Today, I will be starting my new series, naming the best player from each college of all time. I will only be using how good they were in the NBA and will not take into account anything they did in college. I am going to start with the ACC. I am basing this off the teams that are currently in the conference, so any teams that changed conferences will be named with the conference they are currently in.
Boston College: Michael Adams
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The best player to ever go to Boston College is Michael Adams. He was a 1 time all-star in 1992 and he averaged 27 PPG the year before in the 1991 season. The only other player that comes close is Reggie Jackson, but because Adams has made an all-star team, he gets the nod over Reggie.
Honorable Mention: Reggie Jackson
Clemson: Larry Nance Sr.
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Larry Nance is the best player to ever come out of Clemson. He was a 3 time all-star and made the all-defensive team 3 times. He also won the first ever all-star weekend dunk contest. For his career, he averages 17 and 8 which are very good career numbers. Horace Grant was the 2nd best player to come out of Clemson and he was a 4 time champ, but the reason Nance is better is cause Nance made 2 more all-star games in his career and had better career stats, but this was a very close one.
Honorable Mention: Horace Grant
Duke: Kyrie Irving
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The best player ever from Duke is Kyrie Irving, but I do think Jayson Tatum can take this crown in a couple of years. For now, though, Kyrie is a better all time player than Tatum. Kyrie is a 7 time all-star and a 1 time champ and he hit one of the clutchest shots in that championship run back in 2016. However, if Tatum keeps up his play and wins MVP this season and wins a championship, he could overtake Kyrie as the best NBA player to ever come out of Duke
Honorable Mentions: Jayson Tatum, Grant Hill, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Paolo Banchero, JJ Redick
Florida State: Dave Cowens
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Dave Cowens is the best player to ever come out of Florida State and currently, there is no one even close, but once Scottie Barnes' career is over, he has a chance to take this crown, but Cowens is really good and it will be tough to overtake him. Cowens is an 8 time all-star, a 2 time champ, and a 1 time MVP in 1973. His career stats are 18 PPG and 14 RPG.
Honorable Mentions: Scottie Barnes, Devin Vassell, Malik Beasley, Patrick Williams
Georgia Tech: Chris Bosh
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The best player to come of Georgia Tech is Chris Bosh. I was having a tough time choosing between Chris Bosh and Mark Price, but I went with Bosh because I think he is better. He is an 11 time all-star and 2 time champ with the Heat. His Big 3 with Wade and Bron is one of the best ever.
Honorable Mentions: Mark Price, Thaddeus Young, Dennis Scott, Derrick Favors
Louisville: Wes Unseld
Wes Unseld is the best player ever from Louisville. Wes Unseld is 1 of 2 players that ever won MVP as a rookie. The only other player to do this is Wilt Chamberlain and Wilt is a top 10 player ever. Along with his MVP, he is a 5 time all-star and won a championship, along with a FMVP. He slowed down towards the end of his career, but that is to be expected.
Honorable Mentions: Donovan Mitchell, Terry Rozier, Montrezl Harrell
University of Miami: Rick Barry
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Rick Barry is the only current or future Hall of Famer to ever go to the University of Miami, so he automatically takes the crown as the best player from Miami. He is a 12 time all-star and carried the warriors to a championship in 1975 when no one thought they had any chance of winning and he was awarded FMVP for his efforts. He also averaged 30 PPG 4 times and averages 25 PPG, 7 RPG and 4 APG for his career
Honorable Mentions: Lonnie Walker, Bruce Brown, Shane Larkin
NC State: David Thompson
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David Thompson is the best player ever to come out of NC State. He is a 5 time all-star and spent most of his career in Denver, where he averaged 24 PPG. He is seen as the DeMar DeRozan of the late 70s and early 80s, because he, like DeMar, shot a ton of mid range shots and not as many 3 point shots.
Honorable Mentions: Tom Gugliotta Thurl Bailey, TJ Warren, Spud Webb
University of North Carolina: Michael Jordan
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This one was the easiest one of this whole list. The GOAT went to UNC, so obviously, the GOAT is the best one to ever come out of UNC. I don't really need to say much, other than the fact that he led 2 3 peats and won FMVP in all of those championships. He is the GOAt and no one can say otherwise.
Honorable Mentions: James Worthy, Bob McAdoo, Vince Carter, Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Antawn Jamison, Billy Cunningham
Notre Dame: Adrian Dantley
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Adrian Dantley is the best player to ever come out of Notre Dame. He spent most of his career on the Jazz and was one of the best scorers in the league for a couple of seasons and even won 2 scoring titles. He was also a 6 time all-star, averaging 24 PPG and 6 RPG over his career.
Honorable Mentions: Bill Laimbeer, LaPhonso Ellis, Kelly Tripucka, Orlando Woolridge
University of Pittsburgh: Steven Adams
(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
There were not many people to come out of the University of Pittsburgh, so I ended up choosing Steven Adams as the best out of the options given. Adams is originally from New Zealand, but went to college at Pitt and currently is having a pretty good career in the NBA. He has played for the Thunder, Grizzlies, and Pelicans, averaging roughly 7 PPG and 11 RPG for his career.
Honorable Mentions: Cameron Johnson, Charles Smith, Billy Knight
Syracuse: Carmelo Anthony
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Carmelo Anthony is the best player to come out of Syracuse. I was having a tough time choosing between him and Dave Bing, but eventually, I chose to go with Melo. Melo started his career in Denver, where he had no playoff success, until 2009, where he made it to the Western Conference Finals, but fell short. A couple of seasons after that, he got traded to New York, where again, he had no playoff success and his career started going downhill after he left New York. He made it to 10 all-star games and even won a scoring title in 2013.
Honorable Mentions: Dave Bing, Rony Seikaly, Jerami Grant
University of Virginia: Ralph Sampson
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Ralph Sampson is the best player to come out of the University of Virginia. Ralph created the original twin towers with Hakeem, but his career was derailed by injuries after 4 successful all-star seasons, but it was still good enough to be the player from UVA.
Honorable Mentions: De'Andre Hunter, Malcolm Brogdon, Trey Murphy
Virginia Tech: Dell Curry
(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Allsport)
Dell Curry, the father of Steph, is a good basketball player in his own right. Dell played the majority of his career as a 6th man and was a very good one, even winning 6th man of the year once. His 3 point shooting is elite and we can see where Steph got his shooting ability from.
Honorable Mentions: Dorian Finney-Smith, Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Wake Forest: Tim Duncan
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This was also a pretty easy choice because Duncan is a top 10 player of all time and the only other player that went to Wake Forest and is top 50 all time is Chris Paul. Duncan is a 15 time all-star, 5 time champ, and 2 time MVP. Even though he hasn't won any DPOYs, he is also one of the best defensive players of all time.
Honorable Mentions: Chris Paul, John Collins, Jeff Teague
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