10 best college basketball players from Indiana in league history feat. Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas
Indiana is a state that values good basketball, a situation made obvious by producing stars like Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas. While high school basketball in Indiana was immortalized in the film "Hoosiers," the collegiate version is pretty tough too. Indiana and Purdue are two of the strongest programs in the country, and of course, Larry Bird went to Indiana State. Here are the top 10 college basketball players from Indiana.
Top 10 college basketball players from Indiana
10. John Wooden
Yes, THAT John Wooden. Decades before he coached UCLA, he starred at Purdue. He was named National Player of the Year in 1932. It's worth noting that Wooden also started his college head coaching career at Indiana State.
9. Kent Benson
Benson was a two-time consensus All-American at Indiana. He helped the Hoosiers complete an undefeated 1976 championship season. It's the last undefeated season in major college basketball to date. Benson amassed 1,740 points and 1,031 rebounds at IU. He went first in the 1977 NBA Draft.
8. Joe Barry Carroll
Similarly, Purdue's Joe Barry Caroll was picked first overall in the 1980 NBA Draft. The seven-foot Carroll led Purdue to the Final Four in 1980. He finished his Purdue career with 2,175 points and 1,148 rebounds. Carroll then played a dozen years in the NBA.
7. Rick Mount
Mount is Purdue's all-time leading scorer (at least for the moment). In only three varsity seasons (freshmen were ineligible then), Mount scored 2,323 points at Purdue and helped the Boilermakers reach the NCAA finals in 1969. The Indiana Pacers took Mount first in the 1970 ABA Draft, and he had a solid, but brief career in that league.
6. Scott May
May was a brilliant Indiana forward, who was the leading scorer on the unbeaten 1976 title team. May scored 23.5 points per game that season and also grabbed 7.7 boards per game. He then was the second pick in the 1976 NBA Draft. May was a great defender, rebounder, and scorer, and is probably the most-underrated player on this list.
5. Glenn Robinson
Robinson only played two seasons at Purdue, but was the National Player of the Year in 1994. He scored 1,030 points that season, amassing 1,706 in his brief college career. Robinson also had 602 rebounds in 62 collegiate games. The top pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, Robinson had a long and successful NBA career.
4. Steve Alford
A gold medal winner (1984) and an NCAA champion (1987), Steve Alford played like Bobby Knight's baseball dream come to life. The fundamentally flawless shooter amassed 2,438 points at Indiana, shooting 53.0% from 3-point range when the shot was introduced his senior year. Now coaching at Nevada, Alford is a quintessentially Indiana star.
3. Zach Edey
The biggest player on this list, the 7-foot-4 Edey is putting together a legendary career at Purdue. Sitting at 2,162 points and 1,163 rebounds, the only line missing from Edey's resume is a deep NCAA Tournament run. He could achieve that and become Purdue's top scorer in the process.
2. Isiah Thomas
Thomas played two seasons for Bob Knight, combining their oil and water approach to win a 1981 NCAA crown. In his two seasons, Thomas totaled 968 points and 356 assists. He shot 55.4% in his sophomore season, which is astonishing for a 6-foot-1 guard. Picked second by the Detroit Pistons in the 1981 NBA Draft, Thomas became a star at the next level.
1. Larry Bird
Bird initially signed with Bobby Knight and Indiana. But he got homesick (and/or exasperated with Knight) and dropped out of school. He later returned to tiny Indiana State, and led the school to the 1979 NCAA finals. In three years of college basketball, Bird scored 2,850 points and grabbed 1,247 rebounds. He's an immortal of both college and pro basketball.
Any famous Indiana college stars we missed? Let us hear from you in the comment section below.