:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46500082/usa-today-8508736.0.jpg)
This is the third of five weekly posts that rank the NBA careers of former Jayhawks. Last week we featured three current NBA Hawks and two old timers, and today we’ll discuss the players ranked #11-15 with a nice mix of new and old. As the rankings are unveiled, there are sure to be some controversies (with today being perhaps the most controversial?), so please have at it in the comments section if you disagree. But first, a look at the previous 10:
25. Jacque Vaughn
24. Bud Stallworth
23. Scot Pollard
22. Greg Ostertag
21T. Brandon Rush
21T. Darrell Arthur
20. Marcus Morris
19. Ronald Franz
18. Ben McLemore
17. Markieff Morris
16. Walt Wesley
15. Andrew Wiggins
Some might disagree with the slotting of Andrew Wiggins, but being the number one overall pick in the draft and only the second ever Kansas player to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award gets Wiggins to this point on the list. While there is no doubt that all of the players on this list with lower rankings accomplished more in their NBA careers, there is no doubt that Wiggins has the highest ceiling and will vault up this list in the years to come. In his ROY winning season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wiggins averaged 16.9 points and 4.6 rebounds. He’s the kind of player that you build a franchise around and you can’t say that about any of the other guys we’ve already ranked.
14. Nick Collison
Nick Collison has played all 11 of his NBA seasons for one franchise. He was drafted with the 12th overall pick by the Seattle Supersonics in 2003, and based on longevity alone, that franchise got their money’s worth on Collison. After four years in Seattle, the franchise moved to Oklahoma City and Collison has been a stalwart in both cities, having never played less than 63 games per season. Statistically, his best season came in 2007-08 when he averaged 9.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Over his career, his numbers dip a bit, averaging 6.3 and 5.5. Still, he’s a man who knows his role and over his career has shot at a 54% clip in 816 regular season games.
13. Dave Robisch
Dave Robisch was a third round NBA pick of the Boston Celtics in 1971, but never played for that franchise. Instead, he took his talents to the ABA’s Denver Rockets (later Nuggets) and San Diego Sails. He toiled away in the ABA for five years and in the fifth, found himself on the Indiana Pacers who were ready to make the merger with the NBA. The 6’10” forward’s ABA career was fruitful, averaging 14.6 points and 8.4 rebounds, but his NBA stats weren’t that shabby either. He played seven seasons in the NBA with the Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, and Kansas City Kings. He averaged 8.7 points and 5.2 boards in those seasons.
Darnell Valentine was one of the best to ever play at KU, and his game translated nicely to the NBA. The former All-American was the 16th overall pick of the Portland Trailblazers in the 1981 draft and he enjoyed the best years of his career in Portland including his best season, 1982-83, when he scored 12.5 points and dished out 6.2 assists on average. Valentine also played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers. In the 1987-88 season with the Clippers, he was eighth in the NBA in assist percentage and fifth in steal percentage.
11. Wayne Hightower
Wayne Hightower is a strange case. He was the fifth overall pick by the San Francisco Warriors in the 1962 draft and he had three very successful seasons with the Warriors, averaging 10.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He then played for the Baltimore Bullets and Detroit Pistons (averaging 7.8 PPG and 5.8 RPG) over three seasons before bolting for the upstart ABA. He played for the Denver Rockets, Los Angeles/Utah Stars, Texas Chaparrals, and Carolina Cougars and saw his career flourish. His numbers over that six-year span were 14.9 and 8.4. Does he deserve to be this high on the list? You be the judge, but the man scored and rebounded at every level of basketball he ever played.
Next week, we reveal the top 10.