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Which former MLB all-stars were the best basketball players?

kenny

College Hoopedia is a must-read site for any diehard basketball fan, and they reinforced that notion on Sunday when they published an all-inclusive list of MLB all-stars that also played college basketball.

Included in that list: Jackie Robinson, Dave Winfield, Bob Gibson, Tony Gwynn and Lee Smith, names that every baseball is going to know.

But since 1997, only eight players have made a major league all-star team after playing college hoops. Here are the five best hoopers on that list:

Tony Clark: Clark hit 251 career homeruns and made the 2001 all-star team, but his basketball exploits may be more storied. He average 43.7 points as a senior in high school, setting what was a record with 2,549 points scored in a career and breaking Bill Walton’s record with 1,337 points as a senior. He eventually went to Arizona before transferring to San Diego State, where the 6-foot-7 Clark averaged 11.5 points.

Kenny Lofton: Lofton made six all-star teams from 1994-1999 with the Cleveland Indians. In college, he was the back-up point guard for the Arizona Wildcats when they made the 1988 Final Four and started on a Sweet 16 team, setting season and career records for steals. He’s one of two people to play in the Final Four and in the World Series.

Chris Young: Young played two seasons at Princeton. He was named Rookie of the Year in both baseball and basketball as a freshman, finishing the year as a second team all-Ivy League selection in hoops. As a sophomore, he was first team all-Ivy when he averaged 13.8 points and 6.3 boards. Young was an all-star in 2007.

Tony Gwynn: The hall-of-famer set records at San Diego State for assists in a season and a career before heading to the big leagues.

Randy Winn: Winn played for two seasons at Santa Clara as a back-up to Steve Nash. The limited minutes that Winn received eventually pushed him to baseball, which looks like a brilliant decision in hindsight. He was an all-star in 2002.

David Justice, Matt Thornton and Jeff Shaw round out the list.