Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose?

Should the first pick in the NBA Draft be the Kansas State forward with a resume more impressive than Kevin Durant’s or the purest of pure point guards from Memphis?

The debate goes on in schools, offices, and dinner tables all over the country. However, Rose wasn’t even in the conversation prior to March. Sure, he was projected to go second overall, but even that wasn’t a given. Some favored Indiana’s Eric Gordon, Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless, or even Italian sensation Danilo Gallinari. As for the post of first overall, there was no competition. It was all Beasley’s.

Rose’s performance in the NCAA Tournament changed all that.

But this wasn’t a phenomenon. It actually happens every year.

A player steamrolls his way through the Big Dance, attracting accolades and, more importantly, seemingly endless exposure along the way. In turn, that player’s draft stock in the public’s view (and, to be fair, in the eyes of a few scouts) skyrockets. After all, the reasoning goes, not only did this player lift his team to extraordinary heights, but he did it against the greatest competition and on the grandest stage.

Just check out the previous five seasons…

Back in 2003, a freshman named Carmelo Anthony utilized a dazzling arsenal of offensive weapons to carry his Syracuse team to a national championship. It was the first time since Villanova in 1985 that a team unranked in the AP’s preseason poll cut down the nets at the end of the season. And, of course, Anthony received all the credit. Key components to their title run, including the fact that the Orangemen played four of their six tourney games against Big XII teams unfamiliar with zone defenses, Gerry McNamara’s six three-pointers in the first half of the championship game, and late defensive heroics by Hakim Warrick became afterthoughts. Anthony was the beloved frosh who could do no wrong and it wasn’t long before there was a public outcry for Anthony to go before LeBron James in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Emeka Okafor became another Crest-smiling leader of a title-team the following season. The UConn center imposed his defensive will on opponents, while charming the media with his etiquette and humility. Majoring in finance didn’t hurt his public relations cause either. Again, there was public discourse over who should be the next top pick in the draft, Okafor or Dwight Howard.

In 2005, Sean May reaped the tourney’s benefits. The UNC star scored 26 points in the title game victory over Illinois. It was the same amount his father, Scott, scored in Indiana’s national championship game in 1976 and, in the process, the son won over the public.

Two seasons ago, Joakim Noah blazed through March Madness, earning Most Outstanding Player honors, after showing a penchant for blocking shots and winking at cheerleaders. Like May before him, Noah was the son of a celebrity, only much more charismatic, witty, and joyous. The crowd at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis ate him up, as did many other followers of college basketball. His dominance convinced fans he would surely be the draft’s top selection.

A handful of players shared the honor of Most Hyped last year. Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Greg Oden, and Mike Conley were brilliant, yet they were also the beneficiaries of a suddenly fickle fan-base who concluded that Noah was overrated and appeared to take joy in picking his game apart.

And, of course, the 2008 NCAA Tournament was no different.

While Beasley was sent home by Wisconsin after just two tourney games, Rose played in six. Along the way, the Memphis maestro racked up averages of over 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists per game, to go along with one trophy for being Most Outstanding Player of the South Region. Not to mention the countless articles penned on his behalf or the talking heads gushing over his talent night after night after night.

Now Rose is the hottest prospect on the planet. And Beasley is, well, forgotten.

Doesn’t anyone recall Beasley’s three 40-point games? What about his 28 double-doubles? The last Division I player to have that many in a single season was Tim Duncan in 1996-97. Even in his two NCAA Tournament games, Beasley averaged 23 points and 12 boards a game.

But numbers are just half the story. Beasley was college basketball’s most dominant force. A stronger Carmelo Anthony. A tougher Kevin Durant. A modern-day, left-handed Danny Manning.

Beasley treated his opponents as if they were his little brothers, merely getting in the way. He shot over them, drove past them, and dunked on them.

Prior to his arrival in Manhattan, Kansas, Beasley was criticized for being too passive. Did he seem lackadaisical when he ripped apart Baylor, an eventual tourney-team, for 44 points and 13 rebounds? Was his 30-point, 15-rebound performance against Texas played without passion?

Rose has the perfect demeanor for a point guard. He is poised and stoic. His force of will alone led Memphis to some of their most impressive wins during a season when they set an NCAA-record with 38 of them. He is strong, quick, and confident. He can score when he wants, but he looks to distribute first. And, in the NCAA Tournament, he dismantled some of the nation’s most talented perimeter players, including Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel, D.J. Augustin of Texas, and UCLA’s Darren Collison.

But Rose isn’t flawless. He struggled through growing pains, yet his Tiger team was so talented that they won big even when he disappeared. Which was more often than you might think. He scored seven points or less in nine games and Memphis won all of them. In the Conference USA Tournament final, Rose finished with just four points and four assists. Memphis still won by 26.

The most common reasoning for taking Rose over Beasley is that point guards are a rare breed. Rose cheerleaders say that when a special lead guard comes along, you’ve got to jump on him. The argument has some merit and, of course, the prevailing example is the 2005 NBA Draft, during which Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams were taken before Deron Williams and Chris Paul.

However, even Beasley‘s strongest detractors would admit that he is capable of one day averaging at least 22 points and 10 rebounds a game in the league. How common is that? There isn’t one NBA player who accomplished that feat this season.

For all of Rose’s greatness, Beasley is the best available player in this year’s NBA Draft. The NCAA Tournament may have hid that fact from us, mostly because Rose has been in our collective conscious and in our newspapers on a daily basis, while Beasley hasn’t been seen since March 22nd. Out of sight. Out of mind.

Of course, Beasley also did the one thing this season that Rose couldn’t.

He beat Kansas.