Raef LaFrentz is the Best Player of the Roy Williams Era

The voters had their say, and Raef LaFrentz was the runaway champion in our bracket of the best 32 players to ever don a Kansas uniform in the Roy Williams era.

Raef beat out another Iowa native, Kirk Hinrich, in the championship battle. He secured 85% of the vote in the final round- that was easily the highest percentage of any win in the Final Four or the championship round- and is hereby crowned as the best player to play at Kansas between the fall of 1988 and the spring of 2003. It was a worthy selection as demonstrated by Raef’s statistics and accomplishments below:

Points per game: 15.8

Points per 40 minutes: 30.7

Rebounds per game: 9.1

Rebounds per 40 minutes: 17.6

Blocks per game: 1.1

Blocks per 40 minutes: 2.1

Four conference championships

Deepest NCAA Tournament run: Elite 8

1996-97 First Team All Big 12

1996-97 Big 12 Player of the Year

1997-98 First Team All Big 12

1997-98 Big 12 Player of the Year

1997-98 First Team All American

Here’s a recap of how the rest of the field fared from a percentage standpoint:

Raef LaFrentz: Champion and gained 88% of the vote along the way.

Kirk Hinrich: Survived four rounds and gained 72% of the votes he could receive; Ousted by LaFrentz.

Paul Pierce: Survived three rounds and gained 87% of the votes he could receive; Ousted by Hinrich.

Nick Collison: Survived three rounds and gained 76% of the votes he could receive; Ousted by LaFrentz.

Jacque Vaughn: Survived two rounds and gained 71% of the votes he could receive; Ousted by LaFrentz.

Drew Gooden: Lasted two rounds and gained 71% of the votes he could receive; Ousted by Collison.

Wayne Simien: Lasted two rounds and gained 70% of the votes he could receive; Ousted by Hinrich.

Scot Pollard: Lasted two rounds and gained 51% of the votes he could receive; Ousted by Pierce.

Jeff Boschee: Lasted one round and gained 59% of the votes he could receive; Ousted by Gooden.

No other player received over 50% of the votes they could receive.

What would’ve happened if Paul Pierce had beaten Kirk Hinrich? We’ll never know, but it appears that the championship battle would’ve probably been better. Join us in a few weeks when we determine who the best KU player is when we span the careers of Roy Williams and Bill Self and take the final four from each contest and pit them against each other in a battle of absolute greatness. Until then, take a poll: