I believe it belongs to SF Brian McCarl.  www.whatifsports.com/hd/playerprofile/ratings.aspx?tid=0&pid=1608454

He arrived at Alabama as the #1 HS player with an 870 rating, rising to 1015 as a sophomore, and finishing as a 1038-rated senior.  In that time, he led us to two National Titles, a Final Four, and a Sweet Sixteen (RPIs of 1, 1, 1, and 3), with a total record of 118-17.  In the toughest conference in Smith, he was Player of the Year twice, Defensive Player of the Year once, and lost out on National Player of the Year twice only because a mildly successful mid-major gives one player a year all their shots and gets 35 ppg.  He's Alabama's all-time leading scorer, and made Smith's all-time top scorers' list as well.  His 15 ppg came against the #1 SoS all four seasons, and were scored in the flow of the game (rather than due to a crazily high distribution), as evidenced by his 52.7% career FG%.  Had he played more than just to fairly fresh (23.7 mpg) and had I upped his distro as high as he could've handled it, he could easily have scored 22-24 ppg over his entire career, and added significantly to his 4.6 boards and nearly 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.

This combination of ratings, success, stats, and a willingness to stay all 4 years gives Brian the best D1 career I've seen and, I believe, the best one ever.  Plus, he still rides the bus.
We'll miss you, Brian!

I'm unfamiliar with DI but I would have expected a player like that to jump early. Was it just luck that he stayed for four years?

Posted by pjbrankin on 1/23/2011 1:00:00 PM (view original):
I'm unfamiliar with DI but I would have expected a player like that to jump early. Was it just luck that he stayed for four years?

yes and no

(I'm no expert - but I do believe certain types of kids are more likely to go EE based on personality - the fact that the OP referenced the "still rides the bus" thing makes me think that this kid was predisposed to stay, and that the OP had a feeling this would be the case going in...but I'm mostly just reading into ****, so who knows)

Truth is, I think it's *very* uncommon for someone like that to stick around -- that's what makes his career so remarkable.  Personality probably plays a small part, but I have a feeling we also rolled a "1" on the 100-sided die for it to happen, too.

I couldn't take another season playing against that SOB. Don't let the door hit you in the *** on your way out of the SEC, McCarl! Congrats on another title, jeff.

jeff, did his personality play any role in your recruiting?

Nope -- when the 870-rated #1 player in the country is in your backyard, you recruit him.  That's the secret of my success :)

Posted by jeffdrayer on 1/23/2011 7:47:00 PM (view original):
Nope -- when the 870-rated #1 player in the country is in your backyard, you recruit him.  That's the secret of my success :)

that's good strategy folks

And this is what is wrong with early entries.  Nice player. 

Posted by jslotman on 1/23/2011 9:56:00 PM (view original):
And this is what is wrong with early entries.  Nice player. 

That some higher rated players stick around and some lower rated players leave early?

. . which DOES happen in real life:  SOme players that shouldn't go early do, and some players decide to stay all four years. . . 

When was the last time the best player in the country as a sophomore stayed for two more years?

Posted by isack24 on 1/23/2011 10:36:00 PM (view original):
When was the last time the best player in the country as a sophomore stayed for two more years?

1936?

Exactly.  Tim Duncan, maybe? 

I guess none of them were quite the best players in the country, but that whole Florida team that stuck around until their senior years were pretty darn good...