Top 10 College Hoops Stars Who Aren't Ready for the NBA

In this era of one-and-done college stars, every player in the country is on a constant audition for the NBA. However, the most impressive college ballers aren’t always the ones who turn out to be successes as pros.

One of the classic problems that derails many great collegiate point guards is the inability to make NBA defenses respect them as scorers. Louisville standout Peyton Siva is just one of this year’s top distributors who will struggle to put points on the board at the next level.

Read on for a closer look at Siva and the rest of the 10 best college players who haven’t shown enough yet—if they ever will—to be NBA material.

10. Draymond Green, Michigan State

An enormously hard worker who’s improved significantly every season, Draymond Green has become the star of rebuilding Michigan State. He’s carried the Spartans to the No. 23 ranking with 16.3 points and 9.7 rebounds a game.

However, Green is a combo forward whose current mix of skills just won’t cut it at the next level.

His 6’7” frame doesn’t have the length to be more than a role player in the post, and his sub-par outside shot (.343 from beyond the arc this year) makes a full-time move to SF implausible.

9. Khris Middleton, Texas A&M

The best of a terrific group of defenders at Texas A&M, Khris Middleton has also been the team’s top scorer. Middleton averaged 14.4 points a game last year and scored 15 in his season debut on Saturday.

However, the knee injury that kept Middleton out of the Aggies’ first eight games isn’t the biggest threat to his pro chances.

He has yet to prove that he can create his own shot against anything like NBA-caliber defense, and without more in the way of an offensive game, he’ll be a role player at best in the pros.

8. Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas

After three marginal seasons at Kansas, Tyshawn Taylor is having a breakthrough year. The 6’3” PG has raised his scoring average to 15.9 points a night while still dishing out 4.7 assists a game.

Unfortunately for Taylor, his improved scoring  has also come at a serious cost: He’s committing nearly as many turnovers per game—4.3—as he’s dishing out assists.

He’s got some potential as a combo guard, but no NBA team is going to hand its offense to such a mistake-prone floor leader.

7. Erving Walker, Florida

A leader for the 13th-ranked Gators, Erving Walker has picked up right where he left off in last year’s outstanding NCAA tournament effort. He’s leading Florida with 5.1 assists a game while also scoring 13.9 points a night.

However, Walker is also a microscopic 5’8” in an era when the NBA is moving toward bigger point guards.

He’s an extraordinary talent, but it’s hard to see even his skills being enough to compensate for giving up seven inches to the likes of Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook.

6. Jae Crowder, Marquette

A key factor in No. 11 Marquette’s 9-0 start has been the development of senior forward Jae Crowder. He’s become a crucial inside complement to perimeter gunner Darius Johnson-Odom, raising his scoring average nearly six points to 17.4 per game.

However, at 6’6”, Crowder is too small to enjoy the same success at the next level as a power forward. He’s not an overpowering rebounder (6.7 boards a game), making his lack of length a deal-breaker for NBA purposes.

5. Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin

Although he appeared to be a star in the making after earning second-team All-America honors last year, Taylor’s offensive game has dipped sharply this season.

He’s raised his assist numbers a bit (from 4.7 to 5.5 a night), but the scoring that made him so impressive as a junior is nowhere to be found.

In 2011-12, Taylor has averaged a mere 11.8 points a game, down from 18.1 last season.

Combined with a corresponding collapse from his outside shot (he’s hitting just .326 from beyond the arc, down over .100 from last year), Taylor no longer looks like an NBA-caliber offensive talent in any capacity.

4. Peyton Siva, Louisville

With the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals ravaged by injuries, PG Peyton Siva has been the glue that’s held the team together. The junior is averaging 6.4 assists a game for a team that’s seen all five starters score between 12.9 and 9.2 points a night.

However, the 5’11” Siva is already fighting an uphill battle to make it to the next level, and his shooting this season has not been helping.

Although he’s scoring a respectable 10.3 points a game, Siva has shot a paltry .250 from three-point range, a liability he’s unlikely to overcome even with his outstanding passing ability.

3. Kris Joseph, Syracuse

Top-ranked Syracuse has been more of an ensemble cast than most of the nation’s elite this season, but the closest thing to an individual star has been Kris Joseph. The senior forward is leading the team with 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds a game.

What the 6’7” Joseph hasn’t done is display the kind of outside shooting touch—just .381 from long range—that would convince NBA scouts that he’s ready to be a full-time small forward.

Joseph has played more of a tweener position for the Orange, but without the height to play PF in the pros or the quickness to make an easy transition to the outside, Joseph is likely to find himself a man without a position (or a team) come draft day.

2. Kendall Marshall, North Carolina

It takes a loaded team for the No. 6 ranking to be a disappointment, but that’s exactly the situation for this year’s Tar Heels. The engine that makes Roy Williams’ offense go is sophomore PG Kendall Marshall, who’s dishing out a staggering 10.2 assists a game.

Unfortunately for Marshall, his point production is equally staggering—and not in a good way—at 5.0 per night.

Until he proves that he can pose some semblance of a scoring threat (and improves on an outside shot that’s hitting just .286 from long range), Marshall will be out of the NBA picture.

1. Anthony Davis, Kentucky

Anthony Davis is the biggest sensation of the 2011 freshman class and a likely No. 1 overall draft pick. The 6’10” center is scoring 11.6 points a game for No. 3 Kentucky while pulling down 9.1 boards and swatting 4.1 shots (fifth-best in the nation) per game.

Despite his superlative defensive ability, however, the long-limbed Davis is extremely raw offensively.

A tall, skinny center with no particular offensive game—even if he’s a great shot blocker—is a serious risk for becoming a bust at the top of the draft (see Thabeet, Hasheem).