The 100 Most Important Players in College Basketball History

From heroes of yore like Bill Walton and Oscar Robertson to modern stars like Kevin Durant and Tim Duncan, college basketball has never been at a loss for great players.

But which hoopsters have made the biggest impact on the landscape of the college game?

Some of them, naturally, are going to be the best players in college history, but that’s not the only way to make this list. You’ll find players here who put their programs on the map, contributed to iconic moments or changed the way the college game was played.

In one season at Syracuse, Carmelo Anthony rewrote the standard for freshman stardom. Others have put up bigger numbers, but Anthony remains the only one-and-done freshman to earn a national championship.

Read on for a closer look at Anthony and the rest of the 100 biggest difference-makers in the history of college basketball.

100. Phil Ford, North Carolina

Dean Smith’s first superstar at Chapel Hill, Phil Ford led the Tar Heels to the 1977 national championship game before falling to Marquette.

Ford’s 2,290 points in a Tar Heel uniform are still second best in school history, and he won the 1978 Wooden Award.

99. Dean Meminger, Marquette

As a senior, Marquette guard Dean Meminger was named to the 1970-71 All-America team—the first ever to consist of five black players.

The previous year, Meminger and Marquette had given the declining NIT one last hurrah by choosing an NIT berth—and winning the title, with Meminger as MVP—instead of a spot in the NCAA tournament (a move that would now go against NCAA rules).

98. Arthur Lee, Stanford

Although Stanford’s late-1990s run as a national contender was largely founded on post players like the Collins twins, the Cardinal wouldn’t have made the 1998 Final Four—their first in a half-century—without the performance of point guard Arthur Lee.

Lee averaged team highs of 14.5 points and 4.6 assists a game as he led the Cardinal to within a single point of knocking off eventual champion Kentucky in the national semis.

97. Jeff Mullins, Duke

Decades before Mike Krzyzewski, Vic Bubas established Duke as a perennial contender behind stars like swingman Jeff Mullins.

The sharpshooting Mullins anchored the first two Final Four squads in Blue Devil history, scoring a team-high 22 points in a 1964 championship-game loss to John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins.

96. Tyrone Hill, Xavier

Ty Hill not only established Xavier’s tradition as a cradle of power forwards but also set up the Musketeers as a team to be reckoned with in the NCAA tournament.

As a senior in 1989-90, Hill averaged 20.2 points and 12.6 rebounds a game while leading the Musketeers past Georgetown to their first-ever Sweet 16 berth.

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95. Phil Sellers, Rutgers

Few elite teams in history have come out of nowhere like the 1975-76 Scarlet Knights, whom Phil Sellers led to a 28-0 regular-season record and the only Final Four appearance in school history.

Sellers earned second-team All-America honors that year, averaging 19.2 points and 10.2 rebounds a game.

Image from scarletknights.com

94. Mark Macon, Temple

Six years after John Chaney’s arrival, Temple served notice that it had become a force in NCAA tournament play with an Elite 8 run led by Mark Macon.

The 6’4” guard, a talented defender like most of Chaney’s backcourt recruits, averaged 20.6 points a game for the 1987-88 squad that knocked off Georgetown in making the school’s deepest tournament run since the 1958 Final Four.

93. Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph’s

Jameer Nelson won the Wooden and Naismith Awards in 2004, averaging 20.6 points and 5.3 assists a game as the leader of one of the greatest performances ever by a mid-major team.

Nelson’s Hawks went 27-0 in the regular season, finishing 30-2 overall and earning the first No. 1 seed in school history.

92. Andrew Gaze, Seton Hall

Australia has been one of the world’s leading exporters of college hoops talent, and that trend became a trend because of Andrew Gaze.

The 6’7” swingman, who would become a longtime star in international play, led Seton Hall to its first NCAA championship game in 1989.

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91. Tim Duncan, Wake Forest

The poster boy for the benefits of four years of college ball, Tim Duncan developed from a defensive specialist as a freshman into a Wooden and Naismith Award-winning senior.

Duncan, who holds the NCAA tournament record with 50 career blocks, graduated with the Division I records (broken last year) for double-doubles in a career with 87 and rebounds for a player in the era of freshman eligibility with 1,570.

90. Elgin Baylor, Seattle

An unstoppable talent in his two seasons at Seattle University, Elgin Baylor averaged 31.3 points a game for the Chieftains.

In 1957-58, he and Oscar Robertson battled in one of history’s greatest races for the scoring championship, with Robertson winning (35.1 to 32.5 points per game) but Baylor leading his team to the finals of the NCAA tournament and earning MOP honors.

89. Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech

In the late 1980s, unheralded Georgia Tech blossomed into a national contender behind backcourt stars like PG Kenny Anderson.

The lightning-quick New York City product led the Yellow Jackets to their first Final Four in 1990, averaging 20.6 points and 8.1 assists a game as a freshman.

88. Kevin Durant, Texas

A member of the second class of freshmen blocked from jumping to the NBA out of high school, Kevin Durant turned in as brilliant an individual performance as any one-and-done player in college history.

Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds a game, taking home both the Naismith and Wooden Awards despite the fact that no freshman had ever won either prize.

87. Wilt Chamberlain, Kansas

A 7’1” center with a track star’s mobility, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 29.9 points and 18.3 rebounds a game for his two seasons as a Jayhawk.

He came out on the losing end of the greatest national championship game ever played, a triple-OT epic against North Carolina in 1957.

86. Andre Miller, Utah

There have been better individual players in Utah history, but none who have made the Utes as successful a team as Andre Miller.

The 6’2” point guard keyed Elite Eight and Final Four teams for Utah, averaging 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game for his college career.

85. Sherman Douglas, Syracuse

The Syracuse Orangemen of the late 1980s produced some of the most unstoppable offenses in college hoops history, and the leader who made those offenses run was Sherman Douglas.

The General’s 960 career assists, a Division I record when he graduated, are still the sixth-best total in NCAA history.

84. Michael Jordan, North Carolina

The Wooden and Naismith Award winner as a junior, Michael Jordan’s biggest mark on the college game came in his freshman season.

Jordan’s game-winning jumper clinched the 1982 national championship for North Carolina, cementing Dean Smith’s reputation as one of history’s greatest coaches.

83. Hersey Hawkins, Bradley

As a sophomore, Hersey Hawkins helped Bradley earn its first NCAA tournament win in 30 years, but the 6’3” shooting guard was just getting warmed up.

As a senior, he led the nation in scoring with 36.3 points a game and became one of just seven players in history to score 3,000 points in his college career.

82. Darrall Imhoff, California

For all of California’s impressive basketball tradition, the school has won just one national title, a victory that rested largely on the play of Darrall Imhoff.

Although Imhoff was as immobile a center as the game has ever seen, his 6’10” height let him rack up 11.3 points and 11 rebounds a game in winning the 1959 title, not to mention leading the Golden Bears back to the championship game the following year.

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81. Johnny Green, Michigan State

The star of Michigan State’s first Final Four team in 1957, 6’5” forward Johnny Green was unstoppable on the glass.

Green averaged 16.9 points and 16.4 rebounds a game as a collegian, and his career average of 19.7 boards a night in NCAA tournament play is still an all-time record.

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80. Keith Smart, Indiana

A fine point guard overshadowed by the brilliance of backcourt mate Steve Alford, Keith Smart nonetheless carved a place for himself in March Madness lore.

Smart’s buzzer-beater took down Syracuse and gave Indiana the 1987 national title, the last in Bob Knight’s decorated coaching career.

79. Avery Johnson, Southern

He couldn’t manage to make Southern more than a No. 15 seed in the NCAA tournament, but 5’10” Avery Johnson climbed to the top of college basketball’s assist charts.

Johnson holds the Division I record with a single-season average of 13.3 assists a game (more than a full assist ahead of second place) in 1987-88, and he’s also in third place on the same list with 10.7 assists a night the year before.

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78. Corliss Williamson, Arkansas

Although Nolan Richardson’s “40 minutes of hell” press was necessarily a guard-heavy enterprise, it was forward Corliss Williamson who led Richardson’s Razorbacks to their only national title.

The physical Williamson averaged 20.4 points and 7.7 rebounds a game to lead Arkansas’ 1994 national champs.

77. Mark Wade, UNLV

Setting up high-scoring teammates Freddie Banks and Armon Gilliam, Mark Wade put on some of the most extraordinary passing performances college hoops has ever seen.

The 5’11” Wade holds the all-time records for assists in a season (406) and a single NCAA tournament (61), both set in 1986-87.

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76. Juan Dixon, Maryland

The Maryland Terrapins have had their share of great players, but the bulk of the credit for the school’s only national championship belongs to Juan Dixon.

The 6’3” guard averaged 20.4 points a game in leading the 2002 title squad, earning Final Four MOP honors in the process.

75. Charlie Slack, Marshall

Standing just 6’5”, Charlie Slack powered his way to a historic career on the backboards.

Slack is third in NCAA history with 1,916 career rebounds, second with 43 boards in a game and first with a single-season average of 25.6 rebounds a night in 1954-55.

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74. Miles Simon, Arizona

Lute Olsen’s legacy at Arizona is one of brilliant guard play, and no guard was a bigger part of Arizona’s only national title than Miles Simon.

The 1997 Final Four MOP, Simon averaged 18.4 points and 4.2 assists a game for the Wildcats team that stopped Kentucky’s bid for a championship three-peat.

73. Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State

Overlooked for a lack of offense and for the indifferent performance of his Mississippi State teams, Jarvis Varnado was one of the most dominant defensive players in college hoops history.

Varnado owns the all-time Division I record with 564 career blocks.

72. Antoine Walker, Kentucky

Rick Pitino made his name as a coach with the 1996 national championship, and no Kentucky player was more important to that title run than Antoine Walker.

The agile 6’8” power forward averaged 15.2 points and 8.4 rebounds a game while keeping up the breathless pace of Pitino’s high-pressure system.

71. John Linehan, Providence

One of the most successful small guards in recent memory, 5’9” John Linehan used his quickness to become a game-changing defender for Providence.

Linehan snapped former Friar Eric Murdock’s record to become the NCAA’s career leader in steals with 385.

70. Richard Hamilton, UConn

One of the great postseason players of all time, Richard Hamilton earned an enduring place on March Madness highlight reels with his fourth-chance putback to knock off Washington in the 1998 Sweet 16.

He did even better the next season, leading the Huskies to their first-ever national title by scoring 21.5 points a game.

69. Bob Lanier, St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure has six NCAA tournament wins in its history, and four of those have featured Bob Lanier at center.

The hulking 6’11” Lanier led the Bonnies to the 1970 Final Four (where they fell to Artis Gilmore and Jacksonville) with averages of 29.1 points and 16 rebounds a night.

68. J.J. Redick, Duke

J.J. Redick didn’t do much else besides shoot, but few have ever shot better than the 6’4” Blue Devil.

Redick holds the Division I record with 457 three-pointers made, hitting better than 40 percent from long range in his career.

67. Chris Webber, Michigan

The heart and soul of Michigan’s famed Fab Five, Chris Webber led the Wolverines to back-to-back Final Four appearances (even if he did spoil their chances in one with an ill-advised timeout call).

For his two seasons in Ann Arbor, Webber averaged 17.4 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

66. Sean May, North Carolina

When Roy Williams finally got the championship monkey off his back after years of March failures, Sean May’s interior presence was the biggest reason why.

May locked down the paint for the Tar Heels’ 2005 national champs, averaging 17.5 points and 10.7 rebounds a game and earning MOP honors in the Final Four.

65. Marvin Barnes, Providence

Since freshmen became eligible for varsity play in 1973, Marvin Barnes is the only player to crack the all-time top 25 in rebounding for a season…and he did it twice.

Barnes’ nation-leading 597 boards as a senior (the 16th-best figure all-time) also came with a 22.1 point-per-game scoring average.

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64. Mookie Blaylock, Oklahoma

Although Mookie Blaylock was a fine offensive player whose 16.4 points and 5.9 assists a night keyed Oklahoma’s 1988 run to the national title game, it was on defense that he really made his presence felt.

The 6’0” Blaylock averaged an NCAA-record 3.8 steals a game for his Sooners career, highlighted by a March Madness-record 23 steals in the 1988 tourney.

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63. Butch Lee, Marquette

The pinnacle of Al McGuire’s brilliant coaching career was the 1977 NCAA title, and Butch Lee was the player who did the most to win it.

Lee averaged a team-high 19.6 points a game, then outdueled North Carolina’s Phil Ford in the national championship game to earn Final Four MOP honors.

62. Chris Mullin, St. John’s

Coach Lou Carnesecca presided over the greatest era in St. John’s history, a career that peaked with the Chris Mullin-led Final Four run in 1985.

Mullin—the Wooden Award winner for 1984-85—paired with 1985-86 winner Walter Berry to pour in a combined 36.8 points a game for the Redmen (as they were then known), winning the Big East championship in a season that saw the conference put three teams in the Final Four.

61. Stephen Curry, Davidson

For one season, Stephen Curry turned Davidson into a legitimate national contender, carrying the Wildcats to their first Elite Eight berth in four decades in 2008.

In the process, Curry averaged 25.9 points a game and knocked down a Division I-record 162 three-point shots.

60. Bob Cousy, Holy Cross

Bob Cousy’s ball-handling skill virtually invented the modern point guard position once he convinced his coach to let him play the game his way.

A reserve on Holy Cross’ 1947 national champs, Cousy would play his way into the starting lineup and showcase the effectiveness of his sleight-of-hand style by leading the Crusaders to a 26-game winning streak as a senior.

59. John Shumate, Notre Dame

Although his 22.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game anchored some fine teams at Notre Dame, John Shumate made his biggest mark with a single day’s work.

Shumate battled Bill Walton to a standstill, with each center scoring 24 points, as the Irish broke UCLA’s record 88-game winning streak in 1974.

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58. Clyde Lovellette, Kansas

Under coach Phog Allen, Kansas became one of the first traditional basketball powers to establish itself, and the Jayhawks’ first dominant star was center Clyde Lovellette.

The 6’9” Lovellette led the nation in scoring with 28.4 points per game as a senior (his third time as an All-American), carrying Kansas to its first-ever national title in 1952.

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57. Frank Selvy, Furman

Being the best player in Furman’s unimpressive basketball history isn’t much of a feat by itself, but Frank Selvy has earned his place with the elite of the college game.

Selvy led the nation as a senior with 41.7 points a game, but his real claim to fame was the February night in 1954 when he scored a Division I-record 100 points against Newberry.

56. James Worthy, North Carolina

Dean Smith had already led the Tar Heels to six Final Fours by 1982, but it was James Worthy who got the coaching legend over the hump and earned Smith his first national title.

Worthy, the Final Four MOP in 1982, anchored the high-powered Tar Heel offense with a team-high 15.6 points (along with 6.3 rebounds) per game.

55. Shelvin Mack, Butler

Although it was teammate Gordon Hayward who narrowly missed a championship-winning shot, Shelvin Mack was a leader for both of Butler’s back-to-back national runners-up.

The 6’3” guard scored as many as 16 points a game as the Bulldogs went from No. 5 and No. 8 seeds to a pair of championship games in one of history’s best mid-major success stories.

54. Darrell Griffith, Louisville

The 1980 Wooden Award winner, SG Darrell Griffith averaged 22.9 points a game in leading Louisville to the first national championship in school history.

The high-flying Griffith also established the “Doctors of Dunk” mentality that would help Louisville return to the Final Four in 1982 and 1983, losing in the latter season in an epic showdown with Houston’s Phi Slama Jama squad.

53. Walter Dukes, Seton Hall

One of the first true seven-footers in college hoops (and one of the most athletic in any era), Walter Dukes led Seton Hall to the NIT title game in 1952 and 1953, winning in the latter year.

In the process, he set an NCAA record that still stands by grabbing 734 rebounds in a single season (an average of 22.2 boards a night).

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52. Jerry Lucas, Ohio State

The greatest player in Ohio State’s illustrious history, Jerry Lucas led the Buckeyes to the 1960 national championship and two more Final Four appearances.

For his career, the sweet-shooting PF averaged 24.3 points and 17.2 rebounds per game, setting an OSU record with 1,411 career boards.

51. Sidney Moncrief, Arkansas

The best of Arkansas’ storied Triplets (with Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph), Sidney Moncrief established the Razorbacks as national contenders by leading the team’s first Final Four run in 1978.

A world-class defender, the future Milwaukee Buck wasn’t half-bad elsewhere on the floor either, averaging 22 points and 9.6 rebounds a game in his All-America senior year.

50. Larry Johnson, UNLV

UNLV’s back-to-back Final Four teams in 1990-91 are among the greatest college rosters ever assembled, and no player meant more to the Runnin’ Rebels than Larry Johnson.

UNLV set a title-game record for margin of victory (30 points over Duke in 1990) thanks in large part to Johnson, who averaged 21.6 points and 11.2 rebounds a game for his career while winning the 1991 Wooden and Naismith Awards.

49. Walt Hazzard, UCLA

Although John Wooden’s UCLA teams are mostly remembered for their dominant centers, the Wizard of Westwood won his first NCAA title with an undersized squad led by 6’2” Walt Hazzard.

The sharpshooting Hazzard averaged 18.6 points per game and won Final Four MOP honors for the undefeated 1964 national champs.

48. Jai Lewis, George Mason

A mobile power forward who averaged 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds a night, Jai Lewis headlined one of the greatest underdog stories in NCAA history.

Lewis’ George Mason Patriots made the 2006 Final Four as an 11th seed, upsetting North Carolina and UConn before falling to eventual champion Florida in the national semis.

47. Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse

The best one-and-done freshman in college history, Carmelo Anthony brought Syracuse its only national championship in his single year with the Orange.

Anthony averaged 22.2 points and 10 rebounds a game as he led Syracuse past four Big 12 opponents in six tournament games and captured the NCAA title.

46. Lionel Simmons, LaSalle

As a true freshman, Lionel Simmons averaged 20.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, and he only got better from there.

The LaSalle SF finished with 3,217 points and 1,429 rebounds, making him one of just two 3,000/1,000 players in Division I history.

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45. David Thompson, NC State

John Wooden’s already awe-inspiring UCLA teams would probably have won nine consecutive national titles if it weren’t for the high-flying talents of David Thompson.

The NC State legend led the Wolfpack to the 1974 championship, averaging 26 points and 7.9 rebounds a game in the process.

44. Matt Santangelo, Gonzaga

Along with 6’5” SG Richie Frahm, Matt Santangelo led the team that turned then-unknown Gonzaga into a perennial NCAA tournament contender.

Santangelo averaged 12.7 points and 5.3 assists a game in 1998-99, as the Bulldogs upset Stanford and Florida to reach the Elite Eight.

43. Joe Holup, George Washington

A key contributor to GW’s first-ever NCAA tournament team in 1954, Joe Holup went on to greater success on an individual level.

Holup is one of just two players in NCAA history to record 2,000 rebounds for his career, and he also scored 2,226 points to go with them.

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42. Scott May, Indiana

Scott May won the 1976 Naismith Award as part of the team that established Bob Knight as a member of the coaching elite, winning the General his first national title (and Indiana’s first in 23 years).

The 1975-76 Hoosiers, led by May’s 23.5 points a game, were also the last team to win the NCAA championship with a perfect record, finishing 32-0.

41. Joakim Noah, Florida

Along with frontcourt mate Al Horford, Joakim Noah’s length and athleticism keyed the Gators’ back-to-back national championships in 2006-07.

Noah, the Final Four MOP in 2006, was especially dominant on defense, where he averaged 2.1 blocks a game over the two championship seasons.

40. Ralph Sampson, Virginia

A three-time Naismith Award winner and the only two-time Wooden Award recipient, Ralph Sampson was nearly as devastating as one might expect from a 7’4” college center.

However, despite his impressive collection of hardware and career averages of 16.9 points and 11.4 rebounds a game for his career, Sampson played in only one Final Four (losing to James Worthy and North Carolina).

39. Paul Hogue, Cincinnati

Hard-nosed power forward Paul Hogue was a leader for Cincinnati’s back-to-back national-title teams in 1961-62—the only two championships in school history.

Hogue stole the show in the 1962 final, racking up 22 points and 19 rebounds in a win over Jerry Lucas and Ohio State.

38. Bill Bradley, Princeton

Hands down the greatest player in Ivy League history, Bill Bradley carried Princeton to its only Final Four in 1965.

His 58 points in the consolation game that year are still a Final Four record, and his 30.2 points per game for his career (an Ivy League record by leaps and bounds) are the 16th-best mark for any Division I player.

37. Irwin Dambrot, CCNY

A fleet-footed 6’4” forward, Irwin Dambrot was a leader on the 1949-50 CCNY squad that became the only team in history to win the NIT and the NCAA tournament in the same season.

Sadly, the next year he would become one of seven members of the team caught in a massive point-shaving scandal that rocked college basketball and led to CCNY dropping out of Division I athletics altogether.

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36. Danny Manning, Kansas

Judged purely on his college accomplishments, Danny Manning is the greatest player in the Jayhawks’ storied history, holding the school records for rebounds (1,187) and points (a staggering 2,951).

Even more importantly, the 6’10” forward carried a sixth-seeded Kansas squad to its first national title in nearly four decades, upsetting top-seeded Oklahoma in the 1988 championship game.

35. Calvin Murphy, Niagara

One of history’s most successful small-school players (not to mention small players), 5’9” Calvin Murphy led Niagara to the Sweet 16 in the program's first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

Murphy scored as many as 38.2 points per game in three seasons as a Purple Eagle, and his career average of 33.1 points a contest is the fourth highest in Division I history.

34. Alex Groza, Kentucky

Alex Groza—brother of football Hall of Famer Lou—was a hero for back-to-back national champions at Kentucky, winning MOP honors during Adolph Rupp’s first two NCAA title runs.

Unfortunately, Groza earned further notoriety when he was banned from basketball for his involvement in the infamous point-shaving scandal that rocked college hoops in the early 1950s.

33. David Robinson, Navy

David Robinson deserves credit for half of Navy’s eight all-time victories in the NCAA tournament, most notably for having led the underdog Midshipmen to a school-record Elite Eight finish in 1986.

The Admiral also blocked 207 shots to set the single-season NCAA record that year (the first in which the stat was kept officially), and his mark hasn’t been touched since.

32. Austin Carr, Notre Dame

Austin Carr was one of the most prolific scorers in college hoops history, ranking second all-time with a career average of 34.6 points a game.

He saved his best work for the postseason, where he holds the career record with 41.3 points a night in NCAA tournament play.

31. Bob Kurland, Oklahoma State

A 6’10” center who routinely enjoyed height advantages of five inches or better, Bob Kurland was one of the few opponents who ever outplayed George Mikan at the college level.

Behind the shot-blocking Kurland, Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) became the first school ever to win back-to-back NCAA championships.

30. Jim McDaniels, Western Kentucky

An outstanding center who averaged 27.6 points and 13.8 rebounds a game for his career, Jim McDaniels is the best player in Western Kentucky’s underrated basketball history.

He also changed NCAA history for the worse in 1971 when he became (along with Villanova’s Howard Porter) the first individual player to cause his team to vacate a Final Four appearance—in McDaniels’ case, by allegedly signing with an agent during the season.

29. Kurt Thomas, TCU

Although it didn’t do his Horned Frogs team much good against then-conference foes such as Texas and Texas Tech, Kurt Thomas turned in one of the greatest seasons ever for a college basketball player.

Thomas is one of just three players to lead Division I in scoring (28.9 points per game) and rebounding (14.6 boards a night) in the same year, in 1994-95.

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28. Ed Pinckney, Villanova

An outstanding PF/C who averaged 14.5 points and 8.6 rebounds a game at Villanova, Ed Pinckney earns his place on this list because of one game.

Pinckney held Patrick Ewing to 14 points as eighth-seeded Villanova stunned Georgetown 66-64—thanks to a ludicrous 78.6 percent shooting performance from the field—in one of the greatest upsets in national championship history.

27. Walt Frazier, Southern Illinois

In 1967, Walt Frazier’s SIU team defeated No. 2 Louisville and defending champion Texas Western, but NCAA rules classified them (in modern parlance) as a Division II school, leaving them ineligible for the Big Dance.

As a result, Frazier owns the distinction of leading the only Division II team to win the NIT (a victory that, under a then-new rule, automatically qualified the Salukis for Division I status the next year).

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26. Xavier McDaniel, Wichita State

Xavier McDaniel carried Wichita State to an NCAA tournament bid in 1985 with a season for the ages.

McDaniel led the nation in both scoring (27.2 points per game) and rebounding (14.8 boards a contest), the first player ever to do both in the same year.

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25. Kermit Washington, American

Although he wasn’t blessed with exceptional height at 6’8”, Kermit Washington became one of the most unstoppable post players in collegiate history.

Washington is one of just five Division I players to average as many as 20 points and 20 rebounds a game for his college career.

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24. Spencer Haywood, Detroit

On the court, Spencer Haywood was a hyper-athletic 6’8” power forward who averaged 32.1 points and 22.1 rebounds per game in his lone season with Detroit.

Off it, though, he changed basketball forever, as he sued to be allowed to play in the NBA before his college class graduated, paving the way for the early departures of college stars from Michael Jordan to Kyrie Irving.

23. Lorenzo Charles, NC State

Lorenzo Charles completed one of the greatest upsets in basketball history when his putback dunk stunned Houston’s Phi Slama Jama team and gave NC State the 1983 national championship.

Charles was actually a fine power forward aside from his one shining moment, averaging as many as 18.1 points and 8.3 rebounds a game in a Wolfpack uniform.

22. Paul Silas, Creighton

One of the great defensive power forwards in history, Paul Silas led Creighton to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances with his dominance at both ends of the floor.

Silas is one of just five players to average better than 20 points and 20 rebounds a night for his college career.

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21. Hank Gathers, Loyola Marymount

Remembered most for his tragic on-court death in the WCC tournament, Hank Gathers was a superlative individual talent who led the 1989-90 Lions to the highest scoring average (122.4 points a game) in NCAA history.

A year earlier, Gathers had become the second player ever to lead Division I in scoring (32.7 points per game) and rebounding (13.7 boards a night) in the same season.

20. Tom McMillen, Maryland

A 6’11” center Tom McMillen, paired with PF Len Elmore to lead one of the greatest teams in Terrapin history, the 1973-74 squad that finished with a 23-5 record and a No. 4 national ranking.

However, because McMillen and the Terps lost to David Thompson and NC State in an epic ACC title game, they were ineligible for the NCAA tournament, a result that proved to be the watershed moment in the creation (in 1974-75) of the at-large bid.

19. Lennie Rosenbluth, North Carolina

Lesser-known than many of the great scorers in Tar Heel history, Lennie Rosenbluth still holds the UNC record with a single-season average of 27.9 points per game.

He set that mark while leading the Tar Heels to the first undefeated NCAA championship in history, a 32-0 season capped by a triple-overtime title-game win against Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas.

18. Julius Erving, UMass

The first player to earn national attention for UMass, Julius Erving was a sensation as soon as he stepped on a college court.

Dr. J averaged 20.2 rebounds a game for his career, and no other player with that many boards can match his 26.3 points a night.

17. Jerry West, West Virginia

Jerry West carried the Mountaineers to the first six NCAA tournament wins in school history, including a trip to the 1959 championship game that earned him Final Four MOP honors.

In that 1958-59 season, the 6’2” West averaged 26.6 points and 12.3 rebounds a game while leading West Virginia in both categories in all 34 games.

16. Tom Gola, LaSalle

A 6’6” swingman whose versatility earned him the nickname “Mr. All-Around,” Tom Gola led LaSalle to the only two Final Fours and only national title in school history.

Gola also holds the Division I career record with 2,201 rebounds, not to mention scoring an impressive 2,462 points.

15. Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati

In his three seasons as a Bearcat, Oscar Robertson became the first player to win three national scoring titles and poured in a then-record 2,973 career points.

Of course, the famously versatile Robertson didn’t stop there, averaging 15.2 rebounds and 7.1 assists a game while leading Cincinnati to the first two Final Four berths in school history.

14. Artis Gilmore, Jacksonville

Artis Gilmore nearly pulled off the most improbable underdog victory in college basketball history, carrying the Jacksonville Dolphins (a team that had never appeared in the NCAA tournament) all the way to the 1970 title game before falling to UCLA.

For his two seasons at Jacksonville (after transferring from Gardner-Webb), the 7’2” A-Train averaged 24.3 points and 22.7 rebounds a game, one of just five players to break 20 in both categories for a career.

13. Elvin Hayes, Houston

Elvin Hayes was the hero of one of the greatest college games ever played, piling up 39 points (to Lew Alcindor’s 15), 15 boards and eight blocks as Houston ended UCLA’s 47-game winning streak in 1968.

The Big E averaged 31 points and 17.2 rebounds a game in his Cougar career while placing second in NCAA tournament history with 358 career points and first with 226 career rebounds.

12. Patrick Ewing, Georgetown

In four seasons as a starter, Patrick Ewing put Georgetown on the map, winning the 1984 national title and playing in two other title games.

The seven-footer from Jamaica averaged 15.3 points and 9.2 rebounds a game for his career as a Hoya.

11. Larry Bird, Indiana State

One of the greatest mid-major players ever, Larry Bird carried Indiana State to its only Final Four in its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

Bird’s title-game battle with Magic Johnson turned the NCAA tournament into must-see TV, and his 2,850 career points rank 13th all-time for Division I.

10. Bobby Joe Hill, UTEP

Texas-El Paso was still known as Texas Western in 1965-66, when Bobby Joe Hill made NCAA history as one of five black starters on the national champion Miners.

Hill turned a pair of early steals into layups in the title game against all-white Kentucky—part of his game-high 20 points—in a sequence that swung the momentum in favor of underdog Texas Western for good.

Image from ia.utep.edu

9. Akeem Olajuwon, Houston

The first superstar to come to college basketball from overseas, Nigerian center Akeem Olajuwon (as he spelled it in college) went from an extremely raw redshirt freshman to a dominant collegiate center over the course of three Final Four trips.

Olajuwon’s rebounding (13.5 boards a game as a junior) and shot-blocking helped make Houston one of the greatest college teams ever assembled, while his mobility and offensive prowess helped the Cougars earn their Phi Slama Jama nickname.

8. George Mikan, DePaul

Clumsy and inexperienced when he arrived at DePaul, George Mikan changed the nature of the center position forever (not least with the eponymous Mikan Drill that coach Ray Meyer invented to teach him to shoot with either hand).

Not only did the 6’10” Mikan score as many as 23.3 points a game, but his shot-blocking prowess was so unbeatable that he forced the NCAA to outlaw defensive goaltending.

7. Bobby Hurley, Duke

No point guard in the history of college basketball can match the achievements of Bobby Hurley.

The Blue Devils star won two NCAA championships (and made it to the title game in a third season) while setting the all-time record with 1,076 career assists—a career average of 7.7 per game.

6. Pete Maravich, LSU

Groomed by his coach-father Press to be one of basketball’s flashiest stars, Pete Maravich became—without benefit of the three-point line or the shot clock—the greatest scorer in college hoops history.

Pistol Pete has the three highest scoring averages in NCAA history for a single season, the career scoring record by a margin of almost 10 points a game (at 44.2 points per contest), and the career points record by more than 400 (3,667 in all).

5. Bill Russell, San Francisco

The heart of back-to-back NCAA champions at San Francisco in 1955-56, center Bill Russell anchored the Dons for the majority of their 60-game winning streak.

Russell—one of a then-revolutionary three black starters for coach Phil Woolpert—was not only one of history’s most overpowering defenders, but also averaged better than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game for his career, making him one of just five Division I players to do so.

4. Bill Walton, UCLA

The single most important contributor to UCLA’s record 88-game winning streak, Bill Walton averaged 20.3 points and 15.7 rebounds a game and won three Naismith Awards and two national titles as a Bruin.

His performance in the 1973 NCAA title game (44 points to Memphis’ 66, 21-for-22 shooting from the field) is one of the most dominant in basketball history.

3. Christian Laettner, Duke

Christian Laettner’s unforgettable buzzer-beater against Kentucky was the peak of a career that saw him play in four Final Fours, win a pair of national titles and score a record 407 points in NCAA tournament play.

Laettner’s scoring and leadership were crucial in earning Mike Krzyzewski his first two championships and converting Duke from a respectable team into a perennial national power.

2. Magic Johnson, Michigan State

Magic Johnson led the Spartans to the first national title in school history, winning a legendary championship-game duel with Larry Bird that turned March Madness into the TV extravaganza it is today.

In two seasons in East Lansing, Magic averaged 17.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and a stunning 7.9 assists per game.

1. Lew Alcindor, UCLA

Three times a national champion, Lew Alcindor was as overpowering a force in the middle as the college game has ever seen.

The future Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 26.4 points and 15.5 rebounds a game, and his control of the paint was so absolute that he prompted the NCAA to ban the slam dunk for nearly a decade after he graduated.