Wednesday, April 28, 2010

No Time For MCAT

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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