12 @ 12: White men can jump

This is a tongue-in-cheek 12 @ 12. It isn’t meant as a racially sensitive topic so save your emails. After watching Monday Night Football and Game 5 of the World Series at the Taco Mac on Chastian Road in Kennesaw, Georgia (a.k.a. the best sports bar in Georgia), my table (myself and the fantasy football league) and a neighboring table discussed the best Caucasian players to play college basketball since 2000.

The reason? Three white guys were named first team All-Americans on Monday. Kansas’s Cole Aldrich, Duke’s Kyle Singler and Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody were named to the preseason All-American list.

So with that in mind, here was our list of the top 12 white guys to play college hoops since 2000:

1. Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina – He was the only four-time All-American of the 2000s and one of the greatest college basketball players of all-time. No surprise he was the easy choice.

2. J.J. Redick, Duke – The Blue Devil sharp-shooter was a two-time All-American and one of the best scorers of the 2000s.

3. Casey Jacobsen, Stanford – Before Redick, Jacobsen was the premier perimeter scorers in the country. He too was a two-time All-American.

4. Luke Harangody, Notre Dame – He could pull off something rare this season if he is named an All-American at the end of the year. It would be his third such award. Harangody has averaged over 19 points a game so far in his three-year career.

5. Adam Morrison, Gonzaga – He and Redick were one of the best stories of the 2000s. The two battled all season long for scoring supremacy. The mustache man was an elite scorer for Mark Few.

6. Kevin Love, UCLA – Despite only playing one year of college hoops, Love’s impact was certainly felt. The double-double man helped the Bruins make it to the Final Four.

7. Andrew Bogut, Utah – The Aussie was the undisputed National Player of the Year as a sophomore in 04-05 after averaging 20.4 points and 12.2 rebounds a game.

8. Gerry McNamara, Syracuse – Has there been a more clutch guard in the Big East since 2000 than him? He was Mr. Big East tournament and helped the Orange win a National Championship.

9. Kirk Hinrich, Kansas – He piloted the Jayhawks to two straight Final Fours and was one of the best set up guards in the country.

10. Nick Collison, Kansas – Teaming with Hinrich, Collison was a foundation piece to the two Final Four runs. He left Kansas as the all-time leading scorer in the Big

11. Troy Murphy, Notre Dame – After three straight years of leading the Irish in scoring and rebounding, the New Jersey native left the school as one of the all-time best in South Bend.

12. Steve Blake, Maryland - It is hard to argue against championships and Blake helped pilot a team that no one thought could win it all. Take him off of the team, the Terps likely don’t win it all.