Best college basketball player of decade?

[kdailey4315]

It has to be Hansbrough but how in God's name is Shane Battier not on this list. He's a close second.

 

[maxpower]

I can understand that a four-year starter has a greater body of work to evaluate, but I don't think it should be a 'positive' in this analysis. Players who stayed for 3-4 years didn't do so because they were better than 'one and done' guys. Longevity in college ball is not a function of ability or durability.

Hansbrough has to be in the conversation, not because he amassed four years worth of stats, but because of his dominant play.

Durant had a dominant career, even if it was for just one year. His career wasn't short because he couldn't hack it or because he got injured. It was short precisely because he was so good.

Same with Melo.

Anyone who doesn't think Melo and Durant (or KLove or Griffin or T.J. Ford) are among the very best college players of the decade isn't watching the games =)

 

[sigma_chi]

It has to be Hansbrough but how in God's name is Shane Battier not on this list. He's a close second.

I think the concensus among anybody you ask, regardless of what team they root for, is that Tyler Hansbrough is not just the best player of the past decade but one of the greatest COLLEGE players of all time. He was the Christian Laetner of the 2000's only better. You have to be pretty darn special to have your jersey retired at UNC WHILE still playing! I don't realistically see how you could think about anyone else here.

 

[rehmus]

It has to be Hansbrough but how in God's name is Shane Battier not on this list. He's a close second.

I think the concensus among anybody you ask, regardless of what team they root for, is that Tyler Hansbrough is not just the best player of the past decade but one of the greatest COLLEGE players of all time. He was the Christian Laetner of the 2000's only better. You have to be pretty darn special to have your jersey retired at UNC WHILE still playing! I don't realistically see how you could think about anyone else here.

getting ones jersey retired during their senior season when they're clearly going to graduate is common... at least relative to the frequency of jerseys getting retired.

 

[andyduke86]

It has to be Hansbrough but how in God's name is Shane Battier not on this list. He's a close second.

I think the concensus among anybody you ask, regardless of what team they root for, is that Tyler Hansbrough is not just the best player of the past decade but one of the greatest COLLEGE players of all time. He was the Christian Laetner of the 2000's only better. You have to be pretty darn special to have your jersey retired at UNC WHILE still playing! I don't realistically see how you could think about anyone else here.

getting ones jersey retired during their senior season when they're clearly going to graduate is common... at least relative to the frequency of jerseys getting retired.

Anyone who thinks Hansbrough was the best never saw him play much. Half of his points were given to him by the refs in some capacity. Also, UNC is notorious for retiring anyone and everyone's jersey. You got Brendan Haywood, Joe Forte, Donald Williams, George Lynch, Montross, and alot of other guys who were good but not great players. It got so bad they had to differentiate the honors because they were running out of numbers for players to wear. Pathetic.

 

[rehmus]

It has to be Hansbrough but how in God's name is Shane Battier not on this list. He's a close second.

I think the concensus among anybody you ask, regardless of what team they root for, is that Tyler Hansbrough is not just the best player of the past decade but one of the greatest COLLEGE players of all time. He was the Christian Laetner of the 2000's only better. You have to be pretty darn special to have your jersey retired at UNC WHILE still playing! I don't realistically see how you could think about anyone else here.

getting ones jersey retired during their senior season when they're clearly going to graduate is common... at least relative to the frequency of jerseys getting retired.

Anyone who thinks Hansbrough was the best never saw him play much. Half of his points were given to him by the refs in some capacity. Also, UNC is notorious for retiring anyone and everyone's jersey. You got Brendan Haywood, Joe Forte, Donald Williams, George Lynch, Montross, and alot of other guys who were good but not great players. It got so bad they had to differentiate the honors because they were running out of numbers for players to wear. Pathetic.

this is the start of a beautiful friendship

 

[sigma_chi]

It has to be Hansbrough but how in God's name is Shane Battier not on this list. He's a close second.

I think the concensus among anybody you ask, regardless of what team they root for, is that Tyler Hansbrough is not just the best player of the past decade but one of the greatest COLLEGE players of all time. He was the Christian Laetner of the 2000's only better. You have to be pretty darn special to have your jersey retired at UNC WHILE still playing! I don't realistically see how you could think about anyone else here.

getting ones jersey retired during their senior season when they're clearly going to graduate is common... at least relative to the frequency of jerseys getting retired.

Please name another player who had his jersey retired while still active. Most schools have a written policy stating a jersey cannot be retired within 5 years of a player being active. Anybody who argues that Tyler Hansbrough wasn't one of the greatest college players of all time doesn't keep up with the game much. BTW UNC has 8 numbers retired, the last being in 1998. Not quite as common as you want to believe.

 

[rehmus]

[quote="sigma_chi":25oa3u2q]

It has to be Hansbrough but how in God's name is Shane Battier not on this list. He's a close second.

I think the concensus among anybody you ask, regardless of what team they root for, is that Tyler Hansbrough is not just the best player of the past decade but one of the greatest COLLEGE players of all time. He was the Christian Laetner of the 2000's only better. You have to be pretty darn special to have your jersey retired at UNC WHILE still playing! I don't realistically see how you could think about anyone else here.

getting ones jersey retired during their senior season when they're clearly going to graduate is common... at least relative to the frequency of jerseys getting retired.

Please name another player who had his jersey retired while still active. Most schools have a written policy stating a jersey cannot be retired within 5 years of a player being active. Anybody who argues that Tyler Hansbrough wasn't one of the greatest college players of all time doesn't keep up with the game much. BTW UNC has 8 numbers retired, the last being in 1998. Not quite as common as you want to believe.[/quote:25oa3u2q]

jason williams, shane battier both did it. jason graduated in 3 years.

hell even, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony have had their jerseys retired a few years before they wouldve graduated. not the same, i realize, but still.

 

[All The Hype]

It's gotta be Hansbrough

Not only did he dominate...he dominated for four years. Not many people did that in the last ten years as most opted for the NBA after one, maybe two years of great play.

He could have gone to the NBA after his freshman year.