also put together this four-season stretch that somehow failed to warrant one All-Star appearance for the Detroit native: 18.2 PPG, 4.0 APG, 4.8 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 39.3 percent from the 3-point line in 1999-2000; 20.3 PPG, 6.0 APG, 5.0 RPG in 2000-2001; 20.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, 36.2 from the 3-point line in 2001-02; 22.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.8 APG and 37 percent from the 3-point line in 2002-03. Rose hit more than 80 percent of his free throws during that stretch, too.
Howard, somehow, is still on a pro roster. Yes, he’s the grizzly veteran who seems to play a fatherly role for the Miami Heat more than anything else. It’s not easy to play 18 seasons in the NBA, though. Howard has just one All-Star appearance on his résumé. But he’s averaged 13.4 PPG and 6.1 RPG throughout his career (and shot 47 percent) and was a legit star in the 1990s with Washington.
And then there’s Webber, who some consider a future Hall of Famer. He doesn’t have a title, but the former NBA rookie of the year (1994) was a five-time All-Star.
He never quite achieved “best power forward in the game” status because Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone and others were all making their cases for that title during his tenure. But let’s reconsider C-Webb’s numbers: 20.7 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.4 BPG, 48 percent from the field over a 15-year NBA career. Wow.
Webber is arguably the best the player that the Big Ten has produced since 1989. And he was definitely one of the best power forwards in the NBA when he played. The only guys you’d want over Webber -- in his prime -- were perennial All-Stars and future Hall of Famers.
Rose, Webber and Howard have enough street cred to place Michigan in the top-20 conversation.
But there’s also Glen Rice, the sharpshooter who led the program to the 1989 national title. The three-time NBA All-Star hit 40.4 percent of his 3-pointers over his 15-year career. He also averaged 18.8 PPG and hit 85 percent of his free throws. Plus, he won a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.
Jamal Crawford, the 2010 sixth man of the year, averaged 16.5 PPG for the Los Angeles Clippers this season. For the last 12 seasons, Crawford has been a critical player for multiple teams. Mo Taylor had a few big years with the Clippers. Terry Mills hit 38 percent of his 3-pointers over 11 years. Loy Vaught was a beast for a short time with the Clippers in the mid-1990s.
Michigan stands at No. 8 in our “Path to the Draft” rankings because the Wolverines have produced substantive pros who’ve played for 10 or more years in the league.
The Wolverines have one of the most balanced nucleuses among our top 20. Michigan is responsible for a variety of fruitful careers.
The players mentioned throughout our rankings prove that it’s far easier to get into the NBA than it is to stay there. Michigan’s best pros -- the school has produced 22 overall since 1989 -- enjoyed lengthy terms in the NBA. That’s why we’ve given them so much credit.
Why they could be ranked higher: The longevity within this group is impressive. That would be the top criteria to elevate Michigan. Vaught, Taylor and Mills all played for more than a decade in the NBA. The top five were all high-level starters in the league.
We’ve listed other programs that produced more pros. But most of their draftees missed the five-year mark. Production, longevity and overall impact have all been considered throughout these subjective rankings. Michigan has all three.
Why they could be ranked lower: Well, Michigan hasn’t sent many prospects to the NBA over the past decade-plus. That’s a serious drought. The Wolverines are ranked over programs that established strong NBA legacies based on what they accomplished in the past and what they can accomplish in the future with current players in the NBA and other prospects in the pipeline.
Michigan is relying on the past because that’s really all it has to justify its placement in our rankings. Its current rocky stretch might demand a lower ranking. You can’t earn credit for “production” if you’re not consistently “producing,” right?
What’s ahead? The good news is that the future seems bright. Trey Burke, the Wooden Award winner in 2012-13, might crack the top five in this summer’s NBA draft. He has the talent to excel at the next level for many years. Tim Hardaway Jr. could be a first-round pick, too.
And Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary could ultimately crack the lottery in the 2014 NBA draft. Both players had pro potential last season but opted to return to school for another season. John Beilein’s program could give the school’s overall NBA legacy a push in the coming years.
Final thoughts: The Fab Five was a polarizing group. And I think the mixed reviews of its overall impact have fueled negative commentary about the group’s -- and the school’s -- ability to develop future pros. Again, that’s not a fair assessment. First, it neglects the other pros Michigan has produced over the last 20-plus years. And it misjudges the collective careers of three players (Howard, Rose and Webber). The latter trio was far above average. Add Rice, Crawford and a few guys who were standouts for stretches and it’s easy to see why Michigan is No. 8 in our rankings.
1. Marcus Georges-Hunt led Georgia Tech in scoring last season as the only player in double figures. The Yellow Jackets, on a long climb back to relevance, finished 6-12 in the ACC, 16-15 overall. But Georgia Tech, along with Arizona, had multiple players trying out for the U-19 USA team that will play for gold in the Czech Republic next week at the FIBA Championships. Georges-Hunt made the cut list of 16, down from 26 (Tech's Robert Carter didn't make the first trim). He's trying to stay on the roster before the team leaves when it is trimmed to 12. The significance for Tech to have the 6-foot-6 Georges-Hunt this far is not lost on the Yellow Jackets. "This is great for our rebuilding process that we had two freshmen from our first recruiting class invited," said Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory. "If Marcus could make the team, I think it could act as a spring board to a tremendous sophomore year. He is a very unselfish and team-oriented player, which is great. But we need him to be more aggressive and more assertive. Making the team would give him the confidence to do that. Finally, it would be big in our recruiting. Marcus was not a top-25 recruit, so his development at Georgia Tech in one year would be a selling point in our recruiting."
2. Oregon guard Damyean Dotson also made the list of 16 (see here for the roster information). Dotson is one of the main reasons there is a slew of optimism with the Ducks heading into next season. "Dot is so talented, works hard and competes so our expectations are high," said Oregon coach Dana Altman. "He is coachable and it would be a great experience for him to make the team. Sure hope it works out for him." The team will practice this week in Colorado Springs before a weekend of playing in Washington, D.C., in advance of the departure for Prague.
3. A few quick things from the past couple of days: As soon as Jerome Seagears told Auburn he wasn't going to stay after transferring, the odds-on favorite destination was a return to Rutgers. Auburn coach Tony Barbee said Seagears told him he needed to be closer to home. Well, Seagears' return is yet another sign the healing has begun at Rutgers with alumnus Eddie Jordan. The Scarlet Knights had their share of defections. To bring back a player who originally left after the Mike Rice debacle is symbolic of the potential return to normalcy for the Scarlet Knights. ... Oregon State unveiled its men's and women's practice facility last week. The cost was $15 million (of which $11 million was fund-raised). These facilities are a must to advance at the high level of recruiting in basketball. The majority of schools already have a separate area to practice. Oregon State, which is clearly the understudy to Oregon in the Nike chain in the state, has had to scrap for everything. This is a significant move forward for the two Beavers' programs.
2. Oregon guard Damyean Dotson also made the list of 16 (see here for the roster information). Dotson is one of the main reasons there is a slew of optimism with the Ducks heading into next season. "Dot is so talented, works hard and competes so our expectations are high," said Oregon coach Dana Altman. "He is coachable and it would be a great experience for him to make the team. Sure hope it works out for him." The team will practice this week in Colorado Springs before a weekend of playing in Washington, D.C., in advance of the departure for Prague.
3. A few quick things from the past couple of days: As soon as Jerome Seagears told Auburn he wasn't going to stay after transferring, the odds-on favorite destination was a return to Rutgers. Auburn coach Tony Barbee said Seagears told him he needed to be closer to home. Well, Seagears' return is yet another sign the healing has begun at Rutgers with alumnus Eddie Jordan. The Scarlet Knights had their share of defections. To bring back a player who originally left after the Mike Rice debacle is symbolic of the potential return to normalcy for the Scarlet Knights. ... Oregon State unveiled its men's and women's practice facility last week. The cost was $15 million (of which $11 million was fund-raised). These facilities are a must to advance at the high level of recruiting in basketball. The majority of schools already have a separate area to practice. Oregon State, which is clearly the understudy to Oregon in the Nike chain in the state, has had to scrap for everything. This is a significant move forward for the two Beavers' programs.
Today, the new Superman movie “Man of Steel” will make its debut in theaters around the world. I haven’t seen it yet (no spoilers, please), but we all know the story.
Homeboy in spandex and a red cape saves the day, and everyone goes home happy.
The NCAA is a bit like Superman for college sports. When there is a problem, a pressing issue, the Indianapolis-based organization flies to the scene of the disturbance and solves any ills that threaten the landscape of collegiate athletics.
In its latest noble effort, the NCAA has decided to deny the appeal of Old Dominion’s Donte Hill, who requested an extra year of eligibility to compete during the 2013-14 season. The heroic NCAA, however, rejected his request.
His crime? He played eight minutes of a closed scrimmage in 2010 before announcing his decision to transfer from Clemson a few days later. Hill, a 6-4 guard who averaged 8.2 PPG and 4.0 RPG for an Old Dominion squad that finished 5-25 overall last season, requested a waiver to play a fourth year (he sat out during the 2010-11 season).
But the NCAA’s brilliant minds chose to uphold their bylaws, according to the Virginian Pilot’s Ed Miller and Harry Minium:
Just like that. Career. Over.
No explanation necessary.
This is the NCAA.
As Yahoo’s Jeff Eisenberg notes, the NCAA has been lenient in other cases.
The NCAA is hot and cold when it comes to rulings. Former Missouri guard Michael Dixon hopes to play next season for Memphis after missing a year of competition because of a sexual assault investigation. Dez Wells, who dealt with a similar situation at Xavier, was allowed to compete immediately for Maryland last season after he left his former program.
Dixon and Wells were not charged in their respective cases.
But their situations were far more serious than Hill’s scenario.
He played in a closed scrimmage for eight minutes. And now, he can’t play next season, which should be his senior campaign.
It just doesn’t make sense.
But that’s the norm with the NCAA.
Homeboy in spandex and a red cape saves the day, and everyone goes home happy.
The NCAA is a bit like Superman for college sports. When there is a problem, a pressing issue, the Indianapolis-based organization flies to the scene of the disturbance and solves any ills that threaten the landscape of collegiate athletics.
[+] Enlarge
Gary Brittain/ Icon SMIOld Dominion's Donte Hill was denied an extra year of eligibility because he played eight minutes of a closed scrimmage in 2010 while with Clemson.
His crime? He played eight minutes of a closed scrimmage in 2010 before announcing his decision to transfer from Clemson a few days later. Hill, a 6-4 guard who averaged 8.2 PPG and 4.0 RPG for an Old Dominion squad that finished 5-25 overall last season, requested a waiver to play a fourth year (he sat out during the 2010-11 season).
But the NCAA’s brilliant minds chose to uphold their bylaws, according to the Virginian Pilot’s Ed Miller and Harry Minium:
Where does an eight-minute stint in a closed basketball scrimmage count as an entire season of competition?
Unfortunately for Old Dominion's Donte Hill, in the NCAA rule book.
Sticking to the letter of that bylaw, the NCAA on Thursday denied an appeal by ODU to restore a final season of eligibility for Hill, a co-captain who led the Monarchs in minutes played last season.
The ruling means that the career of the 6-foot-4 Norfolk Collegiate graduate is over.
"It's just a shame," coach Jeff Jones said. "I understand the rule is the rule. Unfortunately, Donte is the one who pays the price."
The issue stemmed from a closed scrimmage Hill played in for Clemson in 2010, days before announcing that he was transferring. An NCAA bylaw states that "any competition, regardless of time, during a season in an intercollegiate sport shall be counted as a season of competition in that sport."
An exception is made for players in their first year in school. Hill, however, was in his second year at Clemson.
ODU coaches were aware Hill had played in the scrimmage when he transferred but apparently were counting on receiving a waiver. After sitting out a season as a transfer, Hill was classified by ODU as a sophomore in 2011-12 and a junior last season. No mention was made of a potential eligibility problem.
Jones said he became aware of the issue after he took over for Blaine Taylor as coach in April.
"It's just unfortunate," he said. "I feel really bad for Donte. As I told him this morning, I was looking forward to coaching him."
It's unclear whether the player was fully aware that he risked losing a full season when he decided to transfer from Clemson. Attempts to reach Hill on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Hill played one season there under former Tigers coach Oliver Purnell and sought to transfer after new coach Brad Brownell took over. Clemson informed ODU that Hill had participated in the scrimmage, against the University of Georgia, in October 2010.
Hill is on track to graduate in August and would have competed as a graduate student this coming season. An excellent student who is active in the community, he is the sort of player the NCAA makes commercials about, former ODU associate coach Jim Corrigan said.
"He represents everything that the NCAA espouses for a student athlete to be," Corrigan said. "He has handled himself with dignity and class on and off the court and in every facet of his life. It is extremely unfortunate that he's being penalized in such a manner when he has done everything the right way."
Just like that. Career. Over.
No explanation necessary.
This is the NCAA.
As Yahoo’s Jeff Eisenberg notes, the NCAA has been lenient in other cases.
That the NCAA chose a strict interpretation of the rule is a bit surprising both because of the severity of the penalty and because of the precedent it has previously set. In 2011, the NCAA chose not to take a full year of eligibility from Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis for playing in two exhibition games during a redshirt year, opting instead to more justly punish him with a four-game suspension to start his senior season.
The difference in Abromaitis' situation is Notre Dame coach Mike Brey intended to redshirt the forward but made a mistake and interpreted the rule wrong. There is no indication Clemson coaches intended to redshirt Hill had he chosen to remain with the Tigers for the season.
The NCAA is hot and cold when it comes to rulings. Former Missouri guard Michael Dixon hopes to play next season for Memphis after missing a year of competition because of a sexual assault investigation. Dez Wells, who dealt with a similar situation at Xavier, was allowed to compete immediately for Maryland last season after he left his former program.
Dixon and Wells were not charged in their respective cases.
But their situations were far more serious than Hill’s scenario.
He played in a closed scrimmage for eight minutes. And now, he can’t play next season, which should be his senior campaign.
It just doesn’t make sense.
But that’s the norm with the NCAA.
Podcast: Pitino, Miller on what's next
June, 14, 2013
Jun 14
12:24
PM ET
By ESPN.com staff | ESPN.com
Andy Katz and Seth Greenberg talk to Rick Pitino 
about his fishing trip and what's next for Louisville. Plus, Arizona coach Sean Miller discusses some of his players trying out for Team USA and the Wildcats' next season.
about his fishing trip and what's next for Louisville. Plus, Arizona coach Sean Miller discusses some of his players trying out for Team USA and the Wildcats' next season.
In the weeks leading up to the June 27 NBA draft, we’ll be taking a look at the 20 schools that have produced the best pros in the modern draft era (since 1989, when the draft went from seven to two rounds). Click here to read Eamonn Brennan’s explanation of the series, which will be featured in the Nation blog each morning as we count down the programs from 20 to 1.
Top Five NBA Draftees Since 1989
The rest: Al-Farouq Aminu, James Johnson, Loren Woods, Ish Smith, Chris King, Rusty LaRue, Anthony Tucker, Randolph Childress
Why they're ranked where they are: At this point, you really shouldn't need me to explain just how good Tim Duncan has been over these past two decades. (If you do, I highly recommend Bill Simmons's epic accounting of Duncan's career published over on Grantland this week. It has a lot of words. You've been warned.)
Really, Duncan's immensity is self-evident: 23,785 career points, 13,219 rebounds, career 20.2/11.2./3.1/2.2 splits on 50.7 percent shooting, 14 All-Star appearances, four NBA championships. If the Spurs beat the Miami Heat in the next 10 days, Duncan and his coach, Gregg Popovich, will have won five titles in a span of 14 seasons -- a sustained run of success unlike any in recent sports history.
To gaze upon his Basketball Reference page is to look upon a lasting work of art, and I'm really not being tongue-in-cheek. If Duncan's career had gone the way Larry Johnson's did -- if he had shown a world-bending talent before losing it to injury around Year 6 -- he would still have won three NBA titles and two MVPs. He'd still be a Hall of Famer. But Duncan didn't burn fast and hot for a short period of time. His legacy is not secured by mere longevity. Instead, Duncan has managed to be both incandescent and reliable for nigh on two decades. Imagine an alternate world in which the Beatles stayed together as long and made as many records as the Rolling Stones -- only all of those records were at least as good as "Rubber Soul," and more often than not they were "Revolver."
That's Tim Duncan. He is widely regarded as the best power forward of all time, and among the best five or six players in the history of the game. Those points are always fun to debate, but I do know one thing for sure: Duncan is the best NBA product any school has produced since 1989, and it's honestly not even that close.
As such, Duncan's presence alone would have been enough to get Wake Forest into our top 20. He's that far ahead of the rest of the field. But Wake has more than Duncan to offer, much more.
Chris Paul is arguably the best point guard in the league today. Whether you agree with that statement -- Tony Parker might not -- at the very least Paul exists in that rarified territory so few NBA players reach: He changes franchises. He also works games. As good as he's been in L.A., some of my favorite moments to this effect came during his days in New Orleans. There was 2007-08, when he led the league in both assists and steals and turned a previously lost Tyson Chandler into one of the most efficient players in the game. Or Game 1 of the Hornets' 2011 playoff series against the Lakers, when he went for 33/14/7/4 and so thoroughly silenced the Staples Center that by the end of the game the TV microphones picked up his trash talk. Paul has always been the most cerebral player on the floor; his court instincts and vision are second to none. It's almost hard to believe he's only 27, with tons of productive basketball left in the tank.
Wake Forest's list takes a pretty significant dive from there; Rodney Rogers was a nice pro but nothing more, and Jeff Teague is carving out a solid career as a starting point guard, even though he'll probably never be a star. But let's not forget Josh Howard. Before multiple ACL injuries sent his career careening off a cliff, Howard submitted some really strong seasons, particularly in his 2006-07 All-Star campaign, when he averaged 18.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for a Mavericks team that finished 67-15 in the regular season. Then he averaged 21 and 10 in the playoffs and followed up with 20 and 9 in the 2007-08 regular season. Don't forget Josh Howard.
Really, though, this list is about Duncan and Paul: the first, a Hall of Famer had he retired 10 years ago; the latter, on his way to inclusion 10 years in the future. That would be quite a leading duo for any school. For Wake Forest, a small private school with an undergraduate enrollment of less than 5,000 students, it's something like a miracle.
Why they could be ranked higher: It really comes down to the same dynamic we've been confronting throughout these rankings. Which do you value more: a deep group of solid if unspectacular NBA regulars? Or singular stardom? As singular stardom goes, well, you know … Tim Duncan. And Chris Paul. We've already placed a noticeable premium on legend-level talent, but we've done our best to temper it against the rest of each team's résumés. I think this is just about the right spot for Wake, but if you think the Duncan trump card is worth even more, I could dig it.
Why they could be ranked lower: I might be willing to push Wake up on the list; I'm not willing to push them down. Just below sits Texas, which is likewise a two-stars-and-then-some-other-guys entity, except that Texas' two stars are Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge. Don't get me wrong; those guys are awesome. Durant has a chance to leave the NBA as the best scorer of all time. But he is still at the dawn of his own era; Duncan has been in this game since honeys was wearin' sassoons. No NBA GM would trade Paul for Aldridge. And the rest of Texas' group doesn't stand up to Howard, Rogers and Teague, solid inclusions all. Wake can go no lower.
What’s ahead? Not a whole heck of a lot. Teague, for all his strengths as a ball handler and penetrator, has probably hit something close to a ceiling. Fourth-year man James Johnson is still trying to find a productive NBA role. The program that produced Duncan and Paul in less than eight years has since fallen into severe disrepair, and with the possible exception of rising senior Travis McKie, there are no pro prospects in the pipeline.
Final thoughts: It was really fun to dig into Tim Duncan's numbers, and I recommend you spend the rest of your morning doing the same. Oh, you meant about Wake Forest. Right. There may be no program with a wider gap between what a list of its NBA products since 1989 implies it is (a powerhouse) and the reality (a bit of a mess). If you're wondering why Demon Deacons fans are so ticked off, it's because they remember when one of the greatest players in the history of basketball played four years at the Joel. They remember Howard's career, and they remember Paul, and why not? It wasn't so long ago.
Top Five NBA Draftees Since 1989
- Tim Duncan (1997)
- Chris Paul (2005)
- Josh Howard (2003)
- Rodney Rogers (1993)
- Jeff Teague (2009)
The rest: Al-Farouq Aminu, James Johnson, Loren Woods, Ish Smith, Chris King, Rusty LaRue, Anthony Tucker, Randolph Childress
Why they're ranked where they are: At this point, you really shouldn't need me to explain just how good Tim Duncan has been over these past two decades. (If you do, I highly recommend Bill Simmons's epic accounting of Duncan's career published over on Grantland this week. It has a lot of words. You've been warned.)
[+] Enlarge
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)Wake Forest product Tim Duncan is arguably among the best five or six NBA players ever.
To gaze upon his Basketball Reference page is to look upon a lasting work of art, and I'm really not being tongue-in-cheek. If Duncan's career had gone the way Larry Johnson's did -- if he had shown a world-bending talent before losing it to injury around Year 6 -- he would still have won three NBA titles and two MVPs. He'd still be a Hall of Famer. But Duncan didn't burn fast and hot for a short period of time. His legacy is not secured by mere longevity. Instead, Duncan has managed to be both incandescent and reliable for nigh on two decades. Imagine an alternate world in which the Beatles stayed together as long and made as many records as the Rolling Stones -- only all of those records were at least as good as "Rubber Soul," and more often than not they were "Revolver."
That's Tim Duncan. He is widely regarded as the best power forward of all time, and among the best five or six players in the history of the game. Those points are always fun to debate, but I do know one thing for sure: Duncan is the best NBA product any school has produced since 1989, and it's honestly not even that close.
As such, Duncan's presence alone would have been enough to get Wake Forest into our top 20. He's that far ahead of the rest of the field. But Wake has more than Duncan to offer, much more.
Chris Paul is arguably the best point guard in the league today. Whether you agree with that statement -- Tony Parker might not -- at the very least Paul exists in that rarified territory so few NBA players reach: He changes franchises. He also works games. As good as he's been in L.A., some of my favorite moments to this effect came during his days in New Orleans. There was 2007-08, when he led the league in both assists and steals and turned a previously lost Tyson Chandler into one of the most efficient players in the game. Or Game 1 of the Hornets' 2011 playoff series against the Lakers, when he went for 33/14/7/4 and so thoroughly silenced the Staples Center that by the end of the game the TV microphones picked up his trash talk. Paul has always been the most cerebral player on the floor; his court instincts and vision are second to none. It's almost hard to believe he's only 27, with tons of productive basketball left in the tank.
Wake Forest's list takes a pretty significant dive from there; Rodney Rogers was a nice pro but nothing more, and Jeff Teague is carving out a solid career as a starting point guard, even though he'll probably never be a star. But let's not forget Josh Howard. Before multiple ACL injuries sent his career careening off a cliff, Howard submitted some really strong seasons, particularly in his 2006-07 All-Star campaign, when he averaged 18.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for a Mavericks team that finished 67-15 in the regular season. Then he averaged 21 and 10 in the playoffs and followed up with 20 and 9 in the 2007-08 regular season. Don't forget Josh Howard.
Really, though, this list is about Duncan and Paul: the first, a Hall of Famer had he retired 10 years ago; the latter, on his way to inclusion 10 years in the future. That would be quite a leading duo for any school. For Wake Forest, a small private school with an undergraduate enrollment of less than 5,000 students, it's something like a miracle.
Why they could be ranked higher: It really comes down to the same dynamic we've been confronting throughout these rankings. Which do you value more: a deep group of solid if unspectacular NBA regulars? Or singular stardom? As singular stardom goes, well, you know … Tim Duncan. And Chris Paul. We've already placed a noticeable premium on legend-level talent, but we've done our best to temper it against the rest of each team's résumés. I think this is just about the right spot for Wake, but if you think the Duncan trump card is worth even more, I could dig it.
Why they could be ranked lower: I might be willing to push Wake up on the list; I'm not willing to push them down. Just below sits Texas, which is likewise a two-stars-and-then-some-other-guys entity, except that Texas' two stars are Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge. Don't get me wrong; those guys are awesome. Durant has a chance to leave the NBA as the best scorer of all time. But he is still at the dawn of his own era; Duncan has been in this game since honeys was wearin' sassoons. No NBA GM would trade Paul for Aldridge. And the rest of Texas' group doesn't stand up to Howard, Rogers and Teague, solid inclusions all. Wake can go no lower.
What’s ahead? Not a whole heck of a lot. Teague, for all his strengths as a ball handler and penetrator, has probably hit something close to a ceiling. Fourth-year man James Johnson is still trying to find a productive NBA role. The program that produced Duncan and Paul in less than eight years has since fallen into severe disrepair, and with the possible exception of rising senior Travis McKie, there are no pro prospects in the pipeline.
Final thoughts: It was really fun to dig into Tim Duncan's numbers, and I recommend you spend the rest of your morning doing the same. Oh, you meant about Wake Forest. Right. There may be no program with a wider gap between what a list of its NBA products since 1989 implies it is (a powerhouse) and the reality (a bit of a mess). If you're wondering why Demon Deacons fans are so ticked off, it's because they remember when one of the greatest players in the history of basketball played four years at the Joel. They remember Howard's career, and they remember Paul, and why not? It wasn't so long ago.
3-point shot: Bullock, Snell made good calls
June, 14, 2013
Jun 14
8:13
AM ET
By
Andy Katz | ESPN.com
1. In two weeks, the draft will be over and it will be easy to assess by reviewing the draft to see who made a mistake by coming out too soon from college. Late second-round picks usually don't get guaranteed money and not getting drafted means the player will have a harder time having to earn a spot. So much can change in the next two weeks but two players whose decisions appeared questionable may have been well-advised on their decisions after all. North Carolina's Reggie Bullock has the size and the quick shooting ability to make the transition. In watching him work out, he has solid first-round ability. He still needs to work on his ballhandling but can more than hold his own in a comparable position battle. The same could be true of New Mexico's Tony Snell. Bullock seems to be a lock for the first while Snell is making his case to be chosen late in the first round, too. There will be others who missed and some who surprise even more. But these two look like they made the right call.
2. Former Holy Cross and Seton Hall coach George Blaney retired Thursday at UConn after serving in a top assistant role for Jim Calhoun and then for Kevin Ollie in his first season as a head coach. Blaney was an unheralded person for the Huskies but a key behind the scenes during the rise to a title and then navigating through difficult times. Calhoun's health problems and suspension could have steered the program off course. But Blaney was always there as the sage adviser. Blaney had great command of his team, was well versed on the league and had a competent, realistic grasp on the current team. He was able to calm Calhoun down, offer respected advice and mentor the younger coaches on the staff. He should feel proud that he served the school well.
3. Northwestern coach Chris Collins said as a young head coach he wanted someone with experience to help him out. Hiring his former Glenbrook North High School coach Brian James, a longtime NBA assistant, who had worked with his father Doug, was a mature and intelligent move. Collins has played and coached, as an assistant, in high-pressure moments at Duke. But he had never been in those situations where the onus is on him to make the decision. Having James on his side will be a huge plus. Memphis coach Josh Pastner hired Willis Wilson in this capacity when he first got his job. Not every first-time coach makes the right decisions on a staff. There has to be trust and familiarity to make it work. This one should prove to be smart for Northwestern and Collins.
2. Former Holy Cross and Seton Hall coach George Blaney retired Thursday at UConn after serving in a top assistant role for Jim Calhoun and then for Kevin Ollie in his first season as a head coach. Blaney was an unheralded person for the Huskies but a key behind the scenes during the rise to a title and then navigating through difficult times. Calhoun's health problems and suspension could have steered the program off course. But Blaney was always there as the sage adviser. Blaney had great command of his team, was well versed on the league and had a competent, realistic grasp on the current team. He was able to calm Calhoun down, offer respected advice and mentor the younger coaches on the staff. He should feel proud that he served the school well.
3. Northwestern coach Chris Collins said as a young head coach he wanted someone with experience to help him out. Hiring his former Glenbrook North High School coach Brian James, a longtime NBA assistant, who had worked with his father Doug, was a mature and intelligent move. Collins has played and coached, as an assistant, in high-pressure moments at Duke. But he had never been in those situations where the onus is on him to make the decision. Having James on his side will be a huge plus. Memphis coach Josh Pastner hired Willis Wilson in this capacity when he first got his job. Not every first-time coach makes the right decisions on a staff. There has to be trust and familiarity to make it work. This one should prove to be smart for Northwestern and Collins.
In the weeks leading up to the June 27 NBA draft, we’ll be taking a look at the 20 schools that have produced the best pros in the modern draft era (since 1989, when the draft went from seven to two rounds). Click here to read Eamonn Brennan’s explanation of the series, which will be featured in the Nation blog each morning as we count down the programs from 20 to 1.
Top Five Draftees Since 1989
The rest: Daniel Gibson, Dexter Pittman, Damion James, Royal Ivey, Jordan Hamilton, Cory Joseph, P.J. Tucker, Chris Owens, Chris Mihm, Alvin Heggs, Lance Blanks, Travis Mays, Dexter Cambridge, B.J. Tyler, Terrence Rencher, James Thomas, Maurice Evans
Why they’re ranked where they are: Kevin. Durant. LaMarcus. Aldridge.
It’s not that simple. But the duo carries the most weight and responsibility for the program’s NBA legacy and standing in our “Path to the Draft” rankings.
In Durant, Texas is tied to a player who could end his career as one of the top 10 players in NBA history. And with Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett likely retiring soon, the next great NBA power forward very well may be Aldridge, who has averaged at least 21 points and 8 rebounds in each of the past three seasons. He’s made the last two All-Star games and has evolved into one of the premier players in the NBA.
And he’s only 27. Durant is just 24. So the Longhorns’ stock will probably rise in the coming years.
It’s necessary to mention Durant and Aldridge because the rest of this list is not necessarily pristine when compared to the other teams we’ve ranked thus far and those we’ll unveil in the coming days.
T.J. Ford played eight years but a spinal cord injury interrupted a promising career. Still, he averaged 11.2 points and 5.8 assists per game.
Avery Bradley (9.2 PPG, 1.3 steals per game in 2012-13) could take on a larger role with the Boston Celtics or another NBA team in the future.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are building a strong post-LeBron James lineup. It certainly helps that second-year big man Tristan Thompson (11.7 PPG, 9.4 RPG) looked like a future All-Star this season.
Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson hasn’t been the same player since James left town. But he’s just 27, so there’s still time to regain that old swagger.
Cory Joseph might have a future with the San Antonio Spurs, but it’s too early to know. There aren’t many 21-year-old point guards logging minutes in the postseason, though.
D.J. Augustin struggled with the Indiana Pacers this season, but he had three good years with the Charlotte Bobcats. Just five seasons into his career, it wouldn’t be prudent to pass judgment on his career yet.
Chris Mihm had a few solid years with the Los Angeles Lakers. Maurice Evans gets credit for longevity (nine years).
But Durant and Aldridge clearly anchor this list.
James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 points (28 years old, 17 days) earlier this year. That record could be shattered soon. He has scored 12,258 points and won’t turn 25 until September.
The 6-foot-9 wing averaged 28.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.3 BPG and 1.4 SPG this season. He shot 51 percent from the field. And he made 91 percent of his free throws.
Through six seasons, Durant established his place next to James on the game’s Mount Rushmore of future Hall of Famers and legends. He commands an Oklahoma City Thunder franchise that should remain in the NBA title picture for many years.
There are a lot of lists that utilize a variety of criteria.
We’re all about quality. And in our eyes, Durant, Aldridge and a few other noteworthy players are collectively worth more than a team such as Kansas that has produced dozens of NBA products but only one legitimate star since the 1989 NBA draft -- the cutoff for our rankings.
Texas is also top-10 because its best players have a lot of time left. We’ve already discussed Durant. Aldridge will earn more national recognition for his skills in the coming years. He’s a beast. Bradley and Thompson could rise in the next two or three seasons, too.
Yep, the Longhorns belong here.
Why they could be ranked higher: Durant is a superstar. His presence alone would justify a move up the rankings.
We’re measuring teams according to their abilities to produce NBA talent. And Durant has already had an NBA career that tops the pro achievements of entire programs.
And there’s so much potential with this group. Aldridge is a young star. Thompson will be.
If these were actual teams that competed against one another, it would be easier to make Texas’ case for a higher ranking.
Aldridge and Thompson inside. A bunch of solid guards in the backcourt. And Durant destroying defenders inside and outside.
Makes more sense now, right?
Why they could be ranked lower: So what’s the real difference between Texas (No. 10) and Syracuse (No. 20) and Kansas (No. 14)? The programs owe their rankings, in part, to the presence of superstars. But there was little substance among their respective squads’ overall pro legacies.
Durant is a stud. Aldridge could be an All-Star for the next decade.
But Thompson still has a lot to prove.
And this list features multiple players who fizzled once they reached the next level. J'Covan Brown, who left Texas prior to his senior season, isn’t even mentioned because he wasn’t drafted.
What else can Texas stand on -- other than Aldridge and Durant -- to justify its top-10 status?
What’s ahead?: There’s a bright future ahead for Texas. Durant could win a few titles. Aldridge might be the next great NBA power forward. Thompson could be the franchise star along with Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. Bradley could blossom, too.
Even guys such as Augustin could improve.
Myck Kabongo entered this summer’s draft. It will be interesting to see how he transitions to the NBA after limited playing time last season due to an NCAA investigation.
Texas is No. 10 right now, but a few years from now, the Longhorns might be even higher.
Final thoughts: There’s intrigue with this group because it features a multitude of current players. Its NBA rep could change soon.
Texas has produced one of the greatest players of this generation and another All-Star who’s matured into one of the league’s best power forwards. And Thompson, Bradley and others could boost the team’s profile soon.
Texas doesn’t have dozens of successful NBA players. But the ones who made it are some of the game’s most successful performers. We feel like if you have two of the league's top 15 players, you have to be right in the mix.
And there’s still room for this program to elevate its NBA profile, too.
Top Five Draftees Since 1989
- Kevin Durant (2007)
- LaMarcus Aldridge (2006)
- T.J. Ford (2003)
- Tristan Thompson (2011)
- D.J. Augustin (2008)
The rest: Daniel Gibson, Dexter Pittman, Damion James, Royal Ivey, Jordan Hamilton, Cory Joseph, P.J. Tucker, Chris Owens, Chris Mihm, Alvin Heggs, Lance Blanks, Travis Mays, Dexter Cambridge, B.J. Tyler, Terrence Rencher, James Thomas, Maurice Evans
Why they’re ranked where they are: Kevin. Durant. LaMarcus. Aldridge.
It’s not that simple. But the duo carries the most weight and responsibility for the program’s NBA legacy and standing in our “Path to the Draft” rankings.
In Durant, Texas is tied to a player who could end his career as one of the top 10 players in NBA history. And with Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett likely retiring soon, the next great NBA power forward very well may be Aldridge, who has averaged at least 21 points and 8 rebounds in each of the past three seasons. He’s made the last two All-Star games and has evolved into one of the premier players in the NBA.
And he’s only 27. Durant is just 24. So the Longhorns’ stock will probably rise in the coming years.
It’s necessary to mention Durant and Aldridge because the rest of this list is not necessarily pristine when compared to the other teams we’ve ranked thus far and those we’ll unveil in the coming days.
T.J. Ford played eight years but a spinal cord injury interrupted a promising career. Still, he averaged 11.2 points and 5.8 assists per game.
Avery Bradley (9.2 PPG, 1.3 steals per game in 2012-13) could take on a larger role with the Boston Celtics or another NBA team in the future.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are building a strong post-LeBron James lineup. It certainly helps that second-year big man Tristan Thompson (11.7 PPG, 9.4 RPG) looked like a future All-Star this season.
Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson hasn’t been the same player since James left town. But he’s just 27, so there’s still time to regain that old swagger.
Cory Joseph might have a future with the San Antonio Spurs, but it’s too early to know. There aren’t many 21-year-old point guards logging minutes in the postseason, though.
D.J. Augustin struggled with the Indiana Pacers this season, but he had three good years with the Charlotte Bobcats. Just five seasons into his career, it wouldn’t be prudent to pass judgment on his career yet.
Chris Mihm had a few solid years with the Los Angeles Lakers. Maurice Evans gets credit for longevity (nine years).
[+] Enlarge
Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)Ex-Longhorns Kevin Durant, right, and LaMarcus Aldridge should be NBA stars for years to come.
James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 points (28 years old, 17 days) earlier this year. That record could be shattered soon. He has scored 12,258 points and won’t turn 25 until September.
The 6-foot-9 wing averaged 28.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.3 BPG and 1.4 SPG this season. He shot 51 percent from the field. And he made 91 percent of his free throws.
Through six seasons, Durant established his place next to James on the game’s Mount Rushmore of future Hall of Famers and legends. He commands an Oklahoma City Thunder franchise that should remain in the NBA title picture for many years.
There are a lot of lists that utilize a variety of criteria.
We’re all about quality. And in our eyes, Durant, Aldridge and a few other noteworthy players are collectively worth more than a team such as Kansas that has produced dozens of NBA products but only one legitimate star since the 1989 NBA draft -- the cutoff for our rankings.
Texas is also top-10 because its best players have a lot of time left. We’ve already discussed Durant. Aldridge will earn more national recognition for his skills in the coming years. He’s a beast. Bradley and Thompson could rise in the next two or three seasons, too.
Yep, the Longhorns belong here.
Why they could be ranked higher: Durant is a superstar. His presence alone would justify a move up the rankings.
We’re measuring teams according to their abilities to produce NBA talent. And Durant has already had an NBA career that tops the pro achievements of entire programs.
And there’s so much potential with this group. Aldridge is a young star. Thompson will be.
If these were actual teams that competed against one another, it would be easier to make Texas’ case for a higher ranking.
Aldridge and Thompson inside. A bunch of solid guards in the backcourt. And Durant destroying defenders inside and outside.
Makes more sense now, right?
Why they could be ranked lower: So what’s the real difference between Texas (No. 10) and Syracuse (No. 20) and Kansas (No. 14)? The programs owe their rankings, in part, to the presence of superstars. But there was little substance among their respective squads’ overall pro legacies.
Durant is a stud. Aldridge could be an All-Star for the next decade.
But Thompson still has a lot to prove.
And this list features multiple players who fizzled once they reached the next level. J'Covan Brown, who left Texas prior to his senior season, isn’t even mentioned because he wasn’t drafted.
What else can Texas stand on -- other than Aldridge and Durant -- to justify its top-10 status?
What’s ahead?: There’s a bright future ahead for Texas. Durant could win a few titles. Aldridge might be the next great NBA power forward. Thompson could be the franchise star along with Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. Bradley could blossom, too.
Even guys such as Augustin could improve.
Myck Kabongo entered this summer’s draft. It will be interesting to see how he transitions to the NBA after limited playing time last season due to an NCAA investigation.
Texas is No. 10 right now, but a few years from now, the Longhorns might be even higher.
Final thoughts: There’s intrigue with this group because it features a multitude of current players. Its NBA rep could change soon.
Texas has produced one of the greatest players of this generation and another All-Star who’s matured into one of the league’s best power forwards. And Thompson, Bradley and others could boost the team’s profile soon.
Texas doesn’t have dozens of successful NBA players. But the ones who made it are some of the game’s most successful performers. We feel like if you have two of the league's top 15 players, you have to be right in the mix.
And there’s still room for this program to elevate its NBA profile, too.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Eamonn Brennan
Brennan joined ESPN.com in 2009 after several years of blogging at Yahoo! and other places around the Internet. The Iowa native lives in Chicago with his roommates, his dog, and a crippling addiction to caffeine.
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