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The 10 best NCAA basketball players of the decade[/h2]
By
Eamonn Brennan
As the decade winds down, The Dagger will celebrate the past 10years of college basketball with various top 10 lists. Today, we atlook at the 10 best players of the 2000s:
No. 10 (tie): J.J. Redick, guard, Duke; Adam Morrison, forward, Gonzaga.The first two players on our list were co-National Players of the Yearin 2005-06; they were also Halo 2 partners and eventual NBA busts. Butin their heyday, J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison ruled the college hoopsworld, Redick with hot shooting and an uncanny ability to find openspots on the perimeter; Morrison with an all-court game that includingrebounding alongside prodigious mid-range scoring, reminding many ofLarry Bird.
No. 8: T.J. Ford, guard, Texas. There is one player in thehistory of college basketball to lead the country in assists as afreshmen. That player is T.J. Ford. Ford's college career was short butlegendary: The Naismith award, the Wooden award, a retired Texasjersey, a regional NCAA tournament MVP, a 2003 season in which he ledhis team in scoring, assists and steals -- Ford was a lightning bolt ofcollege hoops brilliance, one everybody, if only briefly, saw.
No. 7: Juan Dixon, guard, Maryland. Gary Williams'2002-title-winning Maryland team was talented -- Steve Blake and ChrisWilcox are still playing productive NBA minutes -- but Juan Dixon wasits undisputed leader. Dixon overcame an insane childhood (both hismother and father were heroin addicts and died of AIDS-relatedillnesses before Dixon was 17) to become the only player in NCAA hoopshistory to record 2,000 points, 300 steals, and 200 three-pointers. Andin 2001-2002, no one was denying him an NCAA title.
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No. 6: Blake Griffin, forward, Oklahoma. Griffin's freshmanseason in 2007-08 was promising, but few could have imagined just howgood Griffin would be. But Griffin's sophomore season was just that, asthe Oklahoma forward tore through the Big 12 and the national collegehoops season with as dominant a season as a college forward can have.For visual evidence -- as if you need any --
see here.
No. 5: Jason Williams, guard, Duke. The only player betterthan Dixon in the country in 2001-02 is the next player on our list,Duke guard Jason (aka Jay) Williams. With the Maryland-Duke rivalry atits most fierce in 2001 and 2002, Williams won an NCAA title in 2001and a Naismith award in 2002, the year that Maryland finally overcomethe Dukies, and everyone else, to win the title. Williams' NBA careerwas cut short by an ill-advised motorcycle accident, but anyone whowatched him play in college would verify his rightful place on thislist.
No. 4: Jameer Nelson, guard, St. Joseph's. Likewise, fewpeople will forget St. Joes' remarkable run in 2003-04, when Nelson andfellow guard Delonte West led the Phil Martelli and company to a 27-1regular season record and a buzzer-beating loss to Oklahoma State inthe Elite Eight. Nelson averaged 20 points, five assists and threesteals per game during tiny St. Joseph's brief moment of nationalnotoriety.
No. 3: Kevin Durant, forward, Texas. In a way, Kevin Durantchanged everything. One of the first NBA-ready players (alongside GregOden at Ohio State) to be forced into a year of college hoops, Durantproved that all leagues are not created equal. As a freshman at Texasin 2006-07, Durant averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds; he went for 28and 13 in games against Big 12 opponents. After a 37-point, 23-reboundgame against Texas Tech, Bob Knight described Durant as "really good."The rest of the country agreed, handing the freshman Durant a NaismithAward, an almost unheard-of honor for a freshman. But who would denyDurant's talent, then or now? Certainly not us.
No. 2: Shane Battier, small forward, Duke. No surprise here.Battier was good before and after the passing of the millenium; he ledthe Blue Devils to a national runner-up in 1999 and a national title in2001, when he swept the national player of the year awards. (Battierhas become universally recognized as underrated in the NBA, but therewas no such trend in college.) In four years, Battier establishedhimself as one of the best college hoops players of all-time.
No. 1: Tyler Hansbrough, forward, North Carolina. And, ofcourse, there's Tyler Hansbrough. If any player defined the aughts, itwas Hansbrough, whose four years at North Carolina were dominant fromstart to finish. Hansbrough averaged 20 points and eight rebounds agame over four years, and the way he got his points -- out musclingopponents inside and getting the free throw at an insane rate -- wereborderline legendary, and Hansbrough sealed the deal in 2008-09,winning his first national title in his senior season. Some would argueHansbrough's place in the college basketball canon, but few would arguehis deserving nature at the top of this list. As aesthically unpleasantas it might be, Tyler Hansbrough was the best player of the 2000s.
Honorable mentions: Stephen Curry, Mateen Cleaves, Kirk Hinrich, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Joakim Noah, Kevin Love, Kevin Pittsnogle, Andrew Bogut,Ty Lawson, Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, and a whole host of others we could spend all day talking about.
Related:
End of Decade
http://rivals.yahoo.com/n...SU5nYcB?urn=ncaab,205313
lets discuss
i agree with tyler hansbrough being at the top. it was either him or shane.
thought melo would've made it somewhere. durant numbers were more impressive, so i cant complain if he was going to be the only freshmen.
