Who Had The Best Four Year Careers In College Basketball The Last 10 Seasons?

So it’s August and this is somewhat the dead time in hoops. We’re a little bit away from the start of preseason in the NBA, we’re past the July recruiting period, so really all we have are some international trips and any surprise trades. So with that in mind I decided August will be the time to reflect on the past and get yelled at by putting out different blogs involving the best/worst/rankings/whatever. So if you have something in mind, let me know. I started this with the 10 best programs in college hoops from the last 10 seasons.

Today we’re going to talk about the 4-year careers. It’s something that people love to talk about because college basketball fans beg players to stay for all 4 years instead of going to make money. It’s one of the dumbest debates by fans about how a player needs to stay in college (hint: they don’t). Now, that said, some players have been awesome for all four years or had to wait a year to get into the rotation, etc. Just a reminder that the last 10 seasons starts with the 2008-09 season.

10. Draymond Green (Michigan State)
We all know Draymond Green as the Warriors Draymond Green, but he was pretty damn good at Michigan State too. He was in the rotation as a freshman, not asked to do much, but played in 37 games. Then as a sophomore he was Big 10 6th Man of the Year and started to show his ability to do a bit of everything. He eventually went on to be Big 10 Player of the Year and All-American as a senior and was one of just three players at Michigan State to put up 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their career.

9. Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia)
There are very few guys over the last 10 years that have been as consistent for his 4-year career than Malcolm Brogdon. He came into Virginia as a pretty high recruit and despite having to redshirt his sophomore year due to injury, came back better for his last two years. He was a consensus second team All-American as a junior before being a consensus first team All-American as a senior as well as ACC Player of the Year. Known for his defense as well, he was a 2-time All-ACC Defensive Team member and National Defensive Player of the Year.

8. Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)
Scottie Reynolds is one of the most talented Nova players to come through the program over the last 10 seasons. He was a consensus 1st Team All-American back in 2010 after shooting 40% from three and averaging over 18 points per game. He finished his career second in scoring at Nova just behind Kerry Kittles. Reynolds notoriously hit the game-winner against Pitt to go to the Final Four in 2009.

7. Frank Mason (Kansas)
Mason sort of summed up guards for Kansas. He waited a year in the rotation before being a big factor and then spending his entire career as a go-to guy for Kansas. Mason became a starter as a sophomore, which led to a second team All-Big 12 selection. As a senior he beat out Josh Hart for National Player of the Year as he won nearly every award possible while being first team All-American after averaging over 20 points per game.

6. Josh Hart (Villanova)
I’m giving Hart the edge over Mason here because of the two-time All-American selection as well as being a National Champion. Hart started his career on the All-Big East Rookie Team. As a sophomore he was used similar to how Manu is used on the Spurs as a 6th man playing starters minutes. Hart was named 6th Man in the Big East before going on to being an All-American as a junior and senior. He finished his career as a 39% shooter from three and averaging 13 points per game.

5. JaJuan Johnson (Purdue)
One of the more versatile players in college, Johnson was one of the most successful players at Purdue as well. Johnson was a 3x All-Conference member, 1st team All-American, Big 10 Player of the Year and Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year during his time at Purdue. Johnson averaged over 20 points and 8 rebounds during his senior season. Johnson was part of a Purdue core that included Robbie Hummel and E’Twaun Moore as Johnson won 107 games.

4. Russ Smith (Louisville)
Smith had a hell of a two year run at Louisville being a 3rd team All-American as a junior before being the Player of the Year and first team All-American as a senior. He also won a title* in 2013 after averaging over 18 points and 4 assists per game. Smith came in after being a bit of an unknown and was hampered with a broken foot as a freshman. However, as a sophomore he was moved to the 6th man role and finished 2nd on the team in scoring. No matter what the banners say, Smith also led the Cardinals to a Final Four and National Title in back to back years.

3. Jimmer Fredette (BYU)
Jimmer was one of the most electric players in college basketball recently as you had to stay up late to watch his games out in the MWC and his showdowns with Kawhi we’re awesome. He was also one of the best scorers in recent memory as he led the country in scoring in 2011 when he averaged 28.9 points per game. Jimmer graduated as the career leader in the Mountain West Conference in points scored in a season and career as well as most 3-pointers made in a career.

2. Doug McDermott (Creighton)
The best career scorer, Doug McDermott made an impact pretty quickly at Creighton. He’s one of the rare members of the 3-time 1st Team All-American selection. He averaged 21.7 points per game during his career, with his freshman year (14.9) being the only one to finish under 22 points per game. He was also a strong rebounder during his time at Creighton, finishing with 7.5 rebounds per game. McDermott led the country in scoring in 2014 as well as being National Player of the Year.

1. Tyler Hansbrough (UNC)
One of the rare consistent 4-year players, Hansbrough had a big time freshman year. He was an All-American all four seasons as he was a second-team All-American as a freshman and then a 3x consensus First Team All-American for the rest of his career. As a freshman, in which he won ACC Rookie of the Year, he averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Arguably his best year was his junior year where he put up 22.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, where he was named National Player of the Year. He finished his career off winning a national championship in 2009. He graduated as the ACC’s leader in scoring and UNC’s leader in rebounding.