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Was J.J. Redick the most hated college player of all-time?

YourPublicEnemy

YourPublicEnemy

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Jul 28, 2016
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I gotta be honest, I don't think I've ever seen someone receive more vile treatment than that guy. I'm sure a lot of you remember it while it was occurring but the guy had to change his phone number constantly and his parents had to stop bringing his little brother and sister to games because of the stuff being said to them.

I didn't like him at the time either just like how most of us really dislike Duke but he wasn't a rich kid or dirty. But my goodness, do you remember what bottom feeders Maryland fans were during this era? I remember they made a derogatory sign about the guy's sister that crossed the line.

Anyways, I had a chance to meet and talk to the guy and it brought back memories of how he was perceived back in the day. Do you think anyone ever topped the villain role and was as collectively hated as this guy?
 
I think JJ got the wrath as the "successor" to Laettner type of guy. He generally was not a jerk or unlikable, but he just was a great white player for Duke.

The fact that he never won a title probably kept him from being hated more. I think Grayson Allen coming off the bench and leading Duke to the title along with his tripping incidents has made him way more hated.
 
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Tony Harris of Tennessee. Wasn't he the one who sat out a game due to a dubious injury, then tried to get into a brawl with Magliore? Even Vincent Yarborough publicly commented something about if he was healthy enough to fight, he should have been playing in the game.
 
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I don't think even half the country could have told you who Tony Harris was nor was Tennessee a threat.



One of the ACC fan bases made a shirt with Redick's picture on the front that said, "I want to name my kid J.J. Redick" and on the back it said, "And beat him every day." and at Wake Forest during the national anthem, someone yelled out "Eff you, J.J." That's some of the more tame stuff.

I can't imagine experiencing that at 18-22 years old with thousands of people making it personal.
 
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HoptownCat93 said:
I think JJ got the wrath as the "successor" to Laettner type of guy. He generally was not a jerk or unlikable, but he just was a great white player for Duke.

The fact that he never won a title probably kept him from being hated more. I think Grayson Allen coming off the bench and leading Duke to the title along with his tripping incidents has made him way more hated.
Click to expand...

He was no clean Gene. Was one of the worst Dukies ever at faking being fouled, flopping, and whining whenever he got called for a foul. Late in close games it was almost a given that he would drive on someone and fake a foul to get free throws, which he never missed. Drove me nuts.

Until last year's championship game, I was never as happy after a non-UK tournament game as I was when Big Baby Davis and LSU beat Redick & company in the Sweet 16 in 2006. Redick had one of the worst games of his career.
 
There are quite few...
Not just by UK, but entire college fanbase:

Laettner
Noah
Rivers
Wojo
Grayson Allen
Coleman
Tripuka
Ferry
Iverson
1984 GTown team
Hansbrough
Marshal Henderson
Montross
Fab 5
 
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brianpoe said:
Not even close IMO

Not just by UK, but entire college fanbase:

Laettner
Noah
Rivers
Wojo
Grayson Allen
Coleman
Tripuka
Ferry
Iverson
1984 GTown team
Hansbrough
Marshal Henderson
Montross
Fab 5
Click to expand...


I disagree with at least half of this list as none of these guys got this type of fan treatment except for probably Laettner to an extent. Fab Five was pretty hated though. Also, how many of those guys were the POTY types?

I doubt many people could name anyone on the G-town 84 team outside of Sleepy and Ewing.
 
brianpoe said:
Not even close IMO

Not just by UK, but entire college fanbase:

Laettner
Noah
Rivers
Wojo
Grayson Allen
Coleman
Tripuka
Ferry
Iverson
1984 GTown team
Hansbrough
Marshal Henderson
Montross
Fab 5
Click to expand...
A good list,might rearrange a few but you have covered it well
 
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YourPublicEnemy said:
I disagree with at least half of this list as none of these guys got this type of fan treatment except for probably Laettner to an extent. Fab Five was pretty hated though. Also, how many of those guys were the POTY types?

I doubt many people could name anyone on the G-town 84 team outside of Sleepy and Ewing.
Click to expand...

Reggie Williams. Wash Sleepy Floyd on that G-town team! What was the big bald dude's name?
 
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YourPublicEnemy said:
I disagree with at least half of this list as none of these guys got this type of fan treatment except for probably Laettner to an extent. Fab Five was pretty hated though. Also, how many of those guys were the POTY types?

I doubt many people could name anyone on the G-town 84 team outside of Sleepy and Ewing.
Click to expand...
Michael Graham
 
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blugreg said:
How about Matt Wash at Florida! UK fans hated him! Remember "WALSH IS GAY!!"
Click to expand...

Maryland fans may have hated him even more than we did. I went to the game the one time Florida played there and they treated him almost as badly as Redick. Apparently Maryland had recruited him and there were very hard feelings when he signed with Florida.
 
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Maryland fans held up a sign next to a couple dookies holding up their sign regarding JJ... one of the funniest sights I've seen from the crowd of a televised game.
 
Remember Nick Calathes from our Billy G days? I thought he had the potential to be one of those guys you just hate, but they ended up being trash as a team.

I could not stand T-Will from UofL, especially when he tried to go at Ramel that one game in 2008.

Psycho T Hansborough from UNC could get me angry. Marshall Maddness was a jerk.
 
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Yeah, I think Laettner and/or Reddick were the most hated. They are one and two, and IMO there's a big dropoff to whomever is 3rd. That's probably Tyler Hansborough, my guess. First, the most hated programs are Kentucky and Duke, and honestly Duke is more hated than UK. By fans/general public - not media types. Media guys hate UK more than Duke (generally speaking). So someone who is easily hate-able that plays for Duke will have much more widespread hate than anyone else. Someone from Tennessee or Florida will pale in comparison - they just won't get as much attention, even in a year when Florida is winning a title.

I always though Laettner deserved his hate more than Reddick. Laettner seemed to revel in it - he embraced it, encouraged it.
 
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YourPublicEnemy said:
I disagree with at least half of this list as none of these guys got this type of fan treatment except for probably Laettner to an extent. Fab Five was pretty hated though. Also, how many of those guys were the POTY types?

I doubt many people could name anyone on the G-town 84 team outside of Sleepy and Ewing.
Click to expand...



I dont think you put a POY requirement on the list.

Lots of our folks here over 40 will recall many of these.
 
A lot of people tell me that the Fab 5 may of gotten the most hate of any team ever. Chris Webber more by his own fan base as well.

Greg Paulus and Bobby Hurley are underrated Dukies to hate.

I never like Adam Morrison, he was the first of those Zags you just cheered against and wanted to get a haircut.
 
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I remembered Grantland (the old Bill Simmons site when he was still at ESPN) once had a tournament bracket for most hated college players of the last 30 years.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/most-hated-college-basketball-player-day-7-there-can-only-be-one/

The 4 regions were 1980s, 1990s, 2000s - and the Duke region. heh. Duke with its own region of hated players. So Laettner was the 1 seed, Reddick the 2 seed in that region. In the end, Laettner beat Hansborough in the finals. The other 2 in the Final Four were a couple of Heels, Rick Fox and Eric Montross.

No Kentucky players, which is something of a an accomplishment, given that we're almost as hated as Duke and no other program even registers on that scale, IMO. Pervous Ellison does make an appearance for Louisville.....
 
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YourPublicEnemy said:
I gotta be honest, I don't think I've ever seen someone receive more vile treatment than that guy. I'm sure a lot of you remember it while it was occurring but the guy had to change his phone number constantly and his parents had to stop bringing his little brother and sister to games because of the stuff being said to them.

I didn't like him at the time either just like how most of us really dislike Duke but he wasn't a rich kid or dirty. But my goodness, do you remember what bottom feeders Maryland fans were during this era? I remember they made a derogatory sign about the guy's sister that crossed the line.

Anyways, I had a chance to meet and talk to the guy and it brought back memories of how he was perceived back in the day. Do you think anyone ever topped the villain role and was as collectively hated as this guy?
Click to expand...



How did the conversation come about? Seems like a decent guy. He has a pure stroke and is a better all around player than most give him credit for.
 
I am not familiar with what Redick received as abuse.
Ernie and Bernie at TN was a dynamic duo for to players to dislike. Very talented and easy to dislike.
 
Am I the only one that remembers the douchieness of Redick always holding his arms up at the end of his follow through until the ball went in every time? Especially when ESPN would show him hitting 5 or 6 in a row. I used to get a kick out of it. Definitely not the most hated, however.
 
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Mojocat said:
I remembered Grantland (the old Bill Simmons site when he was still at ESPN) once had a tournament bracket for most hated college players of the last 30 years.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/most-hated-college-basketball-player-day-7-there-can-only-be-one/

The 4 regions were 1980s, 1990s, 2000s - and the Duke region. heh. Duke with its own region of hated players. So Laettner was the 1 seed, Reddick the 2 seed in that region. In the end, Laettner beat Hansborough in the finals. The other 2 in the Final Four were a couple of Heels, Rick Fox and Eric Montross.

No Kentucky players, which is something of a an accomplishment, given that we're almost as hated as Duke and no other program even registers on that scale, IMO. Pervous Ellison does make an appearance for Louisville.....
Click to expand...

Probably a good reason we didn't have anyone is because before Cal, we didn't really have "individual superstars" with constant media coverage in the modern era.
 
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I'm biased here as he was reason I started watching CBB and sport grew to what we've come to know/love during his era--but it's clearly Patrick Ewing. For all the "awful things" Reddick had to hear and honestly I never minded Reddick nearly as much as I personally despised Laettner but Ewing had open racism taking place during games--and the response was to clear the court for a few minutes and then resume the game-no apologies, nothing. People wearing ape masks, holding bananas, calling him the N word....it was awful. And seeing opposing coaches not do a damn thing about it--made it very pathetic. Announcers too.
 
seems like a good place to point out that the media was setting up grayson allen as the victim of his own violent lunacy and some kind of olympics-style human interest story of redemption

but they choked as krzyzewski alternated between a deer-in-headlights blank stare and carping at the refs while their guards jacked 3s off 1 and 2 passes and tatum starved for touches

ewing seems like the answer
 
Redick and Noah come to mind very quickly. Noah was annoying as crap (as was Horford always flexing). I heard a story years back about Redick getting a speeding ticket while visiting Duke's campus a year or two after leaving Duke. Seemed crazy at the time. Cop must've been a UNCheat fan.
 
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