Assuming the universe remains intact by Thursday night, Anthony Davis will be a New Orleans Hornet. He will likely cap off a three-month period that will have seen him win the NCAA Most Outstanding Player Award and become the first overall pick in the NBA Draft.
Davis would not be the first to accomplish this feat. A total of 12 players before him have won NCAA Tournament MOP Awards and been first overall draft picks. Of those players, Davis is in some pretty good company: Eight are Hall of Famers.
But Davis will be the first to complete this parlay in more than 20 years. Who was the most recent? Check out the slideshow, but here's a hint: He played at Louisville.
NCAA Most Outstanding Players To Go First Overall In NBA Draft Slideshow
Elgin Baylor
While a junior at Seattle University, Baylor led the Chieftains (now the Redhawks) to the school's only Final Four appearance in 1958. Baylor's squad fell to Kentucky 84-72 in the final, but that did not take away from his remarkable tournament performance. With 135 points in five games, Baylor was awarded the tournament's MOP Award. One month later, he was drafted first overall by the Minneapolis Lakers. Baylor's Hall of Fame career included 23,149 points, 11,463 rebounds and 11 All-Star Game appearances. But Baylor never won an NBA Championship.
Art Heyman
Nearly three decades before Duke won its first national championship, Heyman was a Durham legend. In his senior season, Heyman led Duke to its first Final Four in school history in 1963. The Blue Devils were ousted in the national semifinals by Loyola of Chicago, the eventual champion. Heyman scored 22 points in the third-place game, helping him earn the MOP Award. Heyman's professional career was not quite as impressive. After being drafted first overall in 1963 by the Knicks, Heyman was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. His NBA career swooped downward afterwards, although Heyman did find some success in the ABA. He finished his career with 4,030 combined NBA and ABA points.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In the Lew Alcindor days at UCLA, Abdul-Jabbar was the MOP of the NCAA Tournament not once, not twice, but three times. He led UCLA to titles in 1967, 1968 and 1969. In 1969, the Milwaukee Bucks made Abdul-Jabbar the first overall pick. In 20 NBA seasons, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships, six MVP Awards and made 19 All-Star games. He is the all-time leader in points scored with 38,387 total points.
Bill Walton
Another John Wooden product, Walton won two NCAA titles and two NCAA MOP Awards in 1972 and 1973. In the 1974 national semifinals, Walton's Bruins were shocked by a David Thompson-led N.C. State team. Walton was drafted first overall in the 1974 NBA Draft by the Trail Blazers. Walton's NBA career included two NBA Titles, an MVP Award and an NBA Finals MVP Award.
David Thompson
Thompson and N.C. State ended the UCLA dynasty of seven straight championships to claim the 1974 title. Thompson scored 97 points in the tournament to be named its MOP. Like Walton, Thompson did not win an NCAA Championship in his senior season, but Thompson was still selected first overall in the 1975 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks. The Virginia Squires of the ABA selected Thompson with their first pick, and his draft rights were traded to the Denver Nuggets (still of the ABA). Thompson signed with the Nuggets, who moved to the NBA in the ABA-NBA merger the following season. Thompson averaged 22.7 points per game in nine professional seasons.
Kent Benson
As a junior at Indiana in 1975-76, Benson led the Hoosiers to the last undefeated season in NCAA history. The center had 25 points and 9 rebounds in the championship game against Michigan to earn the MOP Award. Benson's college success on the court is sometimes marred by his actions off the court. In a 1990 autobiography "Drive: The Story of My Life," Larry Bird describes Benson's negative treatment of Bird in 1974-75 (when Bird was a freshman and Benson was a sophomore) as one of the reasons he transferred from Indiana. Benson averaged 9.1 points per game in 680 regular season games with no NBA championships. Bird averaged 24.3 ppg in 897 games and won three championships and three MVP awards. Karma?
Magic Johnson
In one of the most memorable NCAA tournaments of all-time, Johnson led Michigan State past Bird's Indiana State Sycamores in the 1979 championship game. Johnson scored 24 points in the final to overmatch Bird and earn the MOP Award. Magic jumped to the pros months later to become the first pick in the NBA Draft after only two college seasons. Johnson quickly proved he was ready. The guard/forward/center teamed with Abdul-Jabbar for five NBA championships in Los Angeles. He was also a 12-time All-Star and three-time MVP.
James Worthy
Another important figure of the Lakers championship teams of the 80's, Worthy led the North Carolina Tar Heels to an NCAA title in 1982. A junior at the time, Worthy scored 28 points in the championship game against Georgetown (He got some help from a freshman named Michael Jordan, who scored 16 points). In the NBA, Worthy scored 16,320 career points, won three championships and won an NBA Finals MVP Award.
Hakeem Olajuwon
In the first of two consecutive runner-up finishes for Olajuwon at Houston, the center led the Cougars to the 1983 NCAA Title game against N.C. State. Coach Jim Valvano’s Wolfpack won on Lorenzo Charles’ dunk at the buzzer, but that did not stop Olajuwon, who scored 20 points in the championship game, from earning MOP honors. Olajuwon spent one more season with "Phi Slama Jama," losing to Georgetown in the 1984 championship. "The Dream" was selected first overall in the 1984 Draft. He won two NBA titles and an MVP award in his 26,946-point NBA career.
Patrick Ewing
Ewing's storied college career at Georgetown resulted in three NCAA championship game appearances. Ewing won his MOP Award in the only year he won a title with the Hoyas, 1984. After a historic upset by Villanova against the Hoyas in the 1985 championship game, Ewing was drafted by the Knicks, who won the first ever NBA Draft Lottery. The center averaged 21.0 ppg and 9.8 rpg in his 17-year career, but could not claim an NBA championship (he led the Knicks to two Finals appearances).
Danny Manning
"Danny and the Miracles" of Kansas upset fellow Big Eight power Oklahoma in the 1988 NCAA championship. Manning had 31 points in the final to finish with 163 points in the tournament. Drafted first overall by the Clippers, Manning had an NBA career that was not quite as successful. Manning played for seven different teams in 15 seasons and averaged 14.0 ppg. He made two All-Star Games in 1993 and 1994.
Pervis Ellison
In 1986, Ellison became just the second freshman to ever win the MOP Award, leading Louisville to a championship over Duke. Ellison had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the title game. Ellison spent three more years as a Cardinal before being drafted first overall by the Sacramento Kings in 1989. The center found moderate success in an 11-year career with four teams in which he averaged 9.5 ppg.
