How good was Stephen Curry in NCAA basketball? Here's a look at his college stats, career and highlights
Before Stephen Curry was taken as the seventh pick in the 2009 NBA draft and went on to become one of the best players in the world and perhaps the greatest shooter ever, he had to build a path through high school and college.
Stephen Curry's father, Dell Curry, played in the NBA from 1986 to 2002, but he was not heavily recruited by schools other than Davidson College.
His physical appearance coming out of Charlotte Christian School was the reason behind Curry's underappreciation, but Davidson's coach, Bob McKillop, had been following Curry since early in his high school career and knew he was a special player.
Although Curry wanted to play for his father's alma mater, Virginia Tech, the Hokies offered only a walk-on spot, and Curry declined.
Here's a look at how things went for Stephen Curry at Davidson.
Stephen Curry's college career, stats and highlights
For starters, Curry's path to the NBA does not look like many other superstars in today's NBA, who were "one-and-done," spending just a year in college.
Curry played three seasons, between 2006 and 2009, for Davidson. There, he averaged 25.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, while putting up a 46/41/87 shooting split.
As a freshman, Curry made his debut against Eastern Michigan and put up 15 points in a win, but he also committed a whopping 13 turnovers.
However, he followed that performance by scoring 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a loss against powerhouse Michigan. He finished his freshman year averaging 21.5 ppg with a 46/40/85 shooting split.
In the NCAA tournament, Davidson and Curry fell to Maryland despite his 30 points. He set an NCAA record for most 3-pointers made by a freshman with 122 and also broke Davidson's freshman record for points with 730.
Big recognition came in his sophomore year, when Curry led Davidson to the Elite Eight in the 2008 NCAA tournament and averaged 25.9 points with a 48/43/89 shooting split throughout the season.
During Davidson's tournament run, Curry averaged 32 ppg and made a tournament-best 23 3-pointers. He scored 40 points against Gonzaga and followed with 30 against Georgetown, 33 against Wisconsin and 25 in a loss to Kansas.
That season, Curry was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year, was a member of the Midwest Regional team and a consensus Second-Team All-American.
In his junior season, his final campaign at Davidson, Curry averaged 28.6 ppg to lead the NCAA in scoring and put up a 45/38/87 shooting split.
As a junior, Curry had four games with at least 40 points, including a couple of 44-point outings, which were his career bests. He made five or more 3-pointers 13 times and was named Southern Conference Player of the Year for the second straight season and a consensus First Team All-American.
A quote published by NCAA.com is a good way to measure Curry's impact in his early days at Davidson:
"We saw Stephen Curry beat up on UNC Greensboro, Chattanooga and Furman. The country's second-leading freshman scorer proved he could handle the Southern Conference. Curry was a mid-major star. Let's reassess, because there is nothing mid-major about Curry's game. Davidson introduced him to Maryland on Thursday, and CBS introduced him to the world..."
"Of course, Curry can shoot; he's Dell Curry's kid. But Dell had, like, seven assists in his career (high school, college and the NBA combined). Stephen, meanwhile, threw a full-speed fast-break bounce pass to Max Paulhus Gosselin, who hit the reverse layup, to give the Wildcats a 52-44 lead."
Those words came from Tom Sorenson of The Charlotte Observer about Curry's performance in the 2007 NCAA tournament, when he scored 30 points in the loss to Maryland as a freshman.
Curry left Davidson to enter the 2009 NBA draft after becoming the school's all-time leading scorer, all-time leader in 3-pointers and all-time record-holder for 40-point and 30-point games.
The Golden State Warriors selected Curry with the seventh pick of the 2009 draft, right after the Minnesota Timberwolves had two shots to get him at No. 5 or No. 6 but went with Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn instead.
In his 13-year career with the Warriors, Curry has become a three-time NBA champion, a two-time MVP and a seven-time All-Star while earning seven All-NBA nods, winning two scoring titles and earning a spot as one of the greatest 75 players in NBA history.
Also read: How good was Michael Jordan in NCAA basketball? Here's a look at his college stats, career and highlights