Best natural Athlete

[Inyatkin]

This many posts and no one has pointed out that Stanley Robinson is not a Big East caliber athlete? Disappointing.

 

[johnhuskies95]

I said Drummond was a great athlete. Just not as good as Scott. Ward, Taylor and Thompson were all great athletes and would be in the running for best athlete ever to attend Uconn had they went here. Since they didn't, I'll stick with Burrell.

You questioned whether he would be picked in the first round if he were 6'6, and on the first page you said he was a "really good athlete for a 6'11 guy". He doesn't need the qualifier.

 

[Gurleyman]

I think the obvious answer is that the Boneyard, which is 6-6, 250, can run 50 miles, and can overrun azaleas with nothing but a golf cart, is pretty much the greatest natural athlete since the velociraptor.

 

[CAHUSKY]

The size thing is a bizzarre hypothetical, If Burrell was 5'10 instead of 6'5 would he have been a D1 level athlete in any sport? .

Yes, because he was an amazing natural athlete. That was my point.

 

[superjohn]

Yes, because he was an amazing natural athlete. That was my point.

Wow, no offense but that's a pretty bizzarre theory.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Wow, no offense but that's a pretty bizzarre theory.

It's bizarre to think an amazing athlete at 5'10 could play a division 1 sport?

 

[superjohn]

It'S bizzarre because nobody could know what type of athlete Burrell would be if he was only 5'10, same
goes with Drummond and anyone else if they were 7 or 8 inches shorter than their actual height.

 

[RedDog]

I'm going with Dan Cyrulik.

 

[zymurg]

Walt Dropo has to be in the discussion. He played 3 major sports at UConn. He chose baseball for a pro career, better pay day in his era.
He was good enough to be AL Rookie of the year in 1950 ( I think). He was a first round pick in the pro basketball draft, the fourth overall to the Providence Steamrollers. His 20.7 ppg is the second highest scoring for a career in UConn history.

He was a good enough football player to be on the all time UConn team picked in 1969 (the 100th anniversary
of college football).

He broke his wrist after the 1950 season; he was never the same player again, but he played around 10+ years in the majors.

 

[Woof 101]

Donny Marshall was also an all state soccer player.

My first thought on this post...Glad you brought it to the table. He was considered pro level potential soccer player coming out of high school.
Give me five Donny / Scott type players on the floor, I don't care about who is a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 we win...

 

[Scoe]

Boatright is up there. The OP did say Uconn history Darius Butler was a freak athlete he played some wr and made it look easy. He ran a 4.3 40 and a 43 inch vertical at the combine. He played QB in high school and was Allstate in basketball.

 

[ZenConn]

Chad Wise(r) ?

 

[pnete]

Backseat Becky( from Cheers)

 

[CL82]

If we are limited to that list then, yeah Scott Burrell, but the best all around athlete that we've ever had at UConn is Walt Dropo.

While at UConn, Dropo played for the football team, basketball team and baseball team. Dropo was drafted in basketball and football and oh yeah, he was American League rookie of the year for the Red Sox. Yeah, you read that right - he could have played three sports as a pro. He was a pretty good ball player before being injured:

• Rookie of the Year (1950)
• All-Star (1950)
• Top 10 MVP (sixth, 1950)
• Led league in RBIs (144, 1950)
• Led league in total bases (326, 1950)
• Tied an MLB record with 12 consecutive at-bats with a hit (July 15, 1952)
• Tied an MLB record with 12 consecutive plate appearances with a hit (July 15, 1952)
• Tied an AL record with 15 hits in four games (July 16, 1952)
• Dropo was the first rookie to top 100 RBIs with more RBIs than games played (144 in 136 games, 1950)

For overall athleticism at UConn there's Dropo and then there's everyone else. LINK

 

[pnete]

Backseat Becky( worked in various bars in Boston upon graduation)

 

[David 76]

But if Andre was 2' 8" how good would he be?

And if Scotty was 10'2"?

A "natural" athlete is someone who could do well at any sport to which they set their mind. Think of how you use the term. It almost seems easy for the natural athlete. Those decathlete skills are a good base for that but not the definition of it.
I didn't see Walt and it is hard to compare eras, but Walt may beat Scott

 

[James]

Boatright is up there. The OP did say Uconn history Darius Butler was a freak athlete he played some wr and made it look easy. He ran a 4.3 40 and a 43 inch vertical at the combine. He played QB in high school and was Allstate in basketball.

This photo blown up in impressive. Boat's vertical must be insane

 

[UChusky916]

Don't mean to hijack this thread but drummond has a ridiculous nba highlight reel ALREADY. he is a badass, thanks sheed.

The most impressive thing to take away from this vid is who he's going up against in these highlights... some of the top C and PF in the league. Bosh, Amare, Chandler, Ibaka, Howard all victims. He's already in their class and he's still so young and raw with so much more to learn.

Drummond is going to be a top C in the league for 2 decades, health permitting.

 

[David 76]

Anyone have a url for that AD highlight video?

 

[Scoe]

Is Joey Chestnut a natural athlete.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Is Joey Chestnut a natural athlete.

I had a beer with Joey Chesnut at the Reno Best in the West Rib Cookoff last year. He had just eaten something like 7.5 lbs of ribs but hung out for a while and shot the breeze with us. Good guy.

 

[David 76]

People think of Joey as just a hot dog guy. But he can compete in any food eating type contest.

 

[bmayuc]

I know that this board has a very pronounced nostalgia factor. And Scott Burrell was a solid (16ppg) player here. He also was a very marginal pro, and his "world-class" accomplishments top out there. Drafted in the 1st round in two sports and didn't really accomplish anything significant in either. That's not to knock him its a crazy accomplishment in its own right. He was a great athlete though, no question.

However, if we are talking natural freaking athletic monsters, nobody is in the class of Andre Drummond. And my list would go something like this (UCONN MBB only)

1. Andre Drummond(All Around Beast)
gap
2a. Rudy Gay(Amazing Run/Jump/Agility)
2b. Scott Burrell(Explosive/Control)
3. Ben Gordon(Explosive/sneaky strength)
4. Donyell Marshall(smooth/agility)
5a. Jerome Dyson(speed/power/hops)
5b. Stanley Robinson(hops,hops,hops)
...
...
214. Rashad Anderson(nothing)

 

[CL82]

I know that this board has a very pronounced nostalgia factor. And Scott Burrell was a solid (16ppg) player here. He also was a very marginal pro, and his "world-class" accomplishments top out there. Drafted in the 1st round in two sports and didn't really accomplish anything significant in either. That's not to knock him its a crazy accomplishment in its own right. He was a great athlete though, no question.

However, if we are talking natural freaking athletic monsters, nobody is in the class of Andre Drummond. And my list would go something like this (UCONN MBB only)

1. Andre Drummond(All Around Beast)
gap
2a. Rudy Gay(Amazing Run/Jump/Agility)
2b. Scott Burrell(Explosive/Control)
3. Ben Gordon(Explosive/sneaky strength)
4. Donyell Marshall(smooth/agility)
5a. Jerome Dyson(speed/power/hops)
5b. Stanley Robinson(hops,hops,hops)
...
...
214. Rashad Anderson(nothing)

Rashad Anderson nothing? Well I guess sometimes "nothing" can be a real cool hand.

 

[uconnfan68]

I know that this board has a very pronounced nostalgia factor. And Scott Burrell was a solid (16ppg) player here. He also was a very marginal pro, and his "world-class" accomplishments top out there. Drafted in the 1st round in two sports and didn't really accomplish anything significant in either. That's not to knock him its a crazy accomplishment in its own right. He was a great athlete though, no question.

However, if we are talking natural freaking athletic monsters, nobody is in the class of Andre Drummond. And my list would go something like this (UCONN MBB only)

1. Andre Drummond(All Around Beast)
gap
2a. Rudy Gay(Amazing Run/Jump/Agility)
2b. Scott Burrell(Explosive/Control)
3. Ben Gordon(Explosive/sneaky strength)
4. Donyell Marshall(smooth/agility)
5a. Jerome Dyson(speed/power/hops)
5b. Stanley Robinson(hops,hops,hops)
...
...
214. Rashad Anderson(nothing)

If Scott Burrell concentrated in a single sport, he would have been one of the best ever in it. And you can pick any sport you can think of. Athletic prowess not withstanding, playing a sport involves more than physical abilities. As much as I love AD, I'm not sure he is in the same class as Scottie.