Posted by ultknicks524:
Maybe we should compare the players these two guys played with before determining Mark Jackson was a better college player than Marcus Williams. Im not that old to remember Mark Jackson's college team or his career but did he play with guys similar to Charlie Villanueva, Rudy Gay, Rashad Anderson, Denham Brown, Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone? I dont mean to bash Mark Jackson's college career or his pro career. This is just a honest question that I really dont know the answer to.
That is a good question.
Honestly, Mark Jackson played in an era where college basketball was about 3 times as good as it is now. In Mark Jackson's era, players like Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin played 4 years.
Back then College basketball was stacked! In today's era, the great contemporary's of Mark Jackson would have gone straight to the NBA or perhaps played 1 year of college ball.
In Mark Jackson's day, Josh Boone would be a second round pick, Rudy Gay Would have played 4 years, Villanueva would have played 4 years, Denham Brown and Hilton Armstrong would have been later second round pick types after playing 4 years.
Back then you had straight up all-american stars who might not even get picked in the first round, such as Sherman Douglas, who was considered to be the best PG in the country for at least 2 years but he still got picked in the second round. And douglas had a good NBA career. Rod Strickland was a star among stars and he was picked around 19.
Here are some 3-4 year players from around back then: Hakeem Olajuwan 3, Clyde Drexler 3, John Stockton 4, Karl Malone 4, Derrick Colemen (A great college player).
Mutombo layed 3 years and Mourning had a 4 year career! Shaq played 3 years, Christian Leatner played 4 years (He was one of the greatest college players ever, he would have come out after his second year the most nowadays), Grant Hill played 4 years, Micheal Jordan played 3 years, James Worthy played 3-4 years. David Robinson played 4 years.
College basketball has changed drastically in the past 10 years, and not for the better, because all the top notch talent does not stick around. It is a whole different animal. Back then you really had to earn your stripes and prove yourself as a player before you got drafted. Only the best of the best left college after 3 years, and there were about 3 players who had ever gone straight from High-school to the pros, 2 of whom were Moses Malone and Darryl Dawkins. Isiah Thomas had the country in an uproar because he left Indiana after 2 years! And he wsa perhaps the best player in the country and a National champion. To contrast, Sebastian Telfair was a lottery pick without ever proving himself against better competition than the PSAL League.
Nowadays so many are drafted on potential, not accomplishment. You have a couple of good seasons, or put up some nice stats in High-School and you go straight for the money. Everything changed around '96.
I promise you, back then this Bynum kid would have played 4 years of college ball.
I had been a college basketball fan first and foremost but things just aren't the same anymore. I think most if not all college basketball fans who have been watching for a long time would tell you the same.
oohah
[Edited by - oohah on 20-10-2006 10:35 PM]
10/20/2006 8:38 PM