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Poll - Which Freshman is most likely to be a bust next year?

Which of the following freshmen have the biggest bust potential next year (and why)?

  • Malik Newman - Miss State

    Votes: 24 15.1%
  • Jaylen Brown - Cal

    Votes: 13 8.2%
  • Brandon Ingram - Duke

    Votes: 14 8.8%
  • Chieck Diallo - Kansas

    Votes: 23 14.5%
  • Stephen Zimmerman - UNLV

    Votes: 85 53.5%

  • Total voters
    159

Cat Ballou

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Gold Member
Mar 24, 2007
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As we all know, 2015 was a strange year in recruiting, with a lot of guys making suspect choices. Of the players that rejected us, who do you think stands the biggest risk of regretting his choice and being a bust in college? And why?
 
My vote is for Brown. Rabb is overrated and Cal lost their PG recruit (Jolly). Jaylen is still going to need someone to get him the ball, and the Cal backcourt is mediocre.

Brown is going to be stuck out on the west coast with no buzz and no exposure, and with a team that very well might not even make the tourney.

My guess is he will still be a first-round pick, but outside the lottery.
 
I'll go with Diallo. Ingram will have the best coaching. The others all went to a school where they almost can't be a bust. Newman for example will score 20 a game whether he's good or not.Diallo on the other hand went to a big time school. Will not necessarily have the offense built for him. Also I'm not sure he will have the PG play need for him to be a star. He'll probably have a nice year, something in the 10 points 7 rebounds per game level but hardly a star.
 
gotta be Newman . Zimmerman is at UNLV so unless he averages like 2 pts or something he will be good . Diallo and Ingram are stars from day 1 but Newman takes bad shots , is streaky and is playing for a dog crap team . It has to be him though make no mistake he is a good to great player.
 
What's interesting is to look back and realize how mediocre the 2015 class was compared to 2016. I'm not sure we didn't end up with 2 of the three most promising prospects in the class in Skal and Murray, and Briscoe would be in the Top 10. Pretty good for a "down year".
 
If any elite five star could have used some exposure and development at Kentucky, it was Zimmerman. The young man is skilled, but doesn't possess the athleticism to garner much extra attention from scouts. He could have used a year of going against Skal in practice, with plenty of exposure to boot.
 
What's interesting is to look back and realize how mediocre the 2015 class was compared to 2016. I'm not sure we didn't end up with 2 of the three most promising prospects in the class in Skal and Murray, and Briscoe would be in the Top 10. Pretty good for a "down year".

Yeah, hauling in 30% of the only recruits who matter is pretty good stuff I suppose.
 
I don't think any of those guys are going to be true "busts" But I mean if one of them don't have as good a year as they are expected to have I'll go with Newman. And I love saying that because I'm still pissed at him for being dumb enough to go to Mississippi State. But the jokes on him. We got a player who's better than he is and he'll be stuck on a joke of a team and get no recognition or any National coverage. Most people wont pay any attention to the name Malik Newman this year. Its all gonna be about Jamal Murray. HA HA HA HA HA.
 
I think Zimmerman will put up decent numbers in his conference but I think he wil get exploited by any decent big
 
I'll take the loaf of white bread. Had he came here with his mom and played poorly we would of seen Alex legion part 2.
 
Newman (in my best Jerry Seinfeld voice). I realize kids make bad decisions but he will quickly see that the one he made was really, REALLY bad. Poor program, poor coach, poor exposure and poor facilities. He may have a couple of good games early but once he becomes the focus of the other teams defense he's done.
I mean if you are as skilled as Newman and you plan on making basketball your life you don't go to Mississippi state unless you have grade issues or have had a few run ins with Johnny Law. So many top programs would have made him a star, instead he's going to be an also ran.
 
It's hard to look at odom as a bust. Bad play is one thing, but injuries are another. A perfect example would be Sam Bowie
 
On that list? For next year? It's CLEARLY Zimmerman. There's no debate. Here's why...

He's not a guy who will have the ball in his hands, like Newman and Brown.
He's not a guy who will be at a major contender, like Diallo and Ingram.
He's got the biggest "role player" type game of the 5.
He's on a team that has a terrible coach and typically underachieves.
He's the only one that probably has NO CHANCE of being one-and-done.
 
On that list? For next year? It's CLEARLY Zimmerman. There's no debate. Here's why...

He's not a guy who will have the ball in his hands, like Newman and Brown.
He's not a guy who will be at a major contender, like Diallo and Ingram.
He's got the biggest "role player" type game of the 5.
He's on a team that has a terrible coach and typically underachieves.
He's the only one that probably has NO CHANCE of being one-and-done.

I agree it is Zimmerman too. He never did impress me that much.
 
Newman (in my best Jerry Seinfeld voice). I realize kids make bad decisions but he will quickly see that the one he made was really, REALLY bad. Poor program, poor coach, poor exposure and poor facilities. He may have a couple of good games early but once he becomes the focus of the other teams defense he's done.
I mean if you are as skilled as Newman and you plan on making basketball your life you don't go to Mississippi state unless you have grade issues or have had a few run ins with Johnny Law. So many top programs would have made him a star, instead he's going to be an also ran.


Kind of short changing Ben Howland in my opinion . I can get on board with the rest of your post.
 
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I agree it is Zimmerman too. He never did impress me that much.

He could be the next Frank Kaminsky. Or he could become a casualty if the faster pace of the college game just leaves him in the dirt. Kaminsky did spit for 2 years and then went gang-busters. You never know.
 
Ingram, he needs to get stronger. He has the body of a prepubescent 11 year old.

So did Tyus Jones. And Anthony Davis had a long way to go physically when he got here. Ingram is the least likely in my opinion, he at least made a smart choice for himself. My vote was Jaylen Brown, I really wanted him at UK, we are all clamoring for a true SF and I thought he would be a perfect fit. I don't think he'll be a "bust", but he will be the most affected by choosing a substandard program. I really don't think Zimmerman will be bad at UNLV but he is really jeopardizing his career if the NBA is his aspiration.
 
I get what your saying with Ingram but to me there is a difference. I am not discounting that he is skilled but to me he is beyond thin.

Yes Davis was a little thin but not like Ingram. The Ingram kid has zero muscle and no meat, virtually skin and bones. I have never seen a college basketball player that skinny in my life.

At least with Davis he was a long athletic freak who was 6'11" and yeah he was thin but Ingram is beyond thin,

Ingram is very skilled but I don't think he will have a big impact next season.
 
The least likely is Newman. I mean, define "bust?" Lack of team success? Lack of exposure? Malik Newman will probably be in the top 5 in SEC in scoring and maybe assists. He will definitely be on the All-Freshman team and has a shot to crack the All-Conference team.

I mean, look at Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's unexciting career at Georgia. He was generally on underachieving teams, but still was one of the better players in the league from day 1. I'd say Newman is comparable. It's just will his team be able to not make him an unknown.

As for Diallo, I'd rank him second because he's going to be needed for KU, but I don't think he's got the type of game that will ever stand out consistently. He still should be a solid NBA prospect and might end up leaving as a OAD, but it won't be off a super productive season.
 
Of the players listed, I think it would be Zimmerman. He will be a solid player but I can't see him being as good as many of the other names on the list.
 
I get what your saying with Ingram but to me there is a difference. I am not discounting that he is skilled but to me he is beyond thin.

Yes Davis was a little thin but not like Ingram. The Ingram kid has zero muscle and no meat, virtually skin and bones. I have never seen a college basketball player that skinny in my life.

At least with Davis he was a long athletic freak who was 6'11" and yeah he was thin but Ingram is beyond thin,

Ingram is very skilled but I don't think he will have a big impact next season.

Yes, you're definitely right. I'm not saying Ingram won't have issues just because Davis didn't. We all know that Davis didn't need to be a physical specimen to dominate in college. He didn't need to body anyone up, he could play way off a guy and still erase him and rarely fouled. Ingram really is super skinny and clearly has never seen the inside of a weight room, but neither had Kevin Durant before he got to Texas. Ingram will have the benefit of the whistle and being that rail thin you just know K was salivating over his flopping potential. I think Ingram has a chance to be the best flopper of all time at Duke, with that body type his flops will be such an easy sell to the refs in Cameron.
 
Yes, you're definitely right. I'm not saying Ingram won't have issues just because Davis didn't. We all know that Davis didn't need to be a physical specimen to dominate in college. He didn't need to body anyone up, he could play way off a guy and still erase him and rarely fouled. Ingram really is super skinny and clearly has never seen the inside of a weight room, but neither had Kevin Durant before he got to Texas. Ingram will have the benefit of the whistle and being that rail thin you just know K was salivating over his flopping potential. I think Ingram has a chance to be the best flopper of all time at Duke, with that body type his flops will be such an easy sell to the refs in Cameron.

Lol yeah he will definitely have the whistle on his side so that will help him a bit.

Not only does Ingram need to lift weights, he needs to start eating some food. I almost want to call Child Protective Services on his parents for not feeding him.
 
Newman would have to play HORRIBLY to bust. They'll give him 30 shots a game if he wants em. He may (or may not) shoot 40% on the year but he'll get his 20ish per game.
 
My vote is for Brown. Rabb is overrated and Cal lost their PG recruit (Jolly). Jaylen is still going to need someone to get him the ball, and the Cal backcourt is mediocre.

Brown is going to be stuck out on the west coast with no buzz and no exposure, and with a team that very well might not even make the tourney.

My guess is he will still be a first-round pick, but outside the lottery.


And from what I've heard, that's the way he likes it. No buzz and no exposure with little attention. Sounds to me like a guy who wants to pass the ball with 3 secs left on the clock rather than taking the shot. He didn't want the attention that comes with being a player at UK and chose to go to Pluto to get away from it. Well, he succeeded cause he will be all but forgotten at Cal unless they can make some noise in the NCAAs, if they get there.
 
If all those guys committed to UK, I'm sure the op would have titled the thread "Which player is most likely to be an All-American?"

This is very true. I'm surprised no fake UK fan has not been like "How come Briscoe is not on that list" or something along those lines. Damn I just gave them the idea.
 
I don't think any of the kids will be a total bust. If i had to choose one, i would go with Zimmerman. I don't think he will be a bust, but i do think it might take him a lil longer than the rest to adjust to the college game. If he doesn't put up big numbers in year one, he's the type of talent you don't give up. When you're 7'1 and can run the floor like this kid does, i just can't see bust.
 
I'll throw in my own wrinkle and say Caleb Swanigan (at least for next season) since Purdue has A.J. Hammons and a deep frontcourt already. Plus I'm not sure how quickly he'll pick up the college game. Also found it interesting that he picked Purdue over Michigan State and Cal. Nothing against Matt Painter, but he's not Tom Izzo and Cal due to their great class. As far as the listed choices, I'll go with Zimmerman since I don't trust the coach who will have to develop him like another fan mentioned earlier.
 
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