Zion Williamson and the 20 best one-and-done players of all time

Zion Williamson and the 20 best one-and-done players in college basketball history

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 14: Teammates Zion Williamson #1 and RJ Barrett #5 of the Duke Blue Devils react against the Syracuse Orange during their game in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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UCLA’s Kevin Love (42) looks to put up a shot against Memphis defender Shawn Taggart (0) during second half action in an NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Final Four semi-final game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Saturday, April 5, 2008. (Photo by Ron T. Ennis/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT via Getty Images) /

11. Kevin Love, UCLA, 2007-2008

After all of his success at the NBA level, people may have forgotten how good Kevin Love was back in his college days. Love spent his lone year playing collegiately at UCLA, and he was a double-double machine for the Bruins, averaging 17.5 ppg and 10.6 rpg, and even blocked 1.4 shots a night for good measure.

The Bruins advanced to their second straight Final Four that year, falling to Derrick Rose’s Memphis Tigers, but Love was still dominant enough to earn first team All-American status. Love parlayed his strong season into being selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the fifth pick in the NBA Draft.

The Grizzlies quickly flipped Love’s rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that brought O.J. Mayo to Memphis, and it became clear fairly quickly that Minnesota won the trade. Love worked his way into the Timberwolves’ starting lineup by his third season, when he led the league in rebounding with 15.2 boards a game and made his first All-Star team.

The Timberwolves saw Love blossom into a star but couldn’t win a thing with him, leading them to ship him to Cleveland on draft night in 2014 in the deal that brought Andrew Wiggins back to Minnesota. Love struggled to fit in with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving initially, but he quickly became a dependable third star in Cleveland, helping the Cavs win their first NBA title in 2016.

After James and Irving left in the following years, Love is now the man in Cleveland, but he has played in only 21 games this season due to injury.