100 Greatest College Basketball Players of All-Time

[bludvlman]

http://stories.icerocket.com/content/100-best-college-basketball-players

There is one particular Duke Blue Devil missing. You know the ACC's all-time leadiing score, NCAA all-time 3 point and foul shooter. Yet TJ Ford and Andrew Bogut make the cut. Also no way Hurley is the second best Duke player.

My top 10 players
1. David Thompson
2. Bill Walton
3. Lew Alcindor
4. Pistol Pete
5. Christian Laettner
6. Bill Russell
7. Larry Bird
8. Oscar Robinson
9. Magic Johnson
10. Bill Bradley

My top 10 Duke Players
1. Christian Laettner
2. JJ Redick
3. Johnny Dawkins (most important Duke player)
4. Grant Hill
5. Jason Williams
6. Bobby Hurley
7. Danny Ferry
8. Shelden Williams (yes he is, most underrated b/c JJ's attention)
9. Art Heyman
10. Gene Banks

[mgtr]

I think the link is broken -- just get garbage.

[willywoody]

G-man would've whooped Shel if they both met in their prime. Elton Brand would, too.

[yancem]

http://stories.icerocket.com/content/100-best-college-basketball-players

There is one particular Duke Blue Devil missing. You know the ACC's all-time leadiing score, NCAA all-time 3 point and foul shooter. Yet TJ Ford and Andrew Bogut make the cut. Also no way Hurley is the second best Duke player.

My top 10 Duke Players
1. Christian Laettner
2. JJ Redick
3. Johnny Dawkins (most important Duke player)
4. Grant Hill
5. Jason Williams
6. Bobby Hurley
7. Danny Ferry
8. Shelden Williams (yes he is, most underrated b/c JJ's attention)
9. Art Heyman
10. Gene Banks

I'm not sure how you justify putting JJ number 2 on your list. If you are basing it on his scoring record then by that logic Jason Williams should be ranked higher since he scored 2079 points in his 3 years vs JJ's 1805 during his first 3. Had Jason stuck around for his senior year he would have easily passed JJ's 2769 career points. Jason also won one at least one NPY award as a sophomore and was unanimous NPY his junior year. Oh and he won a NC.

[speedevil]

http://stories.icerocket.com/content/100-best-college-basketball-players

There is one particular Duke Blue Devil missing. You know the ACC's all-time leadiing score, NCAA all-time 3 point and foul shooter. Yet TJ Ford and Andrew Bogut make the cut. Also no way Hurley is the second best Duke player.

My top 10 players
1. David Thompson
2. Bill Walton
3. Lew Alcindor
4. Pistol Pete
5. Christian Laettner
6. Bill Russell
7. Larry Bird
8. Oscar Robinson
9. Magic Johnson
10. Bill Bradley

My top 10 Duke Players
1. Christian Laettner
2. JJ Redick
3. Johnny Dawkins (most important Duke player)
4. Grant Hill
5. Jason Williams
6. Bobby Hurley
7. Danny Ferry
8. Shelden Williams (yes he is, most underrated b/c JJ's attention)
9. Art Heyman
10. Gene Banks

Here's an interesting note: there are 8 Duke players in the top 100.

any other schools have more?

[lifelongdevil]

it seems the list loses its quality near the end slightly. Andrew Bogut? Juan Dixon?...comical at best.

[sagegrouse]

http://stories.icerocket.com/content/100-best-college-basketball-players

There is one particular Duke Blue Devil missing. You know the ACC's all-time leadiing score, NCAA all-time 3 point and foul shooter. Yet TJ Ford and Andrew Bogut make the cut. Also no way Hurley is the second best Duke player.

My top 10 players
1. David Thompson
2. Bill Walton
3. Lew Alcindor
4. Pistol Pete
5. Christian Laettner
6. Bill Russell
7. Larry Bird
8. Oscar Robinson
9. Magic Johnson
10. Bill Bradley

My top 10 Duke Players
1. Christian Laettner
2. JJ Redick
3. Johnny Dawkins (most important Duke player)
4. Grant Hill
5. Jason Williams
6. Bobby Hurley
7. Danny Ferry
8. Shelden Williams (yes he is, most underrated b/c JJ's attention)
9. Art Heyman
10. Gene Banks

In the first list, do you think you could find room for Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West (and Oscar ROBERTSON)? Pistol Pete never won anything in his life -- but I understand he ends up on a lot of these lists.

In the second, the consensus NPOYs at Duke were:
1. Heyman, 1963
2. Laettner, 1992
3. Brand, 1999
4. Battier, 2001
5. Williams, J., 2002
6. Redick, 2006

The players who won at least one NPOY honor were:
1. Groat, 1952
2. Dawkins, 1986
3. Ferry, 1989

Do you think you could find room for Brand, Battier and Groat on your team? The only one on your list I would challenge is Gene Banks.

sagegrouse

[zingit]

I think it's silly that they have a handful of women's players on the list. I don't mean this as a knock on women's basketball; I just mean that the men and women should be on separate lists. And if you're going to put them on the same list, then the women probably deserve a few more--you could make a case for, say, Candace Parker. But I really don't think you can compare women's basketball players with men's basketball players that easily.

[bludvlman]

In the first list, do you think you could find room for Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West (and Oscar ROBERTSON)? Pistol Pete never won anything in his life -- but I understand he ends up on a lot of these lists.

In the second, the consensus NPOYs at Duke were:
1. Heyman, 1963
2. Laettner, 1992
3. Brand, 1999
4. Battier, 2001
5. Williams, J., 2002
6. Redick, 2006

The players who won at least one NPOY honor were:
1. Groat, 1952
2. Dawkins, 1986
3. Ferry, 1989

Do you think you could find room for Brand, Battier and Groat on your team? The only one on your list I would challenge is Gene Banks.

sagegrouse

man I screwed the pooch by missing Battier I thought I had him on the list.
I didn't put Brand b/c he only played two years.

Pistol Pete averaged 42 points per game the highest in college history. Yet his HS records were broken by Shavlik Randolph :D

Its only a top ten I couldn't put 15 guys in my top 10!

[bludvlman]

I'm not sure how you justify putting JJ number 2 on your list. If you are basing it on his scoring record then by that logic Jason Williams should be ranked higher since he scored 2079 points in his 3 years vs JJ's 1805 during his first 3. Had Jason stuck around for his senior year he would have easily passed JJ's 2769 career points. Jason also won one at least one NPY award as a sophomore and was unanimous NPY his junior year. Oh and he won a NC.

The reason is JJ is the most unique player I've ever seen in college. His ability to hit 35 feet jumpers alone made him impossible to guard. Jason Williams was great and probably would have the ACC scoring record but JJ's uniqueness sets him alone.

That said both Jason and JJ belong on the top 100.

How are TJ Ford and Jameer Nelson on this list and JJ isn't.

[PURDUE7]

JJ...really?

Groat
Gminski
Brand

P.S. Its Oscar Robertson.

[bludvlman]

JJ...really?

Groat
Gminski
Brand

P.S. Its Oscar Robertson.

I should have put the G-Man there. I will replace Banks with him.

As I said I didn't include Brand b/c I feel that he wasn't at Duke long enough.

[bludvlman]

G-man would've whooped Shel if they both met in their prime. Elton Brand would, too.

Maybe so but Shelden is the school's all-time rebounder and shot blocker plus he is two time national defensive player of the year. I think he is Duke's most underrated player.

[bludvlman]

http://stories.icerocket.com/content/100-best-college-basketball-players

There is one particular Duke Blue Devil missing. You know the ACC's all-time leadiing score, NCAA all-time 3 point and foul shooter. Yet TJ Ford and Andrew Bogut make the cut. Also no way Hurley is the second best Duke player.

My top 10 players
1. David Thompson
2. Bill Walton
3. Lew Alcindor
4. Pistol Pete
5. Christian Laettner
6. Bill Russell
7. Larry Bird
8. Oscar Robinson
9. Magic Johnson
10. Bill Bradley

My top 10 Duke Players
1. Christian Laettner
2. JJ Redick
3. Johnny Dawkins (most important Duke player)
4. Shane Battier
5. Jason Williams
6. Grant Hill
7. Bobby Hurley
8. Danny Ferry
9. Shelden Williams
10. Mike Giminski

I added Battier in, can't believe I forgot him and G-Man also.

[willywoody]

Maybe so but Shelden is the school's all-time rebounder and shot blocker plus he is two time national defensive player of the year. I think he is Duke's most underrated player.

i agree that on defense he was probably the best big man Duke's ever had.
problem was/is, he really has a limited offensive game.

[jv001]

I added Battier in, can't believe I forgot him and G-Man also.

I would insert Jeff Mullins for S. Williams. Rest of your Duke list looks good to me. On your college all-time list, I think you definitely got the #1 player correctly. DT was the very best I ever saw play the college game. Go Duke!

[jimsumner]

"I would insert Jeff Mullins for S. Williams"

As much as I like Jeff, he was never a consensus first-team All-American, which I think would be the minimum qualification here.

[jv001]

"I would insert Jeff Mullins for S. Williams"

As much as I like Jeff, he was never a consensus first-team All-American, which I think would be the minimum qualification here.

Mullins was not a consensus first-team All-American as you said Jim, but I was just listing my all-time Duke players. I started to list Tate Armstrong but that would have been stretching it. Mullins played in Art Heyman's shadow for awhile and probably kept him from getting more awards. To me I think Jeff was a better all-around player. Just my opinion. Go Duke!

[jimsumner]

FWIW, one ACC coach from that era told me that his team worried more about Mullins than Heyman. A pretty good tandem, I think we all agree.

For a season and a half, Tate Armstrong played at an exceptionally high level for Duke. But he didn't get it cranked up until his junior year and then he missed half of his senior year after breaking his right wrist. So, looking at the full body of work, it's hard to place him in the highest reaches of the Duke pantheon.

But coming between Bubas and the revival of the program in 1978, Tate's contributions have largely been forgotten. Too bad.

Same can be said for Randy Denton. Try this on for size. Three-time All-ACC. Career scoring average, 20.4 ppg. Career rebounding average, 12.7 rpg (best in Duke history). Yet, Denton is rarely mentioned as an all-time Duke great.

[Slackerb]

I can only laugh when lists like this don't have David Thompson in the top 5....

[bludvlman]

I can only laugh when lists like this don't have David Thompson in the top 5....

I have him @ number 1.

[Indoor66]

Same can be said for Randy Denton. Try this on for size. Three-time All-ACC. Career scoring average, 20.4 ppg. Career rebounding average, 12.7 rpg (best in Duke history). Yet, Denton is rarely mentioned as an all-time Duke great.

Some of that might be attributed to his career at Duke was concomitant with the rise of UNC at the time. Denton's Duke teams were perceived as underachievers.

[Jarhead]

As far as I am concerned, the list is invalid without Dick Groat.

[PURDUE7]

Bob Ryan once said if they ever played a game for all the marbles....humans V aliens(this game I camp out for) he would pick Bill Walton to represent us.
Not sure why he went that far....but Walton was an amazing player.

Walton
Kareem(plus he was great in AIRPLANE....please tell me kids still watch this movie)
DT
BIG O
Bird(see what Indiana State is now....nothing)
Laetner(as good a college career as anyone in the NCAA as anyone this side of the UCLA big men)
Magic(playing only 2 years he probably deserves a lower spot)
Elgin Baylor? How high is he on the list?
Pistol Pete(never even played in the NCAA.....but 44+ no 3 point line...blows my mind)
Jerry West(Zeke from Cabin Creek....he makes it just for the nick name)

[Olympic Fan]

In the second, the consensus NPOYs at Duke were:
1. Heyman, 1963
2. Laettner, 1992
3. Brand, 1999
4. Battier, 2001
5. Williams, J., 2002
6. Redick, 2006

The players who won at least one NPOY honor were:
1. Groat, 1952
2. Dawkins, 1986
3. Ferry, 1989



Just to be accurate -- the NCAA recognizes Ferry as co-consensus national player of the year ... he won three of the six recognized NPOY awards (Naismith, UPI, USBW ... he also won Basketball Weekly, which isn't on the NCAA list) ... Arizona's Sean Elliott won three (AP, NABC and Rupp) and is the other co-consensus NPOY. (Note: UPI was a major award until it was replaced by ESPN/USA Today in the mid-1990s).

And by any measure, Groat was the consensus national player of the year in 1952 ... I don't blame you for misunderstanding this, since Duke lists only his Helms Foundation NPOY. But Groat also win the Look Magazine NPOY (which was actually the most prestigious in 1952) and the UPI NPOY. The AP didn't award a NPOY in 1952, but Groat was the leading vote-getter on the AP All-America team.

FWIW, the year before they were the consensus NPOYs, both Jason Williams and JJ Redick won a single major NPOY (Williams won the NABC -- the only award Battier didn't win in 2001 ... Redick won the Rupp in 2005)

PS -- I also have David Thompson as my No. 1 college player ... but Bill Russell has to be ahead of Walton -- even based on college accomplishments. And while I think that Randy Denton is one of the most underrated players in Duke history, he was just a one-time first-team All-ACC pick (twice second team) and never made a significant All-America team. Hard to put him in Duke's top 10 or even top 20.

[jv001]

FWIW, one ACC coach from that era told me that his team worried more about Mullins than Heyman. A pretty good tandem, I think we all agree.

For a season and a half, Tate Armstrong played at an exceptionally high level for Duke. But he didn't get it cranked up until his junior year and then he missed half of his senior year after breaking his right wrist. So, looking at the full body of work, it's hard to place him in the highest reaches of the Duke pantheon.

But coming between Bubas and the revival of the program in 1978, Tate's contributions have largely been forgotten. Too bad.

Same can be said for Randy Denton. Try this on for size. Three-time All-ACC. Career scoring average, 20.4 ppg. Career rebounding average, 12.7 rpg (best in Duke history). Yet, Denton is rarely mentioned as an all-time Duke great.
Now that is some great information, especially regarding Randy Denton. What years did he play at Duke? For some reason I don't remember his playing days. Go Duke!

[Indoor66]

Now that is some great information, especially regarding Randy Denton. What years did he play at Duke? For some reason I don't remember his playing days. Go Duke!

Check him out: http://goduke.statsgeek.com/basketball-m/players/statlines.php?playerid=115

[jv001]

Check him out: http://goduke.statsgeek.com/basketball-m/players/statlines.php?playerid=115

Thanks for the website on Randy Denton. He was as Jim stated a very under rated player. Some stats:
68-69 rpg=12.8...fg%= 50%...ppg= 17
69-70 rpg=12.5...fg%=54%....ppg=22
70-71 rpg=12.8...fg%=56%....ppg=20

His career FT%= 68%..However he evidently never got to play in one NCAA tournament. Must not have had many good players on those teams. May be why I did not get to see him play on TV much. Also must have played when freshmen could not play on varsity. Thanks so much for this info on an excellent Duke player. Go Duke!

[Indoor66]

Thanks for the website on Randy Denton. He was as Jim stated a very under rated player. Some stats:
68-69 rpg=12.8...fg%= 50%...ppg= 17
69-70 rpg=12.5...fg%=54%....ppg=22
70-71 rpg=12.8...fg%=56%....ppg=20

His career FT%= 68%..However he evidently never got to play in one NCAA tournament. Must not have had many good players on those teams. May be why I did not get to see him play on TV much. Also must have played when freshmen could not play on varsity. Thanks so much for this info on an excellent Duke player. Go Duke!

In that era only one team from the ACC (or other leagues) went to the NCAA tournament. It was a different era.

[-jk]

In that era only one team from the ACC (or other leagues) went to the NCAA tournament. It was a different era.

And that one team was selected in a three day tourney. The rest of the country thought we were nuts.

-jk

[Indoor66]

And that one team was selected in a three day tourney. The rest of the country thought we were nuts.

-jk

Yes. The regular season in the ACC (an 8 team league at that time) served only to establish seeding for the ACC Tournament. The ACC Champion and it's representative in the NCAA Tournament, was the winner of the ACC Tournament. Prior to 1967, no ACC team was permitted to play in any post-season tourney other than the NCAA's. No NIT for the ACC runnerup.

[Atldukie79]

Randy Denton played when UNC and South Carolina had some of their best teams. Duke was good, but not great. While their was some talent on this these teams (Dick Devenzio was a highly regarded point guard and Rick Katherman had 3pt range without a 3 pt line) the critical factor was the changng of the head coach. Vic Bubas burned out and retired...Bucky Waters coached Denton's final two years. Waters brought a slow down, pound it in to the big man sort of a game. There was some unrest on the team...many of these guys had watched the Bubas teams run the floor with a high octane offense.

Denton was therefore the focal point of a deliberate attack. (I do recall a slow, sweeping hook shot that was fairly unstoppable).

I agree that he is under appreciated and along with Banks, Spanarkle, Verga, Marin, Armstrong, Lewis and Alarie tend to be overshadowed when discussing the post 50's outstanding Duke players.

[CDu]

http://stories.icerocket.com/content/100-best-college-basketball-players

There is one particular Duke Blue Devil missing. You know the ACC's all-time leadiing score, NCAA all-time 3 point and foul shooter. Yet TJ Ford and Andrew Bogut make the cut. Also no way Hurley is the second best Duke player.

My top 10 players
1. David Thompson
2. Bill Walton
3. Lew Alcindor
4. Pistol Pete
5. Christian Laettner
6. Bill Russell
7. Larry Bird
8. Oscar Robinson
9. Magic Johnson
10. Bill Bradley

My top 10 Duke Players
1. Christian Laettner
2. JJ Redick
3. Johnny Dawkins (most important Duke player)
4. Grant Hill
5. Jason Williams
6. Bobby Hurley
7. Danny Ferry
8. Shelden Williams (yes he is, most underrated b/c JJ's attention)
9. Art Heyman
10. Gene Banks

I think you're overrating Redick. Sure, he scored a lot of points. But he was not in the same category as Jason Williams (who scored more prolifically AND had a lot more assists), Grant Hill, or Johnny Dawkins. Those guys were more complete players. Also, I'd have put Gminski and Battier in over Banks. I'd put Redick in the Battier category behind Laettner, Williams, Dawkins, and Hill.

As for the top-100, at least they didn't completely fall prey to the "Jordan was great in the NBA so he was great in college" fallacy. They still have him probably a bit high (I'd have had James Worthy higher than Jordan), but at least he didn't go top-10.