Best player to coach in college

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Mullin, Drexler can't think of any other Hall of Fame players. Are Mullin and Drexler the best players to have coached or will coach in NCAA?
Didn't Willis Reed coach in college? Creighton?
 
Mullin, Drexler can't think of any other Hall of Fame players. Are Mullin and Drexler the best players to have coached or will in NCAA?
Didn't Willis Reed coach in college? Creighton?
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Yes on Reed
 
Manning is in the basketball hall of fame I believe. Almost completely for his college career, but in nonetheless
 
John Wooden is in the Hall of Fame as a player, as well as for being a coach. His playing career predated the NBA, of course.

Via Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wooden

After graduating in 1928, he attended Purdue University and was coached by Ward "Piggy" Lambert. He helped lead the Boilermakers to the 1932 Helms Athletic Foundation National Championship, as determined by a panel vote rather than the NCAA tournament, which did not begin until seven years later 1939. John Wooden was named All-Big Ten and All-Midwestern (1930–32) while at Purdue, and he was the first player ever to be named a three-time consensus All-American. He was also selected for membership in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Wooden is also an honorary member of the International Co-Ed Fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. Wooden was nicknamed "The Indiana Rubber Man" for his suicidal dives on the hardcourt. He graduated from Purdue in 1932 with a degree in English.

After college, Wooden spent several years playing professionally with the Indianapolis Kautskys (later the Indianapolis Jets), Whiting Ciesar All-Americans, and Hammond Ciesar All-Americans while teaching and coaching in the high school ranks. During one 46-game stretch he made 134 consecutive free throws. He was named to the NBL's First Team for the 1937–38 season.
 
Manning is in the basketball hall of fame I believe. Almost completely for his college career, but in nonetheless
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Still surprisingly small list
Probably have to put Cousy 1st, but Mullin is in running for greatest player to ever become HC in NCAA history
 
St. John's own Joe Lapchick played in the pros and was regarded as the best center of his era for the Celtics in the 20's and 30's. An egregious miss there folks!
 
Cousy killed it at BC:

1963–1964 Boston College 10–11
1964–1965 Boston College 21–7 NIT First Round
1965–1966 Boston College 21–5 NIT Quarterfinals
1966–1967 Boston College 21–3 NCAA Elite Eight
1967–1968 Boston College 17–8 NCAA First round
1968–1969 Boston College 24–4 NIT Runner-Up
Boston College: 114–38 (.750)
 
Wooden is the only correct answer. He was the best player in the nation coming out of Purdue, and no college coach has ever won more NCAA championships - no even close. He's not just elected to the HOF as a player and coach, he's the only man to be elected as player and coach.

Nearly every college coach played somewhere, so I guess what you are asking is among all college coaches at all levels, who was the best player? That may yield a different answer.
 
Wooden is the only correct answer. He was the best player in the nation coming out of Purdue, and no college coach has ever won more NCAA championships - no even close. He's not just elected to the HOF as a player and coach, he's the only man to be elected as player and coach.
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He was the first to be inducted as both, but Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman have also since been inducted as both, and Tommy Heinsohn will make it a total of 4 later this year.

None of those other guys coached college ball, though.
 
Wooden is the only correct answer. He was the best player in the nation coming out of Purdue, and no college coach has ever won more NCAA championships - no even close. He's not just elected to the HOF as a player and coach, he's the only man to be elected as player and coach.

Nearly every college coach played somewhere, so I guess what you are asking is among all college coaches at all levels, who was the best player? That may yield a different answer.
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If you could get in a Delorean and have Wooden or Lapchick play Mullin or Clyde Drexler one on one in there primes I would bet the ranch on Mo, Clyde. In fact I would pay good money to watch one of the guys guard Drexler.
 
Larry Brown and Dick McGuire should probably be on the list, but it is a very short list.
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You're thinking of Al McGuire (Dick never coached college), but his NBA career wasn't much.

Brown's a good choice, but a notch below some of the others mentioned.
 
Steve Alford at UCLA, great Indiana player and on the 1984 USA 'dream-College' Olympic Team.

Kevin Ollie a very good college player who hung around the NBA a long time.

Bobby Knight.

Bobby Hurley.

Louis Orr.
 
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