Biggest Recruiting Busts

Jun 19, 2026
180
495
62
Harry Giles would have been a stud if he had any sort of legs after injuries. Out of all our guys the biggest surprise of a bust to me would be Edward’s or Montgomery. Montgomery was so skilled idk why he sucked so bad. He was athletic too.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
48,575
89,466
113
I’d take off JV but the others look good, that was Cal’s issue. He lost the elite guys and took the top 25 guys with potential that were light weight and had little skills.
 

MegaBlue05

Heisman
Mar 8, 2014
11,224
22,945
66
I’d take off JV but the others look good, that was Cal’s issue. He lost the elite guys and took the top 25 guys with potential that were light weight and had little skills.
We were usually awesome if Cal got 3 guys out of the top 10. When Duke started taking those from him, we went with that second tier and had a lot of running and jumping for days, but limited shooting a lot of those years after 2017.

My biggest issue with Cal’s recruiting late tenure was he seemed focused more on rankings than fit, and prioritized athleticism over basketball skills. “Positionless” basketball where everyone is a 6”6-6”9 bricklayer didn’t work when you ran into a veteran team that was skilled and almost as athletically talented.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
48,575
89,466
113
We were usually awesome if Cal got 3 guys out of the top 10. When Duke started taking those from him, we went with that second tier and had a lot of running and jumping for days, but limited shooting a lot of those years after 2017.

My biggest issue with Cal’s recruiting late tenure was he seemed focused more on rankings than fit, and prioritized athleticism over basketball skills. “Positionless” basketball where everyone is a 6”6-6”9 bricklayer didn’t work when you ran into a veteran team that was skilled and almost as athletically talented.
Exactly what happened. Instead of getting Randle types, we got Montgomery types.
 

chroix

Heisman
Jul 22, 2013
11,060
28,135
113
We were usually awesome if Cal got 3 guys out of the top 10. When Duke started taking those from him, we went with that second tier and had a lot of running and jumping for days, but limited shooting a lot of those years after 2017.

My biggest issue with Cal’s recruiting late tenure was he seemed focused more on rankings than fit, and prioritized athleticism over basketball skills. “Positionless” basketball where everyone is a 6”6-6”9 bricklayer didn’t work when you ran into a veteran team that was skilled and almost as athletically talented.
Positionless was such a crock of ****. SOB got fat and lazy.
 

Eagles_Ball_69

All-American
Dec 19, 2003
5,114
6,871
82
We were usually awesome if Cal got 3 guys out of the top 10. When Duke started taking those from him, we went with that second tier and had a lot of running and jumping for days, but limited shooting a lot of those years after 2017.

My biggest issue with Cal’s recruiting late tenure was he seemed focused more on rankings than fit, and prioritized athleticism over basketball skills. “Positionless” basketball where everyone is a 6”6-6”9 bricklayer didn’t work when you ran into a veteran team that was skilled and almost as athletically talented.
Spot on.
 

Eagles_Ball_69

All-American
Dec 19, 2003
5,114
6,871
82
Positionless was such a crock of ****. SOB got fat and lazy.
Couldn't agree more...and it made me really sad. It was such a fun ride.

I think the Knicks hiring WWW had as much of an effect on Cal getting players as anything. Once that connection was disrupted, Cal quit getting basically anyone that he wanted. And he never got another angle. He was resting on his laurels, and that didn't turn out so well.
 
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Cats_2010

Heisman
Jan 8, 2010
12,094
20,877
103
Why do I not remember Damion Collins? What year did he play? Says over 5 seasons and I don’t remember that name at all. As someone else stated how does BJ Boston not appear on here. EJ Montgomery contributed more to UK than he did and also wasn’t as highly touted.
 
Oct 13, 2025
275
457
63
Why do I not remember Damion Collins? What year did he play? Says over 5 seasons and I don’t remember that name at all. As someone else stated how does BJ Boston not appear on here. EJ Montgomery contributed more to UK than he did and also wasn’t as highly touted.
Collins had something horrible happen his first year. If I am remembering right, his dad died. I also think he got hurt later on. Both are foggy memories. This list is crap though, for example putting Collins in but not Bradshaw. Bradshaw came in higher rated with a lot more hype. Collins wasn't expected to be a primary contributor right away.
 

Bill_the_cat

Senior
Nov 17, 2025
392
530
87
A few notes should be added to these. Giles was hurt and never got a good footing. I don’t even remember if he played more than a handful of games. And Evans had some sort of heart issue. I don’t think he played either.
Kind of hard calling bust when they don’t play.
 

Smeegs

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2025
1,320
3,868
113
Why do I not remember Damion Collins? What year did he play? Says over 5 seasons and I don’t remember that name at all. As someone else stated how does BJ Boston not appear on here. EJ Montgomery contributed more to UK than he did and also wasn’t as highly touted.
Does this help refresh your memory?



Collins was an unbelievable combination of length and explosive athleticism. The kind of prospect that dazzles everyone at events like the NBA combine when vertical leaps and wingspans are measured.

But, for whatever reason, he couldn’t play a lick in the actual games. I remember it was almost like he froze up when he felt contact.
 
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SenseMaker_Cats

All-American
Jul 3, 2025
2,416
6,865
113
Does this help refresh your memory?



Collins was an unbelievable combination of length and explosive athleticism. The kind of prospect that dazzles everyone at events like the NBA combine when vertical leaps and wingspans are measured.

But, for whatever reason, he couldn’t play a lick in the actual games. I remember it was almost like he froze up when he felt contact.

This is about as good of a description of Collins that could be made. When he went to LSU, I just knew he was going to develop and dominate.

Not so much.
 
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