College Basketball: The Most Important Recruit Ever for the Top 25 Programs

Building a successful college basketball program begins on the recruiting trail, where coaches find future stars to guide their teams to national prominence.

This rings true even (or especially) for the blue bloods of the college basketball world. The trophy cases at schools like Kentucky, UCLA and Duke would not be as full if not for one or two players whose legendary efforts led their squad to competitive greatness.

Nor would the successes of modern phenoms like Terrence Jones at Kentucky or Harrison Barnes at North Carolina be so remarkable without the foundations left on the hardwood by their predecessors.

There's no telling which of today's most prominent high school stars, from Anthony Davis in the class of 2011 to Andre Drummond in the class of 2012, will leave behind a legacy about which tales of NCAA Tournament triumphs and championship glory will be written.

With that in mind, let's have a look at the most important recruit in the history of each of college basketball's 25 winningest programs.

25. North Carolina State: David Thompson

The history of basketball at North Carolina State is replete with tremendous athletes and memorable moments, though none of it would have mattered quite so much had David Thompson never played in Raleigh.

Wolfpack coach Norm Sloan's efforts to build a basketball powerhouse did not begin with Thompson—massive center Tom Burleson was the first big piece of the puzzle to sign on with NC State—but it was Thompson whose efforts validated NC State's rise to prominence in the sport.

Known for his incredible leaping ability, the hometown talent known as "Skywalker" led the Wolfpack to their first-ever #1 ranking in 1973 followed shortly by the school's first NCAA Tournament championship in 1974, a run that included a huge upset victory over seven-time defending champion UCLA in the national semifinal.

It was Thompson who led the 'Pack back from a seven-point deficit in the second overtime period to shock the world.

Of course, not all was peaches and cream for Coach Sloan and NC State with Thompson in the mix; despite a perfect 27-0 record during the 1971-72 season, the Wolfpack were held out of postseason play that year as a result of NCAA sanctions related to violations that occurred during Thompson's recruitment.

Given what Thompson did for the program in the long run, that one missed tournament was certainly worth it. 

24. Arizona: Sean Elliott

Sean Elliott never led Arizona to a national title, but, like David Thompson, he was a local kid who helped put Wildcats basketball on the map.

While playing alongside Steve Kerr and Kenny Lofton, Elliott was a key cog in the Lute Olson-led Renaissance in Tucson, first as a freshman on the school's first Pac-10 champion squad in 1986 and later as an All-American on the Wildcats team that ran to the Final Four in 1988.

Elliott finished his career with another All-American selection and the Wooden Award as a senior, and still stands as the school's all-time leading scorer.

23. Cincinnati: Oscar Robertson

It's not always true that the best player in the history of a particular program is also its most important, but that's certainly the case with Oscar Robertson at the University of Cincinnati.

"The Big O" was never able to win the NCAA Tournament, but the two Final Four appearances he made with the Bearcats set the stage for the back-to-back national titles that Cincinnati would earn in 1961 and 1962 after Robertson left for the NBA.

Robertson led the nation in scoring during each of his three collegiate seasons with an incredible career average of 33.8 points per game.

His time in college could best be characterized as an assault on the record books. Robertson left Cincinnati with 19 school records and 14 NCAA marks, including college basketball's all-time leading scoring record (at the time).

Keep in mind, all of this was achieved while coping with the challenges of racial hostility and segregation that plagued him and other African-American athletes during the 1950s. 

22. Princeton: Bill Bradley

Basketball fans everywhere were reminded of the greatness of Princeton basketball this past March when the Tigers nearly took out Final Four-bound Kentucky in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

That effort certainly evoked some fond emotions from Bill Bradley, the brilliant hoopster-turned-senator whose success at Princeton proved that the Ivy League could ball...between classes, of course.

The man known as "The White O", after the aforementioned Oscar Robertson, was a three-time All-American and college player of the year at Princeton and, most notably, led the Tigers to their first and only Final Four in 1965.

Bradley also led the US Olympic team to its sixth consecutive gold medal at the 1964 games as an undergraduate, and is still the Ivy League's all-time leading scorer. 

21. West Virginia: Rod Hundley

The history of basketball at West Virginia is most closely associated with Jerry West, but "The Logo" would not have had much of a program to lead without the efforts of his predecessor—Hot Rod Hundley.

Hundley led the Mountaineers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1955, and took them back in 1956 and 1957. 

He finished his career in Morgantown as just the fourth player in NCAA history to score 2,000 points in a career, and was the first and only Mountaineer to be the first player taken in the NBA Draft.

Hundley's impact at West Virginia may best be summarized by a conversation he reportedly had with Jerry West at a charity event at WVU Coliseum.

Supposedly, Hundley said to West, "I built this building.", to which West's responded "Yeah, but I paid it off."

West did pay off for the Mountaineers, leading WVU to a second-place finish in the 1959 NCAA Tournament.

20. Oregon State: Steve Johnson

Oregon State wouldn't even be a blip on the college basketball radar without the 1980-81 "Orange Express" team, led by frontcourt force Steve Johnson.

Johnson, a senior on that team, was selected as an All-American that season while leading the top-ranked Beavers to their first-ever win at UCLA.

Johnson's Beavers spent 25 weeks atop the polls that season, in large part thanks to his incredible efforts. Johnson's season was highlighted by his 74.6% field-goal percentage, which still stands as the NCAA's all-time record.

19. Purdue: John Wooden

John Wooden is best remembered for his legendary coaching career at UCLA, and rightfully so; the man won 10 national titles during his time in Westwood.

However, long before Wooden was busy bringing important recruits to Los Angeles, he was himself a tremendously influential figure in the history of Purdue basketball.

Nicknamed "The Indiana Rubber Man" for his hustle and spirit, Wooden led the Boilermakers to the 1932 national championship while becoming the first player ever to be named a three-time All-American. For this and his other achievements, Wooden was honored as a player in the Basketball Hall of Fame. 

18. Louisville: Wes Unseld

By choosing to play his college basketball at Louisville, Wes Unseld became a hometown hero while making the Cardinals program one of the best in the nation.

Unseld didn't lead the 'Ville to any of its eight Final Four appearances, although his career immediately preceded the Cards' tournament runs in 1972 and 1975.

Nonetheless, Unseld led Louisville to the NCAA Tournament twice before moving on to a Hall-of-Fame career in the NBA. 

17. Texas: Slater Martin

The University of Texas is definitely a football-first school, but its basketball program has had some noteworthy success over the years.

That success finds its roots in the 1940s, when the Longhorns reached two Final Fours—the second of which was led by Slater "Dugie" Martin.

At just 5'10", Martin became a legendary figure in Austin, due in large part to his 49-point performance against TCU in 1949.

16. Western Kentucky: Clem Haskins

Western Kentucky is another school forgotten all too easily in the annals of college basketball history, but Clem Haskin's efforts in breaking down the barriers of segregation make it a program worth remembering.

Along with Dwight Smith, Haskins was a key figure in the integration of the Hilltoppers basketball team in the fall of 1963, instantly boosting the profile of a program that paled in comparison to the neighboring juggernaut at Kentucky.

Haskins led the 'Toppers to the Sweet 16 in 1966, laying the foundation for WKU's run to the 1971 Final Four, which was later scrubbed from the record books.

15. Brigham Young: Mel Hutchins

BYU basketball first came to national prominence under the auspices of Stan Watts, who had the privilege of coaching Mel Hutchins in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Hutchins led the Cougars to the Elite Eight in 1950 in their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and promptly duplicated the feat in 1951.

Additionally, Hutchins' BYU team won the NIT in 1951 when it was still the most prestigious collegiate tournament around.

14. Washington: Bob Houbregs

The success of the Washington Huskies basketball program under Lorenzo Romar would not be the same without the foundation laid in the 1950s by Tippy Dye-coached teams that featured Bob Houbregs.

The Canadian forward-center was a key player on Washington's Elite Eight team in 1951 and was the NCAA Player of the Year as a senior, when he guided the Huskies to the Final Four in 1953 while averaging a gaudy 34.8 points per game in the tournament.

13. Illinois: Dwight Eddleman

Bruce Weber has had some difficulty luring players from the state of Illinois to play for his Fighting Illini, and he would do well to follow the example of Douglas Mills.

Mills was able to nab one of the best players in the history of Illinois high school basketball—Dwight "Dike" Eddleman.

Eddleman's hype turned into hoop at Illinois, where he led the Illini to the 1949 Final Four while earning 11 varsity letters and a spot on the NCAA's All-Decade Team for the 1940s.

12. Indiana: Don Schlundt

Before Bob Knight became a legend on the sidelines of Assembly Hall, Indiana University was the home of coach Branch McCracken, who had the broad shoulders of center Don Schlundt to lean on in the early 1950s.

Schlundt was a three-time All-American at IU while leading the Hoosiers to the 1953 national championship. He finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer—a record that stood until Steve Alford surpassed him in 1987.

11. Utah: Arnie Ferrin

You'd have to go all the way back to 1944 to find Utah's one and only men's basketball national championship, when the Utes marched past Dartmouth in the NCAA Tournament final.

Leading that team was Arnie Ferrin, a Utah native who is still the school's only four-time All-American.

Ferrin, a freshman at the time, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and later helped the Utes win the NIT in 1947.

10. Penn: Tony Price

When it comes to Ivy League basketball, there are two schools that are pretty much always at or near the top of the standings—Princeton and Penn.

Each has garnered 26 conference titles since the Ivy League's formation in 1955, though the Quakers take the cake, having won an additional 13 Eastern Intercollegiate League titles before that.

82 years after Penn participated in the first five-on-five game of basketball against Yale, the Quakers found themselves on the cusp of yet another milestone when they reached the Final Four.

Led by Tony Price, father of former UConn guard A.J. Price, Penn marched by powerhouse programs like North Carolina, Syracuse and St. John's before losing to a green-clad team from the state of Michigan with some guy named Earvin Johnson.

The Price wasn't quite right for Penn in that game, though Tony played a huge part in the Quakers' run to Salt Lake City in 1979.

9. Notre Dame: Austin Carr

Notre Dame is another school whose basketball brilliance has been overshadowed by its legendary football program, not that it would prevent the inclusion of the Fighting Irish on this list.

When it comes to important recruits, one could certainly argue that Austin Carr, as terrific a player as he was, does not deserve this honor because, well, he never led the Irish past the Sweet 16.

That being said, landing Carr was a huge recruiting victory for coach John Dee, Jr., as Carr, a 6'4" shooting guard who had surpassed the 2,000 point mark in high school, was highly sought after by programs from coast to coast.

Carr lived up to the considerable hype while in South Bend, tallying a whopping 2,560 points in three seasons (an average of 34.5 points per game!) and doing even better in the postseason, with an eye-popping average of 50 points per game in seven NCAA Tournament contests.

Carr was also the leader of the 1971 Notre Dame team that toppled mighty UCLA in what would be the Bruins' last loss before their historic 88-game winning streak. 

8. UCLA: Lew Alcindor

Just prior to falling to Austin Carr's Irish, the UCLA Bruins had been dominating the college basketball world with a big kid from New York City named Lew Alcindor.

The man currently known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was perhaps the most hyped high school recruit of all time—a 7'2" center who'd led Power Memorial Academy to a 79-2 record and three consecutive City Catholic championships.

The young Alcindor's arrival in Westwood strengthened a Bruins program that had already won back-to-back NCAA championships under John Wooden, a point driven home in Alcindor's first game at Pauley Pavilion—a 75-60 rout of the varsity squad by the freshman team.

Alcindor finished his career at UCLA as arguably the greatest player in the history of college basketball, filling his mantel with three First-Team All-America selections, two National Player of the Year awards, three NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors (still the only player to accomplish such a feat), and, most importantly for the UCLA program, three consecutive national titles that eventually became seven straight once Bill Walton came to town.

7. St. John's: Chris Mullin

Like Alcindor, Chris Mullin also attended Power Memorial Academy before finishing his high school career at Xaverian, but instead of moving to California Mullin headed to Queens to play for St. John's in college.

With the guidance of legendary coach Lou Carnesecca, Mullin catapulted the Red Storm to the Final Four in 1985, the very same year that he took home the Wooden Award as college basketball's top player and won his third Big East Player of the Year award.

Mullin finished his outstanding career as the Red Storm's all-time leading scorer. He revitalized the basketball program in Queens much like he revitalized the crew cut during his time in the NBA.

6. Temple: Guy Rodgers

Guy Rodgers may very well be one of the most important figures in the history of Philadelphia basketball, though not just for his on-court exploits as Wilt Chamberlain's teammate with the Warriors.

Rodgers' legacy stems back to his college days, when the local boy took his talents to Temple and led the Owls to their only two Final Four appearances in 1956 and 1958.

5. Syracuse: Dave Bing

Long before Dave Bing became the mayor of Detroit, he was busy reviving the basketball program at Syracuse.

A Parade All-American as a high school player in Washington, D.C., Bing played alongside current Orange head coach Jim Boeheim, helping the team reach the Elite Eight in 1966 while becoming the school's first consensus All-American in 39 years. 

4. Duke: Christian Laettner

There's no doubt that Mike Krzyzewski has developed better pros than Christian Laettner during his tremendous tenure at Duke, but no single player has done nearly as much to cement the Blue Devils as one of the blue bloods of college basketball.

Laettner's legacy began at Nichols School in New York, where he amassed over 2,000 points during a wildly successful high school career.

His impact was felt immediately at Duke, where Laettner led the Blue Devils to the Final Four in each of his four years in Durham and still stands alone as the only player to ever start in four Final Fours.

The Blue Devils earned their first two national titles during Laettner's tenure, and no one since has scored more points or played in more NCAA Tournament games than Laettner, the man responsible for "The Shot."

3. North Carolina: Charlie Scott

North Carolina has seen many players pass through its halls with more talent and ability than Charlie Scott, though none had quite the lasting impact that Scott left behind.

Scott, a guard/forward out of New York City, played most of his high school ball at the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Scott was the first black scholarship athlete in Chapel Hill history, paving the way for future superstars like Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Vince Carter to enjoy the successes they did under longtime coach and basketball pioneer Dean Smith. 

2. Kansas: Clyde Lovellette

The greatness of Kansas Jayhawk basketball began under Hall-of-Fame coach Phog Allen, who had the privilege of coaching a young center by the name of Clyde Lovellette.

Now, Lovellette certainly isn't the most renowned big man to play in Lawrence—that distinction belongs to Wilt Chamberlain—but it was Lovellette who laid the foundation for the program's rise to prominence.

A three-time All-American after a successful high school career at Garfield High in Terre Haute, Indiana, Lovellette led the Jayhawks to the 1952 NCAA Championship while playing alongside Dean Smith, who, as previously mentioned, turned out to be a pretty darn good coach.

Furthermore, Lovellette still stands alone as the only player ever to win the national title and lead the nation in scoring in the very same year.

1. Kentucky: Alex Groza

The winningest program in college basketball history would not be where it is today—on the brink of a national championship under John Calipari—without Alex Groza.

Groza was the captain of the "Fabulous Five" teams at Kentucky that won the school's first two NCAA Tournament championships in 1948 and 1949.

Big Blue has since gone on to win five national titles, two more of which came under the guidance of Groza's coach Adolph Rupp.

Groza's career was cut short when he was banned from the NBA in 1951 for point shaving.