https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/ranking-the-top-25-college-basketball-stars-of-the-past-25-years-zion-carmelo-jimmer-steph-kemba-and-more/

Thought this was an interesting concept and fairly good list, excellent opportunity to Remember Some Guys.

Who do you agree/disagree with here?

He seems to be ranking based on "biggest phenom" rather than best career - if it's best career, I think you have to go Hansborough.

Frank Kaminsky is someone I would not have thought of at all, but he seems to fit in here.

These are Peter C. Bjarkman's top 15 players in college basketball history according to his book The Biographical History of Basketball. I'm pretty sure they aren't in any particular order.

Tom Gola - La Salle - 1952-55

"His career record total of 2,201 rebounds has never been matched, nor has his combined career points-rebounds total (4,663). He single-handedly led tiny La Salle College to back-to-back NCAA title games (1954, 1955) and was arguably the most versatile collegiate player of all time (splitting playing time between center and guard positions."

Lew Alcindor - UCLA - 1967-69

"He was the biggest impact player in college history on the most dominant three-year team ever (88-2, three NCAA titles). He was twice named National Player of the Year and to this date he is the only three-time NCAA Tournament Final Four Most Outstanding Player. He was the most heavily recruited high school athlete ever (surpassing Wilt Chamberlain in this regard)."

Bill Russell - USF - 1954-56

"He was one of seven players to average 20 points and 20 rebounds for an entire career and one of only four to accomplish this feat over three full seasons. He anchored the first undefeated NCAA national champion (29-0 in 1956), and he is the only player to collect 50-plus rebounds in a single Final Four (1956). He also paced a then-record 60-game winning streak."

Oscar Robertson - Cincinnati - 1958-60

"He was the first-ever sophomore scoring champion, the first player to lead the nation in scoring for three full seasons, and the first three-time NCAA National Player of the Year. With only sparse teammate support, Robertson took Cincinnati to back-to-back NCAA national semifinal games. He was the prototype for the all-around offensive intimidator and the pioneer of black playground 'one-on-one' playing style."

Hank Luisetti - Stanford - 1936-38

"He pioneered one-handed shooting and, in the process, introduced a modern styler of offensive play. Luisetti was the first national superstar and was twice the national scoring leader (1936 and 1937). He scored 50 points in a single game during an era when entire teams rarely matched that lofty point total."

Elgin Baylor - Idaho and Seattle - 1955-58

He was one of seven players to average 20 points and 20 rebounds for a career and the only member of that group with a career scoring average above 30 points per game. Baylor was the national rebounds leader while also averaging 29.7 points per game (1957). He was also the 1958 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player and the pioneer of 'hang time' airborne moves and the prototype for the black freelancing playground style of play."

Bill Walton - UCLA - 1972-74

"He was the second-biggest impact player in collegiate history (behind Alcindor) on the second-most dominant three-year team ever (86-4, two NCAA titles, three Final Four appearances). Walton paced a still-record 88 straight victories and also produced the most dominant NCAA championship game one-man performance on record. He was a three-time National Player of the Year (1972, 1973, 1974)."

Pete Maravich - LSU - 1968-70

"Maravich established unapproachable scoring records with three seasons averaging more than 40 points per game and a record 3,667 career points. The three-time national scoring leader was also the 1970 NCAA National Player of the Year. He has been tabbed as one of the all-time greatest pure shooters, passers, ball handlers, and unbridled showmen."

Bill Bradley - Princeton - 1963-65

"Bill Bradley stand with Gola and perhaps also Baylor as the most-skilled all-around player. A National Player of the Year and NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1965), he is the career NCAA tournament record holder for highest free-throw percentage and also record holder for most individual points in an NCAA Final Four game (58 against Wichita State in the 1965 third-place consolation game)."

Ralph Sampson - Virginia - 1980-83

"A three-time NCAA National Player of the Year (1981, 1982, 1983), Ralph Sampson also was the NIT Final Four Most Outstanding Player as a freshman (1980). He paced Virginia to an overall 88-13 four season record, three ACC titles, NIT, and NCAA Final Four appearances. He was the second most heavily recruited high school star ever, after Lew Alcindor."

Jerry Lucas - Ohio State - 1960-62

"Jerry Lucas was the leader of an OSU team that made three straight NCAA Championship Game appearances. He was twice tabbed National Player of the Year (1961, 1962), and he was a three-time national leader in field-goal percentage, two-time national pacesetter in rebounding (1961, 1962), and was twice named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1960, 1961)."

Elvin Hayes - Houston - 1966-68

"Elvin Hayes was named NCAA National Player of the Year in 1968 over Lew Alcindor. He had career averages above 30 in scoring (31.0 points per game) and near 20 in rebounding (17.2). He averaged 36.8 points per game as a senior but trailed Maravich and Calvin Murphy in the national scoring race. He played in the shadows of both Alcindor and Maravich and, nonetheless, still ranked as one of the most complete big men in college basketball history."

Bob Kurland - Oklahoma A&M - 1943-46

"Bob Kurland, the Helms Foundation National Player of the Year in 1946, was the first athletically talented seven-footer in cage history and the first player to pace his team to repeat NCAA Tournament national titles. He was also the first-ever two-time NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1945, 1946) and the only player to score more than half of his team's points in NCAA Final Four action."

David Thompson - North Carolina State - 1973-75

"Acknowledged as perhaps the most acrobatic and most aesthetic player of all time, David Thompson was twice named NCAA National Player of the Year (1974, 1975) and also the NCAA Tournament Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1974). He paced N.C. State's historic 1974 Final Four victory that ended UCLA's record 38-game NCAA tournament victory streak and also stopped the Bruin's string of seven straight national titles."

Larry Bird - Indiana State - 1977-79

"An unmatchable offensive force who carried his undefeated no-name team to No. 1 national rankings and NCAA title game of 1979, Larry Bird was named NCAA National Player of the Year (1979) as a senior. He finished in the top three in the national scoring race in all three varsity seasons, twice as a near-miss runner up."

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The book is a pretty good read. I would suggest reading through all of its 500+ pages.

I don’t know of any other college player who matches this level of dominance:

-Naismith College Player of the Year -Won a natty -3x First Team All American -1x Second Team All American (his freshman year) -4x All ACC (the best basketball conference) -ACC Rookie of the Year -ACC Player of the Year -ACC Tourney MVP