Best NCAA basketball players ever from every state

Virginia: Ralph Sampson

Virginia is stacked with talent, to the point where players like Del Curry and Johnny Newman, Frank Mason, and J.R Reid will get their only mention just now. Whereas an NBA great in Moses Malone never played NCAA basketball. Then there are the names that must be mentioned in Alonzo Mourning, Joe Smith, Ralph Sampson and Allen Iverson. With each player leaving their mark and legacy upon college basketball. None, however, to the extent that Sampson did during his four years at Virginia.

Mourning (twice), Smith, Iverson, and Sampson (three times) were all named to the All-American team. All of them won numerous conference awards, their career scoring averages range from Iverson’s 23 points per game to Mourning’s and Sampson’s 17 per game. Iverson and Mourning were defensive stand-outs in the Big East and Mourning received national attention with the NABC Defensive Player of the Year Award in his senior season.

Smith split the various organizations Player of the Year Awards with Ed O’Bannon and Shawn Respert as each won two. Sampson was more dominant in his collecting of Player of the Year awards. While winning Consensus Player of the Year three years in a row, he captured 14 of the possible 18 awards handed out by the organizations.

His first time being named, he beat out Mark Aguirre and Danny Ainge, the following year he triumphed over James Worthy and Terry Cummings. In his final and most impressive season, when he averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks per game, he bested Jordan, Ewing and Tisdale. If that is not enough to convince you, you have not even made it this far into the article.