Best Indiana Pacers Player from Old Big East Programs

The Indiana Pacers have turned Big East players into All-Stars. 

The “old” Big East was the most feared conference in college basketball for decades. The flashy New York guards almost always landed at a Big East program. The big men and post players throughout the conference’s history are some of the best to ever step on the court. Those two sentences exactly describe the Indiana Pacers association with the conference.

Indiana, as an organization, prides itself on many of the same traits as the Big East has over the years. They are fundamentally sound, hard-working, scrappy, and defensive-minded.

These are traits that nearly every Hoosier embodies, and it is no wonder the Big East has produced some of the most pivotal pieces of the Pacers’ rotation over the past two-plus decades.

Here are the best Indiana Pacers players from each “old” Big East program.

Note: The Pacers have not had a player from DePaul, Loyola Maryland, or Seton Hall

Best Indiana Pacers Player from Cincinnati: Lance Stephenson

Perhaps the biggest anomaly in all of sports, “Born Ready” turned his game on whenever he put on a Pacers jersey. The perfect kryptonite for LeBron James and a consistent triple-double threat, Stephenson was a starter for back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals teams in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

After his rookie contract, Stephenson left for a payday with Charlotte and bounced around the league for the next three years. He landed back with Indiana for the final six games of the 2016-17 season and re-signed for the next year where he showed flashes of the “old Lance”.

Over parts of six seasons in the Circle City, he recorded 9.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per outing, In total, Stephenson has played nine seasons in the NBA and is currently a member of the Liaoning Flying Leopards.