Best NCAA basketball players ever from every state

Delaware: A.J.English III

Delaware is known more for producing soybeans than it is for producing basketball players. With only nine players stepping on an NBA court it should come as no surprise that there was no obvious choice for best college player. The decision between two players; A.J English III and Joey Graham turned into a three-way decision with the necessary inclusion of Walt Hazzard.

Out of the three players, Hazzard has the best resume. By making his All-Conference team when the Psc-12 was named the Athletic Association of Western Universities and it consisted of just five teams.

He won a National Championship at a time when 25 teams made the tournament and he was named the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Joey Graham was named to some All-Big 12 teams, English never earned that distinction, but Hazzard was an All-American. This in itself should place Hazzard above English, but the 1963-64 season in which he was an All-American, consisted of zero other players mentioned for any reason, in this entire article.

English’s best season consisted of averages of 22 points, five rebounds, six assists while shooting 43 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free-throw line, every category surpasses Hazzard’s Player of the Year stats. Similar to how Hazzard had success in a five-team conference, English had success in the MAAC. The two years he led the MAAC in assists, he finished first or second in the conference in scoring. Plus English made the All-MAAC first team in his final three years.

Despite this Delaware entry seemingly consisting of discrediting Hazzard’s achievements, it was simply to demonstrate the difficulty of comparing different eras. There is no denying that Walt Hazzard was among the best college basketball players in the early 60s, just like there is no denying English is the best college basketball player from Delaware.