Player Development

[nomar]

I’ve got to disagree about Brimah. I really don’t think he developed that much during his time here. Nice kid though.

Off the top of my head I'd say Hilton, Gavin, and Amida.

Hilton was an afterthought recruit who became a monster.
Gavin was, I think a "2 star" recruit who was openly criticized. I think his own coach said he didn't think he could be a Big East player.
Amida was pure rawness and played in the NBA.

I'm sure there's others but those three jump out to me...

Holy cow, boog. That is a crazy take. I use Brimah as the best (but far from only) example of how horrific the previous staff was at developing players. (See also Jalen Adams, Daniel Hamilton), If he'd have been coached by a parakeet, he would have ended up the same player that graduated.

As a sophomore, he averaged 9.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.5 bpg, and 1.0 tpg, and shot 67% from the field and 64% from the line. (On a per-minute basis, this wasn't even an improvement from his freshman season).
As a senior, he averaged 7.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.6 bpg, and 1.5 tpg, and shot 57% from the field and 62% from the line.

Apart from a moderate improvement in rebounding (he was still bad at it when he left), where's the development?

Amida Brimah College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Amida Brimah - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

 

[RichZ]

Okafor clearly had unrecognized potential, but he came to Storrs barely cracking the top 100 HS recruits, and left as number 2 in the NBA draft.

Maybe my old and addled mind is playing tricks on me, but ISTR him having lackluster first game, and from then on, he was lights out good.

 

[Scrutiner]

80's - Tate George
90's - Donny Marshall
00's - Hilton Armstrong
10's - Jeremy Lamb
20's - Tristen Newton

I like those but Newton came in with three years experience so he had a leg up. So I nominate AS who came out of high school with limited experience playing the game let alone competing at a high level and we all saw how he developed.

 

[superjohn]

Okafor and Clingan were both criminally underrated coming out of high school, they were both great immediately.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Hilton is definitely high on the list. Others that come to mind

• Caron: he was older and a very solid recruit but i thought JC did a marvelous job convincing Caron that he was the best player in the country
• Newton and Spencer: these guys are kinda tricky because its likely they already had it in them. Maybe they just needed exposure. Well... they got it. And now they are likely NBA players. Tough to say if they get there without the time in Storrs
• KO: his shooting was so bad when he arrived. He made great strides by the time he was a senior

 

[Waquoit]

80s - Cliff Robinson

I'm sorry Rich but this selection is madness. There was a reason Cliff dropped to the 2nd round. Tate makes more sense, he went from a Perno recruit to the 1st round.

 

[IchabodCran]

Hasheem Thabeet

 

[Buffett10]

All theese replies and only 1 or 2 saying shabazz? Extremely small when he came in..wasn't the best outside shooter or even passer for that matter. (As evidence of how much he got killed for turning the ball over early in his career). To LEADING our team to a national championship. He benefited the most buy staying all 4 years.working himself to a #24 overall pick. And having LeBron rave about you before the draft. Nobody seen him coming in and having the mosnter junior/senior season he had. Kid was 6 ft 1 and averaged almost 6 rebounds senior year. 3pt % increased every single year. Long live the legend of Bazz

 

[FfldCntyFan]

90s maybe Jake Voskuhl

I don't know of any player that improved as much in the course of one season as Jake his freshman year. At the sytart of his freshman season he looked like he would take a decade to learn how to play at this level. By the end of that year (NIT) he was solid defensively and even had some (very rudimentary) offense.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

80's - Tate George
90's - Donny Marshall
00's - Hilton Armstrong
10's - Jeremy Lamb
20's - Tristen Newton

Tristen. Newton was first team AAC at ECU seriously he was considered a top 5-10 guy in the portal . He played with better guys at UConn which helps especially the Bigs .Plus normal maturity so for me the development has be more significant than that .
in the 2020’s
My personal pick is Diarra I was not impressed early in 2022 . Great handle no confidence in his shot and didn’t understand giving up the basketball is sometimes the best option.He reminded me of Gilbert .
He is a totally different player today that quite an achievement. I love that kid so you know he can play D .
Gavin Edwards has to be high on the his HS coach didn’t think he was a D1 prospect
He was a rotation player on a FF team and played in the Olympics Not bad for a D2 talent
Donyell Beverly went from a garbage time player for three years to a rotation player on a National Championship team , I shuddered when he got on the floor for three years .
Hilton came a long way but he started 12 games as a freshman and was 7’0 “ in Hilton units. But his progression was remarkable.
Kemba always had the talent but gained confidence in 2011 .
Were Shabazz always had the confidence but grew as a leader and decision maker
RB conversion to a workable lead guard was amazing .to watch . He had talent and confidence but the only entry pass he knew was the Ally-Op . Learning discipline is his great achievement plus finally accepted he had this great ability to lock down bigger guys .
Caron benefitted with life lessens from JC more than BB that can’t be undervalued.
In the 1990 Donny Marshall is a good choice . Travis Knight is another . Getting those 2 into the NBA was amazing.
In the 1980’s Cliff always had the talent so Tate George emerging was a bigger surprise .

 

[Eric K]

It’s not really that surprising for 5* burger boys to turn out to be good tho, is it?

What about Tristen Newton? Hilton Armstrong?

After his freshman year, I would have bet my house if you told me Hilton Armstrong would eventually be lottery pick. I recall going to several games early on where he had multiple airballs and would throw it over the backboard. But by junior year, in pre-game layup lines, he started taking and making elbow and foul line jumpers. Then the comeback against LSU in 05/06 and he took off from there.

 

[Stew Crew]

I'm sorry Rich but this selection is madness. There was a reason Cliff dropped to the 2nd round. Tate makes more sense, he went from a Perno recruit to the 1st round.

I respectfully disagree about Tate George, at least from a development perspective. His best year, arguably, was his freshman year even though the team was the worst in the past 50-60 years. He was in Calhoun's doghouse for a good chunk of his sophomore and junior years, getting pulled from the starting lineup on a few occasions. The "shot" is what propelled him into the first round. Up until then, he was considered a 2nd round pick, at best, which was probably the more accurate assessment.

 

[mussels]

Maybe my old and addled mind is playing tricks on me, but ISTR him having lackluster first game, and from then on, he was lights out good.

Okafor averaged 7.9 points and 9 boards in 30 minutes as a freshman, 17.6 points and 11.5 boards in 32 minutes as a junior.

He was a blocking machine from the get go.

 

[metsfan2323]

I respectfully disagree about Tate George, at least from a development perspective. His best year, arguably, was his freshman year even though the team was the worst in the past 50-60 years. He was in Calhoun's doghouse for a good chunk of his sophomore and junior years, getting pulled from the starting lineup on a few occasions. The "shot" is what propelled him into the first round. Up until then, he was considered a 2nd round pick, at best, which was probably the more accurate assessment.

I agree, George was a first-round pick because the Nets GM made a mistake. Cliff Robinson had to sit out his sophomore year and then JC probably motivated him into that very long NBA career.

 

[Bboy Lace]

Off the top of my head I'd say Hilton, Gavin, and Amida.

Hilton was an afterthought recruit who became a monster.
Gavin was, I think a "2 star" recruit who was openly criticized. I think his own coach said he didn't think he could be a Big East player.
Amida was pure rawness and played in the NBA.

I'm sure there's others but those three jump out to me...

Gavin is another really good development project. He flipped the switch his senior year. I like how Okwandu developed for us as well. Jeff Adrien comes to mind as well.

 

[Waquoit]

I respectfully disagree about Tate George

OK, how much do you think Cliff developed under JC?

 

[boog204]

Holy cow, boog. That is a crazy take. I use Brimah as the best (but far from only) example of how horrific the previous staff was at developing players. (See also Jalen Adams, Daniel Hamilton), If he'd have been coached by a parakeet, he would have ended up the same player that graduated.

As a sophomore, he averaged 9.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.5 bpg, and 1.0 tpg, and shot 67% from the field and 64% from the line. (On a per-minute basis, this wasn't even an improvement from his freshman season).
As a senior, he averaged 7.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.6 bpg, and 1.5 tpg, and shot 57% from the field and 62% from the line.

Apart from a moderate improvement in rebounding (he was still bad at it when he left), where's the development?

Amida Brimah College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Amida Brimah - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

I think just in the sense that Brimah was beyond a project as a freshmen then ends up an NBA player is pretty crazy to me. But you're right in that his development plateaued while here.

 

[Stew Crew]

OK, how much do you think Cliff developed under JC?

My comment was all about Tate, independent of Cliff Robinson.

That said, Cliff did show a dramatic jump (on a per minute basis) between Perno's last year and Calhoun's first year. And it all needs to be put in context. Perno had lost complete control of the program in the last few years. Without naming names, several players were either drunk or high most of the time. Earl Kelley was arrested a couple of times before eventually getting kicked off the team. Cliff and Gamble got declared academically ineligible in Calhoun's first semester there. The program was a circus. I'm not sure Cliff would have gotten a sniff at the NBA if Perno stayed a couple of more years.

Instead of Tate or Cliff, I would propose Rod Sellers, who bridged the 80s and 90s so I'm not sure which decade he would fit into.

 

[Waquoit]

I'm not sure Cliff would have gotten a sniff at the NBA if Perno stayed a couple of more years.

I think he would have been drafted higher. The NBA would have given him a pass for his deficiencies factoring in the poor coaching. His size and athletic ability wouldn't have changed.

 

[dennismenace]

I think as soon as he walked onto the practice court, the staff he knew he was awesome. They certainly helped him develop, particularly on offense, but the recruiting sites had criminally underrated him. So he went from 8-10, whereas Hilton went from 2-7.

Okafor was legendary. 4.0 student in 3 years graduating. After meeting him in person JC said we were going to get a very special person in Emeka. The players recruited and developed in the past 25 years have really been remarkable.

 

[Spaceman213J]

A lot of good answers, but surprised Kevin Freeman isn't mentioned. He turned from a rebounder and runner to a guy who a little back to the basket game and could knock down an occasional baseline 3 by the time he left.

Still for me, the answer is Hilton Armstrong. He was a project coming in and most top schools wouldn't give him the time of day. Calhoun and crew turned him into a lottery pick. Wasn't he ranked in the 200's by a few services that name that many prospects?