BTI's Rants and Ramblings: Elite College Coaches, NBA Player Success?

by:Bryan1305/31/13
Hey, remember this guy?  Nobody does.  It's Russell Robinson of Kansas.  A 5-star that never played in the NBA. In case you missed it last week, Ms.Tyler Thompson did a really wonderful article about 8 of the top college basketball coaches, and the job they did getting their 5-star players into the NBA.  And what you found was that John Calipari probably does the best job at getting his best talent drafted high in the league.  Of Cal's 16 5-star recruits, 14 of them have been drafted, 13 of those in the first round.  No other coach has that kind of ratio. You can read Tyler's article here.   But I wanted to take it to the next step: Just how good have those 5-star players done in the NBA?  So I took Tyler's charts, and ranked guys by their NBA success.  Each coaches players are divided up into Highly Successful NBA Players, Average NBA Careers, and NBA Busts.  And please save your breath about labeling some of the guys as busts after 1 year.  It doesn't mean they can't move up in these categories.  It just means they haven't been productive through their 1-2 year careers. (For the sake of length, I have taken Billy Donovan, Jim Boeheim, and Tom Izzo off the list, as they have recruited the least amount of 5-star players.)     JOHN CALIPARI Derrick Rose: 4 seasons, 21.0 ppg, Rookie of the Year, 2011 MVP, 3-time all-star Tyreke Evans: 4 seasons, 17.5 ppg, Rookie of the Year John Wall: 3 seasons, 16.9 ppg Demarcus Cousins: 3 seasons, 16.3 ppg Brandon Knight: 2 seasons, 13.1 ppg Anthony Davis: 1 season, 13.5 ppg ------------------------------------------------------ Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: 1 season, 9.0 ppg (very close to the top category) Eric Bledsoe: 3 seasons, 6.7 ppg, 3.0 apg Enes Kanter: 2 seasons, 6.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg Shawne Williams: 5 seasons, 5.7 ppg ----------------------------------------------------- Terrence Jones: 19 career games, 5.5 ppg Doron Lamb: 1 season, 3.3 ppg Marquis Teague: 1 season, 2.1 ppg Daniel Orton: 2 seasons, 2.7 ppg Darius Washington: 18 career games, 2.9 ppg  ROY WILLIAMS Ty Lawson: 4 seasons, 13.2 ppg Marvin Williams: 8 seasons, 11.0 ppg --------------------------------------------------- Harrison Barnes: 1 season, 9.2 ppg (very close to the top category) Tyler Hansbrough: 4 seasons, 8.9 ppg Ed Davis: 3 seasons, 7.7 ppg Wayne Ellington: 4 seasons, 6.9 ppg Brandan Wright: 5 seasons, 6.6 ppg John Henson: 1 season, 6.0 ppg --------------------------------------------------- NO BUSTS MIKE KRZYZEWSKI Kyrie Irving: 2 seasons, 20.6 ppg, Rookie of the Year, 1-time all-star Luol Deng: 9 seasons, 16.0 ppg, 2-time All-Star Gerald Henderson: 4 seasons, 11.3 ppg --------------------------------------------------- Kyle Singler: 1 season, 8.8 ppg Austin Rivers: 1 season, 6.2 ppg --------------------------------------------------- Josh McRoberts: 6 seasons, 4.9 ppg Demarcus Nelson: 16 career games, 4.1 ppg Greg Paulus: Never Played in the NBA Brian Zoubek: Never Played in the NBA BILL SELF NO ABOVE AVERAGE PLAYERS ------------------------------------------------ Mario Chalmers: 5 seasons, 8.8 ppg Brandon Rush: 5 seasons, 9.1 ppg Darrell Arthur: 4 seasons, 6.7 ppg -------------------------------------------------- Xavier Henry: 3 seasons, 4.1 ppg Julian Wright: 4 seasons, 3.9 ppg Josh Selby: 2 seasons, 2.2 ppg Sharron Collins: 20 career games, 0.9 ppg Rodrick Stewart: Never Played in the NBA Russell Robinson: Never Played in the NBA RICK PITINO NO ABOVE AVERAGE PLAYERS -------------------------------------------------- Samardo Samuels: 3 seasons, 5.9 ppg -------------------------------------------------- Earl Clark: 4 seasons, 4.3 ppg Derrick Caracter: 40 career games, 2.0 ppg Terrence Jennings: Never Played in the NBA David Padgett: Never Played in the NBA Juan Palacios: Never Played in the NBA Someone please email this article to Andrew Wiggins, because if Bill Self's history tells us anything, Wiggins is looking at a rough career in the NBA after leaving Kansas after 1 year.  Xavier Henry was a Top 5 recruit who is looking at being out of the league in no time.  When Mario Chalmers is your best 5-star player when it comes to NBA success, you should be embarrassed.  And Rick Pitino's history is just laughable.  Plus, Chane Behannan and Wayne Blackshear, both 5-star recruits, are looking like mediocre NBA prospects at this time too.  Self and Pitino are clearly the clowns of this list. On the other end of the spectrum is Coach Cal and Roy Williams.  They have contrasting resumes.  Coach Cal has more HIGH LEVEL NBA players in Wall, Cousins, Evans, Rose, Knight, Davis, and likely Gilchrist.  These are guys who are team leaders and franchise builders.  But, he also has several players who have panned in the league as well.  While Williams doesn't have the star power than Calipari has had, but he also hasn't sent any busts to the league.  Each one of his 8 players averaged over 6 ppg for their careers and have found their spot in the league.  Plus, Ty Lawson is a budding star.  So, the question I have for you is: Who's resume do you like better, Coach Calipari or Roy Williams?  I tend to lean towards Cal simply because the NBA revolves around superstars, and Cal has put a few in the league while Williams has not.  Your thoughts?  Follow me on twitter @BryantheIntern.  Also, if you like the ramblings of Tony Vanetti, follow @mysports790

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