I have to confess something. Tyler Hansbrough may be the pride of Poplar Bluff Mo. but he is quickly becoming my all-time favorite Tar Heel. And today he announced he is coming back for his senior season. Christmas just came early!
Lawson and Ellington have declared for and may go to the NBA, though thankfully they did not get agents, so they can come back if they don't like how the draft turned out. Hansbrough has a chance to be the greatest ACC four year player ever, in a class with Tim Duncan of Wake Forest, and Phil Ford of UNC, and David Thompson of NC State and Ralph Sampson of UVA (you must remember that Jordan and others were not four year players at UNC).
Here is a link to the AP article---
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/news/story?id=3367846
Here below by link is a connection to his own website.
www.tylerhansbrough.org
Don't forget Christian Laettner. Clearly one of the best in ACC history (whether you like him or not :)
ReplyDeleteChristian Laettner was indeed a fine player at Duke, but he played with a better one-- Grant Hill. Neither however were all ACC players 4 years in a row. Hansbrough has a chance to do something very special. I hope he manages it.
ReplyDeleteBW3
Laettner did, however, go to 4 Final Fours (two without Hill), win two titles, and final four MVP, and is the leading scorer in NCAA tournament history. That's pretty special, too. He was #12 on ESPN's greatest college basketball players all-time list this year (ahead of Duncan and Sampson, incidentally.)
ReplyDeleteClearly Hansbrough has earned a spot on that list already, and will certainly appear if the revise it in future years.
He has been outstanding all three years and no doubt will be next year as well. I really like the way he plays a lot. He will certainly finish as a special player no matter what happens next year, and even though (as a Duke fan) I'd like to see him move on, it's great to see a great player stay four years these days. He could've gone to the NBA after his freshman year, and now he'll be coming back for his senior year. Pretty amazing these days.
Did you hear the loud groaning from 8 mi. down the road when the announcement was made? Ugggghhhhhh...
ReplyDeleteI think Hansbrough realizes that he probably won't be a great pro basketball player, so he might as well enjoy his time at the top in college. He's definitely the best player in college basketball going in to next season.
ReplyDeleteTyler never takes a play off. And never gives up. He plays the game the right way for sure. I like what Jay Bilas says about him-- "his will exceeds his skill, and his skill is considerable." I have no idea how he makes all those little push shots when he is getting clobbered by one defensive player after another.
ReplyDeleteI quite agree, Laettner was a great college player. Ask anyone in Kentucky who the player from the ACC is that they like the least.
I was there at the Final Four in Indy to see Duke at its best-- and that game against UNLV was amazing. When the players walked on the court it looked like men against boys. UNLV was huge and fast--- and Duke was the better team. The dunk from Hurley to Hill was maybe the best play I have ever seen live from a Final Four game. Amazing.
BW3
Tim Duncan...Go Spurs Go!
ReplyDeleteBen
ReplyDeleteI loved coming to your blog regularly until this post! This post is from Rock Chawk land! I live 15 minutes from Lawrence Kansas, place of the Jayhawks and as the bitter, proud Kansas fans say, "Home of North Carolina Baskebtall"(Dean Smith attended the same High School as I). The reason why us Jayhawkers have such a dislike for Tyler is because he chose UNC over us!!! Just like another person on UNC's team...........Oh well, we finally got our Championship!!!
Rock Chawk Jayhawk and faithful reader
Steven
Laettner place a footprint on UK player Aminu Timberlake if memory serves in "The Greatest College Basketball Game of All-Time". Being a Louisville fan, I didn't mind Laettner much ;>)
ReplyDeleteI think Hansbrough will be a fine pro. Will he be an all-star? Perhaps not likely, but he has enough skill & plays way too hard not to make & remain on a roster for a long time. There are too many examples of less serviceable players who have been able to achieve as much.