Help me out with a little exercise.
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This will lead to a second post in a few days. I’ve picked a top 5 at each position for Jayhawk players. The list is very last 30 years oriented. Tell me who you should be on here that I missed or who shouldn’t be on here that I have listed.
Center Wilt C Clyde L, Cole A, Greg O, Joel,
Power Forward Danny, Wayne, Kieff, TRob, Darrell
Small Forward Paul, Nick C, BMac, Keith L, Raef
Shooting Guard Wigs, BRush, Mario, Jeff B, Ron K
Point Guard JoJo, Kirk, Sherron, Cedric, Jacque
Omissions? Richard Scott, Darnell V, Marcus M, Calvin T, Wayne S, BH Born, Drew G, Greg Dreiling, Adonis Jordan (2 final fours)
If you want to include success as a pro in your ranks then certainly do so. Like I said I’m doing something with this that might be another interesting exercise.
Thanks!
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This post is deleted!
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If the list is very last 30 years oriented, then Wilt should not be considered since he played close to 60 years ago, But if you are going to consider him, then why even list anyone else at center? Who could be even close to the best center of all time?
Also. you should by default consider all players that have been selected Player of the year, were 1st or second team All-America or have their Jersey retired; Gooden meets the criteria and should be definitely considered as should Wayne Simien,
Collison and LaFrentz both played PF and Center and did not play SF. Also, although technically listed as guards, Rush and Wiggins played SF at KU. Hinrich played some PG but he played primarily SG and one season SF.
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There’s a reason why I would put others on the center list.
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@wissoxfan83
My bad about Wilt; I see what you are doing now. At first I though you were trying to select the KU- All star team, and in this context, once you mention Wilt for the center position, there is no need to look any further. I am curious what your follow up post will have.
Having said that, I pointed out some names, that in my opinion are not listed at the positions they played at KU or even the NBA; any thoughts on that? The Journal World did a series of stories on the best players at every position and some players were had to determine what was their true position or the position they played at KU; for example, do you consider EJ a PG or as SG? Other players, such as Marcus and Mario played one position at KU and a different position in the NBA…a whole thread can be dedicated to this topic alone.
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@wissoxfan83 You could have listed several others. Bill Bridges, Wayne Hightower, Walt Wesley, Dave Robisch, George Unseld, Dave Stallworth. Those are off the top of ny head.
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@wissoxfan83 I think if you list Kieff, you have to list Marcus. Marcus was a better 4 man than Kieff in college.
And as @JayHawkFanToo has pointed out, it looks like you have a few players in what I would consider the wrong positions.
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@Wigs2 I think spellcheck got you. My addition is BUD Stallworth.
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Are you suggesting EJ is one of the greatest ever at either the 1 or 2?!?! Sorry, I couldn’t resist!
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Not necessarily. I used him simply as an example of how difficult, or maybe I should say subjective, it can be to figure out at which position a player should be considered.
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wissoxfan83, In past 15 years, hard for me to think of point guard w/o Aaron Miles on a list…although your 5 are very noteworthy.
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Man, difficult topic. If I’ve observed anything about our passionate Jayhawk fan/alumni base, I’d say we all have our favorites, and everybody seems to favor their own criteria. Which KU ‘era’, Stats, NCs, Wins, Final4s, ‘best KU team’, etc…
Great names. RCJH
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@ralster and don’t forget, hard luck stories! Plenty of them!
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@JayhawkRock78 Yep. It was Bud. Not spellcheck though. Just off the top of my head. Dave was considerably earlier and better, but for Wichita St.
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I apologize for not more replies. We are currently away from internet, so for an hour a day I sit in MCd’s where we summer and go through this. I am not an expert on KU players and their exact positions. I just listed as I remember. Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming! Like I said, I’m going somewhere with this that could be kind of fun. I’ll check back tomorrow!
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Great debate topic for the off season. Thanks for giving the old timers something to sink their teeth (dentures) in to.
To me the 2, 3, & 4 spots are entirely up for debate as there have been far & away many excellent players through the decades. Remember now, Kansas leads all of CBB with the most All Americans of any school in the nation.
Names like Pierce, Stallworth, Kellogg, Lovellette, Robisch, Hightower, Wesly, Manning, Simeon, Bridges, Collison & countless others since, are all up there in MY rafters, but to me, the 1 & 5 are flat ass locked with Jo Jo White & Wilt Chamberlain. Plus personally I believe Wilt may be the greatest professional athlete of the twentieth century. Of course this is respectfully JMO. And yes, I am biased.
Rock Chalk !!
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@globaljaybird
Well I need the input of old timers. I just turned 50 but was unaware of KU basketball until 1985 when I enrolled there. Therefore other than the few big names prior to Danny (and I!) enrolling at KU Im not too familiar with their accomplishments. We must have had some good players because we won lots of games!
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@wissoxfan83
KU has been extremely power forward heavy through the years. Just in the last 30 years there has been (of guys that went on to have NBA careers) Manning, LaFrentz, Collison, Gooden, Simien, Marcus Morris, and Robinson. That doesn’t include guys like Richard Scott, Alonzo Jamison, Perry Ellis, etc. You would be hard pressed to put any of those guys over Manning, but like I said, that’s a pretty stacked list.
Same thing at the PG position. You got JoJo White, Jacque Vaughn and Sherron, but skipped both Adonis Jordan and Aaron Miles, who both led KU to a pair of Final Fours. And then there’s the question of Tyshawn Taylor. Again, that isn’t your fault - there’s just a lot of guys that you could point to as being deserving.
At SG you didn’t name Rex Walters, even though he probably had one of the best individual seasons ever by a KU player in 1992, with a ridiculously efficient scoring season (averaged 16 ppg on less than 10 shots a game), shooting 52% from the field, 40% from 3 and 82% from the line.
I also have to throw a couple of players out there that often get overlooked in KU lore - Steve Woodberry, who could play every position on the perimeter, and Darrin Hancock, who was probably the most athletic player at KU under Roy Williams (edging out Lester Earl, who was never healthy at KU, and Kenny Gregory).
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You just muddied the waters! I’ve got to narrow my list down to a few players at each position! Details to come soon!
