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
