#1: Smitty --> Major CT guy who was the best player on the dream season and kept us viable the previous year. No Smitty, no dream season, and we become just another school that won an NIT. Also showed that JC could keep the talented local kid home.
#2: KEA --> Shocked some people don't have him on their lists. When Khalid arrived, he changed the entire personality of the team. On his recruiting visit, he became the leader of the team; yelling at guys, telling guys where to be, etc. He was a high school senior doing this. We were coming off a bad year in terms of record and investigations (Ricky and Kirk's dealings with agents.) On top of that, he saved us from another year of Rickety Moore at the pg. Some of you might not remember, but Ricky was really disliked b/c of his reluctance to shoot, his injury woes, and the vaunted "Ricky Shuffle" where he seemingly dribbled back and forth for endless periods of time. The second KEA arrived we had a floor general who would lead us to the next level. With no KEA, JC is another coach who couldn't win the big one. Back then we counted Sweet 16s as a major accomplishment, now it is often a disappointment. Thank KEA for that change.
#3: Rudy/Donyell --> Our first two "big" recruits. People forget that Rudy was considered the jewel of that recruiting class, I believe at one point ranked #19, before Donyell committed. As stated prior, injuries ruined Rudy, but Donyell became our first McDAA. These two guys showed that we could recruit the top players.
#4: Ray --> A good but not spectacular recruit (40s-50s), Ray and his talents really took us up a step on the national stage. You had classic Big East games during his tenure with notable matchups against Kittles and Iverson which were "must see" TV. I do question the posters who state that "Ray neutralized Iverson." My memory is of Ray getting totally shut down by Boubacar Aw in those games and eventually just floating by the 3 point line. I know Ray was something like 5-22 in that BET final and lets be honest, his game winning shot was less than awe-inspiring. Ricky was the guy who went bucket for bucket with Iverson. Still, Ray never took us to the promised land. You had Donyell choking his fr year, we got beat by a better team in UCLA his soph year, and Ray choking his junior year against Miss St. Unfortunately, that is a lasting memory I have of Ray. It seemed like when a team played him physically, Ray simply shied away and resorted to standing on the 3 point line firing up contested 3s.
#5: Emeka/Kemba --> Both were not super heralded when initially signed (Kemba blew up his senior year, Emeka got noticed with a triple-double in a post-season all star game) but both took our program to new levels. The 2nd title legitimized us as a top 5 program and the third title put us in the "blue-blood" category. Both guys are also incredible ambassadors for the program. Emeka with his intelligence/academic successes, Kemba for his personality, toughness, and attitude.
