Court Examination: Where Mike Conley Ranks Among The Pros Who Played for Thad Matta

The debate, or at least some form of it, is surely going to be there, because people — especially sports fans — love to deliberate.

Who's the best Ohio State Buckeye athlete ever?

It then trickles down sport by sport, position by position, era by era. As it should, really. Every team, coach and player is different, but in the realm of Thad Matta's men's basketball program, a few stand out.

There's always going to be "The Thad Five" — the quintet of stars in Matta's 2006 recruiting class that zoomed to the National Championship game. Those stars included Mike Conley Jr., Greg Oden, David Lighty, Othello Hunter and Daequan Cook.

Then you toss in more recent stars like Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger along with big men like Kosta Koufos and B.J. Mullens, and you realize Matta's had his fair share of big names make a pitstop in Columbus.

Not all that talent translates directly to success in the NBA, though.

While you were sleeping, Memphis fell to NBA MVP Stephen Curry and Golden State Monday, 101-84, tying the Western Conference Semifinals 2-2.

Conley had 10 points, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals in the loss, but Curry came out with a vengeance and was determined to tie the series (33 points, eight rebounds, five assists). Game 5 is Wednesday night in Memphis.

Conley's teammate, Koufos, scored two points and grabbed two rebounds Monday. Sullinger, Turner and the Boston Celtics fell to Cleveland in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Mullens, Hunter and Craft are currently in the NBA's Developmental League. Lighty, Cook, Jon Diebler, and Deshaun Thomas are continuing their pro careers overseas after being drafted.

Pretty much everyone's witnessed some branch of success at the next level upon leaving Ohio State. Which bears asking: who's the George Washington on the Mount Rushmore of Ohio State basketball players?

1. Mike Conley Jr.

Career Statistics: 13.4 PPG, 5.6 APG, 2.9 RPG, 1.5 SPG

It's hard to argue with Conley as No. 1, which my esteemed colleague Tim Shoemaker also outlined in February when he selected his all-time starting five under Matta.

Turner did it all for Ohio State.

He's yet to earn an All-Star nod in what is now his eighth season since being drafted by Memphis with the fourth pick in the 2007 draft, but Conley's been the catalyst to his team's success against Golden State this series.

A tired Grizzlies team got smoked by the Warriors in Game 1, 101-86. Conley missed that game with a facial fracture, but came back with a vengeance to score 22 points on 12 shots in Game 2 in a road win.

Conley's blossomed into a permanent starter for the Grizzlies, but often gets the "underrated" tag in a league with great point guards like Curry, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker and others.

"It used to be (a compliment)," Conley told the Dan Patrick Show Friday. "Now I can't stand it, to be honest. I hear it so much, people say it because everyone else is saying it right now. Hopefully I shake that label sometime soon."

If the Grizzlies can dethrone the league's MVP and advance to the Western Conference Finals, he'll be well on his way to doing that.

"I just play the game and at the end of the day people are either going to like me or hate me, so I do what I do and try to win games," Conley said.

2. Evan Turner

Career Statistics: 10.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.6 APG, 0.8 SPG

The second of two National Player of the Years Matta's coached — he also tutored current Indiana Pacer David West at Xavier — Turner's production has fluctuated since he entered the league in the 2010-11 season.

He's played for three teams in his career and had a solid season with Boston this year. Some could term his NBA a bit of a disappointment considering he was the No. 2 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, but Turner's shown to be serviceable when healthy.

3. Jared Sullinger

Career Statistics: 11.4 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.6 APG

Sullinger's only been in the league for three seasons, but much like Turner, has shown he can get it done if he's healthy. He's battled back injuries, but is still a titan in the post even though he's a bit undersized compared to the league's most notable big men.

Sullinger was a two-time All-American at OSU.

Hailing from Columbus, Sullinger's seemed to have earned his keep in the NBA with back-to-back solid seasons for the Celtics. Under new head coach Brad Stevens, it appears the franchise is headed in the right direction. Sullinger is a big reason why.

4. Kosta Koufos

Career Statistics: 5.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 0.8 BPG

Koufos' numbers look paltry, but there's something to be said about staying in the league for eight full seasons. It isn't easy to do, but Koufos has — and is still in the playoffs alongside Conley in Memphis.

Koufos only stayed at Ohio State one season and has bounced around since entering the league in 2008. He's a big body who can shoot fairly well (career 52.8 field goal percentage) and has played at least 80 games in each of the last three seasons.

5. Toss Up

You could put either Daequan Cook or B.J. Mullens in this final slot, but both had their moments and are now not in the NBA.

Cook played well both in Miami and Oklahoma City briefly, shooting well enough from the outside to earn a roster spot. Mullens' best years were in Charlotte from 2011-13 where he averaged more than 20 minutes and 9.3 points per game each season.

Conley's statistics aren't that of an All-NBA player, but he's the unquestioned leader of his team and is a difference maker. Just look at the box scores from Game 1 when he didn't play against Golden State to the others in which he did.

He's Matta's best NBA player, mainly due to Greg Oden's knees and the need for a true, dominant point guard being at a high level in the league right now. Conley and his teammates downed Portland in five games in the first round of these year's playoffs, the fifth straight season Memphis has made the playoffs. The Grizzlies made it to the Western Conference Finals two seasons ago, but were bounced in round was last season.

The Grizzlies are two games away from advancing again, and a key reason as any is the masked man.