Position U: Which college basketball programs produce the best players at each position?
First-round picks such as John Wall, De’Aaron Fox and Rajon Rondo are a big reason Kentucky earned the title of Point Guard U. UCLA has had a number of good college PGs — Russell Westbrook, Lonzo Ball and Baron Davis also have had NBA success. Duke (Kyrie Irving, Jay Williams), Michigan State (Mateen Cleaves, Cassius Winston) and North Carolina (Ty Lawson, Raymond Felton) round out the top five.
1. Kentucky
2. UCLA
3. Duke
4. Michigan State
5. North Carolina
Duke owned the sharpshooter role, led by Shane Battier, JJ Redick and Trajan Langdon. Kansas has had major talent come through Lawrence — Ben McLemore, Kirk Hinrich and Brandon Rush the top notables — and is No. 2. Kentucky (Jamal Murray, Malik Monk, Devin Booker), Arizona (Lauri Markkanen, Miles Simon, Jerryd Bayless) and Creighton (Doug McDermott, Kyle Korver) also had serious gunners.
1. Duke
2. Kansas
3. Kentucky
4. Arizona
5. Creighton
As perimeter stat-sheet stuffers go, Duke is hard to beat. RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Shane Battier and Grayson Allen are just some of the names there. Kansas’ wide variety of wings (Paul Pierce, Nick Collison, Josh Jackson) led it to the No. 2 spot. Kentucky (Tayshaun Prince, Derek Anderson), Michigan State (Denzel Valentine, Miles Bridges) and Creighton (McDermott, Justin Patton) are here too.
1. Duke
2. Kansas
3. Kentucky
4. Michigan State
5. Creighton
Duke is No. 1 for interior scorers too, and it’s tough to deny its talent there (Jabari Parker, Marvin Bagley III, Zion Williamson). Just behind is rival North Carolina and its litany of lottery picks (Tyler Hansbrough, Antawn Jamison, Sean May). Kansas (Joel Embiid, Raef LaFrentz), Kentucky (DeMarcus Cousins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Julius Randle) and Gonzaga (Kelly Olynyk, Rui Hachimura) all cracked the top five as well.
1. Duke
2. North Carolina
3. Kansas
4. Kentucky
5. Gonzaga
Kentucky is the top school for post defenders, with top NBA draft picks including Anthony Davis, Cousins and Towns, among others. Kansas finished second (Drew Gooden, Cole Aldrich), fellow Big 12 member Texas (Kevin Durant, Chris Mihm) was right behind them, and UConn (Emeka Okafor, Hasheem Thabeet) and trusty Duke (Elton Brand, Shelden Williams) round out the group.
1. Kentucky
2. Kansas
3. Texas
4. UConn
5. Duke