Interesting. I saw him in HS on tv just once, and from that 1 game I concluded he would flop. Seemed to just stand outside waiting for the ball, not a team player. And they talked about how him and the other good player didn’t get along.
Which UK player(s) were you completely wrong about before they got here?
- Thread starter bigbluelou
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The season isn't over. Edwards might be a guy that needs more time, even another season. To me it's obvious the talent is there.
I saw Barbour in a juco game and just assumed that he had a bad game. I was very much mistaken.
As a senior in high school he was very assertive and looked fantastic. At UK, unless he was called out he would just watch. If he could have played every game like the Duke game. Only what if’s!
The bad...
BJ Boston #1 for sure. I thought he was going to be one of Cal's best freshmen.
Sahvir Wheeler #2. Never thought he would be a superstar but certainly didn't expect him to flake out on team. Thought he would be one of Cal's more underrated players.
I was wrong on both of these guys big time.
The good...
Tyler Ulis
PJ Washington
SGA
BJ Boston #1 for sure. I thought he was going to be one of Cal's best freshmen.
Sahvir Wheeler #2. Never thought he would be a superstar but certainly didn't expect him to flake out on team. Thought he would be one of Cal's more underrated players.
I was wrong on both of these guys big time.
The good...
Tyler Ulis
PJ Washington
SGA
Too many guys not as good as I expected to mention. But the 3 biggest misses for me the other way where I thought the kids were garbage as players?
1- Anthony Epps - Watched him in person at a low level all star game and thought he’d never get off the bench.
2- Nazr. Watched him in a couple of his first practices when I attended a Pitino coaches clinic. Could barely get up and down the floor. Pitino literally was on the court pushing his ass up and down the floor and talking **** about him over the microphone while doing it.
3-SGA. Saw him play locally at a 2 day “classic” in my hometown. Only saw the first day. He was decidedly average. Meh. I thought maybe he earns something more than garbage time by his junior or senior year. My dad went the next night and said he was the best player in all 5 games that day. I thought, “no way in hell.” Boy, was I wrong 😂
1- Anthony Epps - Watched him in person at a low level all star game and thought he’d never get off the bench.
2- Nazr. Watched him in a couple of his first practices when I attended a Pitino coaches clinic. Could barely get up and down the floor. Pitino literally was on the court pushing his ass up and down the floor and talking **** about him over the microphone while doing it.
3-SGA. Saw him play locally at a 2 day “classic” in my hometown. Only saw the first day. He was decidedly average. Meh. I thought maybe he earns something more than garbage time by his junior or senior year. My dad went the next night and said he was the best player in all 5 games that day. I thought, “no way in hell.” Boy, was I wrong 😂
You’re right, the talent is there. Another season is the best case scenario for both us and him.
I played against Persley in HS. Grown ass man! He and Mike Figgs dunked on our lily-white tails all night.
I was going to say Todd May too. Sometimes it’s hard for guys from small schools in rural areas to make the adjustment to a major college program being under the microscope.
Whoever that guy was that said he didn’t want Karl (not yet Anthony) Towns because he “walks lazy.” That guy was wrong.
Same I got fooled by his highlights.... played a little like me. Should of known it was bad news then LOL
Joe Crawford. Still turned out to be a fine player but thought he was going to be something really special from day one with that '04 recruiting class Tubby brought in.
I thought Keldon was finally going to be that great SF that UK always lacked. And while he was decent, he was still very shaky.
I also think he's a bit of a bust in the NBA and I imagine he's going to get drafted over before long.
And that kind of made me skeptical of crowning BJ as the next great SF. Small, undersized. And these positions need to have chemistry with their PG. It's why I think freshman SF is the hardest position to get production out of when. Not big enough to affect the game under the hope, but they don't have the ball in their hands like PG/combo guards.
I also think he's a bit of a bust in the NBA and I imagine he's going to get drafted over before long.
And that kind of made me skeptical of crowning BJ as the next great SF. Small, undersized. And these positions need to have chemistry with their PG. It's why I think freshman SF is the hardest position to get production out of when. Not big enough to affect the game under the hope, but they don't have the ball in their hands like PG/combo guards.
It's hard to be a bust in the draft if you're picked 29th. The franchise isn't exactly building around that pick.
Regardless, that guy went from being on a G-League squad to finding himself on a gold-winning Olympic championship squad. That's not bad.
Isaiah Briscoe. Would have never expected a guard to be that damn atrocious from the perimeter, the free throw line and step out of bounds on the baseline as much as he did. Ranked 10th overall in the 2015 class.
There's been far worse players at UK but Bennett and Blackmon were the most disappointing to me.
These guys were #2 and #3 and tore it up at both the Capitol Classic and the McDonald's AA game.
I really thought they made us locks for the '84 title.
These guys were #2 and #3 and tore it up at both the Capitol Classic and the McDonald's AA game.
I really thought they made us locks for the '84 title.
That they didn't live up to.
https://basketball.realgm.com/highschool/awards-by-season/1980 Bearup
Blackmon
https://basketball.realgm.com/highschool/awards-by-season/1983
Bennett in class
https://basketball.realgm.com/highschool/awards-by-season/1984. Madison
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This.
Bennett wound up ok but not what I expected. Blackmon was supposed to be better than Alford.
I thought that Derrick Hord would be a star!
He was a solid player for us, but I believe he was a top 5 player coming out of HS.
He was a solid player for us, but I believe he was a top 5 player coming out of HS.
This! Not to mention, he was compared to Kobe Bryant quite a bit by analysts. Really think that injury plagued his UK career.
One that NOBODY mentioned, for me, was Nerlens Noel. I saw a brief interview with him and had a bad first impression. When he committed to UK, I was thinking that this was not good. Once he came to UK he became one of my all time favorites. I still wonder what might have been had he not had that freak injury.
Nothing in particular that I recall. It was just an impression. It didn't take long for me to realize that he wasn't just a gifted athlete but a great teammate and person.
He was and the '79 class was historically good.
Looking back it's hard to believe that Hord was right up there Sampson, Bowie, Worthy, Thomas and Wilkins.
HS basketball was very regional in the 70's.
A lot of top guys never faced each other until college.
I remember Buzz Peterson saying he thought he would beat Jordan out when they both signed with UNC in '81.
I thought that Devin Askew would know how to play basketball. I thought Joel Justice was actually earning a paycheck for a second. I thought Tubby was trying to recruit. I thought Pitino would make me like UofL basketball. I thought Cal would dominate once Coach K was out of the way. Plenty more.
I thought Lock was terrible early in his career. He had a good senior season. I still think that guy drew more charges than anyone I've ever seen.
Lot of good names I’ve seen mentioned here, both good and bad. I won’t repeat a bunch of names I’ve seen already.
A name I haven’t seen yet is Rashaad Carruth. I thought that guy was going to take us up to an elite level again in terms of talent that had slightly dipped in the Tubby era. Him woofing at Duke’s bench had me thinking “man this guy has IT. Gonna be a star!” And then is was pretty much downhill from then on out for Carruth at UK
A name I haven’t seen yet is Rashaad Carruth. I thought that guy was going to take us up to an elite level again in terms of talent that had slightly dipped in the Tubby era. Him woofing at Duke’s bench had me thinking “man this guy has IT. Gonna be a star!” And then is was pretty much downhill from then on out for Carruth at UK
Not really. You could see Richards had talent. His main problem first 2 years was his grip strength. That's why I thought they should have had him doing indoor rock climbing all summer.
You mean Rob Rock, right?
He was so frustrating to watch at times.Similar threads
