Has any college program produced as many serious NBA rotation players in the past five years as UCLA has?
Consider:
Jordan Farmar (drafted 2006 by Los Angeles Lakers)Arron Afflalo (drafted 2007 by Detroit)Russell Westbrook (drafted 2008 by Oklahoma City)Kevin Love (drafted 2008 by Memphis, traded to Minnesota)Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (drafted 2008 by Milwaukee)Jrue Holiday (drafted 2009 by Philadelphia)Darren Collison (drafted 2009 by New Orleans)Other prolific college programs include:
LSU (Brandon Bass '05, Tyrus Thomas '06, Glen Davis '07, Anthony Randolph '08, Marcus Thornton '09)Florida (David Lee '05, Joakim Noah '07, Al Horford '07, Corey Brewer '07, Chris Richard '07, Marreese Speights '08)Washington (Nate Robinson '05, Brandon Roy '06, Spencer Hawes '07)USC (Nick Young '05, O.J. Mayo '08, DeMar DeRozan '09, Taj Gibson '09)Arizona (Channing Frye '05, Jerryd Bayless '08, Chase Budinger '09, Jordan Hill '09)North Carolina (Raymond Felton '05, Marvin Williams '05, Ty Lawson '09)However, I believe UCLA is the king at star-making in recent times. Many of Coach Ben Howland's players listed above (notably Afflalo, Westbrook, Mbah a Moute, and Holiday) are noted for their excellent pro-level defensive abilities, reflecting the aggressive defensive culture in Westwood. Whatever Howland is doing should be bottled and spread across the ballin' land.
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