The Big Lead has Diallo at #3 and Knox at #8 in top 50 "players" in college basketball

[Wall2Wall]

http://kentuckysportsradio.com/bask...wo-of-the-best-players-in-college-basketball/

You guys that say this year's recruiting class, which statistically is the GOAT, lacks transcendent super star power ala Davis or Wall need to get a clue.

 

[BlueSince92]

I remember Harrison Barnes playing a completely different role that year in the public forum than what some people seem to be describing.

Yes, he was available for draft the same year as Davis. But rather than ever being considered serious competition for Davis, Barnes' name was actually thrown out to temper expectations about Davis. Everyone all year wire to wire, except for delusional Kansas fans, talked about how Davis was the obvious guy to beat for top draft pick. They all talked about that in their first breath if it was their turn to open discussion on the subject. And obviously it made sense.

But then immediately afterwards someone would chime in about how it was a long season and we better wait and see whether Davis would develop physically, develop his offense etc. And it was then that Harrison Barnes' name sometimes popped up, not as competition, but as a warning against hyping freshmen. The year before Barnes had been penciled in as First Team All American on some fairly high profile polls *preseason*. And since that was the first time that ever happened (didn't even happen for John Wall), a lot of people felt burned by that when he didn't live up to that particular hype. And that came out in their expectations for Anthony Davis. Plus of course it's always going to be popular to be pushing some kind of dark horse or other when there's an obvious number one, because what else is going to pull in viewers?

So obviously a lot of talking heads were saying "yeah I really think Robinson can beat out Davis" or "yeah I really think Favors can beat out Davis" and even a few "yeah I think John Henson can beat out Davis." But to me that was all just smoke and mirrors. Why?

'Coz no one ever came close to saying, "yeah I really think Davis can beat out [someone]." That would have sounded stupid.

That's why I personally agree with folks who claim AD was the favorite all year, although I do also agree Wall was stronger as far as anyone even trying to push any alternative just sounding stupid wire to wire. At least Davis did have some offensive question marks for a while before he really started hitting his stride and showing his stuff.

 

[Wall2Boogie]

If we are going by overall class 2011 is tough to beat. 2014 with kat and 2009 with cousins and wall were up there as well. But 2011 had the 1 and 2 overall picks which is hard to top not to mention Teague being drafted as well even though he hasn't panned out. I think this class is very good, but it's clear we may have only 2 for sure OAD kids on this team. This class could very much turn out like 2014 where we had guys like ulis stay more than one yr to be drafted higher the next.

 

[BleedinBlue85]

I forgot the dudes name but I think he went to Georgia tech? He got drafted higher than cousins as well. I think preseason he was hyped up as high as wall.

Derek Favors

 

[Mike-D]

Yes. They said Diallo and Knox are two of the best players in college basketball. So that means, in their opinion, UK has 2 of the best players in college basketball this season. Only one other team, Arizona, has 2 players on the list. Hard to not pick the Cats to go really far when they have 2 of the top players in college B ball.

Fixed

 

[Macy's socks]

2014
2011
2017 (although we need to judge them in April) Kevin Knox is not going to be a star, he is going to be a Super Star. He is exactly what the NBA has changed to. Kevin Durant type player. Knox could be the Naismith player of the year, and the number 1 pick in the draft. Remember this, Karl Anthony Townes was ranked 5th coming out of high school (clearly a mistake), and ended up being the #1 pick in the draft.

Lord I hope you are right!

 

[LeonThe Camel]

My comment is in regards to the word "undisputed". How can John Wall be considered undisputed when he wasn't even ranked #1 in some recruiting service. He quickly became the #1 draft prospect from his strong start.

Because those that rank the high school players are not the same as those slotting draft picks.