The 10 Greatest College Basketball Players Over The Past 20 Seasons

In tribute to this weekend’s upcoming NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball national semifinals (the Final Four) at Ford Field in Detroit, I decided to rank the 10 greatest college basketball players to grace the hardwood over the past 20 seasons.

It is imperative to note that this list is predicated off of players successes and accolades at the collegiate level and it is not based off of ones immense talent or future dominance in the NBA.

Without further adieu, below are my nominations.

1) Christian Laettner

Despite being a smug and unlikable version of 90210’s Brandon Walsh, Christian Laettner is simply the most accomplished college basketball player of the past 20 seasons without a close peer.

Laettner, who was honored with every award fathomable during his collegiate career and is the only player to ever start in all four Final Fours, was the main ingredient behind the Duke Blue Devils consecutive national championships in the 1991 and 1992 seasons.

Laettner, the owner of the most points scored in the history of the NCAA tournament, will live in lore for his game-winning last-second jump shot that propelled Duke to a 104-103 victory over Kentucky in the 1992 East regional final.

The 92’ regional final is acclaimed by many as “the greatest college basketball game ever played” and it is appropriate that the epic battle was decided by one of the greatest college basketball players to put on sneakers.

2) Larry Johnson

Upon transferring from Odessa College to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1988, "Grandma-ma" dominated the collegiate landscape and nearly led the Runnin’ Rebels to an unblemished season and consecutive national championships in 1991.

LJ was twice a First Team All-America selection and he won the Big West Conference Player of the Year award and he was its tournament MVP in both the years 1990 and 1991.

Johnson, the winner of the prestigious John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith College Player of the Year in 1991, is ranked 12th in career scoring and 7th in rebounding despite playing only 2 seasons for UNLV.

In 2002, despite being as wholesome a squad as a Nevada brothel, Johnson and star teammates Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony were inducted into the UNLV Hall of Fame along with the 1990-91 UNLV Men’s Basketball Team.

3) Tyler Hansbrough

"Psycho T," who is on the cusp of leading the North Carolina Tarheels to the 2009 national championship, will likely become the first player in ACC history to earn First Team All-America and First Team All-ACC honors in each of his four college seasons.

Hansbrough, the leading scorer in the annals of the ACC, is a formidable presence in the paint and nobody exerts more passion and energy than the Chapel Hill legend.

Hansbrough's moniker is "Psycho T." But, there are methods to the power forwards madness and those methods have made him one of the ultimate players in college basketball.

4) Bobby Hurley

Granted, the Duke icon looked like Eddie Munster in nut-huggers when he donned the Blue Devils shorts from 1989-1993.  Still, his dreaded and feeble appearance notwithstanding, Hurley is justifiably considered one of the greatest point guards in NCAA history.

The Jersey City product remains the NCAA all-time assists leader with 1,076 dishes and he was a vital catalyst in the Blue Devils back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992.

Hurley, who participated in the Final Four three times, won the events MVP honors in 1992 and was named one of the fifty greatest players in ACC history a decade later.

Duke's floor general was drafted 7th overall in the NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings a month after his No. 11 jersey was retired in 1993.

Hurley may have resembled Herman and Lily Munster's only child. But, as the old adage goes, one can't judge a book by its cover. 

5) Tim Duncan

The Virgin Islander American was a dominant force in the middle for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons from 1994 through 1997.

“The Big Fundamental,” who won successive ACC Player of the Year awards in 1996 and 1997, took home every valuable piece of individual college hardware before he was selected 1^st overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 1997 NBA Draft.

Duncan once compared his own personality to that of Matt Damon’s character in the movie Good Will Hunting.

"I'm just a taller, slightly less hyperactive version of the Damon character in the movie,” said Duncan. “I really enjoyed how he probed people and found out their weaknesses just by asking questions and stating outlandish remarks."

From this writer's vantage, there are zero similarities between Duncan and South Boston’s Will Hunting and it was “outlandish” for the power forward to compare himself to a mathematical wizard.

Well, on second thought, Duncan did find out the “weaknesses” of every player he faced in college basketball for the four glorious seasons he played  in Winston-Salem.

6) Shane Battier

Battier, known as “the ultimate glue guy” for playing sound, fundamental, team-oriented basketball, swept the major National Player of the Year awards in 2001 en route to leading the Duke Blue Devils to a victory over the Arizona Wildcats for the national championship.

Battier, the 2001 ACC Athlete of the Year who was picked 6th overall in the NBA Draft, had his jersey No. 31 retired by the Blue Devils.

Upon exiting Tobacco Road, Battier was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team.

7) Carmello Anthony

Anthony played only one season (2002-2003) at Syracuse University. Nevertheless, Melo's one season epitomized the notion of quality over quantity.

The Baltimore native averaged 22.1 points and 10.0 rebounds as he helped guide the Orangemen to their first ever NCAA tournament title in 2003.

Anthony, an All-Big East First Team selection and the consensus pick for NCAA Freshman of the Year, was drafted 3rd overall by the Denver Nuggets following his March performance for the ages.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim neatly described Anthony when he said he was "by far, the best player in college basketball. It wasn't even close. Nobody was even close to him in college basketball. That's the bottom line."

Amen, Jim.

8) Jonathan Clay "J. J." Redick

Duke's sharpshooter dominated college hoops for four seasons before he was selected 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA Draft.

Redick, a yuppie who enjoyed getting shitfaced while enrolled in Durham, was a polarizing ballplayer that Travis Clay of CBS Sportsline once labeled the "most hated current athlete in America."

Nevertheless, Redick was a tremendous talent who won consecutive ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year awards and was presented with every major basketball accolade during his senior season in 2006. 

Redick was that "hated," because, like Triple H, he was "that damn good."


9) Keith Van Horn

Van Horn was the first player in the Western Athletic Conference named Player of the Year three times (1995, 1996 and 1997).

Van Horn, the 2nd overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1997 NBA Draft, is the leading scorer in WAC history and he was among 16 players named to Utah's "All-Century" basketball team.

Many analysts predicted that Van Horn would become the sports next "Great White Hope" ala Larry Bird.

Unfortunately, Van Horn never even sniffed Bird's status as a professional.

But, the Mormon was one hell of a college basketball player.

10) Glenn Robinson

The “Big Dog” was certainly not a dog when he played on the hardwood for the Purdue University Boilermakers.

In 1994, Robinson was named a First Team All-American in addition to being chosen as the Big Ten Player of the Year. Robinson, the 1st overall selection in the 1994 NBA Draft, was also deservedly granted the Naismith and John R. Wooden Awards as well as being named the USBWA College Player of the Year.

Those that don’t recall Robinson’s shire dominance either aren’t fans of college basketball or they have enjoyed one too many boilermakers in their lifetimes.

Honorable Mention: Emeka Okafor

Before I receive a litany of hate mail with gripes that I am a biased supporter of Duke who wants to give Coach K a Lewinsky, let me be emphatically clear that I am a fan of the lowly Indiana Hoosiers.

I developed a list of players and I narrowed my list down to the ten that I felt were the most accomplished ones to play over the past 20 seasons.

Obviously, the above rankings are my opinions and my estimations will inevitably differ from those of others.

I genuinely look forward to feedback from my readers.

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