ESPN's 75 greatest NCAA Tournament players

[hurleyfor3]

Have at it.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/feature/video...ege-basketball

Laettner is #3, Hurley is #16, Shane is #34, Grant is #40, Dawkins is #66. One and 2 are Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton. I'm fine with Lew at #1, but Walton didn't need to be perfect against Memphis State the way we needed Laettner to be against Kentucky, and they honked against NCSU in '74.

Highest unc player is Hansbrough at #25. Ha!

[rsvman]

Interesting list. Almost impossible to compile, IMO.

I learned a few things. Who would have guessed that Delk scored more tournament points than any player in UK history?

Also, I learned that Elvin Hayes (at Houston) and Jerry West (at West Virginia) wore the same jersey number: 44.

[superdave]

Highest unc player is Hansbrough at #25. Ha!

James Worthy was more worthy than Hansborough. James was MOP in 1982, Wayne Ellington was in 2009 rather than Hansborough.

[JasonEvans]

My thoughts...

73. Chris Weber - imagine how high he would be if he could count timeouts
69. Sam Perkins - really? He never impressed me as a guy who played extra well at tourney time
68. Sean May - probably too low if you ask me. He scored 22 ppg the tourney they won the title. That's impressive
66. Johnny Dawkins - if only ANYONE else on the 1986 team had been able to score that Monday night, we'd have another ring.
62. Miles Simon - he almost single-handedly won the 1997 tourney, IIRC.
58. Scotty Thurman - the picture of him is of him guarding Jeff Capel. If not for Tony Lang's untimely manicure, Scotty is not even on this list.
57. Michael Jordan - I applaud ESPN for recognizing that Jordan's success in the NBA does not make him the greatest college player. Frankly, I seem to recall that he was pretty mediocre come tournament time.
53. Steph Curry - They misspelled Seth's name... at least I hope they did after the 2013 tourney is done
40. Grant Hill - he should be in the top 20 for that Dunk against Kansas! He also single-handedly almost led us to the title in 1994. His D on Big Dog was awesome!
35. James Worthy - Great player, great tourney player but in no way does he belong ahead of Grant.
34. Shane Battier - He's everyone's daddy, except the 33 guys ahead of him.
29. Purvis Ellison - has to be a joke that he is this high. One tournament is not worth a ranking this high.
25. Tyler Hanbrough - Hard to argue with this. He was excellent in multiple tourneys.
23. Melo - If you want to know how someone can be ranked this high for only one tournament, look at his stats in that tourney. WOW!
20. Glen Rice - Whew, was he ever great in 1989! I have a hard time believing there are 19 better tourney performers than him.
16. Bobby Hurley - I love me some Hurley... LOVE HIM... but #16 might be a tad high for him.
10. Elvin Hayes
9. David Thompson
8. Jerry Lucas
7. Danny Manning
6. Patrick Ewing
5. Magic Johnson
4. Bill Russell
3. Christian Laetter - not #1?!?!?! That's insane.
2. Bill Walton - well, Walton was amazing. Maybe #3 isn't insane
1. Lew Alcindor - nope, #3 is where Christian belongs. Walton and Kareem are the tops, IMO.

-Jason "fun list, even though it is wrong in multiple places " Evans

[JetpackJesus]

Sports Nation has a poll up for people to vote for their top 25 tourney players. So skew away.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post...nament-players

[rthomas]

My thoughts...

57. Michael Jordan - I applaud ESPN for recognizing that Jordan's success in the NBA does not make him the greatest college player. Frankly, I seem to recall that he was pretty mediocre come tournament time.

He did hit a very NOT-mediocre shot against Georgetown. That shot alone puts him top 50, as far as I am concerned.

[JasonEvans]

He did hit a very NOT-mediocre shot against Georgetown. That shot alone puts him top 50, as far as I am concerned.

Why? That is just silly. One shot puts you in the top 50?!? There is no logic to that argument. It ignores the many, many, many other moments that make up a team's march to a title and that make up a player's NCAA tournament career.

-Jason "Jordan in the tournament wasn't nearly as good as you might think" Evans

[Bob Green]

-Jason "Jordan in the tournament wasn't nearly as good as you might think" Evans

Dakich? Paging Dan Dakich. Is there a Mr. Dakich in the house?

[Bob Green]

Speaking of Tar Heels, where is Donald Williams? Chris Webber makes the list after calling a timeout Michigan doesn't have but Donald Williams scores 50 points in the final four, wins MOP and gets left off the list. That doesn't make sense to me.

[Frobisher]

I'd love to see this poll again in a few years and see something like:

23. Carmelo Anthony/Jabari Parker - "The only two freshmen to lead their championship teams in both scoring and rebounding, while also winning the tourney's Most Outstanding Player Award."

...Of course, while I'm day-dreaming, I'd love him to be ranked higher because he chose to stay a few years, and I'd hope to see any combo of Sulaimon, Cook, et al. on the list as well for being key contributors on back to back championship teams...

[Li_Duke]

I keep feeling like Duke's Jason Williams should be on the list (missed free throws versus Indiana regardless). Maybe I'm misremembering how good he was in the tournament...

[TKG]

Magic at #5, all time?

[oldnavy]

My thoughts...

73. Chris Weber - imagine how high he would be if he could count timeouts
69. Sam Perkins - really? He never impressed me as a guy who played extra well at tourney time
68. Sean May - probably too low if you ask me. He scored 22 ppg the tourney they won the title. That's impressive
66. Johnny Dawkins - if only ANYONE else on the 1986 team had been able to score that Monday night, we'd have another ring.
62. Miles Simon - he almost single-handedly won the 1997 tourney, IIRC.
58. Scotty Thurman - the picture of him is of him guarding Jeff Capel. If not for Tony Lang's untimely manicure, Scotty is not even on this list.
57. Michael Jordan - I applaud ESPN for recognizing that Jordan's success in the NBA does not make him the greatest college player. Frankly, I seem to recall that he was pretty mediocre come tournament time.
53. Steph Curry - They misspelled Seth's name... at least I hope they did after the 2013 tourney is done
40. Grant Hill - he should be in the top 20 for that Dunk against Kansas! He also single-handedly almost led us to the title in 1994. His D on Big Dog was awesome!
35. James Worthy - Great player, great tourney player but in no way does he belong ahead of Grant.
34. Shane Battier - He's everyone's daddy, except the 33 guys ahead of him.
29. Purvis Ellison - has to be a joke that he is this high. One tournament is not worth a ranking this high.
25. Tyler Hanbrough - Hard to argue with this. He was excellent in multiple tourneys.
23. Melo - If you want to know how someone can be ranked this high for only one tournament, look at his stats in that tourney. WOW!
20. Glen Rice - Whew, was he ever great in 1989! I have a hard time believing there are 19 better tourney performers than him.
16. Bobby Hurley - I love me some Hurley... LOVE HIM... but #16 might be a tad high for him.
10. Elvin Hayes
9. David Thompson
8. Jerry Lucas
7. Danny Manning
6. Patrick Ewing
5. Magic Johnson
4. Bill Russell
3. Christian Laetter - not #1?!?!?! That's insane.
2. Bill Walton - well, Walton was amazing. Maybe #3 isn't insane
1. Lew Alcindor - nope, #3 is where Christian belongs. Walton and Kareem are the tops, IMO.

-Jason "fun list, even though it is wrong in multiple places " Evans

The problem I have with the two UCLA picks would be the timeframe when they played. They basically started in the sweet sixteen and the seeding was done regionally vice nationally, so... I think what Laettner did was more impressive than either Walton or Alcindor. I expect many will disagree with me.

[Bob Green]

I expect many will disagree with me.

You are correct.

[oldnavy]

You are correct.

Perhaps. But UCLA benefitted tremendously from the format the NCAA's were played during both Walton's and Alcindor's era. I don't think that is very debatable.

[Bob Green]

Perhaps. But UCLA benefitted tremendously from the format the NCAA's were played during both Walton's and Alcindor's era. I don't think that is very debatable.

It absolutely is debatable. UCLA did not benefit any more than the other schools competing during the same era. I'll use your and moonpie's favorite obsession as an example: how many titles did North Carolina win during the NCAA format in question? [my apologies moonpie, you are just collateral damage here]

How many titles did Duke, Michigan, Dayton, Purdue, Jacksonville, Villanova, Florida State, Memphis State or Kentucky win? Those 10 teams all made it to the championship game against UCLA, but UCLA won all 10 times. UCLA definitely benefitted from Sam Gilbert but they gained no advantage from the format utilized during the era they dominated college basketball.

[NashvilleDevil]

29. Purvis Ellison - has to be a joke that he is this high. One tournament is not worth a ranking this high.

-Jason "fun list, even though it is wrong in multiple places " Evans

Ellison's ranking is to high for essentially one game. I've blocked the '86 Final Four out of my head but other than his performance against Duke I don't remember him doing much in the tournament.

[vick]

It absolutely is debatable. UCLA did not benefit any more than the other schools competing during the same era. I'll use your and moonpie's favorite obsession as an example: how many titles did North Carolina win during the NCAA format in question? [my apologies moonpie, you are just collateral damage here]

How many titles did Duke, Michigan, Dayton, Purdue, Jacksonville, Villanova, Florida State, Memphis State or Kentucky win? Those 10 teams all made it to the championship game against UCLA, but UCLA won all 10 times. UCLA definitely benefitted from Sam Gilbert but they gained no advantage from the format utilized during the era they dominated college basketball.

I don't know...I mean aside from the argument that winning four games in a row is easier than six (which seems very reasonable to me), it's also empirically true that repeat winners were more common when the tournament was smaller. Even if you take the time period before UCLA's first title, from 1939-1963, you have four repeat winners in 25 years (45-46 Oklahoma A&M, 48-49 Kentucky, 55-56 San Francisco, 61-62 Cincy), whereas after the 64+ team tournament began in 1985, you have only two in 28 (91-92 Duke and 06-07 Florida).

Now, I actually agree with the Alcindor-Walton-Laettner order, but I don't think it's unreasonably denigrating UCLA's achievements to point out the repeating was easier in the 16-team tournament days, because it was.

[-jk]

It absolutely is debatable. UCLA did not benefit any more than the other schools competing during the same era. I'll use your and moonpie's favorite obsession as an example: how many titles did North Carolina win during the NCAA format in question? [my apologies moonpie, you are just collateral damage here]

How many titles did Duke, Michigan, Dayton, Purdue, Jacksonville, Villanova, Florida State, Memphis State or Kentucky win? Those 10 teams all made it to the championship game against UCLA, but UCLA won all 10 times. UCLA definitely benefitted from Sam Gilbert but they gained no advantage from the format utilized during the era they dominated college basketball.

The big difference was you didn't travel out of your natural region. The West was always the easy region, so UCLA didn't have to work to get to the final four.

-jk

[BlueDevilBrowns]

I keep feeling like Duke's Jason Williams should be on the list (missed free throws versus Indiana regardless). Maybe I'm misremembering how good he was in the tournament...

well, had Jason made his free throw in the last second against IU, he probably would be on the list.

However, Jason Williams' sweet 16 game in '01 vs. UCLA is the 2nd greatest tournament performance I have ever seen in my nearly 34 years. He was in Beast Mode before there was a Beast Mode.