Greatest players in MVC history - where does Doug fall?

[Turner]

Larry Bird tops the list for sure, but who next? If Doug is an All American again does he become #2?

[Jays26]

Well hopefully we have 2 more years to watch him play and then we can debate it.

[CBB_Fan]

Larry Bird tops the list for sure, but who next? If Doug is an All American again does he become #2?

Short answer: #6.

Long Answer:

Here's the Top 5 from mvc-sports.com:

Larry Bird, Indiana State
Hersey Hawkins, Bradley
Ed Macauley, Saint Louis
Xavier McDaniel, Wichita State
Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati

#1 is Larry Bird, #2 Oscar Robertson. Short of winning a national title with 30+ points a game, McD probably won't get into that club. The next three are probably less well known, so we have to compare achievements.

Hawkins - 36.3 PPG in 1987-88 season. National Player of the year. Consensus first team All-American senior year, 3 time All-American. He is the all-time leader in the MVC for points and #3 for steals. Decently successful NBA career (14.7 PPG for the total career), but he wasn't a superstar. Best season he average 22 PPG

Ed Macauley - PoY in 1949. Saint Louis won the NIT that year (and that was when the NIT was just big, or bigger, then in the NCAA). He is the youngest player ever inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, at 32. However, he is infamous because he and Cliff Hagan were traded to St. Louis for the rights to Bill Russell. He averaged 17.5 PPG in the NBA.

Xavier McDaniel - First player ever to lead the NCAA in both scoring (27.4) and rebounding (15). Not many PoY, All-American, or All-Star achievements but many seasons with good scoring and rebounding, in both college and the pros.

Right now, I'd say Doug's best chance to get in the top 5 would be edge out Ed Macauley. Many would already consider him ahead of Macauley because he played so long ago that few remember him, and for a team that hasn't been in the MVC since the 70s. Oscar, Bird, McDaniel, and Hawkins had such tremendous statistical and national success that I cannot place him higher than 5th right now.

However, he could potentially knock off McDaniel as well with another superstar season, which is hard to say because he perhaps the best single season ever.

[jayball]

Really? Come on man.

Just check out the first Valley HOF class. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Valley_Conference_Hall_of_Fame

Oscar Robinson
Wes Unseld
Hersey Hawkins
Dave Stallworth

Are you really going to put Doug over all of those guys after just 2 years? That is just dumb.

The kid is good, but can we let his career play out before we assess his place in history? Right now he isn't even Creighton's greatest all time player.

[BirdmanBB]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ac-7189260

Interesting top 5 list from 2010.....

5. Xavier McDaniel - Wichita State
4. Hersey Hawkins - Bradley
3. Wes Unseld - Louisville
2. Larry Bird - Indiana State
1. Oscar Robertson - Cincinnati

His reference material had a top 50 of all time, but it looks like the link no longer works.

[CBB_Fan]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ac-7189260
Interesting top 5 list from 2010.....

5. Xavier McDaniel - Wichita State
4. Hersey Hawkins - Bradley
3. Wes Unseld - Louisville
2. Larry Bird - Indiana State
1. Oscar Robertson - Cincinnati

His reference material had a top 50 of all time, but it looks like the link no longer works.

Here's one with the 50 greatest, but from 2007, not 2010.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Dougie Soph...err Junior gets a lot of play because he is the coaches kid and he lit up some slow Euro kids at the U19 in Latvia. He is a nice player but the CU hype train is starting to go too far when we start putting him as an all timer. After four full years we can revisit this because he isn't going pro until then anyhow.

[Jet915]

Dougie Soph...err Junior gets a lot of play because he is the coaches kid and he lit up some slow Euro kids at the U19 in Latvia. He is a nice player but the CU hype train is starting to go too far when we start putting him as an all timer. After four full years we can revisit this because he isn't going pro until then anyhow.

Lit up slow euro kids? That was last summer. He was a consensus first team all american which says alot in a "mid-major" league. A few of the "top 5" players on this list were in the league when it was a major player in basketball which says something about what Doug has already accomplished.

[glm38]

Dougie Soph...err Junior gets a lot of play because he is the coaches kid and he lit up some slow Euro kids at the U19 in Latvia. He is a nice player but the CU hype train is starting to go too far when we start putting him as an all timer. After four full years we can revisit this because he isn't going pro until then anyhow.

I don't agree with this either I think he showed last year he can "light it up" against anyone in college basketball. My take is hes probably already top 10 all time in the mvc. What he does in the next 2 years determines if he moves into the top 5 (orhigher).

[Drakey]

NO. Not even close.