Jimmer Fredette & the Best College Stars to Ever Play for the Sacramento Kings

Former Brigham Young guard Jimmer Fredette was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks 10th overall in the 2011 NBA draft. He was then shipped to the Sacramento Kings on draft night in a three-team deal that also involved the Charlotte Bobcats.

Fredette was a superstar at the collegiate level and the basketball world will be watching closely to see if he'll ever become one in the pros.

The Jimmer, of course, isn't the first legendary college hoops player to ever suit up for the Kings. Before him, there were guys like Lionel Simmons, Bobby Hurley and Chris Webber.

Here's a look at the 10 greatest college stars to ever play ball with the Kings since the franchise moved to California's capital city in 1985.

10. Jimmer Fredette

The only current King on the list, Fredette was nothing but spectacular last season as a senior at BYU.  

The Naismith Award winner led the nation in scoring with 28.9 points per game and also dished out 4.3 assists.  

After three regular-season games this season, the ridiculously popular guard is averaging 10 points and a little under three assists off the bench

Is he the next J.J. Redick or Eddie House? Or is he just the first Jimmer Fredette? 

9. Mike Bibby

Bibby helped Arizona win the national championship as a freshman, scoring 20 points in the title game versus Kentucky.

As a sophomore, he was a first-team All-American, the Pac-10 Player of the Year and a finalist for the Naismith Award.

Drafted second overall by the Vancouver (now Memphis) Grizzlies in 1998, Bibby was traded to the Kings in a deal for Jason Williams in 2001.

Bibby would emerge as a "should've been" All-Star in Sacramento and was a key member on some elite Kings squads that somehow never won a championship.   

8. Mateen Cleaves

Cleaves is no Magic Johnson, but he was still a larger than life point guard for Michigan State.

The Flint, Michigan native led the Spartans to a national title in 2000 and was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player that year. 

During his stay at MSU, Cleaves was also a first-team All-American and a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year.

His NBA days weren't as great as his college career, though, as he averaged just 3.6 points and 1.9 assists in his six years.

Cleaves played 44 games with the Kings as a reserve.  

7. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

Formerly named Chris Jackson, Abdul-Rauf put up video game-type stats during his two seasons at LSU.

He averaged an eye-popping 30.2 points per game his freshman year and then 27.8 as a sophomore.

Abdul-Rauf was named the National Freshman of the Year, was a first-team All-American twice and the SEC Player of the Year twice as well.

The high-scoring guard played his first six NBA seasons in Denver before spending two with the Mitch Richmond-led Kings.

6. Danny Ainge

Long before Jimmer Fredette, another big-time guard played at BYU and his name was Danny Ainge.

The current Boston Celtics executive took home the Wooden Award as a senior in 1981.

After winning two rings in Boston as a player,  Ainge would later spend a season and a half with the Kings in the late '80s and early '90s, during the team's powder blue era.   

5. Chris Webber

No player on this list has enjoyed more NBA success than C-Webb. The former Rookie of the Year was an All-Star four times during his six and a half seasons as a King.

Webber was a standout in college as well, starring two years at the University of Michigan. The most talented member of the Fab Five led the Wolverines to the NCAA Championship game in both his freshman and a sophomore seasons, which is pretty much unheard of.

Webber was then the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 draft. He would later carry the Kings from a lottery club to a title contender of the early 2000s. 

4. Bobby Hurley

Hurley was the type of point guard that any college hoops team would love to have running their team.

He helped Duke win back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992 and played in three Final Fours.

As a junior, Hurley was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four and was a first-team All-American his senior year.

In addition, he's still the NCAA's all-time assists leader with 1,076 assists.

A lottery pick of the Kings in '93, Hurley was injured in a car accident during his rookie year, which prevented him from developing into an NBA star.

He played the majority of his brief five-year career with Sacramento.

3. Lionel Simmons

Simmons put up roughly 25 points and 11 rebounds per game during his four-year career at La Salle, which lasted from 1986 until 1990.

The "L-Train"—cool nickname by the way—is the NCAA's third all-time leading scorer behind Pete Maravich and Freeman Williams. 

Simmons was drafted by the Kings seventh overall in 1990. He would have an excellent rookie season, putting up 18 points and nearly nine rebounds per contest, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting behind New Jersey's Derrick Coleman.   

He spent his entire seven-year NBA career in Sacramento.

2. Wayman Tisdale

Tisdale enjoyed a remarkable three-year stint at the University of Oklahoma in the '80s.

He was named to the All-American First Team each year and averaged 25.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game for his career.

Tisdale went on to play 12 years in the NBA, making stops in Indiana, Sacramento and Phoenix. His best season came in 1989-90 with the Kings, when he put up 22.3 PPG and 7.5 RPG.

Sadly, he died of cancer in 2009. 

1. Ralph Sampson

The 7'4" Sampson was truly dominant during his tenure at the University of Virginia.

He picked up the Naismith Award three times, the Wooden Award twice and made an unbelievable six appearances on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

The Houston Rockets made Sampson the top pick in the 1983 NBA draft. After becoming a four-time All-Star in Houston, he eventually found his way to Sacramento, where he played two injury-plagued seasons.