As a way of wrapping up this series, I thought it would be good to make a list of other players who received serious consideration for the Top 100. If you took my last 25 players and replaced them with some of these guys, you wouldn’t be losing much. I list them in chronological order.
Joe Belmont, Duke, 1954-1956; Ronnie Mayer, Duke, 1954-1956; Lefty Davis, Wake Forest, 1954-1956
Belmont, Mayer, Davis, and #99 Vic Molodet of NC State formed a quartet of players who all played from 1954-1956 and are very difficult to distinguish. In terms of career All-ACC balloting, Mayer received 452 points, Molodet 434, Belmont 401, Davis 385.
Tommy Kearns, UNC, 1956-1958
Kearns and #74 Pete Brennan were the key players supporting #17 Lennie Rosenbluth on the 1957 championship team. In 1958, without Rosenbluth, Kearns made first team All-ACC, but Brennan was ACC Player of the Year.
Doug Moe, UNC, 1959-1961
I had Moe on my list for a while but eventually took him off. He was academically ineligible in the fall of 1959 and missed over half the Tar Heels’ games. That probably kept him from being a three-time first-team All-ACC player and cost him a spot on the list.
Coach Bill Strannigan of Wyoming says he has seen only one basketball player better than North Carolina’s Doug Moe, 6-foot-6 senior. “He was Wilt Chamberlain when he played for Kansas,” says Strannigan. – The York Dispatch, York, PA, February 28, 1961
Bob Leonard, Wake Forest, 1964-1966
A prolific scorer who arrived just after the glory years of Chappell and Packer. Two-time first team All-ACC and two-time first team All-Tournament. He is the only player with the particular collection of honors who is not in the Top 100.
Eddie Biedenbach, NC State, 1965-1968
Two-time first team All-ACC player who was recruited by Everett Case, played two years for Press Maravich after Case resigned, missed a year with an injury, then played his last year for Norm Sloan.
Tom Owens, South Carolina, 1969-1971; Randy Denton, Duke, 1969-1971
Owens and Denton are similar players who played at the same time. They finished first and second in rebounds per game all three seasons. Owens finished his career with 444 All-ACC points; Denton had 442. Owens was also an outstanding ACC Tournament performer, making first team All-Tournament twice.
Tate Armstrong, Duke, 1974-1977
A sharpshooting Texan, Armstrong was a tremendous scorer who didn’t have any help for most of his career. Then, once help arrived in the form of Spanarkel and Gminski, he went and broke his wrist and missed the second half of his senior year. He probably would have led the league in scoring and made first team All-ACC for the second time. That 1977 Duke team was sneaky good and a keen observer might have perceived that some magic was in the air in 1978.
Walter Davis, UNC, 1974-1977
“Sweet D” was a tremendous player who played at the same time as Kenny Carr, Skip Brown, and Tree Rollins. Overall he seems just behind them in terms of his accomplishments. He is perhaps another player who was held back a bit by playing for Dean Smith; when he got to the NBA, he was immediately one of the best players in the league.
Buck Williams, Maryland, 1979-1981
Williams was named to the 2003 list of the ACC’s 50 greatest players. I don’t see how you name someone who never made first team All-ACC to the Top 50, but he was very good.
Othell Wilson, Virginia, 1981-1984
Wilson was the other guy on the #2 Ralph Sampson powerhouse Virginia teams. His injury in 1982 may have cost the Cavaliers a chance to go to the Final Four that year. But Wilson was a starter on two other Final Four teams (1981 and 1984). He was first team All-ACC as a sophomore and barely missed as a junior.
Elden Campbell, Clemson, 1987-1990; Dale Davis, Clemson, 1988-1991
I stared at these two for hours and ultimately gave up. I couldn’t even decide whether Campbell or Davis was better, much less whether they should be in the Top 100. Clemson was really, really good in 1990, and it’s too bad they got nipped by the UConn buzzer beater. But it spared them the pain of getting beaten by Duke in the regional final.
Chris Corchiani, NC State, 1988-1991
Maybe voting with my heart more than my head here, since Corchiani never made first team All-ACC. But he was a great floor general and was the NCAA all-time assist leader until #35 Bobby Hurley surpassed his total (in ~700 more career minutes). Second in ACC career assists and third in steals. Remember that thing he used to do if a defender was pressuring him as he brought it up the court? He would accelerate to get past the defender, then when the defender started running to catch up, Corchiani would suddenly put on the brakes. The defender wouldn’t be able to stop quickly enough and would wind up on Corchiani’s back and get called for a foul. Never seen that move from anyone else.
Travis Best, Georgia Tech, 1992-1995
Travis Best, along with Tree Rollins and Buck Williams, is one of the best players never to make first team All-ACC. He finished sixth in 1994, three points behind #28 Joe Smith; and he finished sixth again in 1995, this time seven points behind Rasheed Wallace. He is one of only four players in ACC history with 2000 points and 600 assists (the others are #6 Phil Ford, #61 Greivis Vasquez, and #18 Jason Williams).
Chris Carrawell, Duke, 1997-2000
Carrawell really had just the one year, and even that year I think he was a bit overrated. It was one of those “best player on the best team” situations. Except he wasn’t really the best player, #14 Shane Battier was. But, he did run away with ACC Player of the Year and was first or second-team All-American. Starter on the awesome 1999 team that lost to UConn in the championship game. Duke’s five starters all finished in the top 12 in All-ACC balloting.
Ed Cota, UNC, 1997-2000; Lonny Baxter, Maryland, 1999-2002
Ed Cota and Lonny Baxter are similar players, not in their playing styles of course, but in terms of the trajectory of their careers. Both were very good as freshmen and played key roles for their entire four-year careers; both made All-ACC three times; both players plateaued as very good but not great players; and both players had some NCAA Tournament success. Cota played on three Final Four teams; Baxter was of course a key contributor to the 2002 national championship team. Cota was essentially the same player – the same very good player – for his entire career.
Justin Gray, Wake Forest, 2003-2006
One of the outstanding three-point shooters in league history, Gray ranks eighth in career three-point field goals made. He is in the top 60 in career points scored and made first team All-ACC as a sophomore, but as a junior he was overshadowed by teammate Chris Paul and fell to second team. Then as a senior, the Deacons simply fell apart once ACC play started, finishing 3-13 in the league, and despite excellent individual stats, Gray was relegated to second team again.
Jared Dudley, Boston College, 2004-2007
Had his first two years not been in the Big East, Dudley would probably be in the Top 100. ACC Player of the Year and second team All-American in 2007. He was first team All-Big East in 2005.
Al Thornton, Florida State, 2004-2007
Thornton was a bit player his first two years, but he emerged as a junior and had a terrific senior year, finishing a close runner-up to Jared Dudley for ACC Player of the Year and making third team All-American.
Sean Singletary, Virginia, 2005-2008; Tyrese Rice, Boston College, 2006-2009; Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech, 2008-2011
Singletary, Rice, and Delaney are similar cases. They played during more or less the same era; each scored over 2,000 career points; each made All-ACC a lot; each played on mediocre teams; none received serious consideration for ACC Player of the Year or national honors. Singletary probably has the best case; he did play on a pretty good Virginia team in 2007, and he received 12 votes for ACC Player of the Year that year. He is the only player to make first team All-ACC three times who isn’t on my list. If I had it to do over again, I would probably find a spot for him.
Jack McClinton, Miami, 2007-2009
A two-time first team All-ACC performer who is one of the great shooters in league history. Second to JJ Redick in career free-throw percentage; second to Bo Outlaw in career three-point percentage, but at a much higher volume.
Trevor Booker, Clemson, 2007-2010
A personal favorite of mine. Five ACC players have 1700 points, 1000 rebounds, and 200 blocks: #2 Ralph Sampson, #15 Sam Perkins, #4 Tim Duncan, #40 Shelden Williams – and Booker. He played on the best stretch of basketball teams in Clemson history, the four-year run from 2008-2011 when the Tigers had winning records in the ACC and made the NCAA Tournament each year. All three of the Booker teams (2008, 2009, 2010) lost in the first round.
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame, 2012-2015
Similar case to Jared Dudley. Grant played his first two years in the Big East and was second team All-Big East as a sophomore. As a senior, lost out on ACC Player of the Year to Jahlil Okafor, but was MOP of the ACC Tournament as the Irish took the title. Came within a hair’s breadth of beating 37-0 Kentucky in the regional final and making Notre Dame’s first Final Four since 1978. Missed most of the 2014 season with an injury which may have kept him off the list, as he was playing at a very high level.
Brice Johnson, UNC, 2013-2016
Similar to Carrawell in that Johnson really just had the one year, but it was some year. He finished runner-up to #52 Malcolm Brogdon for ACC Player of the Year and was a first team All-American. He was the MOP of the South Region for a UNC team that came tantalizingly close to winning it all.
Kyle Guy, Virginia, 2017-2019
Kyle Guy was #100 when I first published the top 100 list. Since then, I’ve changed my mind and moved him into honorable mention. His main argument is that he was MOP of the ACC Tournament (2018) and the NCAA Tournament (2019). The only other players to win both those honors are Art Heyman, James Worthy, Christian Laettner, Shane Battier, and Kyle Singler. But honestly, Guy did not have a great NCAA Tournament in 2019. This was not a Sean May 2005, David Thompson 1974, Juan Dixon 2002, Christian Laettner 1991-type performance. He was money in the final which is why he won the award. Guy did make first team All-ACC twice, but both times he was the 5th-leading vote getter and finished behind a number of other guys who aren’t anywhere close to this list. It’s not enough.