Big East alumni in the ESPN NBA Rank top-500

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

Almost two months ago we selected the first hypothetical Big East All-NBA team, with convoluted rules–obviously Dwyane Wade never played in the Big East–but pretty decent results. Why were they decent? ESPN said so, duh.

ESPN once again released its list of the NBA’s top 500 players to much consternation and backlash on social media. Some players (like DJO and Jerel McNeal) are ranked even though they won’t play in the NBA this season while others (like Trent Lockett and maybe Vander Blue) got snubbed despite the fact they will. This isn’t a comment on their list, more as a reference should you need it.

Of the 13 players on our roster, only Shelvin Mack came in outside of the top 300 and his selection was necessitated by an egregious dearth of quality point guards from the Big East. All seven players in the top 100 found a place on our team, and five of those to our starting lineup.

Check out the list for yourself (Marquette players are in bold, parentheses indicate ranking compared to last season):  

Dwyane Wade 18 (-10)

Roy Hibbert 22 (+13)

Greg Monroe 42 (+7)

David West 44 (+12)

Jimmy Butler 66 (+305)

Kyle Lowry 78 (-17)

Jeff Green 83 (+89)

Gordon Hayward 90 (+33)

Wilson Chandler 105 (-12)

Kyle Korver 117 (+69)

Wesley Matthews 130 (-21)

Mo Harkless 178 (+187)

Metta World Peace 189 (-52)

Samuel Dalembert 205 (-69)

Otto Porter 207 (NR)

Marshon Brooks 220 (-72)

Randy Foye 232 (-31)

Steve Novak 251 (-75)

Jordan Crawford 252 (-34)

Jae Crowder 279 (+60)

Dante Cunningham 282 (+16)

Anthony Tolliver 335 (-46)

Ryan Gomes 382 (-56)

Ricky Ledo 386 (NR)

Shelvin Mack 431 (-35)

Buycks 435 (NR)

Quentin Richardson 443 (-186) 

Darius Johnson-Odom 469 (-13)

McNeal 485 (-9)

Maalik Wayns 492 (NR)

Notes and Observations:

• Georgetown led the way with three top-100 players, one more than Marquette. No other team had more than one in the top 100.
• Jimmy Butler was the most improved Big East player and most improved player overall in ESPN’s calculations, jumping up 305 spots in the rankings.  Mo Harkless had the second best Big East jump jump. 
• Quentin Richardson had the biggest drop, falling 186 spots.
• Marquette’s eight ranked players were the most in the league, followed by Georgetown and Villanova with four each. Providence came in fourth with three players of its own. 
• Every Big East school had at least one player represented.
• Roy Hibbert closed the gap on Dwyane Wade by 23 spots from last season in the quest for the “Best Player to Come From a School Currently in the Big East” belt. 
• We may have missed a player or two, so drop us a comment or Tweet to let us know.
• Preseason player rankings are stupid so don’t pay them any mind.