Who had the biggest 1 year improvement in history as a Wildcat?
- Thread starter JonathanW
- Start date
Not only that but IQ wasn't very good the first couple months of his soph season. He started turning it on around the first of the year
I was born a Wildcat, and started paying attention as a young kid (under 10) during Pitino’s first year. Little kids don’t really pay attention to things like players who aren’t living up to expectations or players who are exceeding them. All that said, I think you’d pretty much have to include anyone on Sutton’s last team that stayed through the infraction fiasco and then played for Pitino.
Jodie Meeks is the answer
www.sports-reference.com
8 PPG to 23 PPG
Jodie Meeks College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Jodie Meeks - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
www.sports-reference.com
8 PPG to 23 PPG
Beat me to it. Hard to believe there was a bigger jump from any other player.Jodie Meeks is the answer
Jodie Meeks College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Jodie Meeks - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
8 PPG to 23 PPG
THIS!
Especially Rob Lock.
Junior year: 7.5 ppg / 5.5 reb/game / 49% FT
Senior year: 11 ppg / 6.5 reb/games / 75% FT
Roger Harden, after the graduation of Dicky Beal and Jim Master, saw lots of minutes on the floor as a Junior. A fine player.
He was even better his Senior year.
Kenny Walker was the "Player of the Game" one night in February of 1986. After the game on the radio, Ralph Hacker asked him about Roger Harden. Walker replied:
(Paraphrasing from memory) "Well, what can I say about Roger Harden......he does it all" and then went into a long list of all things great (making big shots, his passing and assists, running the team, etc etc etc)
That's all you need to know about Roger's Senior year, listening to K. Walker summing things up.
Some other ones:
Kenny Walker:
Sophomore - 12.4ppg and 5.9rpg
Junior - 22.9ppg and 10.2rpg
Ron Mercer:
Freshman - 8ppg
Sophomore - 18ppg
Jack Givens:
Freshman - 9.4ppg
Sophomore - 20.1ppg
Tyler Ulis:
Freshman - 5.6ppg and 3.6apg
Sophomore - 17.3ppg and 7apg
Kenny Walker:
Sophomore - 12.4ppg and 5.9rpg
Junior - 22.9ppg and 10.2rpg
Ron Mercer:
Freshman - 8ppg
Sophomore - 18ppg
Jack Givens:
Freshman - 9.4ppg
Sophomore - 20.1ppg
Tyler Ulis:
Freshman - 5.6ppg and 3.6apg
Sophomore - 17.3ppg and 7apg
Erik Daniels was the first guy that came to mind. He went from unplayable to one of the best players in the SEC seemingly overnight.
Quickley and Richards are up there for me. Nazr, Kelenna Azubuike improved a ton his Sophomore year too. PJ Washington as well. Harrelson has to be up there.
Last edited:
What about Cameron Mills from walk-on to 31 points a game against Florida. He came up big when Kentucky needed him the most and at a crucial time. Right in middle of season goes from not unknown on opponents scouting report to the guy they was trying to shut down. I agree however that Harrellson in 2011 was a hell of a nice surprise though. I actually for one always thought he could be a decent player though. When he got his chances he could nail that 3 from the top of the key under BCG but he just didn't get the mins. If not for the whole Kanter deal we probably never find out what a player Harrellson could be. That Ohio State game is the one I remember him most for even if UofL was his breakout game.
Gotta throw my dude Josh Harrellson into the mix here.
Not to mention one of the biggest postseason shots ever! I liked the episode I watched of the down south SEC documentary that just aired, they had a segment on him being a walk on. He wanted only a UK offer and had to basically beg to be a walk on for Pitino. All the guys on the 1996 team talked about all the hard work he put in and how most would have quit and went somewhere else to play. Mills said he told Pitino if he had to ride his bench for 4 years he would be way happier and his dream fulfilled. They don’t make many kids like that anymore.
Epps becoming the PG single handedly took the 1996 team into the stratosphere of all time great teams.
Last edited:
That’s crazy because he turned into one of the most skilled passing big men I’ve ever seen here, him and a Chuck were like PB and J together. The run that started like a few games before the SEC until the end of the season was amazing.
He used to play football, ya know? 😂
Yeah, true, no one wants to sit on the bench. But a role player with two titles certainly trumps going to play at Georgia and no one ever remembering you (I think that was the team who offered him a scholarship).
As my memory serves, the run really started at halftime of the game @ Vanderbilt that year. They went in the locker room at the half an average team, and came out of it possessed and never looked back.
Of course. You're not going to submit his name for consideration here ... are you?
I haven't caught that one yet. I do know that he wanted to come to UK and I've heard him talk about it on Oscar combs podcast about how Pitino tried to talk him out of coming and then his dad went to see Pitino and got it worked out for him to walk-on. He showed up at school one day and pulls Cameron out of the classroom and tells him he going to UK and It's a great story for sure. I know that UGA wanted him. He talked about going on a visit there and how basketball players were treated like 2nd class ppl. They definitely do not make them like him anymore. And Epps too. Alot of ppl will say Epps was a walk-on but he was promised a scholarship as soon as one became available and one opened up right before his Fresh yr. so he technically wasn't ever a walk-on but those boys wanted to win and they fought for everything they got. It was always some reason why Pitino wanted to try play everyone over Epps but he said not so fast and always kept that attitude that he was a winner. It was all heart and work ethic for both those guys. They didn't quit and transfer out over every little thing back then. Epps and his Marion County HS team actually beat Mills Dunbar team for the State Championship that had Darnell Burton and Mills on it. Epps had Elton Scott 1994 Mr Basketball winner on his team that year in 1993. They were a badass HS ballclub.
Yeah I believe Mills said Georgia was the only SEC team he had an offer from or was the first school to offer or something like that.
I’ll never forget that game, absolute clinic in the second half. There was another game where Azubuike really broke out, I thought it was against Vandy but it wasn’t that year. It may have been the next year but I remember him coming out on fire in a second half game somewhere that really showed he was a player.
Last edited:
For all the criticism of Cal and love for Pitino, this was the most egregious line up stubbornness. Allen Edwards, Wayne Turner, and JEFF SHEPHERD were all HANDED the starting point guard job over Epps and he would have to take it back.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who went from second string point guard to All SEC player by the end of the year….
Nazr is on the list. Dude could barely make it up the floor his freshman year but was very important to us in his sophomore year.
Meeks was one of my favorites, you could tell he was going to be a good one even as a FR. Tubby saw it too, only Bogans and Rondo played more as a FR for Tubby than did Meeks. He scored 8.7/gm as a FR. In the pre-season of his SOPH yr it looked like he was going to break out and have a huge season (I think was our top scorer), and then he had that bad hamstring pull either in the last pre-season game or the opening regular game, and just never got back to full strength, playing only 11 games trying to play through the pain before shutting it down.
Of course we all know how he blew up as a JR, but it wasn't a shock that he did.
And now he's an NBA All-Star! Loved his work ethic and ability to step up to the plate to help UK win. Great player.
Similar threads
