Where did they come from?

With the NBA Draft now just a few weeks away, I wanted to take a closer look at where these guys are coming from. It shows where the best NBA players were before getting drafted. Obviously now you can't jump from high school to the pros (that list is far and away the best), but check out the best 12 man rosters from the 6 major conferences, a mid-major squad, high school, and foreign. I would ask which team would win, but it's clearly the high school team. Some conferences, on the other hand, barely put out 12 quality players. Will these trends continue this year?

Results are below: (I based it off of what conference the schools are in now, maybe not when these players were there, example; Marquette in Big East not Conf. USA, etc.)

ACC

Chris Paul, Wake Forest

Vince Carter, North Carolina

Antawn Jamison, North Carolina

Tim Duncan, Wake Forest

Chris Bosh, Georgia Tech

Carlos Boozer, Duke

Al Thornton, Florida State

John Salmons, Miami

Grant Hill, Duke

Mike Dunleavy, Duke

Raymond Felton, North Carolina

Rasheed Wallace, North Carolina

Note: Good mix of veterans and young players. I'd put the ACC against any other conference, no surprise.

Big 10

Deron Williams, Illinois

Jason Richardson, Michigan State

Michael Redd, Ohio State

Zach Randolph, Michigan State

Joel Przybilla, Minnesota

Devin Harris, Wisconsin

Brad Miller, Purdue

Jamal Crawford, Michigan

Eric Gordon, Indiana

Greg Oden, Ohio State

Mike Conley, Ohio State

Carl Landry, Purdue

Note: Not that impressive. Deron Williams, Michael Redd, and Devis Harris far and away the best players here. Randolph can fill up a box score, but he may tare the All- Big 10 team apart.

Big 12

Chauncey Billups, Colorado

Paul Pierce, Kansas

Kevin Durant, Texas

Michael Beasley, Kansas State

LaMarcus Aldridge, Texas

Mario Chalmers, Kansas

T.J. Ford, Texas

D.J. Augustin, Texas

Kirk Hinrich, Kansas

Nick Collison, Kansas

Antoine Wright, Texas A&M

Linas Kleiza, Missouri

Note: Very solid starting 5, but then the talent completely falls off. A lot of young guys on there, might as well put Blake Griffin on the list too.

Big East

Allen Iverson, Georgetown

Dwyane Wade, Marquette

Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse

Caron Butler, UConn

Emeka Okafor, UConn

Ron Artest, St. John’s

Ben Gordon, UConn

Rudy Gay, UConn

Richard Hamilton, UConn

Ray Allen, UConn

Troy Murphy, Notre Dame

Kyle Lowry, Villanova

Note: Not as good as I expected. Plus I gave them a gift in D-Wade who actually played in Conference USA, Marquette joined the Big East in 2005, 2 years post Wade. Their 2 best players (Wade and Carmelo) played a combined 1 year in the Big East... I'm still going to count it. (Side note: a team like Pitt makes the Big East look good in college, but does not pump out pros like UConn. Will DeJuan Blair and Sam Young be different?)

Pac-10

Jason Kidd, California

Gilbert Arenas, Arizona

Brandon Roy, Washington

Richard Jefferson, Arizona

Brook Lopez, Stanford

Jason Terry, Arizona

Mike Bibby, Arizona

Andre Iguodala, Arizona

O.J. Mayo, USC

Kevin Love, UCLA

Aaron Brooks, Oregon

Baron Davis, UCLA

Note: Anyone need a point guard? If this team was coached by Don Nelson or Mike D'Antoni they'd be a lot of fun to watch. Zona keeps turning out the pros. And Arizona States James Harden could crack this tough list before long.

SEC

Rajon Rondo, Kentucky

Joe Johnson, Arkansas

Gerald Wallace, Alabama

David Lee, Florida

Shaquille O’Neal, LSU

Mike Miller, Florida

Mo Williams, Alabama

Al Horford, Florida

Tyrus Thomas, LSU

Udonis Haslem, Florida

Tayshaun Prince, Kentucky

Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas

Note: A conference that really struggled last year, really much more of a football conference then hoops. I left Jo Noah off, he could be there. Coach Cal will help the SEC's NBA Alumni in the near future. He could have 4 lottery picks in 2010, if Jodie Meeks comes back, Patrick Patterson, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins. Look out!

Mid-Major

Steve Nash, Santa Clara

Danny Granger, New Mexico

Lamar Odom, Rhode Island

David West, Xavier

Marcus Camby, UMass

Derrick Rose, Memphis

Shawn Marion, UNLV

Andre Miller, Utah

Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech

Kevin Martin, Western Carolina

Rafer Alston, Fresno State

Andrew Bogut, Utah

Note: No Adam Morrison? Way more schools to choose from, but of the smaller variety. Pretty good group here that includes a lot of big men.

High School

Kobe Bryant

Tracy McGrady

LeBron James

Kevin Garnett

Dwight Howard

Amare Stoudemire

Al Jefferson

Josh Smith

Rashard Lewis

J.R. Smith

Al Harrington

Monta Ellis

Note: Some of the high school point guards, (Sebastian Telfair and Shaun Livingston) have not panned out, so I'll throw out a bigger lineup with Kobe and T-Mac handling the ball. Just an insane team. Why 18 year old's can fight wars for America but not play in the NBA is beyond me, but not the point of this article.

International

Tony Parker, France

Manu Ginobili, Argentina

Dirk Nowitzki, Germany

Pau Gasol, Spain

Yao Ming, China

Mehmet Okur, Turkey

Hedo Turkoglu, Turkey

Nene, Brazil

Rudy Fernandez, Spain

Boris Diaw, France

Andrei Kirilenko, Russia

Jose Calderon, Spain

Note: The best from around the world should make up a good 12 man roster, and they do. If the NBA ever went to a USA vs. the World All-Star game gimmick like the NHL did (North America vs. the World), then this is what you'd be looking at. Really only half or so of those guys would be deserving, making it even more important they never use that idea. Don't think they would borrow ideas from the NHL anyway.

If I forgot anyone, and I'm sure I did, feel free to leave a comment.

-Keefe