March Madness is almost done and we are down to our last two major conference reviews. As you may recall, we are looking at the starting fives for each college based upon pro accomplishments since 1980s. Today we take a look at the Big 12 nee Big 8. Given the haphazard way this conference was put together, it correctly seems to be among the weaker we have seen so far. Still, they have some famous programs to review. Let’s take a look:
Texas Tech: PG: Geoff Huston, SG: Jeff Taylor, SF: Mark Davis, PF: Darvin Ham, C: Tony Battie
Texas A&M: PG: Acie Law, SG: Antoine Wright, SF: Sonny Parker, PF: Winston Crite, C: DeAndre Jordan
Nebraska: PG: Ty Lue, SG: Erick Strickland, SF: Eric Piatkowski, PF: Mikki Moore, C: Dave Hoppen
Baylor: PG: Micheal Williams, SG: David Wesley:, SF: Vinnie Johnson, PF: Terry Teagle, C: Brian Skinner
Missouri: PG: Larry Drew, SG: Anthony Peeler, SF: Linas Kleiza, PF: Doug Smith, C: Steve Stipanovich
Iowa State: PG: Jamaal Tinsley, SG: Jeff Hornacek, SF: Jeff Grayer, PF: Marcus Fizer C: Kelvin Cato
Oklahoma State: PG: John Starks, SG: Tony Allen, SF: Desmond Mason, PF: Joey Graham C: Bryant Reeves
Colorado: PG: Chauncey Billups, SG: Jay Humphries, SF: Scott Wedman, PF: Joe Cooper, C: David Harrison
Kansas State: PG: Mike Evans, SG: Rolando Blackman, SF: Mitch Richmond, PF: Michael Beasley, C: Ed Nealy
Texas: PG: Johnny Moore, SG: T.J. Ford, SF: Kevin Durant, PF: LaMarcus Aldridge, C: LaSalle Thompson
Oklahoma: PG: Mookie Blaylock, SG: Brent Price, SF: Harvey Grant, PF: Blake Griffin, C: Alvan Adams
Kansas: PG: Kirk Hinrich, SG: Paul Pierce, SF: Danny Manning, PF: Drew Gooden, C: Raef LaFrentz
-Tech has had some really great dunkers over the years (Ham, Corey Carr, and Battie pre-knee injuries) but not many good players.
-A&M just barely put together a team. Parker had some decent years (though most were before 1980) but Jordan is the best modern NBAer by far, for whatever that’s worth.
-Nebraska has a decent amount of decent pros but they have no stars at all and no one who was a bona fide NBA starter for more than a year or two.
-Baylor’s roster is fun. It is a perfect Don Nelson team—four shooting guards and a center who won’t shoot under any circumstances. I would bump them up higher if they had even one NBA star. As it stands now, Wesley has had the best career of this group (I like Vinnie but he had 6,000 fewer minutes and was not more effective).
-Mizzou has hit lean times since the Tigers were contenders in the 1980s but they did produce a few decent players. Drew had the best peak but Stipanovich actually has the highest PPG for the Tigers. The only question is whether to take Kleiza or put Keyon Dooling at the two guard and moving Peeler to the small forward. Since Kleiza is a natural small forward we took him over Dooling but Dooling’s NBA career is a little better so far.
-Hornacek is Iowa State’s best player and the most famous walk-on player in NBA history. Outside of that, they have some decent players but are forced to use bust Fizer at the power.
-OK State seems loaded with good role players who hustle but can’t shoot for anything. Still, having Starks and a good center is a nice core and I imagine defensive studs like Allen and Mason would be tough when paired with Starks. Power forward is the sore spot where we have to choose between the Graham twins or the undersized Byron Houston. Lastly, Richard Dumas probably would’ve made the team but for his total inability to stay clean.
-My favorite Colorado player, Shaun Vandiver, never made the pros and, had he been eligible, was almost certainly a better choice than Cooper at power forward. As for the rest of the team, the strength is in the perimeter. They are very close in talent Kansas State outside of power forward.
-K-State is not terrible either. The talent is concentrated at two guard and they are forced to use Nealy at center but Richmond and Blackman gives a scoring punch that most teams don’t have.
-I was surprised to see how many good pros Texas has. Obviously, Durant and Aldridge help but they are fairly deep. The only question was what to do at two guard with Ford, Daniel Gibson, or D.J. Augustin. Hard to pick any of them but Ford’s longer career gives him the nod for now.
-You have to throw out all the rule for the Sooners. Griffin hasn’t played one full season but if he’s even close to as good as he seems, they could be the best team in the conference. As it is, they are a close second to the Jayhawks. Note that Griffin knocked out the respectable Wayman Tisdale, a good player in his own right. The weak point is two guard where we had to choose between Price and Anthony Bowie. Texas has an argument over the Sooners but the slightest of edges foes to Oklahoma, since they have the better point, power forward, and center.
-Kansas is obviously pretty well-stocked. The closest call came between LaFrentz and Greg Ostertag at center. LaFrentz was better overall but wasn’t really a great center and had a shorter career. Still, he was better enough a player to make up for his flaws. They are also very close to Texas and Oklahoma in talent but the difference is that the Jayhawks have no weaknesses at any position.