Who are the last five ACC Players of the Year? If you answered T.J. Warren, Shane Larkin, Erick Green, Tyler Zeller and Nolan Smith, you would be correct. This is a tough question for most ACC fans, but even harder for NBA insiders. The reason is because no ACC Player of the Year has become an NBA All-Star since Josh Howard, who won the conference award in the 2002-03.

These ACC players who were dominant in college have accomplished little at the next level. For example, Smith is now in the D-league Warren, Larkin and Zeller are having less-than-stellar careers in the association, and Green spent last year abroad before cracking the Denver Nuggets‘ roster this year.

This  lack of success is due to a number of factors. First and foremost is the increase in collegiate players turning professional after one or two years. Players are reluctant to stay four years if they have the ability to become a first-round pick immediately, even if they are not ready. It is hard to pass up guaranteed money with the possibility of injury present. Duke‘s Kyrie Irving had  Jabari Parker had little more to prove as individual players in college when they left after their freshman year.

Staying in school hurts a player’s draft status. The idea of a player staying four years is commendable, but also detrimental. It is rare to find a complete basketball player with only a few flaws. The longer a player competes in college, the more time opponents have to find weaknesses in a player’s game. Julius Hodge, who won the POY award in 2003-04 as a senior, would have been a higher prospect if he declared for the draft following his freshman year.

The Player of Year is usually surrounded by a solid supporting cast. Since 1990, only one winner of the award, Erick Green played on a team that failed to make the NCAA tournament. It would have been difficult for many of the award winners if they had played on the 2012-13 Virginia Tech basketball team.

The days of dominant players staying four years in college are a thing of the past. There are not likely to be anymore Tim Duncans or Shane Battiers. Even the Player of the Year award, which was given 10 straight times to a junior or senior, has evolved. The last two winners, Larkin and Warren, were both sophomores.

The lack of success at the next level has less to do with a player’s individual skills, but more with the vast differences that exist between the college and professional game. The team aspect of the game has changed, and ironically, foreign leagues have more in common with the college system than the NBA.