Would all-time prep-to-pro squad beat any college's all-time team?
Even with the issues swirling around the NCAA, it's unknown whether the NBA will go back to allowing players to be drafted straight out of high school. The prep-to-pro route didn't pan out for everyone - ask Kwame Brown or Robert Swift about that - but it's also produced some of the greatest players in basketball history.
So much so, in fact, that a cursory look at a five-man squad made up of the best prep-to-pro players looks like the favorite over most teams made up of NCAA powerhouses' all-time squads.
| PREP-TO-PRO | |
|---|---|
| F | LeBron James |
| F | Kevin Garnett |
| C | Moses Malone |
| G | Kobe Bryant |
| G | Tracy McGrady |
Let's not kid ourselves, this is probably the best team on the list.
| DUKE | |
|---|---|
| F | Grant Hill |
| F | Elton Brand |
| C | Carlos Boozer |
| G | J.J. Redick |
| G | Kyrie Irving |
Admittedly, this exercise prioritizes NBA success. That's why Duke's lineup, for instance, doesn't include school legends like Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, or Shane Battier.
A separate squad comprised three-fifths of Plumlees could be utilized as the scout team.
| GEORGETOWN | |
|---|---|
| C | Alonzo Mourning |
| C | Dikembe Mutombo |
| C | Patrick Ewing |
| F | Jeff Green |
| G | Allen Iverson |
A three-center lineup? Three of the best centers of all time alongside Iverson, however, can permit Jeff Green to fill the other starting spot.
| KANSAS | |
|---|---|
| F | Paul Pierce |
| F | Joel Embiid |
| C | Wilt Chamberlain |
| G | Andrew Wiggins |
| G | JoJo White |
Imagine Chamberlain and Embiid hanging out together. That possibility alone gives "The Process" the edge over Jayhawks legend Danny Manning.
| KENTUCKY | |
|---|---|
| F | Anthony Davis |
| F | Karl-Anthony Towns |
| C | DeMarcus Cousins |
| G | Eric Bledsoe |
| G | John Wall |
Kentucky's dedication to the one-and-done system ensures all the players on this team are recent blue-chip stars from the past decade - with apologies to old-timers like Jamal Mashburn and Dan Issel. Bledsoe edges out Jamal Murray and Devin Booker on NBA tenure.
| LSU | |
|---|---|
| F | Ben Simmons |
| F | Bob Pettit |
| C | Shaquille O'Neal |
| G | Pete Maravich |
| G | Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf |
Simmons doesn't look back on his one year at LSU fondly, but including him on the Tigers' all-time roster makes for a very good team.
| UCLA | |
|---|---|
| F | Kevin Love |
| C | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar |
| G | Reggie Miller |
| G | Baron Davis |
| G | Russell Westbrook |
Davis gets the nod over Bill Walton, whose NBA career was marred by injuries.
| NORTH CAROLINA | |
|---|---|
| F | James Worthy |
| C | Rasheed Wallace |
| C | Bob McAdoo |
| G | Vince Carter |
| G | Michael Jordan |
North Carolina gets an awful lot of run out of the fact that Jordan's legend began in Chapel Hill.
So who comes out on top in a theoretical and completely impossible tournament between these eight fantasy teams? The prep-to-pros open as favorites, but UCLA, Kansas, and others stick out as tough competition.