Ranking Connecticut Basketball's Top 5 Players of All Time

Selecting and then ranking the top five players in Connecticut basketball history is no easy task.

The school has won four national championships since 1999, has produced a slew of top NBA players and has attracted some of the top talent from across the country. Future NBA Hall of Famer Ray Allen and current NBA players Caron Butler, Andre Drummond, Rudy Gay and Kemba Walker are just a few of the players who first made an impact at UConn before moving on to produce at a high level in the Association.

Storrs, Connecticut, is a small town full of trees and leaves and is dominated by the expansive terrain of the University of Connecticut. It’s cold for a large portion of the year, it snows quite a bit and it’s not located in or close to a major metropolitan area with a big market. When Jim Calhoun took over Connecticut’s program in 1986, the program wasn't even close to relevant.

Turning a small school that no one associated with basketball into a national powerhouse, Calhoun gave the reins to assistant coach Kevin Ollie after recording an incredible 629 wins in 874 games coached for the Huskies.

Winners of the NCAA Championship in 1999, 2004, 2011 and 2014, the Huskies have won double the amount of titles of more traditional “powerhouse” programs such as Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas since 1999. As you might expect, in order to achieve the success that the school has been able to experience, a number of star players have passed through the program.

Here are the top five players in Connecticut basketball history. You might find it surprising that Ray Allen did not make the list! Find out who did…

Honorable Mention

Jessica Hill/Associated Press

Ray Allen (1993-1996)

Allen averaged 21.1 and then 23.4 points in his sophomore and junior seasons, respectively, and was named the Big East Player of the Year after his junior campaign. During his UConn career, the team went 87-12 and won three straight Big East titles, but he never advanced past the Elite Eight.

Art Quimby (1951-1955)

Quimby played for the Huskies in the 1950s and averaged 17.5 points and 21.5 rebounds per game in his career. His numbers are insane, but they were coming against a completely different caliber of players in comparison to today’s incredibly talented college basketball landscape.

Chris Smith (1988-1992)

Smith is UConn’s all-time leading scorer with 2,145 points. Considering the top talent that has played in Connecticut’s program, this is an impressive rank to maintain.

Ben Gordon (2001-2004)

A main part of the 2004 national championship team, Gordon’s sharpshooting from the outside even trumped previous deadeye shooter Allen. Hitting 2.3 threes per game that season, he was named the Big East tournament MVP before embarking on the national championship run. He was one of the most fun players to watch in the entire NCAA that season.

5. Donyell Marshall (1991-1994)

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Marshall was a McDonald’s All-American who came into UConn with huge expectations. He improved each season, recording 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds, 17.0 points and 7.8 rebounds and 25.1 points and 8.9 rebounds, respectively, in his three seasons at Connecticut.

While he didn’t win a national championship like the next four players on the list, Marshall was the face of the UConn teams that lifted the program to national prominence.

He became the first Husky to become a Consensus All-American after his junior season, thus paving the way for Jim Calhoun to excite and attract top talent through his recruiting channels for seasons to come.

While he didn’t directly contribute to UConn’s four national championships, he indirectly might be responsible for all four of them and any that come in the future thanks to his influence on the program.

4. Shabazz Napier (2010-2014)

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The only member of this list with multiple national championships, Napier was perhaps the sole reason that the Huskies cut down the nets last season.

Averaging 18.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, he spent the entire season leading the team in almost every major statistical category, including the three listed above. He hit a number of game-winning and clinching shots throughout the season, and Kevin Ollie was able to rely on his knowledge and abilities on the court, where he had complete freedom to create opportunities for others and shots for himself.

As a freshman playing alongside Kemba Walker, Napier learned the art of winning at the highest level, as he came off the bench to help the Calhoun-led Huskies win their third NCAA title in 2010. Staying in school in pursuit of another championship and sticking with the program through an NCAA-mandated postseason ban, Napier’s leadership was apparent. He finished his time at UConn averaging 13.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

He was picked by the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft.

3. Richard Hamilton (1996-1999)

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Richard “Rip” Hamilton spent three seasons as a member of the Huskies before moving on to the NBA. He left the program on top following a 1999 national championship victory, UConn's first. 

Establishing himself as a dynamic scorer from his freshman season, when he averaged 15.9 points per game, Hamilton averaged 21.5 points per contest during both his sophomore and junior seasons and was the go-to guy on offense for the Huskies, leading the team in scoring in all three seasons.

He was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, scoring 24.2 points per game in the 1999 title-winning season.

Hamilton was drafted by the Detroit Pistons, where he won an NBA title in 2004.

2. Emeka Okafor (2001-2004)

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Okafor was an integral part of the 2004 national championship team. That season, he averaged 17.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and a whopping 4.1 blocks and was named a first team All American and Co-Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

UConn’s all-time leader in blocked shots (with 441), he also pulled down 1,091 rebounds and recorded a career average of 13.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game while wearing blue and white.

Perhaps the best defensive player in Connecticut basketball history, Okafor was selected No. 2 in the 2004 NBA draft by Charlotte. He was never able to become an All-Star-caliber player in the NBA but was one of the best college players to ever pass through UConn.

His dominance on both sides of the ball puts him slightly ahead of Hamilton and Napier.

1. Kemba Walker (2008-2011)

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Walker led the Huskies to one of the most improbable national title wins in NCAA history in 2011. In that year, he had what can be considered the best individual season in Connecticut basketball history, recording 23.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

A first-team All-American and the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, he set a Huskies record for most points in a single season with 965 and hit a number of miraculous shots down the stretch of an incredible postseason run.

Walker put that year’s team on his back and won three titles in that season alone: the Maui Invitational, Big East and NCAA.