Rather than have this conversation on some kids “recruitment thread” I thought I’d take a stab at the best 10 players of the last 20 years... 1999 to 2019. I think for conversation sake this discussion has been had before in some form or another.
For those not following what prompted this discussion - our most recent commitment was compared to Arop and Richard. Which is fine I guess and then some people used that platform as an opportunity to maybe pick-apart Arop and Richard. I find this behavior funny since we’ve got such an historically successful basketball program here...
Feel free to debate this wasn’t an exact science by any stretch - just a list I quickly compiled.
1. Jake Odum - I would argue that the Mo Val was at it’s peak during Odum’s years in the Valley and he still put up elite numbers.
2. Nate Green - #’s nearly identical to Odum and probably one of the best two way players we’ve ever had let alone one of the best overall of the past 20 years.
3. David Moss - far and away the best scorer on this list. It’s a shame the teams he was a part of had little talent. If not for some off the court issues Moss has a pretty good resume.
4. Matt Renn - He and a few others on this list are so damn old they almost disqualify themselves. I was 13 years old when he, Menser and Nate were playing. Obviously he was an exceptional player and remains very involved in the program today.
5. Michael Menser - Known for having been an IU killer it’s often forgot that he had one of the best assist to turnover ratios in the country prior to analytics really being talked about too much.
6. Brenton Scott - Probably the most debated player on this list?! Another D word comes to mind (Disrespected). Brenton Scott put up #’s that rivaled those above him on the list despite a coach that never seemed to fully embrace or appreciate his talent.
7. Kelyn Block - I will always remember him for having a really nice mid range jump shot. Maybe it wasn’t as good as I remember? But I don’t feel like he missed very many. He was such a big part of our late 90’s success.
8. Gabriel Moore - Was really the lone bright spot of 4 straight losing seasons at ISU. He put up pretty good numbers for a player that’s discussed very little.
9. Carl Richard - Unfortunately the last month + of his senior year were rocky at best. I think most fans hold a little bit of a grudge for how he finished his career. I’d suggest that his last month was the start of a pattern of player vs. coach relationship struggles. His numbers were not exceptional by any means but his teams won 18, 20 and 17 games his last 3 years here & he played a significant role on all 3 of those teams.
10. Jay Tunnell - Is probably the most overrated player of the last 20 years. He never played on a winning team and came to ISU with as much hype or more as any player listed above. He showed flashes of brilliance especially his senior year.
Just outside top 10:
Kante, Gant, Arop, Marshall and Lathan.
Side question - where do you put Key and Barnes on this current list? I’m not sure I’d put either of them in the top 10 just yet.
I think when everything is said and done Key has the potential to be a top 5 player on this list for sure. Barnes is probably looking at at the top 10 without a doubt - needs to have a strong year after some regression last year.
For those not following what prompted this discussion - our most recent commitment was compared to Arop and Richard. Which is fine I guess and then some people used that platform as an opportunity to maybe pick-apart Arop and Richard. I find this behavior funny since we’ve got such an historically successful basketball program here...
Feel free to debate this wasn’t an exact science by any stretch - just a list I quickly compiled.
1. Jake Odum - I would argue that the Mo Val was at it’s peak during Odum’s years in the Valley and he still put up elite numbers.
2. Nate Green - #’s nearly identical to Odum and probably one of the best two way players we’ve ever had let alone one of the best overall of the past 20 years.
3. David Moss - far and away the best scorer on this list. It’s a shame the teams he was a part of had little talent. If not for some off the court issues Moss has a pretty good resume.
4. Matt Renn - He and a few others on this list are so damn old they almost disqualify themselves. I was 13 years old when he, Menser and Nate were playing. Obviously he was an exceptional player and remains very involved in the program today.
5. Michael Menser - Known for having been an IU killer it’s often forgot that he had one of the best assist to turnover ratios in the country prior to analytics really being talked about too much.
6. Brenton Scott - Probably the most debated player on this list?! Another D word comes to mind (Disrespected). Brenton Scott put up #’s that rivaled those above him on the list despite a coach that never seemed to fully embrace or appreciate his talent.
7. Kelyn Block - I will always remember him for having a really nice mid range jump shot. Maybe it wasn’t as good as I remember? But I don’t feel like he missed very many. He was such a big part of our late 90’s success.
8. Gabriel Moore - Was really the lone bright spot of 4 straight losing seasons at ISU. He put up pretty good numbers for a player that’s discussed very little.
9. Carl Richard - Unfortunately the last month + of his senior year were rocky at best. I think most fans hold a little bit of a grudge for how he finished his career. I’d suggest that his last month was the start of a pattern of player vs. coach relationship struggles. His numbers were not exceptional by any means but his teams won 18, 20 and 17 games his last 3 years here & he played a significant role on all 3 of those teams.
10. Jay Tunnell - Is probably the most overrated player of the last 20 years. He never played on a winning team and came to ISU with as much hype or more as any player listed above. He showed flashes of brilliance especially his senior year.
Just outside top 10:
Kante, Gant, Arop, Marshall and Lathan.
Side question - where do you put Key and Barnes on this current list? I’m not sure I’d put either of them in the top 10 just yet.
I think when everything is said and done Key has the potential to be a top 5 player on this list for sure. Barnes is probably looking at at the top 10 without a doubt - needs to have a strong year after some regression last year.
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