Which prep to pro would have been the most dominating in college?

[Who]

Count me in the camp who thinks Greg Oden was a superior player while at the college level than either Amare, Dwight or Kemp would have been.

Oden had better offensive skills and far superior defensive skills. He was also a better rebounder than both Amare and Kemp, not Dwight, Dwight was a better rebounder.

[BballTim]

  If you're going to include players like JO you should include Darryl Dawkins.

  I'd go Moses then LeBron at the top.

[Eja117]

I think Lebron would be first. Next I think would have been Amare at least at first. I'm going by that both were rookies of the year. Then I actually think it may not be who we think. I think D Howard would have been great. I think KG would have taken a year to get going. I actually think Telfair and Tyson Chandler would have done better in college. I think Kobe would have done well, but I don't think he would have put in the work into his college game that he did his pro game, like hitting 1000 jumpers a day. I don't think JR Smith would have done stuff like that either. I think Josh Smith would have had a lot of fun. I think even some of the ones that missed might have done ok like Korleone Young and Ousminne Cisse.

[celticmaestro]

Sebastian Telfair.

That's a joke.

[TBreezy]

I don't think Kobe would have had large numbers had he went to college.  I seem to remmeber him with a letter of commitment to a villanova team that featured kerry kittles and some other upper classman. Not to mention an incomming class that featured Tim Thomas.

[Ian]

Dominating in high school doesn't mean much. I had a friend who set scoring records that might never be matched at my high school. He had no talent around him and yet he scored at will despite facing all sorts of trick defenses focused on him. In his case he couldn't penetrate against a college zone and never got off the bench in college.
I repeat, LBJ would have been a very good college player. However without the NBA rules (and their lack of rules) and without the mid-range game, I fail to see how he would have been a superstar in college. The other team would zone him up and make him shot the midrange shot. LBJ would have had to go down in the post if he wanted to score and risk offensive fouls. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Dantley, Mount, and other college super stars all had midrange games. 

The difference is that one of them is your friend. The other is LEBRON JAMES. He's been the best player in the league since he was 20. He averaged 20-5-5 in his first season in the NBA. Those numbers alone would qualify him as a "college superstar". If you take in the fact that he put those numbers up against the best players in the world, how in the hell would he not be able to do it against a bunch of college kids? LeBron would have a season just like Beasley, except with much higher assist numbers.

[TripleOT]

LeBron
Kobe
Moses
KG
Amare
Howard
TMac
Kemp
Dawkins
Livingston
Big Al

[BballTim]

The other is LEBRON JAMES. He's been the best player in the league since he was 20. He averaged 20-5-5 in his first season in the NBA. Those numbers alone would qualify him as a "college superstar". If you take in the fact that he put those numbers up against the best players in the world, how in the hell would he not be able to do it against a bunch of college kids?

  You should pose that question to Micheal Jordan.

[bbc3341]

I'd have to say it would be the best player... so the debate would be who is the best straight to pros player of all-time? Isn't it Kobe?

[Celtsfan33/34]

Because the college game allows straight zone defenses, I'd think Dwight Howard would have been more dominant.  Defensively he could patrol the middle with no worries of a 3 second call.  And not too many teams in college have anyone that could guard him on the block. 

[Roy Hobbs]

I'd have to say it would be the best player... so the debate would be who is the best straight to pros player of all-time? Isn't it Kobe?

Nope.  Lebron is better than Kobe.

[BballTim]

I'd have to say it would be the best player... so the debate would be who is the best straight to pros player of all-time? Isn't it Kobe?

  It's a mix between best and most nba ready. JO barely played his first 3 years in the pros so he wouldn't fit the bill.

[Chief]

If Yinka Dare was considered to be dominate in college, I could only imagine what D. Howard could do.

[Fan from VT]

All you people guessing 30 and 15 averages for dwight howard are crazy, unless he's playing in the WAC or something. Look at shaq. He put up 23.4 and 13.8 with 3.5 blocks as a rookie in the NBA; the season before, as a junior in college, he averaged 24, 14, and 5 blocks. as a freshman, he was around 14, 12 and 3.5 or so. Considering Dwight came in as a rookie averaging 12 and 10 with 1.7 blocks, and in his fourth year, at the same age as rookie shaq, has not approached shaq's scoring or block numbers from his rookie year, there is absolutely no way college dwight's numbers would have dwarfed college shaq's numbers.

the answer is Lebron. he stepped in as a prep to pro rookie with 21, 5.5 5.5 averages. that's ridiculous. He would have been a better college freshman than 'melo, beasley, and durant, all of whom had all-time great freshman seasons.


btw, kobe didn't hit lebron's rookie numbers until season 4.

[Fan from VT]

I'd have to say it would be the best player... so the debate would be who is the best straight to pros player of all-time? Isn't it Kobe?

Nope.  Lebron is better than Kobe.

agreed. and add to that the fact that Lebron would have been about the size and strength (as a freshman) of a lot of college teams' starting centers, and you realize he would have dominated.

look at what beasley did this past year, one of the best freshman seasons ever. Lebron is about as tall, stronger, and better at most everything.