ESPN Path to the Draft: No. 8 Michigan (Edit: Hoops)
I don't know if anyone's been following this ESPN series, but it's a great read for those who remember the years right before KG and Kobe made it cool to make the leap from HS to the NBA.
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/85533/path-to-the-draft-no-8-michigan
Check out this crazy stat line from Jalen Rose when he was peaking in the NBA:
He also put together this four-season stretch that somehow failed to warrant one All-Star appearance for the Detroit native: 18.2 PPG, 4.0 APG, 4.8 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 39.3 percent from the 3-point line in 1999-2000; 20.3 PPG, 6.0 APG, 5.0 RPG in 2000-2001; 20.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, 36.2 from the 3-point line in 2001-02; 22.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.8 APG and 37 percent from the 3-point line in 2002-03. Rose hit more than 80 percent of his free throws during that stretch, too.
ESPN has been counting down the colleges producing the best NBA players in the modern NBA Draft era (since 1989). Michigan was covered today finishing #8 in the rankings and best in the Big Ten. ESPN also covered the 10 best Big Ten players in the modern NBA Draft era with #1 Chris Webber, #5 Glen Rice, and #7 Juwan Howard making the list. Jamal Crawford and Jalen Rose finished in the honorable mention category.
Pretty amazing how great Michigan's NBA track record has been considering how bad we have been for the last 15 years. The final seven are probably Kentucky, UNC, UConn, Arizona, UCLA, Duke, and Georgetown in some order. Pretty much in the company of basketball royalty.
#8 Michigan: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/85533/path-to-the-draft-no-8-michigan
Top 10 players from the Big Ten: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/85548/big-ten-players-in-the-nba
ESPN's Path to the Draft Rankings:
#8 Michigan
#9 Wake Forest
#10 Texas
#11 Florida
#12 Georgia Tech
#13 UNLV
#14 Kansas
#15 Memphis
#16 Michigan State
#17 Alabama
#18 LSU
#19 Ohio State
#20 Syracuse
Slow your roll, our high success with NBA will start to return to normal levels in next couple years. Look at a draft list from 2010 or 2009 and see how many of those kids are busts .
"The players mentioned throughout our rankings prove that it’s far easier to get into the NBA than it is to stay there. Michigan’s best pros -- the school has produced 22 overall since 1989 -- enjoyed lengthy terms in the NBA. That’s why we’ve given them so much credit. "
Basketball-Reference.com lists 41 Wolverines who have seen action in the NBA and/or ABA. Removing the few instances of single-year careers, the average Wolverine has seen 7.63 years of service in professional basketball. Twelve of those players have seen careers of a decade or more. They are correct - for longevity, that's really not bad at all.
Quiet as its kept Michigan as a state is a great producer of basketball talent. I don't care for Izzo personally but I do like how he year in year out had his pick of talent in the state pre Beilein. We are at the point now of not only going head up with staee but also top programs in the country for talent. Top five on this list in the next few years.
Wow. I saw this countdown on ESPN and thought "Well, shouldn't hold my breath to see Michigan in there". The fact that we're still in there after 15ish years in the wilderness, really shows how great a program we've had
Heck, for all the glory of MSU basketball over the past 10-20 years, we're still viewed as a school that has produced better NBA talent. And I think we've got a few more guys coming who will add to the tradition