Once Highly Touted, Now Forgotten

[Riddickulis]

Skal

 

[Riddickulis]

Parker...Duke

 

[christophero]

Felipe Lopez was the number one high school recruit. He never panned out for St. John's.

 

[bthaunert]

Totally remember Felipe Lopez. He was hyped and hyped and hyped and then you finally get to see him and he was mediocre at best. That was when I started not believing what the recruiting experts say. There was another one that I forget the name of. 6'11" guy that was supposed to be the next Larry Bird. Ended up at Brigham Young I believe and totally sucked.

I think Chris Burgess is the guy you’re thinking of. Started at Duke and ended up at Utah.

 

[bthaunert]

Felipe Lopez was the number one high school recruit. He never panned out for St. John's.

Never panned out is quite the exaggeration. He scored 1,927 points at St. John’s….4th all time and good for a 16.9 career average and was a first round NBA draft pick.

Didn’t live up to the crazy hype? Yes
Never planned out? No

 

[wcc31]

If something doesn't change, Brandon Boston..

Sam Bowie
Nerlins Noel
Greg Oden
Tyler Hansbrough
Adam Morrison

There is a pretty long list if you really dig into it.

Those guys all accomplished things in college- and some the pros. The original poster is speaking of Giles. You’re waaaaaaaay off.

 

[bthaunert]

Rodrick Rhodes - Kentucky
Skal Labissiere - Kentucky
O.J. Mayo - Southern Cal
Xavier Henry - Kansas
Lenny Cooke - no college
Korleone Young - no college
Jerod Ward - Michigan
Josh Selby - Kansas
Sebastian Telfair - no college
Malik Newman - Miss State/Kansas
Cheick Diallo - Kansas
Felipe Lopez - St. John's
Darius Rice - Miami
Joe Forte - UNC
C.J. Leslie - NC State
Jereme Richmond - Illinois
Lance Stephenson - Cincy
Scotty Hopson - Tennessee
Samardo Samuels - Louisville

OJ Mayo averaged 21ppg in his one year at USC and was the 3rd pick in the draft lasting 8 years and averaging 14ppg in his career.

 

[BigKari]

Malik Newman. Some older ones that were very highly rated but not “sure things” were Abdul Gaddy, Jabari Bird, Ivan Rabb, Keala King, Jahii Carson, Josiah Turner, Jabari Brown, Jaylen Hands…some might be picking up on the trend that high 5 star talent that goes to the PAC-12 washes out at an alarming rate.

 

[Cornett195]

Renardo Sydney of Mississippi State. Rated right behind Cousins as a center in the 2009 class and never accomplished a thing.

 

[DelkBowl]

Gerald Glass

 

[RoyKent]

MKG maybe? He had a good 1 year at Kentucky but his pro career hasn’t panned out.

Huh??

He played 9+ seasons in the NBA and made $73 million.

 

[Uk2k4]

- Jahlil Okafor

 

[bigbluehomer]

Ivan Renko. Never did **** after Bobby hyped him. LOL

 

[dvillecatfan]

Dude who went number 1 from UNLV to Cleveland can’t remember his name.

Anthony Bennett

 

[TBCat]

I think Chris Burgess is the guy you’re thinking of. Started at Duke and ended up at Utah.

Yep that's it. I still remember Clark Francis hyping the hell out of him.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Im 53 and been following recruiting since Bennett and Blackmon class in 83 and i've honestly never seen a highly rated kid with a lower skill set than Kahlil Whitney..
Plenty of kids outside the top 100 who could play circles around him.

 

[CapnBlubs]

Lance Stephenson has been in the league 10+ years, the rest I agree with.

Plus all the great memes from him blowing in LeBron's ear

 

[UK90]

I’m surprised Darko Milicic hasn’t been mentioned yet. Dude was drafted ahead of the likes of Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh …yet it turned out he couldn’t play at all.

 

[bthaunert]

I’m surprised Darko Milicic hasn’t been mentioned yet. Dude was drafted ahead of the likes of Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh …yet it turned out he couldn’t play at all.

Probably bc the OP was talking about highly recruited college players who didn’t pan out.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Anthony Bennett

Thank u!

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Hunter McClintock

 

[UK90]

Hunter McClintock

Except that he was never ever “highly touted” by anyone other than some UK message board posters who got fooled by his mixtape.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

What is the criteria for a bust? Mayo played like 8 years and averaged 14ppg over those years. As a rookie averaged 18ppg. He got kicked out of the league and didn’t make it back in but I wouldn’t label him a bust

The criteria wasn't for being a "bust", it was for being a guy who was once considered a "can't miss" prospect, and whose career lent itself to more forgettable than resounding.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I can't believe we forgot Ed O'Bannon. I'm going to add a few more guys to my original list. Here's a few more:

Dan Gadzuric - UCLA
Ed O'Bannon - UCLA
Aaron Miles - Kansas
Shabazz Muhammed - UCLA
MKG - UK
Darius Miles - St. John's
Erick Barkley - St. John's

 

[UK-Chulo]

I think some posters are confused. Some of these players had long NBA careers but you think they faded because they played for NBA teams that are never on tv. Plenty of players are doing well but they are not on the media darling teams.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

He misused Skal and didn’t adapt to the kids game and tried to force him to fit but cant agree with any of what you posted.

One of Cal's bigger failures was not convincing Dakari Johnson to return for a third year.

A frontline rotation of Johnson, Lee, Skal, and Poythress is probably enough to get that team to a Final Four, especially with Ulis and Murray in the backcourt.

 

[chroix]

One of Cal's bigger failures was not convincing Dakari Johnson to return for a third year.

A frontline rotation of Johnson, Lee, Skal, and Poythress is probably enough to get that team to a Final Four, especially with Ulis and Murray in the backcourt.

It’s brutal. If we’d had our normal autolob option like a WCS in the middle I can’t even imagine how many assists Ulis ends up with.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Heres a few for recruitniks.
Anthony Lawrence
Estaban Weaver
Keith Brumbaugh
Casey Sanders
Kevin Madden
All these guys held a top 5 ranking in their class at one time.
Did little or nothing on any level after HS.

 

[TyCatPrice14_anon]

Renardo Sydney of Mississippi State. Rated right behind Cousins as a center in the 2009 class and never accomplished a thing.

He accomplished fighting his own teammate while sitting in the crowd of a game.

 

[yoshukai]

Yep that's it. I still remember Clark Francis hyping the hell out of him.

I remember hearing Clark (in the dark) Francis proclaiming that Bo Zac Smith would be a superior college and Pro player than Rasheed Wallace. He was adamant about it.

 

[yoshukai]

Im 53 and been following recruiting since Bennett and Blackmon class in 83 and i've honestly never seen a highly rated kid with a lower skill set than Kahlil Whitney..
Plenty of kids outside the top 100 who could play circles around him.

But ,but,but ……He was The Dragon !

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Reading the thread about Duke player Dariq Whitehead I saw the name Harry Giles. I couldn't tell you the last time I heard his name mentioned. ESPN's #1 recruit in the Class of 2016 before he went to Duke. Hampered by injuries since high school, he was released by a G-League team last season after yet another injury. Interestingly, in his one season at Duke he only averaged 11 minutes 3.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Amazing how many players weren't "cant-miss" prospects, then for one reason or another, a faded memory. Emoni Bates is headed in that direction, too. Can you think of any others?

Doesn’t seem that long ago that Giles was there, seems like he was there in like 2020 to me.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

I remember hearing Clark (in the dark) Francis proclaiming that Bo Zac Smith would be a superior college and Pro player than Rasheed Wallace. He was adamant about it.

Great call there! I mean hindsight and all but you could watch Sheed in HS and College and tell he was a top level player.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

MKG maybe? He had a good 1 year at Kentucky but his pro career hasn’t panned out.

From his talent, production in college, and ceiling I would say he’s he didn’t pan out. It’s hard to call anyone who plays 8 years in the NBA a bust. Just most figured All-Star potential if he worked on his shot, but they actually made it worse.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Rodrick Rhodes - Kentucky
Skal Labissiere - Kentucky
Dan Gadzuric - UCLA
Randy Livingston - LSU
Jalani McCoy - UCLA
Jelani Gardner - Cal
Ronnie Fields - no college
Ed O'Bannon - UCLA
Aaron Miles - Kansas
Shabazz Muhammed - UCLA
Tremaine Fowlkes - Cal
MKG - UK
Darius Miles - St. John's
Erick Barkley - St. John's
O.J. Mayo - Southern Cal
Xavier Henry - Kansas
Lenny Cooke - no college
Korleone Young - no college
Jerod Ward - Michigan
Josh Selby - Kansas
Sebastian Telfair - no college
Malik Newman - Miss State/Kansas
Cheick Diallo - Kansas
Felipe Lopez - St. John's
Darius Rice - Miami
Joe Forte - UNC
Stromile Swift - LSU
C.J. Leslie - NC State
Jereme Richmond - Illinois
Lance Stephenson - Cincy
Scotty Hopson - Tennessee
Samardo Samuels - Louisville

Lenny Cooke is the biggest supposed prospect I remember that totally busted.

 

[UK90]

I remember hearing Clark (in the dark) Francis proclaiming that Bo Zac Smith would be a superior college and Pro player than Rasheed Wallace. He was adamant about it.

Clark Francis also claimed to have seen Ivan Renko play, and even wrote up a profile of him discussing his strengths and weaknesses as a player.

For those who don’t know, Ivan Renko did not exist. He was a fictional recruit that Bob Knight made up to expose what phony charlatans some of these supposed recruiting “insiders” were. And ole Clark took the bait hook, line and sinker.

There’s a lot of reasons to dislike Knight, but I loved his Renko prank.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Malik Newman. Some older ones that were very highly rated but not “sure things” were Abdul Gaddy, Jabari Bird, Ivan Rabb, Keala King, Jahii Carson, Josiah Turner, Jabari Brown, Jaylen Hands…some might be picking up on the trend that high 5 star talent that goes to the PAC-12 washes out at an alarming rate.

That’s a damn good list of busts right there, that’s why I don’t like recurring most “Elite” West Coast Talent. Most are soft, over rated, and over hyped. Devin Askew should be added to that list as well. That’s like the all BallisLife fail list right there lmfao.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Renardo Sydney of Mississippi State. Rated right behind Cousins as a center in the 2009 class and never accomplished a thing.

He once ate the Entire McDonald’s menu in one sitting. That’s an accomplishment.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Im 53 and been following recruiting since Bennett and Blackmon class in 83 and i've honestly never seen a highly rated kid with a lower skill set than Kahlil Whitney..
Plenty of kids outside the top 100 who could play circles around him.

That’s so true, I’ve never been more disappointed in a recruit than I was in him, until Askew came along. Only Boston quite matched the disappointment level as “the Dragon!” Plus he’s a quitter and had the audacity to think he would get drafted. At least Boston had one great game and seemed like a good kid and kept working. If he would have stayed 3 years like he needed too he could have developed into a quality player.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Lenny Cooke is the biggest supposed prospect I remember that totally busted.

Lets not forget the first Lenny Cooke and really the first Lebron.
Lloyd "Sweet Pea" Daniels.
In 85 Garfinkle called him the best junior(hs) thats even been born.
He got busted at a Vegas crack house and was later shot but he still played a few years on some crappy Spurs teams.