James Harden

James Harden was selected by the Oklahoma Thunder as the number three overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, behind Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers and Hasheem Thabeet of the Memphis Grizzlies. His prowess began early on, at Artesia High School in Los Angeles, where he led the team to consecutive state championships. In his senior year, when the team went 33-2 en route to its second such title, Harden averaged 18.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. During his junior year, the phenom shot for an average of just under 60%.http://www.nba.com/thunder/photos/media_guide_2009-10.pdf<ref>

Harden wasted no time making his impact felt in the NBA. During his rookie 2009-2010 season, he ranked in the Top 50 players in both steals per game and free throw percentage. He also made the NBA Rookie All-Star team. As a member of the Oklahoma Thunder, Harden averaged 10 points per game, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists. Alongside Kevin Durant, he is one of the other main reasons why the Thunder are so often dubbed a team of the future.http://www.nba.com/playerfile/james_harden/career_stats.html<ref>

As a sophomore for Arizona State during the 2008-2009 NCAA season, Harden averaged a Pac-10 leading 20.1 points per game, earning Conference Player of the Year honors. At the same time, thanks to an average of 1.69 steals, Harden became just the fifth player in Pac-10 conference history to lead the conference in both points and steals per game.

Befitting a top three NBA draft pick, Harden was named an All-American in 2009-2010 by a number of different news organizations and publications, including the Associated Press, the Sporting News, Fox Sports and CBS News. Another statistical highlight was the 40 points Harden scored against UTEP, the fifth highest individual total in Arizona State history. He is a top five all-time total points and points-per-game leader for the Sun Devils, a dual honor he shares with fellow NBA Arizona State alumnus Byron Scott. http://www.nba.com/thunder/photos/media_guide_2009-10.pdf<ref>