I would go with Hardaway and Jackson as well; with Prince and Rivera a close second.
To put things in perspective a bit more, in my opinion, Hardaway as a sophomore was already a better player than Jeep Jackson as a senior. And that is saying ALOT, because Jeep was an outstanding player. The summer between Hardaway's freshman and sophomore years at UTEP, in which Hardaway mixed it up with the best guys from Chicago (including Isiah Thomas), provided the groundwork for his unbelievable development. Both Hardaway and Jackson were fierce defenders who absolutely hated to lose. They took on every matchup against other top guards as a personal challenge (see Gary Payton, Chris Jackson, Mouse MacFadden, etc.). Not once did they ever back down; and I can't say I ever saw Hardaway outplayed by anyone straight up after his sophomore year.
While Hardaway's NBA career was very solid, I do believe his knee issues curtailed what should have been a surefire Hall of Fame career. All this said, I do remember wondering at the time Hardaway had just finished his senior year, if he would make it in the NBA. As a student at the time, like many of the old timers on the board, I remember playing pickup games with the guys at Memorial gym. One thing I remember vividly was asking Lem Clanton what he thought about Hardaway's chances. I remember Clanton telling me, "He has no chance, if I can block his shot, then the guys from the NBA will tear him up." I told him he was probably right....Boy, were we both wrong about that kid.
