They were stars in college.

As pros, they were men wondering just how many drachmas it takes to buy a liter of milk.

No, college stardom may not always prepare All-Americans for a NBA life (though those European geography classes likely came in handy), but being the biggest man on campus has a way of earning NCAA players their own slice of sports immortality.

So, with the recent news that Scottie Reynolds will be instead of the NBA, NCAA basketball editor Ray Holloman and associate editor Matt Snyder compiled a team of players who should've been allowed to play college basketball forever.

First, the fine print.

The criterion were excellence at the NCAA level since 1985 (the beginning of the 64-team tournament era), 82 or fewer games played in the NBA and general artistic impression. We tried to balance out the teams with frontcourt players, so it was easier to make one of our squads as a forward or center than it was among the stockpile of guard talent who were just too short to make a living as a pro basketball player, or a stockboy in charge of things on high shelves.

We avoided cases of players who were clearly marked for more than 82 games in the NBA but didn't play them due to off-the-court reasons. That list includes former standout Len Bias, who died shortly after his draft selection as well as former star Jason Williams, whose career ended due to a motorcycle accident, among others.