Saturday, April 2, 2011
The Best of the One-and-Done Era: 2006-Present
The Best of the One-and-Done Era: 2006-Present
The one-and-done era in college basketball has taken coaching careers to the next level (Coach Cal, Thad Matta), brought down programs (U.S.C, Indiana), and changed the way the blue bloods (Kansas, Duke, UCLA) plan their recruiting classes. Unlike the high school to the NBA era, coaches must now plan to balance their recruiting classes between one year wonders and three to four year program guys. Recently, UCLA and UNC have been most successful at achieving this balance.
The Bruins have utilized some great one-and-done type talent like Kevin Love, Jrue Holliday , and Russell Westbrooks (2yr player but still a one and done type) while also recruiting solid program guys like Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, and Alfred Aboya.
Although UCLA has had great success in the one-and-done era, no program has mixed and matched short term talent with long term program builders. UNC has kept a keen eye on program guys (Hansbrough, Ellington, Lawson, Deon Thompson, Tyler Zeller) who also are talented. The secret to the Tar Heels success, however, is their ability to incorporate one-and-done players. Both Marvin Williams and Brandan Wright were key components to slick Roy’s two national titles. Without further ado here is my all-time one-and-done teams.
All-Time One-and-Done Teams
1st Team
Name | College | High School | Notes |
Greg Oden | Ohio State | Lawrence North (IND) #1 Rivals | 1st team AA. Nat’l title runner up. |
Kevin Durant | Texas | Montrose Christian (MD) #2 Rivals | Nat’l POY |
Michael Beasley | Kansas State | N.D Prep (MA) #1 Rivals | Nat’l POY |
O.J Mayo | U.S.C | Huntington (WV) #4 Rivals | 1st team PAC 10 |
Derrick Rose | Memphis | Simeon (ILL) #3 Rivals | 3rd team AA. Nat’l title runner up. |
Name | College | High School | Notes |
Kevin Love | U.C.L.A | Lake Oswego (OR) #6 Rivals | 1st team AA, PAC 10 POY, Final Four |
Derrick Favors | Georgia Tech | South Atlanta (GA) #3 Rivals | ACC ROY |
Thaddeus Young | Georgia Tech | Mitchell (TN) #5 Rivals | ACC all-rookie team |
Eric Gordon | Indiana | North Central (IND) #2 Rivals | Big Ten ROY, 3rd team AA |
John Wall | Kentucky | Word of God (NC) #1 Rivals | Nat’l POY |
3rd Team
Name | College | High School | Notes |
DeMarcus Cousins | Kentucky | Leflore (AL) #2 Rivals | 1st team AA |
Brandan Wright | U.N.C | Brentwood Academy (TN) #3 Rivals | Nat’l Title |
Xavier Henry | Kansas | Putnum City (OK) #8 Rivals | 1st team Nat’l freshman team |
Demar DeRozan | U.S.C | Compton (CA) #3 Rivals | PAC 10 All Freshmen team |
Tyreke Evans | Memphis | American Christian (PA) #6 Rivals | POY finalist. |
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It should be noted that Russell Westbrook was not seen at all as a one-and-done type when he arrived in Westwood. At that point he was just a long, rangy off-guard with few refined skills just trying to make the Bruins' rotation. I believe it was his freshman year, though, that Darren Collison injured his wrist and Russell was thrust into the spotlight. It soon became apparent that his athleticism was so phenomenal that, at least in the college game, he could mask some ballhandling and passing deficiencies. His development into a bona fide NBA superstar, therefore, can be credited as much to his unreal natural abilities, which I think is the defining characteristic of the one-and-done superstar, and coaching at the college level.
Blake Griffin is an especially interesting case, as far as the one-and-dones go. He ranked #21 on Scout.com in the vaunted high school class of 2007 (The entire cast of Gunnin For That #1 Spot) and was solid, if not tantalizing during his freshman year -- 14.7, 9.1, 56%. Jeff Caple's handling of that recruitment likely determined the fate of the Oklahoma program for the next three years, and ultimately cost Caple his job. Coming from VCU and after playing at Duke, I think it's safe to say the world of one-and-done recruiting caught him by surprise.
Post a Comment