Wednesday, May 14, 2008

You know you're bored when...

If you're like me, then whenever you're watching an NBA game, you love being the first one to answer the completely useless, but undeniably amazing question, "Where did Player X go to college?"

I'm not sure what it is about knowing where Rodney Stuckey (Eastern Washington) and Lamar Odom (URI) and Rasual Butler (La Salle, but I'll admit I had to look that one up) went to school. Maybe because it's certain to impress your friends or maybe you just want to feel cool (if it's even possible to feel cool for knowing that). Regardless, I spent the second half of the Lakers-Jazz game to break down the rosters of the eight NBA teams that advanced to the second round of the playoffs and here's what I found:

Boston Celtics
Ray Allen, Connecticut (Big East)
Tony Allen, Oklahoma State (Big 12)
P.J. Brown, Louisiana Tech (WAC)
Sam Cassell, Florida State (ACC)
Glen Davis, Louisiana State (SEC)
Kevin Garnett, Farragut Academy (HS)
Eddie House, Arizona State (Pac-10)
Kendrick Perkins,Clifton J. Ozen (HS)
Paul Pierce, Kansas (Big 12)
Scot Pollard, Kansas (Big 12)
James Posey, Xavier (A-10)
Leon Powe, California (Pac-10)
Gabe Pruitt, USC (Pac-10)
Rajon Rondo, Kentucky (SEC)
Brian Scalabrine, USC (Pac-10)

Cleveland Cavaliers
Lance Allred, Weber State (Big Sky)
Devin Brown, Texas-San Antonio (Southland)
Daniel Gibson, Texas (Big 12)
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuania
LeBron James, St. Vincent-St. Mary (HS)
Damon Jones, Houston (C-USA)
Dwayne Jones, Saint Joseph's (A-10)
Aleksandar Pavlovic, Serbia
Joe Smith, Maryland (ACC)
Eric Snow, Michigan State (Big 10)
Wally Szczerbiak, Miami (OH)(MAC)
Billy Thomas, Kansas (Big 12)
Anderson Varejao, Brazil
Ben Wallace, Virginia Union (CIAA)
Delonte West, Saint Joseph's (A-10)

Detroit Pistons
Arron Afflalo, UCLA (Pac-10)
Chauncey Billups, Colorado (Big 12)
Juan Dixon, Maryland (ACC)
Richard Hamilton, Connecticut (Big East)
Jarvis Hayes, Georgia (SEC)
Walter Herrmann, Argentina
Lindsey Hunter, Jackson State (SWAC)
Amir Johnson, Westchester, LA (HS)
Jason Maxiell, Cincinnati (Big East)
Antonio McDyess, Alabama (SEC)
Tayshaun Prince, Kentucky (SEC)
Theo Ratliff, Wyoming (MWC)
Cheikh Samb, Senegal
Rodney Stuckey, Eastern Washington (Big Sky)
Rasheed Wallace, North Carolina (ACC)

Orlando Magic
Carlos Arroyo, Florida International (Sun Belt)
James Augustine, Illinois (Big 10)
Tony Battie, Texas Tech (Big 12)
Keith Bogans, Kentucky (SEC)
Brian Cook, Illinois (Big 10)
Keyon Dooling, Missouri (Big 12)
Maurice Evans, Texas (Big 12)
Adonal Foyle, Colgate (Patriot)
Pat Garrity, Notre Dame (Big East)
Marcin Gortat, Poland
Dwight Howard, SW Atlanta Christian Academy (HS)
Rashard Lewis, Alief Elsik (HS)
Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's (A-10)
J.J. Redick, Duke (ACC)
Hedo Turkoglu, Turkey

New Orleans Hornets
Chris Andersen, Blinn Coll. TX (JC)
Hilton Armstrong, Connecticut (Big East)
Ryan Bowen, Iowa (Big 10)
Rasual Butler, La Salle (MAAC)
Tyson Chandler, Dominguez (HS)
Melvin Ely, Fresno State (WAC)
Mike James, Duquesne (MAAC)
Jannero Pargo, Arkansas (SEC)
Chris Paul, Wake Forest (ACC)
Morris Peterson, Michigan State (Big 10)
Peja Stojakovic, Serbia
Bonzi Wells, Ball State (MAC)
David West, Xavier (A-10)
Julian Wright, Kansas (Big 12)

San Antonio Spurs
Brent Barry, Oregon State (Pac-10)
Matt Bonner, Florida (SEC)
Bruce Bowen, Cal State Fullerton (Big West)
Tim Duncan, Wake Forest (ACC)
Michael Finley, Wisconsin (Big 10)
Manu Ginobili, Argentina
Robert Horry, Alabama (SEC)
DerMarr Johnson, Cincinnati (Big East)
Ian Mahinmi, France
Fabricio Oberto, Argentina
Tony Parker, France
Damon Stoudamire, Arizona (Pac-10)
Kurt Thomas, Texas Christian (MWC)
Ime Udoka, Portland State (Big Sky)
Jacque Vaughn, Kansas (Big 12)

Los Angeles Lakers
Trevor Ariza, UCLA (Pac-10)
Kobe Bryant, Lower Merion (HS)
Andrew Bynum, St. Joseph (HS)
Jordan Farmar,UCLA (Pac-10)
Derek Fisher, Arkansas-Little Rock (Sun Belt)
Pau Gasol, Spain
Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, Congo
Coby Karl, Boise State (WAC)
Chris Mihm, Texas (Big 12)
Ira Newble, Miami (OH)(MAC)
Lamar Odom, Rhode Island (A-10)
Vladimir Radmanovic, Serbia & Montenegro
Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga (WCC)
Sasha Vujacic, Slovenia
Luke Walton, Arizona (Pac-10)

Utah Jazz
Morris Almond, Rice (C-USA)
Carlos Boozer, Duke (ACC)
Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas (SEC)
Jarron Collins, Stanford (Pac-10)
Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukraine
Matt Harpring, Georgia Tech (ACC)
Jason Hart, Syracuse (Big East)
Andrei Kirilenko, Russia
Kyle Korver, Creighton (MVC)
C.J. Miles, Skyline (HS)
Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech (WAC)
Mehmet Okur, Turkey
Ronnie Price, Utah Valley State
Deron Williams, Illinois (Big 10)

Here are the number of players from each conference:

Big 12: 12
Pac-10: 11
SEC: 10
ACC: 7
Big East: 7
Big 10: 7
A-10: 6
High School: 10
Foreign: 19

Well, that was fun. I should have something more substantial to post tomorrow.

4 comments:

Tony Arnold said...

Numbers show that there is not a huge advantage of going to big conference or big name school. I think this holds true in football as well.

I feel that is why we are seeing more parity in college sports. As a good player with potential, you are better off going somewhere you can get playing time v. sitting on the bench for 2 years at a big name school.

Bodes well for Vanderbilt.

Unknown said...

You counted Georgia as an ACC school for Jarvis Hayes.

Jarred Amato said...

Thanks, Alex. It's been corrected. I was tired...

Anonymous said...

with the increased technology it's easier to see games. therefore, if you can ball, you can ball, and someone's going to notice. size of your school isn't a huge thing, although if i was a baller i'd want to play collegiately against the best.