Patrick Norton

Remember watching the tournament a couple weeks ago and being continuously bothered by Jerry Rice’s voice speaking on behalf of the NCAA about how student-athletes are students first? Well, I do.

The message of the ad was also to say “hey, being a student-athlete can help you gain the skills necessary for the real world once your four years are up, even though less than a percentage of you will become successful professional athletes…” *That’s essentially our motto at Student Union Sports.

My favorite point of the commercial was when Jerry Rice, reading Mark Emmert’s script, was forced to say that a college degree is much more valuable than one of those pesky NBA/NFL multimillion dollar contracts.

Anyways, for the <1% that have made the jump to the big stage from the college courts, 211 former college basketball players, reigning from 85 total schools, are in the 2018 NBA Playoffs.

Some more quick and somewhat pointless statistics:

  • 44/85 schools have multiple players in the playoffs.
  • Only 9 of those schools have more than five players in the playoffs.
  • Kentucky has the most alumni in the playoffs with 13 players spread across 16 NBA rosters.

With nine schools having enough players to create a playoff starting line up, I’ve crafted the ideal roster for each of the qualifying schools:

Kentucky Wildcats – 13 players

Starters:

  • John Wall – Washington Wizards – Point Guard – Drafted in 2010
  • Jodie Meeks – Washington Wizards – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2009
  • Darius Miller – New Orleans Pelicans – Small Forward – Drafted in 2012
  • Anthony Davis – New Orleans Pelicans – Power Forward – Drafted in 2012
  • Karl-Anthony Towns – Minnesota Timberwolves – Center – Drafted in 2015

Bench:

  • DeMarcus Cousins – New Orleans Pelicans – Center – Drafted in 2010
  • Rajón Rondo – New Orleans Pelicans – Point Guard – Drafted in 2006
  • Eric Bledsoe – Milwaukee Bucks – Point Guard – Drafted in 2010
  • Patrick Patterson – Oklahoma City Thunder – Power Forward – Drafted in 2010
  • Bam Adebayo – Miami Heat – Center – Drafted in 2017
  • DeAndre Liggins – New Orleans Pelicans – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2011
  • Dakari Johnson – Oklahoma City Thunder – Center – Drafted in 2015
  • Alex Poythress – Indiana Pacers – Power Forward – Undrafted

Fun Fact: You could fill every position in this line up with a current New Orleans Pelicans player.

UCLA Bruins – 12 players

Starters:

  • Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City Thunder – Point Guard – Drafted in 2008
  • Jrue Holiday – New Orleans Pelicans – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2009
  • Trevor Ariza – Houston Rockets – Small Forward – Drafted in 2004
  • Luc Mbah a Moute – Houston Rockets – Power Forward – Drafted in 2008
  • Kevin Love – Cleveland Cavaliers – Center – Drafted in 2008

Bench: 

  • Shabazz Muhammad – Milwaukee Bucks – Shooting Guard/Small Forward – Drafted in 2013
  • Darren Collison – Indiana Pacers – Point Guard – Drafted in 2009
  • T.J. Leaf – Indiana Pacers – Power Forward – Drafted in 2017
  • Kevon Looney – Golden State Warriors – Center/Power Forward – Drafted in 2015
  • Ike Anigbogu – Indiana Pacers – Center – Drafted in 2017
  • Kyle Anderson – San Antonio Spurs – Small Forward – Drafted in 2014
  • Norman Powell – Toronto Raptors – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2015

Duke Blue Devils – 11 players

Starters:

  • Kyrie Irving – Boston Celtics – Point Guard – Drafted in 2011
  • JJ Redick – Philadelphia 76ers – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2006
  • Jayson Tatum – Boston Celtics – Small Forward – Drafted in 2017
  • Jabari Parker – Milwaukee Bucks – Power Forward – Drafted in 2014
  • Marshall Plumlee – Milwaukee Bucks – Center – Undrafted

Bench:

  • Rodney Hood – Cleveland Cavaliers – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2014
  • Tyus Jones – Minnesota Timberwolves – Point Guard – Drafted in 2015
  • Kyle Singler – Oklahoma City Thunder – Small Forward – Drafted in 2011
  • Justise Winslow – Miami Heat – Small Forward/Power Forward – Drafted in 2015
  • Quinn Cook – Golden State Warriors – Point Guard – Undrafted
  • Amile Jefferson – Minnesota Timberwolves – Forward – Undrafted

Kansas Jayhawks – 9 players

Starters:

  • Kelly Oubre Jr. – Washington Wizards – Point Guard – Drafted in 2015
  • Andrew Wiggins – Minnesota Timberwolves – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2014
  • Marcus Morris – Boston Celtics – Small Forward – Drafted in 2011
  • Markeiff Morris – Washington Wizards – Power Forward – Drafted in 2011
  • Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers – Center – Drafted in 2014

Bench:

  • Cheick Diallo – New Orleans Pelicans – Power Forward – Drafted in 2016
  • Nick Collison – Oklahoma City Thunder – Center/Power Forward – Drafted in 2003
  • Cole Aldrich – Minnesota Timberwolves – Center – Drafted in 2010
  • Tarik Black – Houston Rockets – Center – Undrafted

*This was a bit more difficult than the other schools because the Jayhawks don’t have any guards in the playoffs. Both Oubre Jr. and Wiggins are Small Forwards for their teams.

North Carolina Tar Heels – 8 players

Starters:

  • Raymond Felton – Oklahoma City Thunder – Point Guard – Drafted in 2005
  • Danny Green – San Antonio Spurs – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2009
  • Wayne Ellington – Miami Heat – Small Forward – Drafted in 2009
  • John Henson – Milwaukee Bucks – Power Forward – Drafted in 2012
  • Tyler Zeller – Milwaukee Bucks – Center – Drafted in 2012

Bench: 

  • Ed Davis – Portland Trail Blazers – Power Forward/Center – Drafted in 2010
  • Ty Lawson – Washington Wizards – Point Guard – Drafted in 2009
  • Tony Bradley – Utah Jazz – Center – Drafted in 2017

Texas Longhorns – 6 players

Starters:

  • Cory Joseph – Indiana Pacers – Point Guard – Drafted in 2011
  • PJ Tucker – Houston Rockets – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2006
  • Kevin Durant – Golden State Warriors – Small Forward – Drafted in 2007
  • LaMarcus Aldridge – San Antonio Spurs – Power Forward – Drafted in 2006
  • Tristan Thompson – Cleveland Cavaliers – Center – Drafted in 2011

Bench:

  • Myles Turner – Indiana Pacers – Center – Drafted in 2015

Arizona Wildcats – 6 players

Starters:

  • Jason Terry – Milwaukee Bucks – Point Guard – Drafted in 1999
  • TJ McConnell – Philadelphia 76ers – Shooting Guard – Undrafted
  • Jerryd Bayless – Philadelphia 76ers – Small Forward – Drafted in 2008
  • Andre Iguodala – Golden State Warriors – Power Forward – Drafted in 2004
  • Solomon Hill – New Orleans Pelicans – Center – Drafted in 2013

Bench: 

  • Kadeem Allen – Boston Celtics – Point Guard – Drafted in 2017

*I ran into the same problem with Arizona that I had with Kansas, but this time, there were no playoff bigs. Iguodala and Solomon Hill play Small Forward for their teams.

Florida Gators – 5 players

Starters:

  • Bradley Beal – Washington Wizards – Point Guard – Drafted in 2012
  • Corey Brewer – Oklahoma City Thunder – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2007
  • Devin Robinson – Washington Wizards – Small Forward – Undrafted
  • Udonis Haslem – Miami Heat – Power Forward – Undrafted
  • Al Horford – Boston Celtics – Center – Drafted in 2007

Syracuse Orange – 5 players

Starters:

  • Dion Waiters – Miami Heat – Point Guard – Drafted in 2012
  • Malachi Richardson – Toronto Raptors – Shooting Guard – Drafted in 2016
  • Carmelo Anthony – Oklahoma City Thunder – Small Forward – Drafted in 2003
  • Jerami Grant – Oklahoma City Thunder – Power Forward – Drafted in 2014
  • Chris McCullough – Washington Wizards – Center – Drafted in 2015

What we’ve learned…

  • This took about three days to tally, plan and gather research, and I did it all by hand. Next time, use Excel.
  • basketball-reference.com is an awesome and resourceful website.
  • That Kentucky team is ridiculous, but UCLA would give them a run for their money.