Best NCAA basketball players ever from every state

New York: Lew Alcindor

The player born out of New York who had the best college career is Lew Alcindor, that is the answer, but there may come a time when you have a discussion with friends and you want to be “that guy” that has an opinion, so read on.

With 402 New Yorkers having had played in the NBA, you will have plenty of information to work with. While names such as Carmelo Anthony, Mark Jackson, and Stephon Marbury will not be part of the conversation, it is shocking to think players like Chrisitan Laettner, Tiny Archibald, and Chris Mullins are not either. When wanting to argue against Jabbar the other names to know are Julius Irving and Michael Jordan.

Even when stats are compared, Michael Jordan’s 18 points, five rebounds, 54 percent from the field and 75 from the line and tournament numbers that are very similar, do not match up. Jordan is in the conversation because he is a two-time All-American, he swept the Player of the Year awards and made the All-Tournament team the year North Carolina won the championship.

Julius Erving’s stats are incredible, at 26 points and 20 rebounds while he spent two years at UMass, unfortunately, nobody even knew who he was in the early 1970s so he got zero national attention. This is made evident by Sidney Wicks making the All-American team while averaging 16 and 10 at UCLA.

During Alcindor’s three years at UCLA, the various organizations handed out 10 Player of the Year Awards and he won seven of them. He was a three-time All-American, three-time NCAA All-Tournament, and a three-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player. His averages of 26 points,15.5 rebounds and 64 percent from the field would have been much better if the NCAA did not ban dunking his final two years. Officially, the ban was not because of Alcindor, but NCAA officials admit his name came up. A fact that only solidifies him as the player from New York to have the best college career.