Top 20 Greatest College Basketball Players of All Time

Josh Turner by Contributor Written on March 31, 2009

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Who are the greatest college basketball players of all time?

In this list, I will count down the 20 best college basketball players, looking at 10 honorable mentions before getting to the Top 10 countdown.

The honorable mentions are a great group of players, but they just missed the Top 10. Here are some players that missed the Top 20 altogether, but are still worth mentioning.

Michael Jordan (North Carolina)
Tim Duncan (Wake Forest)
Elgin Baylor (Seattle)
Isiah Thomas (Indiana)
Phil Ford (North Carolina)

20. Danny Manning (Honorable Mention)

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Team: Kansas (1985-1988)
First Team All-Americans: 2 (1987-1988)
Player of the Year: 1 (1988)
NCAA Titles: 1 (1988)

19. Magic Johnson

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Team: Michigan State (1978-1979)
First Team All-Americans: 1 (1979)
Player of the Year: 0
NCAA Titles: 1 (1979)

18. Larry Johnson (Honorable Mention)

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Team: UNLV (1990-1991)
First Team All-Americans: 2 (1990-1991)
Player of the Year: 1 (1991)
NCAA Titles: 1 (1990)

17. Bill Bradley (Honorable Mention)

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Team: Princeton (1963-1965)
First Team All-Americans: 2 (1964-1965)
Player of the Year: 1 (1965)
NCAA Titles: 0

16. George Mikan (Honorable Mention)

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Team: DePaul (1943-1946)
First Team All-American: 2 (1944-1945)
Player of the Year: 1 (1946)
NCAA Titles: 0 (1945 NIT Title)

15. Ralph Sampson (Honorable Mention)

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Team: Virginia (1980-1983)
First Team All-American: 3 (1981-1983)
Player of the Year: 3 (1981-1983)
NCAA Titles: 0

14. Christian Laettner (Honorable Mention)

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Team: Duke (1989-1992)
First Team All-American: 1 (1992)
Player of the Year: 1 (1992)
NCAA Titles: 1 (1991-1992)

13. Tom Gola (Honorable Mention)

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Team: La Salle (1952-1955)
First Team All-American: 3 (1953-1955)
Player of the Year: 0
NCAA Titles: 1 (1954)

12. Wilt Chamberlain (Honorable Mention)

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Team: Kansas (1957-1958)
First Team All-American: 2 (1957-1958)
Player of the Year: 0
NCAA Titles: 0

11. Patrick Ewing (Honorable Mention)

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Team: Georgetown (1982-1985)
First Team All-American: 3 (1983-1985)
Player of the Year: 1 (1985)
NCAA Titles: 1 (1984)

10. Elvin Hayes

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Team: Houston (1966-1968)
First Team All-American: (1967-1968)
Player of the Year: 1 (1968)
NCAA Titles: 0
Final Four: 1 (1968)
PPG: 31.0
RPG: 17.2

9. Jerry Lucas

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Team: Ohio State (1960-1962)
First Team All-American: 3 (1960-1962)
Player of the Year: 2 (1961-1962)
NCAA Titles: 1 (1960)
Final Four: 3 (1960-1962)
PPG: 24.3
RPG: 17.2

8. Larry Bird

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Team: Indiana State (1977-1979)
First Team All-American: 2 (1978-1979)
Player of the Year: 1 (1979)
NCAA Titles: 0
Final Four: 1 (1979)
PPG: 30.3
RPG: 13.3
APG: 4.6

7. Jerry West

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Team: West Virginia (1958-1960)
First Team All-American: 2 (1959-1960)
Player of the Year: 0
NCAA Titles: 0
Final Four: 1 (1959)
PPG: 24.8
RPG: 13.3
APG: 2.8

6. David Thompson

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Team: NC State (1973-1975)
First Team All-American: 2 (1974-1975)
Player of the Year: 2 (1974-1975)
NCAA Titles: 1 (1974)
Final Four: 1 (1974)
PPG: 26.8
RPG: 8.0

5. Pete Maravich

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Team: LSU (1968-1970)
First Team All-American: 3 (1968-1970)
Player of the Year: 1970 (1)
NCAA Titles: 0
Final Four: 0
PPG: 44.2
RPG: 6.4
APG: 5.1

4. Bill Walton

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Team: UCLA (1972-1974)
First Team All-American: 3 (1972-1974)
Player of the Year: 2 (1972-1973)
NCAA Titles: 2 (1972-1973)
Final Four: 3 (1972-1974)
PPG: 20.3
RPG: 15.7
APG: 3.6

3. Oscar Robertson

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Team: Cincinnati (1958-1960)
First Team All-American: 3 (1958-1960)
Player of the Year: 3 (1958-1960)
NCAA Titles: 0
Final Four: 2 (1959-1960)
PPG: 33.8
RPG: 15.2
APG: 7.1

2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Team: UCLA (1967-1969)
First Team All-American: 3 (1967-1969)
Player of the Year: 2 (1967, 1969)
NCAA Titles: 3 (1967-1969)
Final Four: 3 (1967-1969)
PPG: 26.4
RPG: 15.5

1. Bill Russell

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Team: San Francisco (1954-1956)
First Team All-American: 2 (1955-1956)
Player of the Year: 1 (1956)
NCAA Titles: 2 (1955-1956)
Final Four: 2 (1955-1956)
PPG: 20.7
RPG: 20.3

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written on March 31, 2009 Rankings/List

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