Where the NBA Players Come From
Duke, UConn, UCLA, Carolina, and Kansas top 122 D-I teams with most
players on 2008-09 NBA Opening-Day Rosters
Duke, Connecticut, UCLA, North Carolina, and Kansas top the list of 122 Division I teams that
have at least one former player on 2008-2009 NBA opening-day rosters. Duke
stands alone atop the list with 14 former players now
receiving checks from NBA teams, and Connecticut (12), UCLA (12), Kansas (11),
and North Carolina (11) all have double-digits numbers of former players on NBA
rosters. CBN has been tracking the origin of NBA players on NBA
opening-day rosters since the 1986-1987 season, and there are four categories of players
in our current list. Those categories are: 1) NBA players that attended Division I colleges; 2)
NBA players that attended
non-Division I colleges, including junior colleges; 3) NBA players that did not attend
U.S. colleges (high school players); and 4)
Foreign players that have no U.S. college experience. Foreign players that
played for U.S. colleges are shown in the college list rather than the foreign
players list. That explains the discrepancy between the number of foreign players
shown in our list and the larger number of "international players" reported
by the NBA. Only the last college a player attended is shown in cases where
players on current NBA rosters attended more than one college.
The numbers in this list are interesting to compare with those that were
compiled for the 1986-1987 season (see the January 26, 1987 issue of
Basketball Weekly titled "ACC, Big Ten Most Generous with NBA",
by Jim Sukup). Back then there were 23 teams in the NBA (compared with
30
today), there were a total of 301 players on NBA opening-day rosters (compared with 438
on the 2008-09 opening-day list), and there was no list of the number of foreign players in the league
(although several foreign players on those NBA rosters had played for U.S. colleges). UCLA headed the colleges with 9 former players in the NBA, and the
ACC was at the top of the conference list with 34 players on the 1986-87 NBA opening-day
roster list.
The
ACC once again leads all conferences in producing NBA players for 2008-09. This season the ACC has
58 former players in the NBA, an average of 4.8 NBA players for each team in the conference,
an increase from 4.5 from last season. This season, The Big East, the Big 12,
and the Pac-10 had every school represented on
the NBA on opening-day roster list, the ACC had 11 of 12, Big Ten had 10 of 11,
and the SEC had 10 of 12 schools on NBA opening-day rosters. Six conferences
(including Independents) had just one team represented in the NBA , and six conferences had no NBA
players on
2008-09 NBA opening-day rosters. There are 52 foreign players on 2008-09 NBA
opening-day rosters, or 11.9% of the NBA total; 33 players that went straight
from U.S. high schools to the NBA (7.5%), and 5 players that attended non-Division I
colleges (1.1%). Division I colleges provide the balance of 348 NBA players
(79.5%). Foreign players that played in U.S. colleges are counted under the
appropriate school listing.
Younger readers that are thinking of a long NBA career will want to take a
look at the last
table on this page because it is of special interest. It shows the number of NBA
players with the corresponding number of years of NBA experience. For
example, there are 57 rookies on opening-day rosters this season that have no NBA
experience, and they make up 13.0% of the total number of NBA players. Almost half (46.3%) of NBA players are rookies or have 1, 2, or 3 years of
NBA experience. Are you convinced that you will have a long, productive
NBA career? This is very unlikely because only 42 players (9.6%) on 2008-09 NBA
opening-day rosters have more than 10 years of NBA experience, and only 2
have 15 or more years of NBA experience! Player turnover in
the NBA is fast and furious, and only exceptional talent lasts in the NBA for
any length of time. Shaquille O'Neal of the Phoenix Suns is the lone elder
statesman in the NBA this season. This LSU product has 16 years
of NBA experience, and is 36 years of age, but he is not the oldest NBA player
this season. That honor goes to Sam Cassell of Boston, who was 38.94 years of
age on October 28, 2008, the opening day of the 2008-09 season. Our annual "tip of the hat" is due
to both Shaq and Sam for their NBA longevity. Don't
expect them to be around for many more years, as the grind of the
82-game NBA season catches up with all players sooner or later.
The average NBA player at the start
of the 2008-09 season was 26.81 years
old and had 4.74 years of NBA experience. Players on the San Antonio Spurs averaged
29.96 years of age, making them the
oldest, age-wise, of all NBA teams. The Denver Nuggets average 6.71 years of NBA playing experience,
tops in this category for the 30 NBA teams. The Golden State Warriors have the youngest average age in the NBA, 24.19 years this season,
along with the lowest average of NBA
playing experience at 2.93 years. It will be interesting to
keep an eye on these teams throughout the season to see how well these
figures compare compare with wins and losses at the end of this NBA season.
The following lists are based upon NBA Opening-Day rosters for the 2008-09
season, which was October 28, 2008. The
conference list includes only current school affiliations for the
2008-09 season. Team and conference lists include players on the active
NBA roster list (12 active players are allowed per NBA team at any given
time) and inactive list (maximum of 3 inactive players allowed). There were 78 players on the inactive list at the start of the 2007-08 NBA season.
Copyright © 2009 by Collegiate Basketball News Co. All Rights Reserved.
Players Avg. No. NBA
Conference (# teams) in NBA Players/Team
Atlantic Coast (12) 58 4.8
Pacific 10 (10) 47 4.7
Big Ten (11) 38 3.5
Big 12 (12) 41 3.4
Southeastern (12) 39 3.3
Big East (16) 49 3.1
Mountain West (9) 12 1.3
Conference USA (12) 12 1.0
Atlantic 10 (14) 11 0.8
Western Athletic(9) 7 0.8
West Coast (8) 5 0.6
Missouri Valley (10) 4 0.4
Mid-American (12) 3 0.3
Colonial (12) 3 0.3
Sun Belt (13) 3 0.2
Big Sky (9) 2 0.2
Ohio Valley (10) 2 0.2
Southern (12) 2 0.2
Southland (12) 2 0.2
Big West (9) 2 0.2
Patriot (8) 1 0.1
Horizon (10) 1 0.1
Mid-Eastern (11) 1 0.1
Independents (15) 1 0.1
Summit (10) 1 0.1
Metro Atlantic (10) 1 0.1
Big South (10) 0 0.0
Atlantic Sun (11) 0 0.0
Northeast (11) 0 0.0
Ivy League (8) 0 0.0
Southwestern (10) 0 0.0
America East (9) 0 0.0
Total Division I 348
Foreign* 52
High School 33
Non-Division I 5
Total NBA 438
*Note: # foreign players does not include those that played in U.S. colleges
No. Players
School In NBA
Duke 14
Connecticut 12
UCLA 12
Kansas 11
North Carolina 11
Arizona 9
Florida 9
Georgia Tech 9
Kentucky 9
Michigan St. 8
Texas 8
LSU 6
Memphis 6
Ohio St. 6
Stanford 6
Syracuse 6
California 5
DePaul 5
Maryland 5
Oklahoma St. 5
Southern Cal 5
Alabama 4
Arkansas 4
Illinois 4
Michigan 4
Missouri 4
UNLV 4
Villanova 4
Wake Forest 4
Boston College 3
Fresno St. 3
Georgetown 3
Indiana 3
Iowa 3
Florida St. 3
Marquette 3
Minnesota 3
N. C. St. 3
New Mexico 3
Notre Dame 3
Oregon 3
Purdue 3
Texas A&M 3
Washington 3
Wisconsin 3
Arizona St. 2
Bradley 2
Cincinnati 2
Clemson 2
Creighton 2
CS Fullerton 2
Georgia 2
Gonzaga 2
Iowa St. 2
Kansas St. 2
Miami-FL 2
Nebraska 2
Nevada 2
Providence 2
Saint Joseph's 2
South Carolina 2
South Florida 2
Utah 2
Pepperdine 2
Pittsburgh 2
Rhode Island 2
Rice 2
Virginia 2
Xavier 2
Auburn 1
Austin Peay 1
Baylor 1
Bowling Green 1
Central Michigan 1
Colgate 1
Colorado 1
Colorado St. 1
Col. Charleston 1
Detroit 1
Drexel 1
Duquesne 1
Eastern Wash. 1
Florida A&M 1
Florida Int. 1
Hawaii 1
Hofstra 1
Houston 1
IUPUI 1
La Salle 1
Louisiana Tech 1
Louisville 1
Massachusetts 1
Miami-OH 1
Mississippi St. 1
Murray St. 1
Northeastern 1
Oklahoma 1
Oregon St. 1
Penn St. 1
Portland St. 1
Rider 1
Rutgers 1
Saint Louis 1
Santa Clara 1
Seton Hall 1
SMU 1
St. John's 1
TCU 1
Temple 1
Texas St. 1
Texas Tech 1
Texas-San Ant. 1
Tulsa 1
UAB 1
UALR 1
Utah Valley St. 1
West Virginia 1
Washington St. 1
Tennessee 1
Western Kentucky 1
New School 1
New School 1
Western Carolina 1
Wyoming 1
Total Division I 348
Avg. Avg.
NBA Team Exp. Age
Atlanta 3.60 25.41
Boston 5.47 27.16
Charlotte 3.29 25.13
Chicago 3.57 25.41
Cleveland 5.53 27.32
Dallas 6.71 28.29
Denver 6.43 28.34
Detroit 4.73 27.09
Golden State 2.93 24.19
Houston 5.43 28.16
Indiana 4.27 27.18
LA Clippers 5.64 27.50
LA Lakers 5.64 26.78
Memphis 3.21 24.78
Miami 3.87 26.08
Milwaukee 5.33 28.03
Minnesota 4.80 27.07
New Jersey 4.13 25.80
New Orleans 5.80 28.78
New York 5.53 26.90
Oklahoma City 3.60 25.18
Orlando 5.60 27.88
Philadelphia 5.71 27.30
Phoenix 5.62 27.95
Portland 2.94 24.46
Sacramento 4.43 26.94
San Antonio 6.00 29.96
Toronto 3.23 26.57
Utah 4.47 26.06
Washington 4.87 27.05
NBA Average 4.74 26.81
No. Years NBA No. NBA Cumulative
Experience Players Percentage
0 57 0.130
1 53 0.251
2 49 0.363
3 44 0.463
4 34 0.541
5 38 0.628
6 27 0.689
7 28 0.753
8 24 0.808
9 20 0.845
10 22 0.904
11 12 0.932
12 15 0.966
13 10 0.989
14 3 0.995
15 1 0.998
16 1 1.000
Total 438
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