NCAA Basketball: Top 50 “One and Done” players since 2000
By Bryan Mauro
25. Jabari Parker – Duke Blue Devils
19.1 Points, 8.7 Rebounds, 1.2 Assists
Parker arrived at Duke to a ton of expectations based off his massively successful high school career. The forward lived up to the expectations and was one of five freshmen to score 20 points in his Duke debut. When he left Duke, he had the record for the most 20-point games for a Duke freshman. His efforts with Duke led him to first team All-America honors from every publication. He also won a slew of awards including the USWBA national freshman of the year, as well as the ACC Freshman of the year.
24. Luol Deng – Duke Blue Devils
15.1 Points, 6.9 Rebounds, 1.8 Assists
The native of Sudan arrived in Durham as the No. 2 recruit in the country. The small forward started 32 games his lone season in Durham. A season in which the Blue Devils made the Final Four, and in many of those games Luol Deng was the catalyst on offense. Deng led ACC freshman in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage, and is one of a handful of players to accomplish the feat. For the season the small forward held shooting percentages of 51% from the floor and 36% from three. Deng was the second Duke player to ever declare for the draft after one season.
23. Jahlil Okafor – Duke Blue Devils
17.3 Points, 8.5 Rebounds, 1.3 Assists
The list of accomplishments for Okafor are endless. Outside of his team winning a national championship, which was the last national championship that Duke won. The individual accomplishments for the big man were endless. Okafor was named the national freshman of the year by numerous publications and was a unanimous first team all American. He led the ACC in field goal percentage at 66% and offensive rebounding at 3.9 per game. The big man was great on the defensive end as well. He finished in the top five in both total rebounding 8.9 per game and blocked shots at 1.4 per game. He set Duke freshman records for rebounds and dunks in a season at 322 and 64 respectively. Okafor accomplished in one year what some fail to accomplish in four years.
22. DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky Wildcats
15.1 Points, 9.8 Rebounds, 1.8 Blocks
Kentucky was the third school that Cousins committed to. John Calipari is happy that the big man decided to follow him to Kentucky from Memphis. Cousins along with another member of the list John Wall dominated college basketball for a year, and they were able to lead Kentucky to an elite eight. Cousins was a consensus All-American, after his one season in Lexington. He shot 56% from the floor and had an astounding 4.1 offensive rebounds per game. Cousins secured the paint while in college as he averaged just under 2 blocks per game to go along with 1 steal. All of this without committing fouls, he averaged about 3 fouls per game in his college career.
21. John Wall – Kentucky Wildcats
16.6 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 6.5 Assists
The point guard was on the same team as DeMarcus Cousins and the two of them dominated college basketball for one season. Wall was awarded the Rupp trophy which goes to the top player in Division 1 Basketball. To go along with the Rupp trophy the point guard was a consensus All American. Kentucky honored wall in their Hall of Fame in 2017. Outside of the individual awards Wall also helped lead his team to the Elite Eight. The point guard has the most assists in a game for a Kentucky Wildcat with 16, which broke current Saint Louis Billiken coach Travis Ford record.