The 20 Greatest Mid-Major College Basketball Players of All Time

Small schools, huge seasons. A few of these names carried an unranked team deep into March; others just quietly outscored everyone in the country.

1

Larry Bird

Took Indiana State to an undefeated regular season and the 1979 title game against Michigan State.

1000pts

2

Damian Lillard

Weber State guard who left as the school's scoring leader and became an NBA All-Star.

591pts

3

Bill Russell

Won back-to-back national championships at San Francisco in 1955 and 1956.

542pts

4

Stephen Curry

Davidson guard who carried a 10-seed to the 2008 Elite Eight and led the nation in scoring the next year.

542pts

5

Calvin Murphy

Niagara guard who averaged 33.1 points a game across three varsity seasons.

487pts

6

Steve Nash

Santa Clara point guard who twice upset higher seeds in the NCAA tournament.

422pts

7

Jameer Nelson

Took Saint Joseph's to a 27-0 regular season and the 2004 Elite Eight as national player of the year.

422pts

8

David Robinson

Navy centre who became national player of the year in 1987 before a Hall of Fame NBA career.

345pts

9

Lionel Simmons

La Salle forward who finished third on the all-time NCAA scoring list and won the 1990 Naismith.

345pts

10

C.J. McCollum

Lehigh guard who scored 30 as a 15-seed knocked out Duke in 2012.

345pts

11

Julius Erving

Averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds at UMass before turning professional.

345pts

12

Adam Morrison

Led the country at 28.1 points a game for Gonzaga in 2006 and shared national player of the year.

345pts

13

Fred VanVleet

Ran the Wichita State team that reached the 2013 Final Four and a 35-0 regular season the year after.

345pts

14

Ja Morant

Murray State guard who led the nation in assists and posted a triple-double in the 2019 tournament.

345pts

15

Gordon Hayward

Butler forward whose half-court attempt at the buzzer nearly won the 2010 national title.

253pts

16

Hersey Hawkins

Bradley guard who led Division I in scoring at 36.3 points a game in 1988.

253pts

17

Doug McDermott

Creighton forward who finished fifth all-time in NCAA scoring and won the 2014 Naismith.

253pts

18

Marcus Camby

Won the Naismith and Wooden awards leading UMass to its only Final Four in 1996.

253pts

19

Jimmer Fredette

BYU guard who led the nation in scoring and swept the 2011 national player-of-the-year awards.

141pts

20

Andrew Bogut

Averaged 20.4 points and 12.2 rebounds at Utah and swept the 2005 player-of-the-year awards.

141pts