Best NBA Player from every Power 5 School
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These are the best NBA players from every Power 5 NCAA school
Some NBA greats never played college ball in the U.S. — LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kobe Bryant, just to name a few. But the vast majority of NBA legends were, at one point or another, collegiate legends. And a lot of those legends played for Power 5 NCAA schools.
Power 5 schools — SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac 12 — harbor some of the most advanced athletic facilities in the country, rivaling many professional leagues around the world. In basketball specifically, schools like Duke, North Carolina, and Kentucky have made a habit out of competing at the highest level every year.
While the one-and-done rule may soon no longer exist, the college-to-NBA pipeline has never truly faltered. NBA scouts still flood college arenas every year, and collegiate game tape goes a long way in determining who gets drafted where.
Here are the best NBA players from every Power Five school.
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Robert Horry
SF, Crimson Tide
Best NBA player who played for Alabama Crimson Tide — Robert Horry
- 7X NBA Champion
- All-Rookie Second Team
Robert Horry’s name is etched in the NBA history books. He won seven championships between Houston, Los Angeles, and San Antonio, carving out arguably the most impressive sixth man career of all time.
With an NBA Finals record seven steals in the 1995 Finals, Horry cemented his reputation as a two-way force. He was an imposing defender at 6-foot-9 and contributed all over the floor offensively. A career 37.1 percent 3-point shooter in four seasons at Alabama, Horry was always ahead of the curve as a 3-and-D wing.
While he made his name as a sixth man in the NBA, Horry started the majority of his games at Alabama, where he led the Crimson Tide to three SEC titles and two Sweet 16 appearances. There aren’t many more accomplished players than Horry when it comes to team accolades.
Runner-up: Latrell Sprewell — A volume scorer who could defend with the best of them, Sprewell made four All-Star appearances and had a long career split between Golden State and New York.
