Warriors’ stars best college moments

The Golden State Warriors are no strangers when it comes to finding and developing young talent from the NCAA and the G-League. Their roster has morphed into a mix of experienced superstar and all-star veterans who have stayed with the team and young guys like Jonathan Kuminga, Jordan Poole, and Moses Moody who have had a large jump in their development this season. With March Madness quickly approaching, I wanted to look back at some of the Warriors’ star players best moments before they were drafted.

Steph Curry

The 6’3” “Baby Faced Assassin” was under looked most of his high school career and was ranked as a three-star recruit even though he was the son of a former NBA player. He turned down a walk on spot at his father’s alma mater, Virginia Tech and did not receive very many offers apart from that one. Ultimately, he decided to go to Davidson, a choice that he would never forget. Curry would play there for 3 years, and his numbers would only increase after his first season. In his first collegiate game he would have nine turnovers at halftime, but he told reporters years later that in the locker room his coach yelled at him but elected to stick with him and not bench him. This gave him the confidence to play his game and he dropped 30 the very next game. His two most memorable moments with the Bobcats were in his junior year, right before he was drafted to the NBA. He shot around 39 percent on three-pointers and averaged 28.6 points that season, profoundly changing the game as he played. That season Davidson clashed with Oklahoma and Steph put on a show against the number one pick in his draft, Blake Griffin. With KD and Russell Westbrook watching courtside, Curry would drop 44 but ended up losing 78-82 as Griffin had an astonishing 25 points and 21 rebounds.

Curry then led his team to the NCAA Tournament where they would be ranked as a number ten seed having to play a number seven Gonzaga. Curry had 40 points in a spectacular second half performance to advance them out of the first round. Next was Georgetown, a number two seed and Curry lit them up for 30 points to upset them in the second round. Then in the sweet sixteen they would face a defensive heavy Wisconsin (three seed) and blow them out in the second half with you guessed it, another Curry 30 bomb as a young Lebron happened to sit courtside to watch the show. But the dream run would end in the elite eight as they played the number one ranked Kanas and lost 59-57. Steph ended with 25 points but was beat out by guys like Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers both who helped Kansas escape with a narrow win. That would be his last game in college and would go on to be drafted by the Warriors at the number seven spot in 2009. The rest is history.

Klay Thompson

Listed at 6’6,” 200 pounds, Thompson took a similar approach to college and attended Washington State for three years from 2008-2011. He went from averaging 12.5 points his freshman year to 21.6 points in his junior year. A large jump to say the least, but his breakout moment would come his sophomore year when Washington State made the tournament. In a first-round tight loss to Oregon, Klay would score 20 points and catch the attention of scouts as he proved he could knock down the three balls when it mattered most. The next year he helped lead his team to the quarterfinals against the University of Washington who had some NBA talent of their own in Isaiah Thomas and Terrance Ross. Klay set a tournament record with eight threes made and 43 points but could not secure the win as they lost by one point, 88-87.

Klay finished college making the Pac 10 all-freshman team, he led the 2011 Pac 10 conference in scoring, and became the third leading scorer at WSU. This would all lead up to him being drafted 11th overall by the Warriors in 2011.

Draymond Green

The 6’7,” versatile forward Draymond Green took the more conventional route in college, attending Michigan State University for four years from 2008-2012. He learned under legendary coach Tom Izzo and improved his stats every single year he was there. He went from averaging 3 points and 3 rebounds per game his freshman year to 16.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in his senior year. He was the definition of a player who hustled and worked hard for every opportunity that he received. But his best game came in 2011 when Michigan State played the powerhouse Gonzaga. In a hostile environment, Draymond put up 34 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in a 74-67 win for the Spartans.

It just shows how good NBA players are, as Draymond has made a name for himself playing defense in the NBA but in college he could score at will no matter who was in front of him. The second moment that stood out was Michigan State vs the University of Carolina (UNC) game that was the first game in the “Carrier Classic.” The two teams faced off on the USS Carl Vinson in front of President Obama, who got to watch two future teammates in Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green play one another. MSU lost 67-55 but Green had a career high 18 rebounds. Draymond finished his college career as one of only a few players to record multiple triple doubles in the NCAA tournament. He would fall in the draft, but the Warriors happily took him at pick 35 in 2012.

Jordan Poole

Finally, Jordan Poole who is one of the Warriors most recent draft picks that has flourished this season. He played two seasons at Michigan from 2017-2019 but was not the most eye-opening player. His freshman year he averaged 6.1 points and doubled it his second and last season there. But it was his first-year play that caught the attention of scouts and fans. In the second round of the NCAA tournament against Houston (2018) Michigan would find themselves down with the ball but had to inbound it the full length of the court. They did so and Poole caught the pass from the point guard and sunk a game-winning three-pointer to defeat the Cougars.

They would make it to the championship game but lose to a stacked Villanova team that had Donte Divincenzo, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Eric Paschall, and Omari Spellman. Poole’s second year would be less of an exciting one but enough to catch the Warriors attention. They drafted JP 28th overall in 2019 after losing in the finals and needed some backcourt scoring with Klay being injured.

Overall the Warriors have had great success in the past few years picking talent and developing them into all-star caliber players for the future. If Moody, Kuminga, Wiseman, and Poole can have half the success that Steph, Klay and Draymond had then the Dubs should be set for the future in term of talent.

(Photo credit: Orlin Wagner/Associated Press)