The NCAA has long been the shining beacon of white basketball talent. With the obvious greats Larry Bird and Bill Walton to the one hit wonders such as Jimmer Fredette and Adam Morrison, the heritage is long and hallowed. The NBA is an athletes game, this is ours. I am counting down the 10 greatest white college basketball players since the year 2000, and whoo-boy there are some shooters.
10. Tyler Zeller- “Less Psycho T” North Carolina 2008-2012 Career Stats: 12.8 PPG 6.7 RPG Career Achievements- 2009 National Champion, 2012 second team All American, 2012 ACC Player of the Year, 2012 Academic All American.
Replacing a great is never easy, replacing Tyler Hansbrough seemed impossible. Tyler Zeller did a fantastic job. Scoring over 16 points a game while pulling in over 8 rebounds during his junior and senior season Zeller was one of the most effective players in the nation. He could have put up even more points and rebounds in his career in he had not had a serious injury his freshman year. His comeback and replacement of an all time great make him one of the most underrated players of the new millennium.
9. Kyle Singler- “Bucket Man” Duke University 2007-2011 Career Stats: 16.2 PPG 6.9 RPG Career Achievements- 2010 NCAA Champion, 2011 second team All American, 2010 Final Four most outstanding player.
Kyle Singler has the distinction of being the fourth highest scorer in Duke’s illustrious history, this alone would put him on this list but it is his performance in the 2010 NCAA tournament that really sets him apart. He was the best player on a national championship team, how many guys can say that? His performance against Butler ( who featured white boy Gordon Hayward) was downright fantastic. His dedication to his school, not tanning, and trick shot videos is legendary.
8. Adam Morrison- “The Stasche” Gonzaga University 2003-2006 Career Stats: 19.7 PPG 5.1 RPG. Career Achievements- 2006 consensus All American, 2006 WCC Player of the year, 2006 NCAA scoring leader.
An electrifying, unique, ugly dude, Adam Morrison was also one of the most talented scorers of recent years. Morrison went to a legendary white basketball school, the alma mater of John Stockton which is Gonzaga. He dominated the WCC his junior year dropping 28 points a game to outgun JJ Redick to the scoring title. An under rated inside scorer Morrison shot over 55% from inside the arc in his career. It’s a shame many don’t remember this remarkable season and choose to remember his unfortunate mustache, crying and awful NBA career. He was a great player and helped Gonzaga become the dominant mid major they are now. But hell look at this guy;
7. Nick Collison- “The Kansas Flash” University of Kansas 99-03 Career Stats: 14.8 PPG 8.0 RPG Career Achievements- Led KU to back to back Final Four’s, 2003 consensus All American, retired as Big 12’s all time leading scorer.
Combined with another proud Iowan, Kirk Hinrich, Collison led KU to be arguably the best team of the early 2000’s. Falling just short of a national championship in 03 falling by just 3 points to the Melo led Syracuse Orange. At 6’10 250 Collison was a dominant presence inside. His senior year when he was an All American he averaged almost 19 points and 10 boards while shooting 55% from the field. People seem to have forgotten just how good he was. No one in the history of the big twelve had scored more than he did at the time of his retirement, that’s pretty damn impressive. He has stayed loyal to the midwest and is now a space eater for the Thunder.
6. Andrew Bogut- “The Mountain” Utah 2003-2005 Career Stats: 16.6 PPG 11.1 RPG 1.6 BPG Career Achievements- 2005 Wooden Award winner, No. 4 retired by Utah, 2005 consensus All-American, No. 1 overall pick in 2005 NBA Draft.
The most dominating pure center on this list Bogut is an absolute monster listed at 7’1 255. He used his powerful frame to become the best player in the nation his sophomore year in 2005. In that season for the Utes he averaged 20.4 points and 12.2 rebounds a game. He also shot a staggering 62% from the field to lead his team to the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. He swept the awards that year and was on pace to become Utah’s all time leading scorer before declaring for the draft and becoming the only player on this list to be the number 1 overall pick. He has had an effective NBA career averaging nearly a double double and winning a championship with the Warriors in 2015. He also is a strong competitor with Adam Morrison for worst hair of all time;
5. Frank Kaminsky- “Frank the Tank” Wisconsin 2011-2015 Career Stats: 10.1 PPG 4.1 RPG Career Achievements- 2015 Wooden Award winner, 2015 consensus All-American, led Wisconsin to first National Title game in 74 years.
A true story of hard work and perseverance, Frank Kaminsky’s stats do not reflect the kind of player he was. Playing under 8 minutes a game as a gawky 7 footer of a freshman not many would have predicted he would go onto win the Wooden Award his senior year. Kaminsky’s game grew every year until his senior year he was the best player in the NCAA. He averaged 19 points and 8 boards a game in the extremely slow paced Wisconsin offense. He also led that Wisconsin team to the brink of its first title since 1941, eventually losing to Duke. He was drafted by the Hornets and has had a slow start to his NBA career but Lord knows he will work his butt off.
4. Jimmer Fredette- “The Storming Mormon” Brigham Young University 2007-2011 Career Stats: 18.7 PPG 3.7 APG Career Achievements: 2011 Wooden Award winner, 2011 NCAA scoring leader.
One of the founders of the spot up 30 foot jumper, Jimmer could light it up like few ever have been able too. In his senior year he average a staggering 29 points per game for America’s sweethearts in 2011, BYU. He managed to single handedly shoot his team to the sweet 16 before falling to Florida. Jimmer has become one of the most beloved figures in basketball pop culture, his name synonymous with out of shape rec leaguers air balling threes. He was the tenth overall pick in the 2011 draft but has since fallen into the D league falling along with the hopes and dreams of Mormons everywhere. Plus the kid’s jew fro was legendary
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3. J.J Redick- “Jesus Junior” Duke University 2002-2006 Career Stats: 19.9 PPG 2.7 APG .912 FT%. Career Achievements- 2006 Wooden Award winner, 2x consensus All American, 2x ACC player of the year.
Pure Scoring. J.J Redick’s shot has incited more screams at the T.V than anyone since Christian Laettner. A polarizing figure similar to Hansbrough, Reddick seemed to love the hate and the pressure. While never having the success he would have liked in the Big Dance, JJ was arguably the deadliest ACC player of all time. He scorched the conference for nearly 27 a game his senior year, shooting 42% from three. Another characteristic that was irritating to his nay sayers was JJ’s prolific free throw shooting. He shot 91% in college and a staggering 95% his sophomore year. He took every single free point he was given and that is what made him so deadly. His career in the NBA has gone shockingly well, averaging 16 points a game his last three seasons for the Clippers. Plus the dude was 160 soaking wet at Duke and still lit it up; legend.
2. Doug McDermott- “Dougy McBuckets” Creighton University 2010-2014 Career Stats: 21.7 PPG 7.5 RPG Career Achievements: 2014 Wooded Award winner, 5th on all time NCAA scoring list, 3x consensus All-American.
3,150 points.
The staggering numbers put up by the North Dakota born superstar are eye popping. That’s more points than the white lord and savior Larry Bird had in college! Watching McDermott with Creighton was like watching a street ball game in which there was one player who was far superior to everyone else. He was not just a pure scorer either, he used his 6’8 225 lb frame to grab almost 8 rebounds a game in his career and is one of just three players in NCAA history to have over 3,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Playing for the Bulls in the NBA McDermott has been a solid role player in the 2015-2016 season averaging almost 10 points a game in 23 minutes.
1 Tyler Hansbrough- “Psycho T” North Carolina 2005-2009 Career Stats: 20.2 PPG 8.6 RPG Career Achievements: 2008 Wooden Award winner, 2009 NCAA Champion, 3x consensus All-American.
One of the toughest individual players in the history of the game, Tyler Hansbrough was a polarizing figure to say the least. He accomplished as much as any player at the college level, leading an elite North Carolina to a championship over Michigan State 89-72. His best year was 2008, when he absolutely dominated everything and everyone in the league. He averaged a double double and won every award that was given out, and led UNC to the final four. And also this;
theknowledgabledbag 