This is a continuation of Chicago College Basketball's Top 10 players in Chicago college basketball history. A surprising name from DePaul's Conference USA days makes the list at #9. Check it out and discuss the choice after the break.
Already revealed players:
#10 David Holston - Chicago State
9. Drake Diener - DePaul: 6'6" guard Diener (left, playing in Italy) may seem like an odd choice for this list - especially considering many people would say that his cousin, Travis Diener, was the better basketball player - but if college basketball really is about the combination of athletics and academics then Diener is certainly worthy of a spot. While at DePaul, Drake was a three-time Academic All-American. He was the Division I-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete of the Year in basketball for the 2004-05 season. Diener wasn't just productive in the classroom, he was also very good on the court. During his senior season he averaged 15.6 points per game. He had 1,208 career points at DePaul. He currently plays in Italy for Banca Tercas Teramo Basket.
Updated: 7/31/2009
Filed under: Uncategorized
Tags: college basketball, DePaul, history
Who you Crappin'! John, all us College basketball fans here in Chicago appreciate your insight and views on this subject. However, the information, stats, and knowledge you share is NOT without errors. I'd have to say this list that you are creating is absolutely non-sense and absurd. As a DePaul fan, don't get me wrong I love Drake Diener, but to say that he is one of the top 10 Basketball Players to ever play College Basketball in Chicago when he is not even in the top 10 to play at DePaul is ridiculous. Your stat line on Drake is not correct. In his senior season he averaged 14.2 points per game and only scored 1,208 pts in his career as opposed to the 1600+ points that you stated. Also, get your facts straight on Mr. Coach Ray Meyer. He coached at DePaul for 40+ seasons but went to college at Notre Dame. Your supervisor needs to be briefed on the non-sense that you write. This is unreal my friend. Get your facts straight before you blog. I'm not saying my top 10 list would be the greatest of all time, but it sure would be accurate. I will no longer read from this website.
I though I had reliable research that pegged Diener at 1,600 points, but checking StatSheet.com http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/depaul/drake-diener led me to see that was incorrect. I've updated the points and per game average. Didn't mean to intentionally mislead.
I'd also like to note that Diener is still DePaul's all-time leader in made three-pointers with 216 for his career. Diener also has the highest free throw percentage of any Blue Demon and was a great student-athlete. (An interesting statistical side note about three-pointers though: Dar Tucker attempted 204 during the 08-09 season, the most by any DePaul player ever. Talk about bad shot selection.)