The 10 greatest college hoops players that tanked in the NBA

The 10 greatest college hoops players that tanked in the NBA

The jump from college basketball to the pros is a big one, and there have been many players over the years, that have struggled to compete in the NBA after stellar collegiate careers.

With that being said, here is a list of the 10 best college basketball stars who simply couldn’t cut it in the NBA. If you can’t cut it betting on sports and need help then start with Jon Prices sports betting picks as a 10 day trial to help you profit from sports betting.

10. Joseph Forte, University of North Carolina — This is a good example of a player leaving college too soon. After averaging 20.9 points per game in his sophomore season, the first-team All-American shooting guard was the 21st pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.
However, Forte struggled to convert from shooting guard to point guard, and ended his NBA career after playing just two seasons and only 25 games with the Boston Celtics and Seattle Supersonics, where he averaged an embarrassing 1.2 points and 0.7 assists per game.

9. Trajan Langdon, Duke — Although considered by most to be an undersized guard, Langdon set the all-time record for threes made at Duke in the late 1990s, and played on one of the best Blue Devils team to ever not win a title, losing the national championship game to Connecticut in 1999. After that, he lasted only three seasons in the NBA with Cleveland, who drafted him 11th overall that same year. He would never find his niche in the pros, but would eventually go on to have a successful career overseas.

8. Bo Kimble, Loyola Marymount University — Kimble averaged 35.3 points per game in his final season at LMU, and that got the attention of the Los Angeles Clippers, who picked him ninth in the 1990 NBA draft. During his short three-year NBA career, Kimble was plagued by injuries. In 1992, he was traded to the New York Knicks, but played only nine games and was released at the end of the season. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard was never able to adjust to the rigors of the NBA, and averaged 5.5 points during his time in the league.

7. Sean May, University of North Carolina — With good footwork and a soft touch, May helped lead North Carolina to a 2005 national championship title, averaging 22.3 points per game on his way to Most Outstanding Player of the tourney. But after going 13th in the 2005 NBA draft, May would struggle with weight problems, and while his size was an advantage in college, it eventually cut his career in the NBA to just four seasons.

6. Marcus Fizer, Iowa State — Considered a powerful player in college, Fizer scored 22.8 points per game as a junior and was a first-team All-American. That got the attention of the Chicago Bulls who drafted him fourth overall in the 2000 NBA draft. Fitz who averaged double figures in his second and third years in the league, only lasted six season in the NBA thogh, playing just three games in his final year.

5. Ed O’Bannon, UCLA — Even though he led the Bruins to a 1995 national championship title over Arkansas, at a lean 6’8″, O’Bannon was considered to be too small for a power forward in the NBA. Still the New Jersey Nets took him with their ninth pick. But to the team’s dismay, O’Bannon lasted only two seasons in the league, and with his knees breaking down, averaged 6.2 and 4.2 points per game.

4. Scott May, University of Indiana — The star player on Indiana’s 1976 undefeated team, May was named the national player of the year that season and a two-time All-American. After a promising start with the Chicago Bulls, who picked May second in the 1976 NBA draft, the NBA just didn’t work out, and his career lasted only seven years in the league, making only eight total starts.

3. Kent Benson, University of Indiana — After a stellar collegiate career that included playing on an undefeated 1976 Hoosiers team, Benson’s NBA carrier can be summed up when the Milwaukee Bucks No. 1 draft pick received a broken jaw from Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who punched him in retaliation for an overly aggressive elbow, just two minutes into his very first NBA game. Abdul-Jabbar broke his hand, and Benson went on to play 10 years in the league, while never really living up to the expectations that comes as a No. 1 pick.

2. Jay Williams, Duke — Possibly one of the greatest point guards in the history of college basketball, Williams’ NBA career was cut short because of a motorcycle accident after his rookie season. Selected by the Chicago Bulls with the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, hes was a starter in the Bulls’ line-up for most of his rookie season, averaging 9.5 points per game. We’ll never know if Williams would have been a success in the NBA, but watching him dominate for three years in college, it’s hard to argue that he would have probably figured out how to succeed at the NBA level eventually.

1. Adam Morrison, Gonzaga — Compared to Larry Bird, Morrison is another example of a player leaving college too early. The thick ‘stached small forward was the nation’s leading scorer in 2005–2006, and led Gonzaga with 24 points in a 2006 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen match against UCLA, which the Bulldogs lost in the final seconds. He was the third overall pick in the 2006 draft, but lasted just three seasons in the NBA, which were highlighted by back-to-back titles as a benchwarmer for the Los Angeles Lakers.

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