There are more avenues for players to reach the NBA than ever before. A huge percentage of the league's superstars come from abroad, playing as pros overseas before coming to the NBA. Even for American-born athletes, the G-League, Australia's NBL and other leagues provide players alternate pathways to reach the NBA. Even so, there's nothing quite like a player becoming a March Madness legend.
The popularity of college basketball ebbs and flows, but the NCAA tournament remains one of the world's great sporting events, and helps turn even small school standouts into national basketball stars.
While the NBA has existed since 1946 (beginning as the Basketball Association of America before becoming the NBA with the 1949 merger with the National Basketball League), the list of players to capture both an NCAA championship and NBA title is quite short. has evaluated the rosters of every NBA Finals champion dating back to 1947, the first title recognized by the NBA, and in total, 57 players have won rings as both a Division I college basketball and NBA player.
The list includes some of the NBA's all-time greats, like Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and, of course, Michael Jordan. We've also seen a few players join the list in just the last few years. The 2023 Denver Nuggets featured a pair of recent national champions—Kansas's Christian Braun and Villanova's Connor Gillespie—while Al Horford, a two-time winner at University of Florida, broke through for his first NBA championship with the Boston Celtics last season.
Here is the full list:
All Players Who Have Won the NCAA Tournament & NBA Finals
Player
NCAA national championships
NBA championships
Howie Dallmar
Stanford (1942)
Philadelphia Warriors (1947)
Arnie Ferrin
Utah (1944)
Minneapolis Lakers (1949, ’50)
Jim Pollard
Stanford (1942)
Lakers (1949, ’50, ’52 to ’54)
Herm Schaefer
Indiana (1940)
Lakers (1949, ’50)
Clyde Lovellette
Kansas (1952)
Lakers (1954); Boston Celtics (1963, ’64)
Dick Farley
Indiana (1953)
Syracuse Nationals (1955)
Tom Gola
La Salle (1954)
Warriors (1956)
Bob Cousy
Holy Cross (1947)
Celtics (1957, ’59 to ’63)
Frank Ramsey
Kentucky (1951)
Celtics (1957, ’59 to ’64)
Bill Russell
San Francisco (1955, ’56)
Celtics (1957, ’59 to ’66, ’68, ’69)
Lou Tsioropoulos
Kentucky (1951)
Celtics (1957, ’59)
Cliff Hagan
Kentucky (1951)
St. Louis Hawks (1958)
K.C. Jones
San Francisco (1955, ’56)
Celtics (1959 to ’66)
John Havlicek
Ohio State (1960)
Celtics (1963 to ’66, ’68, ’69, ’74, ’76)
Larry Siegfried
Ohio State (1960)
Celtics (1964 to ’66, ’68, ’69)
Ron Bonham
Cincinnati (1962)
Celtics (1965, ’66)
Tom Thacker
Cincinnati (1961, ’62)
Celtics (1968)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
UCLA (1967 to ’69)
Milwaukee Bucks (1971); Los Angeles Lakers (1980, ’82, ’85, ’87, ’88)
Lucius Allen
UCLA (1967, ’68)
Bucks (1971)
Keith Erickson
UCLA (1964, ’65)
Lakers (1972)
Gail Goodrich
UCLA (1964, ’65)
Lakers (1972)
Henry Bibby
UCLA (1970 to ’72)
New York Knicks (1973)
Jerry Lucas
Ohio State (1960)
Knicks (1973)
Jamaal Wilkes
UCLA (1972, ’73)
Golden State Warriors (1975); Lakers (1980, ’82, ’85)
Bill Walton
UCLA (1972, ’73)
Portland Trail Blazers (1977); Celtics (1986)
Magic Johnson
Michigan State (1979)
Lakers (1980, ’82, ’85, ’87, ’88)
Butch Lee
Marquette (1977)
Lakers (1980)
Rick Robey
Kentucky (1978)
Celtics (1981)
Quinn Buckner
Indiana (1976)
Celtics (1984)
James Worthy
North Carolina (1982)
Lakers (1985, ’87, ’88)
Billy Thompson
Louisville (1986)
Lakers (1987, ’88)
Milt Wagner
Louisville (1986)
Lakers (1988)
Isiah Thomas
Indiana (1981)
Detroit Pistons (1989, ’90)
Michael Jordan
North Carolina (1982)
Chicago Bulls (1991–93, ’96–98)
Rodney McCray
Louisville (1980)
Bulls (1993)
Glen Rice
Michigan (1989)
Lakers (2000)
Richard Hamilton
UConn (1999)
Pistons (2004)
Corliss Williamson
Arkansas (1994)
Pistons (2004)
Nazr Mohammad
Kentucky (1996, ’98)
San Antonio Spurs (2005)
Derek Anderson
Kentucky (1996)
Miami Heat (2006)
Antoine Walker
Kentucky (1996)
Heat (2006)
Corey Brewer
Florida (2006, ’07)
Dallas Mavericks (2011)
Jason Terry
Arizona (1997)
Mavericks (2011)
Shane Battier
Duke (2001)
Heat (2012, ’13)
Mario Chalmers
Kansas (2008)
Heat (2012, ’13)
Danny Green
North Carolina (2009)
Spurs (2014); Toronto Raptors (2019); Lakers (2020)
Brandon Rush
Kansas (2008)
Warriors (2015)
Marreese Speights
Florida (2007)
Warriors (2015)
Sasha Kaun
Kansas (2008)
Cleveland Cavaliers (2016)
Quinn Cook
Duke (2015)
Warriors (2018); Lakers (2020)
Anthony Davis
Kentucky (2012)
Lakers (2020)
Mamadi Diakite
Virginia (2019)
Bucks (2021)
Donte DiVincenzo
Villanova (2016, ’18)
Bucks (2021)
Justin Jackson
North Carolina (2017)
Bucks (2021)
Christian Braun
Kansas (2022)
Denver Nuggets (2023)
Collin Gillespie
Villanova (2018)
Nuggets (2023)
Al Horford
Florida (2006, ’07)
Celtics (2024)