Thompson is the Greatest…But Who is on State’s Basketball Mt. Rushmore?

Last week, ACC Network posed the question, “Who is the NC State Basketball G.O.A.T.”? We know, we know, ridiculous right? Not only is Skywalker the best State player, you could put him up there as ACC’s all-time player. So while number one is unanimous, we wanted to give our definitive top picks.

ACC Network’s nominees were David Thompson, Rodney Monroe, Chris Corchiani, and TJ Warren. With that, here’s our State Basketball Mount Rushmore.

GOAT David Thompson – Just to get it out of the way

Let’s face it, David Thompson is the GOAT. During his three-year stretch he filled the trophy case – 3x ACC Player of the Year, multiple Consensus All-American, All-ACC/NCAA Tournament Teams, NCAA Tournament Outstanding Player and Naismith Award, among another dozen-plus honors. In ACC history, only he and Ralph Sampson have won ACC POY awards three times. Scoring 2309 points with 694 boards, Thompson was the man.

Here’s Michael Jordan talking about Thompson,
“As I grew up in North Carolina, I was an anti-Carolina guy. I hated UNC,” Jordan said. “I was in love with David Thompson, not just for the game of basketball, but in terms of what he represented. We all go through our trials and tribulations, and he did, and I was inspired by him.”

Which, sidenote…WHY THE HELL DIDN’T MJ COME TO STATE?!?

Honorable Mention

-Ronnie Shavlik
Ronnie owned the ACC in the 50’s. The guy averaged over a THREE YEAR CAREER 19 points and 17 rebounds a game. Yes, it was a two-point game back then, so numbers were inflated (ignore Ronnie’s FG% and FT%), but still solid numbers. 3x All-ACC Tournament, 2x Consensus All-American, 2x All-ACC and Player of the Year in 1955. The following year he went number four overall to the Knicks. Could say he’s 4B on State Basketball Mount Rushmore.

-Chris Corchiani
Bettered only by Bobby f*cking Hurley in NCAA history for assists in a career. Thanks to Monroe, Corchiani was a transition wizard putting up a State record of 1038 assists in his career. All-ACC team nominations his final three seasons, he lead the ACC in steals all four years and assists in his final two seasons.

-Dereck Whittenburg
Whittenburg gets a shoutout just for his 1983 postseason run averaging 20 a game for the Pack. While we love him, his regular-season play was fine and overall the image heightened by that magical championship run.

-Thurl Bailey
Similar to Burleson, Bailey was steady during his Pack career. He got you points, he got you rebounds, he got you blocks.

-Tom Gugliotta
Googs senior season was awesome, averaging 23 points and 10 boards a game. Most definitely matured over his four years, but not enough to crack top-four.

-Julius Hodge
Every night he filled the score sheet in some way.

Mt. Rushmore Member –  Tommy Burleson

Tommy Burleson is underrated. First off, just imagine having to deal with him inside and across the paint is David Thompson…Good Lawwwwwd. Don’t know if there is a steadier player out there for State basketball. In his three years, Burleson averaged 19 points and 13 rebounds. Just look at this postseason run to the 1974 title:

Against Providence  – 16 Points / 24 Rebounds
Against Pitt – 26 Points / 12 Rebounds
Against UCLA (Going head-to-head with Bill Walton)  – 20 Points / 14 Rebounds
Against Marquette in National Championship – 14 Points / 11 Rebounds / 7 Freaking Blocks

Thompson overshadowed Burleson’s greatness, but we’re showing our respects to the man here.

Mt. Rushmore Member – Rodney Monroe

Mr. Rodney Monroe. Monroe is State’s all-time points getter at 2,551, thanks to three straight years averaging at least 21 points per game (and his freshman year, while he played every game, he didn’t have a single start). Three-time All-ACC and 1990-91 ACC Player of the Year. Just imagine if he had a big man to dish and rebound (hint, watch for an article soon about that)?

Mt. Rushmore Member – TJ Warren

Uh oh…here comes some recency bias. TJ Warren is added because if you expand out what he did in two years over four, the numbers are astounding. 1300 points and would have been close to passing State point leader Monroe (2551) by end of junior year, if not beginning of senior year. Grabbed nearly 400 boards to go with over a hundred steals. The man single-handedly carried that 2013-14 State team deep into ACC Tournament and into the Big Dance, while picking up ACC POY win.

Who do you have as part of State’s Mount Rushmore?