ESPN series ranking the college programs who have produced the best NBA players

[IMind]

I was giving this some thought and noticed Louisville's talent pool for this contest..

http://basketball.realgm.com/ncaa/conferences/Big-East-Conference/4/Louisville/67/NBA_Players

Goodlord almighty that is ugly.

That's got to be some kind of record... to win as consistently as they have and not have any NBA players average over 10pts per game.

 

[upstater]

Burrell's career was a bit better than a cup of tea. 10 years in the league and was a decent reserve for Chicago when they won the title in 1998. A pretty decent 3pt shooter. I also love that Chicago traded Dickie Simpkin's to GS for him.

What I wrote was poorly written. It was George and Smith who had the cup of tea--- note no Oxford comma. (i.e. if I had written "Burrell, George, and Smith," that would mean Burrell had a cup of tea. Then again few people use the Oxford comma any more.

 

[upstater]

That's got to be some kind of record... to win as consistently as they have and not have any NBA players average over 10pts per game.

Depends on what you mean by consistent. Really, Pitino had ramped up that program's pedigree from what it was after the 1980s.

 

[IMind]

What I wrote was poorly written. It was George and Smith who had the cup of tea--- note no Oxford comma. (i.e. if I had written "Burrell, George, and Smith," that would mean Burrell had a cup of tea. Then again few people use the Oxford comma any more.

I thought you might have ment that... but Scott was always one of my favorite players and it gave me an excuse to talk him up a bit.

 

[IMind]

Depends on what you mean by consistent. Really, Pitino had ramped up that program's pedigree from what it was after the 1980s.

Even if you just count the Pitino era... he's been coaching them since 2001. You'd think they would have put one star in to the league in the last decade.

 

[upstater]

Even if you just count the Pitino era... he's been coaching them since 2001. You'd think they would have put one star in to the league in the last decade.

Very true. I thought Jennings would have had a chance, but no. Samuels was a waste of time. Glad he didn't come to UConn. I also forget that Pitino was there for that long. Thank God he left the Celtics, what a disaster.

 

[aceboon]

We can pretty much say Rudy is an All Star considering all the years he should have been on teams.

Nope

 

[IMind]

After digging a little more... they do have Pervis Ellison, Darrell Grififith and Wes Unseld... but that's about it.

 

[Inyatkin]

Sort of like Louisville, what about Michigan State? Zach Randolph is a beast, when he feels like it, Richardson and Peterson had decent careers, but those guys were drafted 12 years ago. Since then basically nothing, despite being constant national contenders.

 

[aceboon]

Sort of like Louisville, what about Michigan State? Zach Randolph is a beast, when he feels like it, Richardson and Peterson had decent careers, but those guys were drafted 12 years ago. Since then basically nothing, despite being constant national contenders.

..and despite the media playing it up that Izzo only gets under the radar/blue collar guys because his players usually end up staying all 4 years, Izzo gets studs and is one of the best recruiters in the Midwest.

 

[intlzncster]

What I wrote was poorly written. It was George and Smith who had the cup of tea--- note no Oxford comma. (i.e. if I had written "Burrell, George, and Smith," that would mean Burrell had a cup of tea. Then again few people use the Oxford comma any more.

Bloody academics. Always weaseling out of things on technicalities...

 

[intlzncster]

..and despite the media playing it up that Izzo only gets under the radar/blue collar guys because his players usually end up staying all 4 years, Izzo gets studs and is one of the best recruiters in the Midwest.

Pretty much has Michigan on lock down, and that's a nice pool for talented tough guys.

 

[upstater]

Bloody academics. Always weaseling out of things on technicalities...

I did say it was poorly written. But judging from the writing of my academic colleagues these days, that's not a surprise.

 

[UConn Esq]

Sort of like Louisville, what about Michigan State? Zach Randolph is a beast, when he feels like it, Richardson and Peterson had decent careers, but those guys were drafted 12 years ago. Since then basically nothing, despite being constant national contenders.

They did have Steve Smith though who was a real nice nba player. Even had an all-star appearance and was on the olympic team I believe.

 

[Inyatkin]

They did have Steve Smith though who was a real nice nba player. Even had an all-star appearance and was on the olympic team I believe.

He was drafted in 1991

 

[HooperScooper]

Ohio State at #19.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/85066/path-to-the-draft-no-19-ohio-state

 

[UConn Esq]

He was drafted in 1991

So then he would count. It's draft year 1989 forward.

 

[Mr. French]

In the mid 2000s uconn had a legit claim as #1, now with some guys older and others not panning out as well as predicted, it may be in the 5-10 range (though I'll still argue for higher).

I think UCLA and Texas will definitely be considered around uconns general area, with Kevin love, Russell, Durant, Aldridge, and then more bit players.

it's rough for us uconn fans when you look around 05-06, ray was still elite, rip and Caron were very good all star level players, emeka and Ben looked like stars, and the Rudy Marcus josh Hilton class was very promising. That's a HUGE contingent of HIGH level NBA ball. Kemba and Drummond have to carry the torch now...

edit: forgot ab chuck V and thabeet, our level of busts/underperformers has increased way too much...

 

[Inyatkin]

So then he would count. It's draft year 1989 forward.

OK, but my point was they haven't had any top-quality NBA players since Randolph. It sure sounded like you were responding to that by citing Steve Smith.

 

[UConn Esq]

OK, but my point was they haven't had any top-quality NBA players since Randolph. It sure sounded like you were responding to that by citing Steve Smith.

Ah I gotcha.. i was just trying to add him to the potential MSU roster for this articles sake. If the article is really just trying to make the best 5 man roster from a school since 1989.. Steve Smith is pretty quality 2-guard to complement Zach Randolph and co

 

[intlzncster]

He was drafted in 1991

still counts.

we count Uncle Cliffy in 98.

 

[UConn Esq]

The fact that UConn in 2013 was second in alumni combined salaries in the NBA shows that we have to be close to the top of this list. Especially when you consider our combined salary was 15 million dollars higher than #3 (Florida) and only 1.2 million dollars behind #1 (Duke) even though Duke has 5 more players in the NBA currently.

Clearly we have serious elite talent in the NBA

 

[Penfield]

My guess at the top 5:

Duke
Kentucky
UNC
UConn
Florida

 

[Kitaman]

Duke's pipeline may be broad, but it is overrated in terms of talent. What really lifted them is Grant Hill, Deng and guys like Boozer and wrinkle head. And rent-a-players like Irving and Rivers are BS imo. Magette was alright.

But they've had more duds than we have: Laettner, Hurley, Jay Williams (don't matter the reason), Dunleavy, Duhon, Singler, Thomas, Ewing, Sheldon Williams...

Got to give credit to that anus JJ Redick. He made himself into a decent role player.

While I despise dook, I have to concede they do produce NBA players. They may not make headlines but they do know how to milk the pedigree for a few seasons. Coach K produces team concept players, playing within their limitations (i.e. role), which helps longevity. After all he does know about coaching and player development (not necessarily NBA development) but players do seem to leave better than they came in.

Note: Please forgive me for defending them, it won't happen again.

 

[HooperScooper]

While I despise dook, I have to concede they do produce NBA players. They may not make headlines but they do know how to milk the pedigree for a few seasons. Coach K produces team concept players, playing within their limitations (i.e. role), which helps longevity. After all he does know about coaching and player development (not necessarily NBA development) but players do seem to leave better than they came in.

Note: Please forgive me for defending them, it won't happen again.

Well it helps to have about 30 McDonald's All Americans during that time frame.