Who should be on the Mount Rushmore of best basketball players from state of SC?
Picture Mount Rushmore, with the heads of four influential United States presidents sculpted into South Dakota granite. Imagine if a similar sculpture existed for basketball players from South Carolina.
Who would be carved into a Mount Rushmore of the all-time best basketball players with South Carolina roots? Does Gamecock great and recent Olympic gold medalist A’ja Wilson have a spot? How about eight-time NBA All Star and Basketball Hall of Famer Alex English?
The State is getting into the “GOAT” debate, and we only have enough room for four on our Mount Rushmore of basketball players who were raised in South Carolina.
Before casting your votes, let’s look back on some of the Palmetto State’s most iconic basketball products. The poll is below the bios.
The pool
A’ja Wilson (Hopkins): Wilson just brought home her first Olympic gold medal as a member of Team USA in Tokyo, and her basketball roots are deep in South Carolina. Wilson left Columbia’s Heathwood Hall Episcopal School as the nation’s No. 1 prospect, a McDonald’s All-American and 2014 National High School Player of the Year before winning a national championship with the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2017. Wilson was the first overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft to the Las Vegas Aces, where she’s been a three-time WNBA All Star and won the league’s 2020 MVP honor.
Alex English (Columbia): English has had three jerseys retired throughout this illustrious basketball career — his No. 22 at both Columbia’s Dreher High School and the University of South Carolina, and No. 2 with the Denver Nuggets. A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and eight-time NBA All-Star, English left Denver holding Nuggets records for career points (21,645), assists (3,679) games (837) and minutes played (29,893).
Ja Morant (Dalzell): Morant set records at Crestwood High School in Sumter, leaving as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,679 career points. He made a name for himself at Murray State University, earning consensus All-American honors in 2019 and leading the Racers to a berth in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. After two years at Murray State, Morant declared for the 2019 NBA Draft and was selected No. 2 overall to the Memphis Grizzlies. In the 2019-20 season, he led all rookies in assists per game (7.1) and total points (1,138) and was named NBA Rookie of the Year.
Jermaine O’Neal (Columbia): O’Neal went straight to the NBA out of Columbia’s Eau Claire High School, where he averaged 22.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game his senior year to earn South Carolina Player of the Year honors. He was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 17th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft but found his success with the Indiana Pacers, With the Pacers, O’Neal was voted a six-time NBA All-Star and helped Indiana reach the NBA Playoffs six times.
Khris Middleton (Charleston): Middleton has had a remarkable 2021, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their first NBA championship since 1971 and winning a gold medal with Team USA in Tokyo shortly after. He started out at Charleston’s Porter-Gaud School and headed to Texas A&M as a three-star prospect, spending three years with the Aggies before declaring for the NBA Draft in 2012. The Detroit Pistons traded Middleton to the Bucks after one season, and he made an immediate impact in Milwaukee. A two-time NBA All-Star, Middleton averaged 23.6 points per game in the Bucks’ recent playoff run.
Larry Nance (Anderson): Nance played four seasons at Clemson after graduating from Anderson’s McDuffie High School, helping the Tigers to an Elite Eight appearance in his junior season. The 6-foot-10 forward went on to play 13 seasons in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers, a three-time NBA All-Star and winner of the 1984 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. When he retired in 1994, Nance held the record for most blocked shots by any player other than a center. His No. 22 jersey has been retired by the Cavaliers.
PJ Dozier (Columbia): Coming off his senior year at Columbia’s Spring Valley High School, Dozier was named ESPN’s No. 21 recruit in the 2015 class. Dozier ended up signing with Frank Martin’s Gamecocks and played a key role in South Carolina’s 2017 Final Four run, putting up 21 points against Marquette. He declared for the NBA Draft and played for six teams across the NBA and G League on two-way contracts with three different franchises. Dozier showed potential throughout the Denver Nuggets’ 2020-21 season, stepping up as the Nuggets dealt with Jamal Murray’s ACL injury.
Ray Allen (Dalzell): Allen is a Hall of Famer with 10 NBA All-Star selections, two NBA championships and an Olympic gold medal to his name. Though he was born at an Air Force base in California, Allen spent his formative years on the basketball court at Hillcrest High School in Dalzell. He went to college at UConn, finishing his college career third in the Huskies’ career scoring list. Allen went on to spend 18 seasons in the NBA, winning championships with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and the Miami Heat in 2013. He’s considered one of the best shooters of all-time and holds the NBA record for career 3-point shots made in the regular season.
Raymond Felton (Marion): Felton led Latta High School (Latta) to two state championships and set South Carolina scoring records with 2,992 points in his prep career. The No. 1 point guard in the 2002 class, Felton played college basketball under Roy Williams at North Carolina, where he led the Tar Heels to a national championship in 2005. He was selected No. 5 overall in the NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team after his first season. Felton played five seasons in Charlotte before spending the rest of his NBA career bouncing around six different teams.
Stanley Roberts (Hopkins): Roberts led Lower Richland High School to two consecutive state championship wins in the 1980s and was considered one of the nation’s top five players out of high school. The 7-foot center played college hoops at LSU alongside Shaquille O’Neal and moved on to professional basketball after two years with the Tigers. Starting out his career with one season in Spain, Roberts was eventually selected in the first round of the 1991 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. His best season was with the 1992-93 Los Angeles Clippers, when he averaged 11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Xavier McDaniel (Columbia): Nicknamed “X-Man” and known for his shaved head and eyebrows, McDaniel attended Columbia’s A.C. Flora High School before making college hoops history at Wichita State University. McDaniel became the first NCAA player to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding during his senior year at Wichita State and was later selected fourth overall by the Seattle Supersonics in 1985. He made the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1986 and was named an NBA All-Star in 1988. McDaniel’s No. 34 jersey was retired by Wichita State, and he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Zion Williamson (Spartanburg): Heading into his third year in the NBA, Williamson has been collecting accolades since his time at Spartanburg Day School, where he led the Griffins to three straight state championships and was named South Carolina Mr. Basketball. Williamson was a consensus five-star prospect when he signed with Duke, and would later become ACC and AP Player of the Year in his one year with the Blue Devils. A first overall pick to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019, Williamson was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2020 and was a 2021 NBA All-Star.
Kevin Garnett (Greenville): Recently named to the Hall of Fame, Garnett is a 15-time NBA All-Star who has won MVP (2004), Defensive Player of the Year (2008) and a league championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008. The 6-foot-11 power forward started his basketball career at Mauldin High School in South Carolina before he transferred to Chicago’s Farragut Academy for his senior year. He was drafted to the Minnesota Timberwolves with the fifth overall pick, eventually leading them to eight playoff appearances in a row. He retired in 2016 after 21 seasons in the NBA.
— Vote now and tell us your Top 4 for the Mount Rushmore. We’ll take your votes through noon Monday. Click here if you’re having trouble viewing our poll.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 8:58 AM.
