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The Perry Ellis All-Stars: Yes, these guys are all still in school

Perry Ellis

Kansas’ Perry Ellis cuts a piece of the net (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

AP

Beginning in September and running up until November 10th, the first day of the season, College Basketball Talk will be unveiling the 2017-2018 NBCSports.com college hoops preview package.

Some careers never seem to end.

Some players seem destined to wreak havoc on your alma mater year after year after year.

Sadly, the career of Kansas star Perry Ellis did eventually come to an end after a decade or two, but his legacy lives on, now and always.

Here are the Perry Ellis All-Stars, honoring those players who, through some defiance of the space-time continuum, are indeed really still in school.

MORE: 2017-18 Season Preview Coverage | Conference Previews | Preview Schedule

FIRST-TEAM PERRY ELLIS ALL STARS

MVP Grayson Allen, Duke: Allen’s junior year packed enough drama for an entire career, but here he is again. It seems like a millennia ago that Allen went from little-used reserve to Final Four star back in 2015 as a freshman, which even prompted some early entry discussions back then. He’s gone from the darling of a national title winning team to an All-American to a pariah within the sport, and he still has a year of eligibility remaining. Allen’s career and legacy will be one that’s debated for generations, which is fitting because that’s how long it feels like he’s been suiting up for Coach K.

Svi Mykhailiuk, Kansas: This is the most truly atypical selection for the Perry Ellis All-Stars, even if it does come from the alma mater of the team’s namesake. Mykhailiuk has been around forever, but he’s never redshirted, he’s never transferred and - here’s the kicker - he’s only 20 years old, four months younger than Josh Jackson and four months older than current Kansas freshman Billy Preston. Mykhailiuk, a Ukrainian national, became the youngest player to ever appear in the Big 12 when he joined the Jayhawks as a 17-year-old in 2014. He’s like that child star you’re shocked to find out is still in his 20s. Like Haley Joel Osment (yeah, that dude is only 29).

MORE: The Enigma of Miles Bridges | NBC Sports Preseason All-American Team

Jalan West, Northwestern State: When Jalan West started his college season, Barack Obama was still in his first term as president, Charlie Sheen was in the midst of a public meltdown and the No. 1 pick in this past June’s NBA draft, Markelle Fultz, was 13 years old. I’m saying the dude has been around awhile. West sat out his first season of 2011-12 due to academic eligibility issues, blew out his knee in the first game of 2015-16 and then suffered another knee injury last August. The NCAA granted him a waiver to make one last go of it, his seventh season at Northwestern State. What a run.

Cullen Neal, St. Mary’s: Back in November 2012, Neal committed to St. Mary’s, but ultimately followed his father to New Mexico, where the elder Neal was head coach. Then he made the nearly unprecedented decision to leave his dad and the school behind, transferring to Ole Miss after graduating with two years of eligibility remaining. But things did not go was well as he expected in Oxford, and Neal became the first-ever two-time grad transfer, ending his career where it was supposed to start - in Moraga with the Gaels.

Jevon Carter, West Virginia: Carter took over for Perry Ellis as the oldest-looking man - or the man with the worst hairline - in college basketball. He’s finally a senior and may end up being the Big 12 Player of the Year, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s time for Carter, who became synonymous with hero-ball after the way the the Mountaineers went out of the 2017 NCAA tournament, to come on home:


West Virginia v Kansas

LAWRENCE, KS - FEBRUARY 13: Jevon Carter #2 of the West Virginia Mountaineers reacts during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on February 13, 2017 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Getty Images


SECOND-TEAM PERRY ELLIS ALL STARS

Devonte’ Graham, Kansas: It feels like Graham has been in the national consciousness for a decade. He’s a rising senior and a potential all-american on a Kansas team that seems destined to win another Big 12 title, which comes six years after he became a national talking point when he was forced to go to prep school because Appalachian State wouldn’t release him from a Letter of Intent.

Jalen Brunson, Villanova: It’s hard to believe, but Brunson is only a junior. After a tumultuous recruitment that involved his father’s arrest and a near-commitment to Big 5 rival Temple, Brunson helped lead Villanova to a national title as a freshman in 2016, a win that already feels like it happened a decade ago.

Al Freeman, N.C. State: Freeman started his career back in 2013 at Baylor, where an injury forced him to redshirt his first season. He became a consistent contributor for Scott Drew for the next three years before deciding to head east and graduate transfer to the Wolf Pack after he saw his role reduced as a junior.

Marcus Lee, Cal: Lee was a five-star prospect in the Class of 2013, enrolling at Kentucky alongside Julius Randle and the Harrison twins. After spending two years being the trendy pick to be a breakout superstar for the Wildcats, Lee left Lexington and returned back to the west coast, where he will now try to anchor a depleted Cal roster.

Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame: Colson is another all-american that feels like he’s been around for ages. I still remember his breakout performance against Jahlil Okafor in 2015 when Notre Dame snagged themselves an upset-win over the Blue Devils. For comparison’s sake, that game was the last game that Rasheed Sulaimon ever played for Duke.