Kansas basketball: Ranking the top 10 Jayhawks of all time

8. Paul Pierce (1995-1998)

Paul Pierce is easily one of the greatest Jayhawks ever in the NBA, and he’s also one of the greatest ever at Kansas too. Despite playing just three seasons in college, Pierce is still top ten in all-time points scored at Kansas which is actually quite impressive. Here are some of Pierce’s other accolades:

• 3x Big 8/Big 12 champion
• 1998 Consensus first-team All-American
• 1x First-team All-Big 12
• 1x Third-team All-Big 12
• No. 10 in career points at Kansas (1,768)
• Jersey retired

Despite never making it past the Elite Eight with head coach Roy Williams, Paul Pierce left his mark on Kansas basketball. Pierce’s development is evident in his year-by-year stats, where he averaged 11.9, 16.3, and 20.4 points in his freshman, sophomore, and junior years respectively.

Despite never getting to a Final Four, Pierce is still one of the greatest Jayhawks ever. He led Kansas to three Big 8/Big 12 titles in a row, and he was one of the best players in basketball during his three seasons in Lawrence.

Interestingly, Pierce put together his all-time Kansas basketball team which included himself, Wilt Chamberlain, Danny Manning, Joel Embiid, and Mario Chalmers. We’ll see how that holds up later…