The 20 Biggest Egos in College Basketball

On Wednesday night, Austin Rivers left his mark on the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. As time expired, Rivers dropped a three-point bomb to stun the Dean Smith Center.

The vivacious Blue Devils freshman came to Durham with an enhanced, self-absorbed personality, and with his latest accolade, you can guarantee that his egotistical personality will be sent into overdrive.

Big egos are as big a part of college sports as the athletes themselves, with many of our country's top players believing that they are bigger than the game.

Here are 20 of college basketball's biggest egos...

Draymond Green, Michigan State

After losing to rival Michigan on the Wolverines home court last month, Draymond Green guaranteed a Spartan victory when they met again at the Breslin Center.

Well, he made good on that promise. Green led Michigan State to a 10-point win, beating Michigan 64-54. While backing up his words, he dominated by scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Will Barton, Memphis

Will Barton has been at the University of Memphis for two seasons now. While he may be short on experience, he certainly isn't short on confidence.

Before both his freshman and sophomore seasons, the 6'6" shooting guard guaranteed a national title for the Tigers. Although his team doesn't appear capable of backing up his words,  Barton is looking like the 2012 Conference USA Player of the Year.

Austin Rivers, Duke

Duke freshman star Austin Rivers created quite a stir before the season when he dubbed himself "Subzero" before even taking the floor for the Blue Devils.

Well, he certainly is living up to the nickname after "freezing" Tyler Zeller before drilling the deep game-winning three-pointer in Duke's stunning victory over North Carolina Wednesday night.

Renardo Sidney, Mississippi State

At this point in his career, there's not much that hasn't been said about Mississippi State power forward Renardo Sidney.

Not so long ago, around the time influential people in his life helped lead him astray by convincing him he was a guaranteed future NBA lottery pick, he was touted by the New York Times as the next great player in the game of basketball. Well...times have changed.

Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas

Kansas senior guard Tyshawn Taylor has struggled to stay out of trouble in his career, and one of his most recent antics involved getting into a verbal spat with angry Twitter fans.

However, while he may not always thinks before he reacts, his basketball impulses are finely tuned. In another blowout victory over Baylor Wednesday night, he exploded for 19 points. His last season in Lawrence, he's finally living up to the hype.

Tony Wroten, Washington

Kentucky head coach John Calipari may be one of the most respected people in the game of college basketball, but that didn't stop Seattle stud Tony Wroten from publicly criticizing the leader of the Wildcats on Twitter as a high school senior.

As a freshman this season, it seems he has matured as a person, as well as a player. He is one of the best players in the Pac-12 and might be headed to the NBA after just one season at UW. 

C.J. Leslie, North Carolina State

Before the season started for North Carolina State and newly minted head coach Mark Gottfried, he sent a message to his sophomore star.

It stemmed from a lack of discipline from former State coach Sidney Lowe and his staff, who let the prized recruit seemingly do whatever he liked in his freshman season last year. This season, he's producing nicely for N.C. State and is doing just as well off the court.

Tu Holloway, Xavier

All it took was a sound bite from Cincinnati and Xavier's Crosstown Shootout to realize the size of Tu Holloway's ego. That ugly altercation that ensued between the rivals only escalated after the game...

"We got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We're a tougher team. We're grown men over here. We got a whole bunch of gangstas in the locker room, not thugs but tough guys on the court. We went out there and zipped 'em up at the end of the game."

He may be a 2012 All-American candidate, but he's also a brash point guard.

Yancy Gates, Cincinnati

...Another balloon-sized ego currently residing in the city of Cincinnati is Bearcats star big man Yancy Gates. Regardless of how remarkable his Bearcat career ends up, he will be remembered for "the punch."

With the incident behind him, he is playing good basketball right now, averaging almost 13 points and 10 rebounds per contest.

Joshua Smith, UCLA

Even after just losing to Loyola Marymount earlier in the season, that didn't stop Bruins center Joshua Smith from labeling the Lions "straight bums".

There is the ego that has landed the Seattle native on the same end of the spectrum as Renardo Sidney—another hyped high school talent who refuses to get into game shape and will likely fade into obscurity very soon.

Marcus Jordan, Central Florida

Even though he's not Michael Jordan, his son Marcus has the same sense of entitlement his father possessed. Without a doubt, he is a solid NCAA basketball player. That is all he will ever be, however, no matter what brand of sneakers he wears.

Scoop Jardine, Syracuse

If there is one player whose ego has steadily deflated over the course of his college playing career, it is Syracuse's Scoop Jardine.

Knowing that guard Dion Waiters was too good to keep off the floor this season, Scoop made sure the two could coexist in an attempt to win a 2012 national title.

Terrence Jones, Kentucky

Terrence Jones' ego has had to take a back seat this season at Kentucky, due to the star play of Wildcat freshman frontcourt players Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

His numbers are down this season, and he is only averaging 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds each game. However, John Calipari is good at making a group of stars coexist together.

Andre Drummond, Connecticut

Even though Andre Drummond may be headed for the riches of the NBA lifestyle as early as next season, he still made a crucial mistake earlier this season by publicly stating that he didn't know who Seton Hall star Herb Pope was.

Well, it got worse for him and Connecticut. They ended up losing to the Pirates 75-63, with Drummond only contributing four points, while that "Herb Pope character" paced Seton Hall with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Fab Melo, Syracuse

Sometimes, teams need their star player and his ego on the floor in order to maximize their potential. Thus is the case with the Syracuse Orange this season.

Without their vivacious, loud, shot-blocking center in the lineup, they are soft in the middle. Good thing he's back for SU, and the team is smoothly sailing through Big East play.

Dante Taylor, Pittsburgh

6'9" Dante Taylor's ego took a hit the moment he stepped on Pittburgh's campus.

A former McDonald's All-American, he expected to come in and star right away—that hasn't been the case. The junior is still looking to find his niche with the program. As the starting center this season, he is averaging 6.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

Joe Jackson, Memphis

For the second time in his two seasons at the University of Memphis, point guard Joe Jackson has pondered transferring.

The hometown star isn't dealing well with not being the star he was at the high school level, and he has to shoulder a great deal of the blame for why the Tigers haven't lived up to their preseason hype the last two seasons.

Darnell Dodson, Southern Miss

Southern Miss star Darnell Dodson has turned his career around this season. After being booted from Kentucky by Coach Cal before last season, he winded up in Hattiesburg.

He is now leading his team to the top of Conference USA, averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Jabari Brown, Missouri

After becoming the highest rated high school recruit to sign with the University of Oregon in several years, Jabari Brown abruptly left the team after just two games in a Ducks uniform.

Though he was starting at shooting guard, I guess he wasn't happy unless he was the only player taking shots each game. First year Missouri coach Frank Haith can now deal with his ego when he takes the floor for Mizzou next season.

Jahii Carson, Arizona State

One of the most highly anticipated recruits ready to take the floor this season in college basketball was supposed to be Arizona State's Jahii Carson. 

However, after being deemed academically ineligible, Sun Devils fans will have to wait until next season to see the electric point guard. Before the season, he seemed ready to take on the world at ASU. When he does take the floor, he will make an immediate impact.