College Basketball: 21 Explosive Players in College Hoops History
Many players have come and gone, but few have captured the hearts of millions. From thriller finishes to wild explosive scoring in the NCAA tournament—this slideshow will recap some of the biggest, baddest players in basketball history.
If you have a dispute, please understand that I am young and I will show a little bias towards my generation...now onward with the show!
PS: The original name was changed due to misinterpretation.
21. Grant Hill (Duke)
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Grant Hill was one of the most heralded recruits in Duke Basketball history being named a 1990 McDonald’s All-American. Winning multiple national championships (1991, 1992) for Coach Krzyzewski immediately puts him on a pedestal in the hearts of Duke Devil faithful.
In addition to winning multiple national championships and player awards, Hill became the first player in history to score over 1900 points and over 700 rebounds.
Take that Mr. Jalen Rose.
20. Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse)
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Though many would say he didn’t provide enough body of work to be on this list, the effect Carmelo Anthony had over the course of one season is notable to be on this list.
While leading the Syracuse Orange, Anthony averaged 22.1 ppg and 10 rebounds helping Jim Boehim his first national championship in 2003.
Anthony provided a spark to a zone defense that shut down powerful shooting attacks such as Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and earned the tournament's M.O.P. award and was named the Most Valuable Player of NCAA East Regional.
19. David Thompson (NC State)
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Nicknamed “Skywalker” due to his 48-inch verticle leap, David Thompson was a unique talent that led the Wolfpack to their first national championship in 1974.
While at NC State, Thompson and teammates developed the “alley-oop” basketball strategy which many players still use today. Though developing a unique strategy, the dunk was outlawed by the “Lew Alcindor” rule.
During his final regular season ACC home game, Thompson decided to drive the length of the court and slam dunk the basketball. In turn, he earned a technical foul and was pulled out by his coach, only to get a thunderous applause.
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18. Larry Johnson (UNLV)
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Known for his brash behavior on the court, Johnson led the UNLV Rebels to a 1990 national championship win over the Duke Blue Devils providing 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Johnson finished his UNLV career with two All-American selections and and won the Big Conference Player of the year. In 2002, Johnson was named to the UNLV Hall of Fame for his efforts reviving a once proud UNLV basketball program.
Johnson then went on to have a have a great pro career being named a two-time NBA All-star while picking up the nickname “Grandmama” for his alter-ego.
17. Danny Manning (Kansas)
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Danny Manning is considered one of the greatest Kansas players of all-time. Under his leadership, Manning led the Jayhawks to the Final Four twice, winning it in 1988 over the Oklahoma Sooners.
Most remarkable statistic?
Manning’s 1988 team was an underdog heading into the NCAA tournament with a 21-11 record. Manning then flourished against the competition and was named MOP during the Final Four.
Later that century, Manning was named as the Big Eight player of the decade. In 2007, Manning was named to the coaching staff of Bill Self at Kansas.
16. Steve Alford (Indiana)
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The current head coach of the New Mexico basketball team had a decorated career at Indiana. Under the direction of Bobby Knight, Alford became all-time leading Indiana scorer with 2,438 points.
Alford also led the Hoosiers into the NCAA tournament three times while being named Big Ten Player of the Year and winning the national championship vs. Syracuse scoring 23 points.
Alford recently was named No. 35 on Sports Illustrated’s list of all-time college basketball greats.
15. Patrick Ewing (Georgetown)
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In 1981-1982, the Jamaica native and former cricket player was one of the most highly regarded recruits ever in the history of college basketball. Ewing went on to sign his letter of intent to play for Georgetown and give Coach John Thompson a better presence in the middle.
During his tenure with the Hoyas, Ewing reached the national championship game three out of the four years, averaging 15.3 ppg and 9.2 rpg. With his college career coming to a close, Ewing then captured one of the most coveted trophies in college basketball —the Naismith.
Carrying on the tradition, Ewing’s son finished his career at Georgetown in 2008 winning the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award.
14. (Tie) Bill Bradley (Princeton)
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The former Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator was offered by more than 70 institutions for his academic and athletic services. Bradley chose Duke University
While at Princeton, Bradley led
Having a bright future, Bradley then enrolled at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship before heading to the NBA. Bradley now feeds Americans their coffee addictions as the corporate director of Starbucks.
14. (Tie) Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
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Known for his determination, and weird looking game face, Tyler Hansbrough guided the Tarheels to a 2009 National Championship averaging 20 points per season during his run at UNC.
In all four years, Hansbrough became the first player in ACC history to earn both first-team All-America and first-team All-ACC honors. Currently Hansbrough is the all-time scoring leader in the ACC at 2,782 points.
With 44 career double-doubles, expect for none of these ACC records to fall anytime soon.
13. Kevin Durant (Texas)
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Like Carmelo Anthony, many will feel as if he does not deserve to be on this list due to leaving after one season, and that's fair. But garnering National Player of the year honors, one has to think what could have been if had stayed longer.
Durant, in the course of one season led the nation with averaged 25.8 ppg —28 pgg in Big 12 matchups. He then led the Texas Longhorns into the second round of the NCAA tournament losing to Southern California.
At one point during the 2007 season, Rick Barnes admitted that he stopped calling plays for Durant—letting him get an open look by the offensive flow of the game. Haven’t we seen this before from Texas in football? Vince Young
12. David Robinson (Naval Academy)
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Nicknamed “the Admiral”, the raw young talent from Virginia grew to seven feet during his career with the Naval academy. During his career with the Naval Academy, Robinson averaged 21 ppg and finishing with 516 blocks over a four-year span.
Upon graduation, Robinson was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs as the first overall pick in 1987. He then had to wait two years due to military rules serving, hence giving him the nickname.
Today he is still considered the best basketball player in Naval Academy history.
11. Blake Griffin (Oklahoma)
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Explosiveness. Explosiveness. Dunks. Explosiveness. Playing at the University of Oklahoma, Blake Griffin put on a show for the Sooner state week in and week out leading them to an Elite Eight appearance in 2009.
From his rookie campaign in 2007, Griffin not only improved as his point total (14.7 ppg to 22.7 ppg), but rebounds as well (9 rpg to 14.4 rpg). In those two seasons, Griffin obtained All-Big 12 honors dominating the competition in the Midwest.
As for hardware? In 2009 Griffin captured the Naismith College Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy and the John Wooden Award.
Griffin is now jumping over cars in the city of Los Angeles.
10. Christian Laettner (Duke)
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Laettner has many NCAA records that still stand today. Laettner holds the NCAA tournament record for games played (23), points scored (407), free-throws made ( 147) and attempts (167).
Surprisingly, he also holds the Duke all time record for the best 3 point percentage at 48.5. Averaging 16 ppg during his career, Laettner is one player Duke fans will forever hold in their heart.
……Is this the part in the slide where I mention The Shot?
9. Bill Walton (UCLA)
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The pupil of the legendary John Wooden had a stellar career in Los Angeles. Bill Walton won three national college player of the year titles, and two national championships en route to one of the longest winning streaks ever in the history of sports at 88 games.
After his departure in 1974, the Bruins have yet to be the same only making few Final Four appearances since the 1970s.
8. Jerry West (West Virginia)
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With more than 60 institutions recruiting him, Jerry West chose WVU to expand his basketball skills. During his career in Morgantown, West accumulated numerous honors to play on Pan-American teams and averaged 26.6 points during the 1958-1959 season.
West then garnered All-American honors and became the Southern Conference MVP in 1959.
After a stellar basketball and records that seem unbreakable, they should change it to Jerry West Virginia Basketball.
7. (Tie) Larry Bird (Indiana State)
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The West Baden, Indiana native chose to play for the Hoosiers of Indiana University before realizing the setting was too big for his britches.
Bird dropped out in 24 days and became employed picking up garbage and repairing roads along with other blue collar jobs.
He then regained his motivation to play basketball for an AAU team and then transferred to Indiana State University. He flourished in a smaller setting averaging over 30 ppg en route to a national championship game birth in 1979.
Bird and the Sycamores then lost to Magic Johnson and Michigan State Spartans ending his college career. Little did we know this was laying the foundation one of the best player rivalries of all-time.
7. (Tie) Kareem-Abdul Jabbar
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Known for his skyhook, Kareem is one of the most explosive offensive players in the history of the game.
Studying under college basketball legend John Wooden, Jabbar teamed up with Walton to form a powerful duo that had an 88 game winning streak.
While collecting first team All-America honors three times in a row, Kareem was also named player of the year in 1967 and once again in 1969.
Thanks to Kareem abusing the rim, the dunk was banned until 1976.
6. Magic Johnson (Michigan State)
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During his two years in East Lansing, Magic Johnson averaged 17 ppg and 8 rebounds per game.
When first arriving at Michigan State, Johnson had no desire to play at the next level studying in the Communications school, citing he wanted to be a professional commentator. Johnson then led the Spartans to a national championship over Larry Bird and the Indiana State Sycamores in 1979.
Though he still needs work with his opinions, I think Magic has turned out to be a great commentator for ESPN.
5. Michael Jordan (North Carolina)
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Before the nicknames and the fame, Michael Jordan was once a bright young college basketball pupil giving ACC coaches fits.
During his career at North Carolina, Jordan averaged 17.7 ppg on 54 percent shooting en route to the Nasmith and John Wooden National College player of the year honors.
His most notable game comes during the NCAA tournament comes during the 1982 season where Jordan won a national championship of the winning shot vs. Georgetown.
After that? Well, you know the rest.
4. Oscar Robinson (Cincinnati)
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Ending up being one of the best skilled players ever, Robinson was a star averaging over 33 points per game.
Robinson’s college career will always be known for his strength facing racism playing at the University of Cincinnati. Many today still look to Robinson’s book The Big O Autobiography for inspiration on the field/court and in the classroom.
Showing undeniable intelligence and poise through the years, Robinson now has a national player of the year trophy in his honor. Kareem-Abdul Jabbar had this to say about Robinson’s book.
“Oscar Robertson is an incomparable superstar. He is also a thoughtful man and a man of vision. If you want insight into what formed Oscar in the crucial years of his youth, look here. It’s a great book.”
3. Elgin Baylor (Seattle)
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With his physical attributes, Taylor was a strong rebounder and scorer for Seattle University averaging over 31 points per game. He was named the 1958 Helms Foundation player of the year and led the Redhawks to a NCAA championship appearance only to lose to the Kentucky Wildcats.
A brief description of Baylor on NBA.com reads like this, “Had Elgin Baylor been born 25 years later, his acrobatic moves would have been captured on video, his name emblazoned on sneakers, and his face plastered on cereal boxes.”
2. Pete Maravich (LSU)
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“Pistol Pete” is what they called him. Why? Maravich had one of the purest strokes in the history of the college basketball game.
Today, his NCAA record still stands as Maravich accumulated 3,667 points scored and an average of 44.2 points per game.
One would find it interesting that Maravich never reached the NCAA tournament playing for his father. But Maravich turned around a program that was once in the dumps having multiple losing seasons inside of the SEC conference.
1. Bill Russell ( San Francisco)
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Arguably one of the greatest basketball players of all-time, Bill Russell had a unique talent and charisma many in the industry envied.
Once ignored by major colleges and universities, Russell was a talent that was waiting to be developed. Under Coach Phil Woolpert, the defensive minded coach turned the 6'9" Russell into a beast inside of the paint once blocking 13 shots in a game. UCLA John Wooden once said that “Russell is one of the best defensive players I have ever seen.”
Russell finished his career at San Francisco with two national titles (1955, 1956). If there were national awards back in the 1950s, he would have obtained all of them for his great defensive efforts.
.png?w=480 "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship")
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