Best NBA Player from every Power 5 School

Best NBA player who played for West Virginia Mountaineers — Jerry West

• NBA Champion
• 14X All-Star
• 12X All-NBA

The Logo. Jerry West’s reputation as the literal face of NBA basketball needs no introduction. A gifted scorer and facilitator at 6-foot-2, West could do a little bit of everything with the ball in hand. He was a top-shelf athlete, a high-character leader, and a deadeye shooter. He played 14 years in LA and made the All-Star game 14 times.

West infamously made nine NBA Finals appearances, but only won once in 1972. He did, however, win Finals MVP in 1969, becoming the only player to even win the award despite playing on the losing team. West was the NBA’s scoring champ in 1970 and proved malleable in his ability to coexist with other NBA legends — most notably Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain.

Remarkably in line with his NBA career, West guided West Virginia to the NCAA championship game in 1959 and was named Final Four MVP despite the Mountaineers losing to California in the championship game. In three years at WVU, West averaged 24.8 points and 13.3 rebounds — playing forward, not guard.

Runner-up: Rod Thorn — Thorn played eight NBA seasons, but peaked as a rookie when he averaged 14.4 points in 34.6 minutes per game for the Baltimore Bullets. 

Best NBA player who played for Wisconsin Badgers — Michael Finley

• NBA Champion
• 2X All-Star
• All-Rookie First Team

Michael Finley enjoyed a fruitful NBA career, mostly spent in the state of Texas. He began his career with a successful rookie campaign in Phoenix but was traded to Dallas the next season. He made two All-Star appearances in nine years with the Mavs, forming a tantalizing duo with Dirk Nowitzki.

In 2005, Finley went to San Antonio to play behind Manu Ginobili and San Antonio’s vaunted core. He won his lone NBA championship with San Antonio in 2007, but he would appear in the Finals again in 2010 — that time with the Boston Celtics. It was a brief one-year stay in Boston, as Finley decided to retire after the Celtics’ defeat.

Finley spent four years at Wisconsin, averaging over 20 points per game in each of his final three seasons. At the time of his departure, Finley was the program’s all-time leading scorer. He was selected 21st overall in the 1995 NBA Draft.

Runner-up: Devin Harris — Harris spent most of his career with Dallas and Utah, but his lone All-Star appearance came with the Nets in 2009 — one of only two full seasons in New Jersey.