# Best College Player Youve Witnessed



## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

Who is the best college player that you have seen in your lifetime? This doesnt have to be live or anything just a player that you watched in your lifetime. If you say Christian Laettner and you were born in 1991, try and find someone that was playing that you watched from a more mature age.

First...

Jason Williams was the greatest college player Ive seen when he was at Duke. He was completely unstopable in college and did whatever it took to win. The game vs Maryland when they came back from being down was incredible. Its sad that he missed those free-throws vs Indiana but even that cant shed to much of a shadow on his great career in my eyes.

Second...

Shane Battier was an exceptional player. Id still got with JWill on this one but Shane is a close second. He was the consumate team player and took more charges than the entire Duke team regularly. He was clutch and really was the pinnacle of winning. Deadly shooter and a very adaptable player.

Third...

Kenyon Martin was one of the most dominating in his last year of college ball. He completely took over ever game and was so intimidating in the paint. It was unfortunate the way he went out but again he proved it to me on the court. His ferocious dunks and blocked shots in the stands were always exciting. He also made Cincinnati look like locks for the championship that year until his injury.

Who are yours? Give reasons why...


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## Eatinthepudding8 (Jul 10, 2004)

Ive been to 2 college games in my life, i went last year to a St. Joes game so Jameer Nelson is the best ive seen in person and ive also been to a temple game like 2 years ago and saw David Hawkins play, he was also pretty good in college, he just didnt really have a position in the pro's


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

It doesnt have to be live...When I said live I just meant not video tape or ESPN classic or something...


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## Ghost (Jun 21, 2002)

I am young, but the best college player i have ever seen was Emeka Okafor during the 2003 Ncaa Tournment, He couldn't be guarded and was averging about 6 blocks a game. But for a whole season I would go with Kenyon Martin.


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## JuniorNoboa (Jan 27, 2003)

Glenn Robinson


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## sMaK (Jun 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>JuniorNoboa</b>!
> Glenn Robinson


I'd probably say him too, but I don't remember him too much.

Kenyon Martin was amazing. I think that Cincy team would have destroyed everyone in the tourney that year if he was healthy.


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## zagsfan20 (Dec 24, 2004)

Mateen Cleaves..
Adonal Foyle
Ed O'Bannon
Bobby Hurley
John Wallace
Steve Nash
Keith Van Horn
Chris Webber

There's so many, its hard to pick just one....


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## BrYaNBaIlEy06 (Jul 15, 2003)

Timmy Bowers.

He was one of the greatest leaders I have seen, and made everyone around him better.


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## apelman2 (Jan 16, 2004)

*DWAYNE WADE.....*

I hated him soooooo much because he played for Marquette, but the Dwayne Wade vs. Devin Harris' matchups were totally awesome. I saw Wade play numerous times in person and I've honestly never seen a guy change a team like he did.


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## ugabball2k4 (Sep 10, 2004)

Miles Simon, he was awesome at Arizona.


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## vadimivich (Mar 29, 2004)

Tim Duncan and Christian Laettnar


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## Crawscrew (Jul 15, 2002)

antawn jamison was just awesome at carolina...still fuming over that loss to Arizona, how could they lose, that team was unbelievable.


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## max powers (Aug 3, 2004)

Len Bias

I'm a UNC fan but the younger Bias made Jordan look like a chump when they went head to head. I'm also a Celtics fan and was ecstatic when they drafted him, its a damn shame.


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## AzDave (Jul 2, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>Crawscrew</b>!
> antawn jamison was just awesome at carolina...still fuming over that loss to Arizona, how could they lose, that team was unbelievable.


Easy...UA was better!

Seriously though...even though they kind of came out of nowhere, the Cats were very talented and Simon missed the first half of the season. Once they put it all together they were capable of beating anyone. A bunch of people in a pool I did picked them to win it all. They proved it in the tourney, and went on to have an outstanding year in 98...would have had a rematch w/the Heels if it weren't for that pesky triangle and two by Utah. Majerus gambled that Dickerson would be off...he was right.

Anyway....best college players I've seen (in person only...otherwise this list would be WAY too long): Kidd, Duncan, Arenas, Bibby, Simon, Shareef, Luke Jackson, Brevin Knight, Van Horn

I'd list a few more UA players, but then I'd just be a homer....Bibby, Simon, and Arenas definitely stood out though.


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## BruinBaller (Feb 11, 2005)

In person:
Baron Davis, Arenas, Casey Jacobsen, Kapono, Laettner, Grant Hill


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Chris Webber was an absolute destructive force on a basketball court. As was Larry Johnson and Christian Laettner. I'd say those guys were the best college players I've ever seen. 

Kenny Anderson as well.


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## Midnight_Marauder (Dec 1, 2003)

Glenn Robinson ---guy could do anything on the court
Jim Jackson----always seemed to kill you
Calbert Cheaney----he was so smooth at Indiana.....he would get open on that curl and you knew it was automatic
Chris Webber---like HKF said...just vicious on the court....
Jamal Mashburn-----the real deal...this guy would just take a game over if he had to....

I went to a lot of games in Bloomington so I mainly saw big ten guys.....I just put down live because I could have a list a mile long otherwise


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## VincentVega (Oct 12, 2003)

Live and in person...

Danny Manning
Jay Williams (gets my vote for most dominant college guard of the last 20 years)
Shane Battier
Dwyane Freaking Wade
Kirk Hinrich
Chauncey Billups


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## ChitwoodStyle (Oct 9, 2003)

I saw larry Johnson play for Midland Texas JC in the JC championships and he was by far the best player I have ever seen live. Hinrich would be my next best he was just amazing at KU.


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## rebelsun (Nov 25, 2003)

The best I've seen in person:

Larry Johnson
Stacey Augmon
Greg Anthony
Shawn Marion
Keith Van Horn
Andre Miller
Kenyon Martin
Desmond Mason
Kaspars Kambala (probably my favorite college player ever)


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## HeinzGuderian (Jun 29, 2004)

Antawn Jamison was a beast in college.


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

HeinzGuderian said:


> Antawn Jamison was a beast in college.


Jamison was probably the best post player I witnessed in the last decade. His low post game was so incredibly unique...he was the quickest post player I've ever seen. 

I remember in one UNC-Duke game, they kept a statistic for how many seconds Jamison actually possessed the ball during the game. If I remember correctly, Jamison scored something like 31 points, though he possessed the ball for only 34 seconds.

I still can't believe that team didn't win it all.


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## JuniorNoboa (Jan 27, 2003)

Best freshmen I have witnessed:
1. Carmelo Anthony
2. Chris Jackson
3. Chris Webber


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

The Truth said:


> I still can't believe that team didn't win it all.


 :yes: No **** huh?


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## zagsfan20 (Dec 24, 2004)

Best freshman i have witnessed:

Shareef Abdur Rahim
Stephon Marbury
Quentin Richardson


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## Kmasonbx (Apr 7, 2003)

Wow no Allen Iverson mention? He was dominant in his 2 year's at Georgetown. I'd say he was the best player I've seen because I actually became a Georgetown fan for the 2 years he was there and I had never heard of him before he got there. 

Laetner was great, as was Duncan, Camby, Jay Williams among many others, but I have to go with AI.


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

Jason Williams, Duke- He was simply incredible. Pissed the hell out of me every time he made a three against UNC. He I think is one of the best college players of all time.

Antawn Jamison- Was a great post player in college and just flat out dominated.

Drew Gooden


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## cpawfan (Jun 20, 2004)

Jsimo12 said:


> Kenyon Martin was one of the most dominating in his last year of college ball. He completely took over ever game and was so intimidating in the paint. It was unfortunate the way he went out but again he proved it to me on the court. His ferocious dunks and blocked shots in the stands were always exciting. He also made Cincinnati look like locks for the championship that year until his injury.





sMaKDiSDoWn said:


> Kenyon Martin was amazing. I think that Cincy team would have destroyed everyone in the tourney that year if he was healthy.


sniff, sniff, sniff You guys are making me cry. That game against St. Louis in the CUSA Tournament is still painful to think about.


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## adarsh1 (May 28, 2003)

shane battier was insane...also juan dixon was a beast


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## DanDickau (Jan 9, 2005)

I've been to quite a few College games. The best Team I saw play was in the 
2001 NCAA Tournament I went to 4 1st round games. I saw Duke (Boozer, J Williams, Dunleavy, Battier. They won the NCAA CHampionship) play. They killed Monmouth. It was awesome, becasue the game was in Greensbro, N.C so there were tons of Duke fans and Duke lite it up!!


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## Sánchez AF (Aug 10, 2003)

*Vince Carter*


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

SpeakerBoxxX said:


> *Vince Carter*


Vince Carter wasn't that great in college...

He wasn't even close to the best player on his team.

I know this is a personal opinion thread, but that just seems way off to me.

Many people thought of him as a slight disappointment in college.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

I know Iverson was good, but he wasn't even better than Kerry Kittles or Marcus Camby in college. Kittles, basically resurrected that Villanova program when he got there.


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## HeinzGuderian (Jun 29, 2004)

The Truth said:


> Vince Carter wasn't that great in college...
> 
> He wasn't even close to the best player on his team.
> 
> ...


Carter was very good in college, but I agree that Jamison was easily the better college player.


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

HeinzGuderian said:


> Carter was very good in college, but I agree that Jamison was easily the better college player.


Yeah, he was definitely good, but I don't think he really ever lived up to expectations in college.


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

Hong Kong Fooey said:


> I know Iverson was good, but he wasn't even better than Kerry Kittles or Marcus Camby in college. Kittles, basically resurrected that Villanova program when he got there.


I totally agree.

Kerry Kittles was every bit as important to his team as Iverson was to GTown...

Marcus Camby was flat out dominant.


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## JuniorNoboa (Jan 27, 2003)

1996 was a great year for the Big East - some great star performers.

Iverson
Kittles
Don't forget Ray Allen at UConn, who was much more of an all-around scorer and high flyer in college then he is now.
And John Wallace was a great college player in his senior season. 

IMO, all four of them should have been first-team all-americans with Marcus Camby.


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## T.Shock (Feb 11, 2003)

Personally, I think I've got a damn good list of about ten people who were the most dominating...

10.Corliss Williamson
9.Kerry Kittles
8.Tim Duncan
7.Antawn Jamison
6.Ron Mercer
5.Jason Williams
4.Larry Johnson
3.Carmelo Anthony
2.Christian Laettner

And a somewhat dubious selection as number one but I felt I needed a shocking suprise as my personal pick...

1.Lawrence Moten

Completely took over games in the time he was at Syracuse. He did and might still hold the record for points by any Big East player and in my personal opinion the battles he had with UConn in those mid-90s contests were unbelieveable.

Now I could form a list of great sidekick college players who never got their due...

I've already got the top 2

2.Todd Day
1.Randolph Childress


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## The True Essence (May 26, 2003)

Marcus Hatten........still cant believe hes not in the nba.
just some statistics- 22 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, 4 assists per game, 3 steals a game. nit mvp over mike sweetneys georgetown team, dropped 44 on rutgers, made the clutch FT's with no time remaining to beat Duke, got st johns to the tourney literally by himself.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

I just want to say that Kerry Kittles was my favorite college player, but even with how great he was, who would have thought his NCAA chokes would foreshadow his career. The guy was just afraid of crunchtime.


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

T.Shock said:


> Personally, I think I've got a damn good list of about ten people who were the most dominating...
> 
> 10.Corliss Williamson
> 9.Kerry Kittles
> ...



You a bit of a Syracuse homer? Moten and Anthony? I'm not sure exactly what your criteria is, but if its the most dominating college players in your lifetime, I don't see how those guys could even crack the top 20.

Childress was not a sidekick. That Wake team was HIS team...Duncan was still very much in the development stages when he played with Childress.


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## JAYHAWK-81 (Jan 21, 2005)

I'd say Chris Webber and Larry Johnson are pretty valid arguments. I liked D Wade's play also.

*Please no solicitation of commercial sites. If you would like to advertise please contact an admin. *


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## vadimivich (Mar 29, 2004)

Not to super nitpick, but Childress was second fiddle to Rodney Rodgers most of his career. Rodgers was a tremendous college player (All-American and ACC player of the year along the way).

I do remember that one insane ACC tournament that Childress had, where he could have been guarded by the entire opposing team and still torched them. That was probably the best 3 game stretch I've ever seen a college player have.


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## T.Shock (Feb 11, 2003)

The Truth said:


> You a bit of a Syracuse homer? Moten and Anthony? I'm not sure exactly what your criteria is, but if its the most dominating college players in your lifetime, I don't see how those guys could even crack the top 20.
> 
> Childress was not a sidekick. That Wake team was HIS team...Duncan was still very much in the development stages when he played with Childress.


I don't even like Cuse all that much but personally I just remember Moten flat out dominating games and like I said it is a dubious pick but I felt the need to be original. And the Day and Childress argument was more geared towards great college players who got overshown for one reason or another. Another Arkansas player coming to mind is Scotty Thurman.


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

vadimivich said:


> Not to super nitpick, but Childress was second fiddle to Rodney Rodgers most of his career. Rodgers was a tremendous college player (All-American and ACC player of the year along the way).
> 
> I do remember that one insane ACC tournament that Childress had, where he could have been guarded by the entire opposing team and still torched them. That was probably the best 3 game stretch I've ever seen a college player have.


Childress was the main man his senior year (when Rogers was no longer there and Duncan was still young).

That was the season he had the insane ACC tournament.


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## JuniorNoboa (Jan 27, 2003)

The Truth said:


> You a bit of a Syracuse homer? Moten and Anthony? I'm not sure exactly what your criteria is, but if its the most dominating college players in your lifetime, I don't see how those guys could even crack the top 20.


I can see you denouncing Moten, but Anthony was arguably one of the top 5 players in the last 10 years. And I hate using Ravio boy's logic, but as a freshmen in makes his play even more memorable and historic.

Anthony averaged 22 pts and 10 rebounds. How many major college players have done that the last ten years?

Anthony was the player of the year .... as a freshmen. And personally, I don't give a **** that he was not given the awards - he validated the fact that he was the player of the year for the entire season. 

Who has had a better final four in the last 10 years then Anthony?
27 pts, 11 rebounds, 5.5 assists. 

Anthony was the player of the year as a freshmen and could have won more accolades. The fact that he only played only one year does not make him less dominating .. in fact it makes him more dominating.

How special was Anthony?
Pre-Anthony Syracuse was an NIT Team.
Post-Anthony, with everybody returning, they will be a 4 or 5 seeds. There is no doubt he carried his team to a top 10 level, and the national title as a freshmen

Anthony was one of the most special college players of the generation and one of its best.


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## BigMike (Jun 12, 2002)

I don't know about the best...but the best single game performance I've seen was Marvin O'Connor here in San Diego in the NCAA Tournament. I don't remember who they played, but he almost single-handedly won the game...that guy was electric!


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

BigMike said:


> I don't know about the best...but the best single game performance I've seen was Marvin O'Connor here in San Diego in the NCAA Tournament. I don't remember who they played, but he almost single-handedly won the game...that guy was electric!


It was against Stanford in the 2001 second round game. He had 39 points for Saint Joseph's.


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## zagsfan20 (Dec 24, 2004)

HKF, I love that Hogan/Andre The Giant avatar its a classic....Wrestlemania 3 i believe?


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

JuniorNoboa said:


> I can see you denouncing Moten, but Anthony was arguably one of the top 5 players in the last 10 years. And I hate using Ravio boy's logic, but as a freshmen in makes his play even more memorable and historic.
> 
> Anthony averaged 22 pts and 10 rebounds. How many major college players have done that the last ten years?
> 
> ...


I'm not arguing about Anthony being an incredible freshman, he absolutely was.

But as far as being the 3rd most dominant college player in the past 10 years (or so), there is absolutely no way.

Don't get me wrong, he definitely could have been--and I believe he would have been--if he had stayed. But there is no way he was the 3rd most dominant player in the past 10 years.

EDIT: I realize looking back at my previous post that I said Moten and Anthony were not top 20....I would say that holds true for Moten, but I would put Anthony in the top 20.


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

Hong Kong Fooey said:


> It was against Stanford in the 2001 second round game. He had 39 points for Saint Joseph's.


Yeah, and he had a terribly disappointing senior season after that.

Another dominant one game performance was Wally World his senior year...I can't remember who Miami (OH) played, but I do remember that Wally scored 43 of Miami's 59 points.

Also, I remember Antonio McDyess as a sophomore scoring 40 points and pulling down 20 boards against Penn...I know it was only Penn, but that's pretty damn impressive.


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## Chef (Nov 24, 2002)

None has seen Shaq play at LSU???


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

The Truth said:


> Yeah, and he had a terribly disappointing senior season after that.
> 
> Another dominant one game performance was Wally World his senior year...I can't remember who Miami (OH) played, but I do remember that Wally scored 43 of Miami's 59 points.


That was against Donald Watts and Washington in the 1999 NCAA first round in New Orleans (a year after they lost in the sweet sixteen to UConn on Richard Hamilton's fadeaway).



> Also, I remember Antonio McDyess as a sophomore scoring 40 points and pulling down 20 boards against Penn...I know it was only Penn, but that's pretty damn impressive.


Yeah that was the 1995 NCAA tournament in Baltimore, MD, he dropped 39 and 20 against Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney's Quaker team. Penn the year before had made the 2nd round (knocking off Nebraska) but then lost to Florida (Craig Brown, Dan Cross, Dametri Hill and Andrew Declerq). That game really put McDyess on the map. I was very sad personally, because that is the one game I didn't tape that was on National TV, because my mother didn't allow me to use her VCR and she wanted to go sleep. 

The next year I had my VCR. :yes:


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## Fordy74 (May 22, 2002)

Elijah Allen from FDU. act like you know...


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Fordy74 said:


> Elijah Allen from FDU. act like you know...


You mean from that one game in Washington D.C. against El-Amin and UConn. He had 43 points in that game, but that was his best game he ever played.


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## sMaK (Jun 13, 2002)

I know he didn't put up gaudy numbers or anything, but TJ Ford was damn impressive IMO.


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## djtoneblaze (Nov 22, 2004)

Chris Jackson (Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf), while not the overall best, was DEFINITELY the best shooter I've ever seen, on any level, when he was at LSU.


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

sMaKDiSDoWn said:


> I know he didn't put up gaudy numbers or anything, but TJ Ford was damn impressive IMO.


I personally thought TJ was terribly overrated.

Hey, but that's just me.


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## Hoopla (Jun 1, 2004)

1. Laettner 
2. Larry Johnson - was a beast at UNLV
3. Duncan
4. Shaq - he might not have won, but he dominated at LSU
5. Webber - its weird to watch him play now, because back then he was a phenomenal athlete who owned the paint
6. Hill - Nothing short of brilliance his senior year
7. Jamison - super quick scoring machine
8. Mashburn - His last 2 Tournament losses were in incredible games to teams led by guys ahead of him on this list (Laettner, Webber)
9. Glenn Robinson - best scorer ive seen on the college level
10. Mourning

Others: Calbert Cheaney, Corliss Williamson, J. Williams, Van Horn, Camby, Hurley, Respert, Miles Simon, Ray Allen, Iverson

Interestingly, I have no one from 2000 onwards on this list. The only one I considered was J. Williams. I don't think that's a mistake...


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## VERBZ (Jun 7, 2002)

max powers said:


> Len Bias
> 
> ....the younger Bias made Jordan look like a chump when they went head to head.....


YESSS!

He gets my vote also. I was devastated when he died....and I'm not a Terps fan OR a Celtics fan.....I just love great players.

He was "Air" BEFORE "Air Jordan"....used to do some amazing things in-game....

Magic Johnson is a close second. He was virtually UNSTOPPABLE.

Larry Johnson was pretty ridiculous at UNLV, also....pretty much unstoppable down low...

Geez, now I wanna go home and load up my "Dream Hoops" tournament in _ESPN College Hoops 2K5_....lol....MAN I love that game....


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## spongyfungy (Oct 22, 2003)

Antawn Jamison, Jason Williams, Christian Laettner, Joe Smith, Respert and Wally Szczerbiak (don't laugh, I bought the hype) 

I wonder how great Danny Ferry was.

Edit : Also the X factor Elton Brand. too bad he left so early.


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