NCAA Basketball: 25 most mesmerizing players of all time

There are two ends to every style spectrum of awesomeness. If Vince Carter and Dominique Wilkins are one end, Adam Morrison is almost certainly the other. The Spokane native was not a highly regarded recruit, rated only a two-star prospect and never better than 500th in the nation, yet he was able to earn a scholarship offer from Mark Few and Gonzaga, which historically develops players as consistently as any program in the country.

Remarkably, Adam not only played during his freshman season but played well. He came off the bench and averaged north of 11 points per game for a team that went 28-3, earning a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Over the next couple of seasons, he would become one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball. In 2005-06 he put an incredible 926 points on the scoreboard which ranks seventh-most in a season since 1992-93. His 1,867 points rank 13th in the WCC dating back to 1985-86.

What made Morrison so polarizing wasn’t his story, which was still a good one. Underrated recruit attends hometown university, leads program to an 83-12 record over three seasons. It wasn’t even the fact that he put dump truck loads of points on the scoreboard.

It was his look. Morrison looked like he had just rolled out of a sleeping bag at Lollapalooza, after a Janes Addiction show, and stumbled into the gym. He had long hair, a wispy mustache, and the demeanor of “a nice boy.” He was the non-traditional basketball star in every way that Gonzaga is a non-traditional power program.

Morrison was the 3rd overall selection in the 2006 NBA draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. His scoring prowess never really translated and he appeared in only 161 games in the NBA. He is currently coaching in his hometown of Spokane at Mead High School.