I was recently asked who I thought was the best basketball player to ever play in the ACC? Note this is to be for their collegiate career, not accomplishments afterwards.
First and foremost, I say that you can't go past one David Thompson from NC State. For a 6'4" Small forward/Shooting guard, he garnered unprecedented attention from other teams. None other than Michael Jordan was in awe of his unreal leaping ability. The lob pass was brought into vogue by the Monte Towe (a 5'4" point guard) to David Thompson connection. The Thompson led State teams also eventually brought an end to the awesome UCLA dynasty which at the time was lead by one Bill Walton.
Note: there will be more to come on this subject, just getting the opening comments out there for a start.
Further from yesterday, Wikipedia goes on to say that the lob pass was "invented" by Thompson/Towe, amazing. Thompson had a 48 inch vertical leap that put his game constantly above the rim.
The rivalry between NC State and UCLA during the 1973-1974 seasons is legendary but even more memorable is the in conference rivalry between State and Maryland. The 1974 ACC Championship game, a 103-100 overtime victory by NC State over the Terps is considered by some one of the greatest ever collegiate games. State went on to finish that season with a perfect record on the way to an NCAA title.
The gentleman who posed this query of the best ACC player ever has put forward Art Heyman from Duke (1960-1963), as the best ACC player ever, sorry bud you have to put aside the local hero worship and look to the facts. Among the learned, Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, Tim Duncan, Christian Laettner, and Len Bias along with Thompson are truly the greatest to pass through the ACC when considering just their college careers. Often at his camps, Jordan points to Thompson as the player he watched and admired most when he was growing up.
Thompson's Accomplishments:
Collegiate
- Three-year letter winner (1973–1975)
- The Sporting News national Player of the Year (1975)
- USBWA College Player of the Year (1975)
- Consensus First-Team All-America (1973, 1974, 1975) by Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), Eastman Kodak, The Sporting News
- AP National Player of the Year (1974, 1975)
- UPI Player of the Year (1975)
- Eastman Kodak Award (1975)
- Naismith Award (1975)
- Adolph Rupp Trophy (1975)
- Coach & Athlete Magazine Player of the Year (1975)
- Helms Foundation Player of the Year (1974, 1975)
- National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year (1975)
- United States Basketball Writers Association Player of the Year (1975)
- Dunlop Player of the Year (1975)
- Sullivan Award finalist (1974, 1975)
- Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year (1973, 1974, 1975)
- ACC Athlete of the Year (1973, 1975)
- All-ACC First Team (1973, 1974, 1975)
- North Carolina State retired his jersey number 44 (1975)
- Led North Carolina State to the 1974 NCAA championship (30-1 record), 76-64 over Marquette University
- In national semi-final win over UCLA, scored 28 points
- In championship game, scored 21 points against Marquette
- Most Valuable Player (MVP), NCAA Tournament (1974)
- Led Wolfpack to a 79-7 record during his final three season (freshmen were ineligible then) including 57-1 during his sophomore and junior seasons (27-0, 30-1), the best in ACC history. His senior year record was 22-6.
- Scored 2,309 points (26.8 ppg) in 86 varsity games; including highs of 57 points as a senior, 41 as a junior and 40 as a sophomore
- Averaged 35.6 ppg, including a 54-point high on the North Carolina State freshman team
- Grabbed 694 rebounds (8.1 rpg) in 86 games
- World University Games MVP (1973)
- Enshrined in North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (1982)
- NCAA All-Decade Team of the 1970s
- Named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in ACC history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thompson_(basketball)#College_career
Ok, look for more in the next few days as I tackle more history and current happenings in the Hoops Universe.
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