Biggest Freshman Surprises?

[amishboy]

It's obvious that many BYers follow high school player rankings and college projections very closely. So probably you were way less surprised than I was by Alex Karaban last year.

It might just be my declining memory, but I don't remember being as surprised by the success of a freshman since, maybe, Emeka Okafor.

So, just out of curiosity, who do y'all remember as the most surprising freshmen in, say, the past 20 years? And, if you're so inclined, feel free to include any "bad" surprises.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Clingan might have been the biggest surprise
Karaban was a red shirt freshman who most of us thought would be a sixth man with significant minutes .
The big guy was slated as a project but went to someone who could have gone in the first round this year
That’s unprecedented or at least since Emeka who was not that highly regarded out of HS
Other runner ups
Brimah - unrated to key member of NC team
Hilton Armstrong
Josh Boone
Nadav Henefeld ( not really a freshman)
Christian Vital

 

[bazzdog]

Clingan
I didn’t expect him to play very much and he was an impact player on a National championship team. Pleasant surprise

 

[Deleted at users request]

Clingan for sure.

Jeremy Lamb played with a surprising calmness freshman year and I don’t think I ever remember him missing a layup or floater. He also had a knack for getting deflections on defense with his arms.

Jeff Adrien also played well beyond his years. Had no concerns about the torch being passed from Boone to him.

 

[jibsey]

And for those who have seen these freshman in action who will we be likely surprised by pleasantly by say December?

 

[Huskyforlife]

Bouknight for me. Nobody could’ve known he was borderline nba by the end of year 1.

 

[WlfdHusky]

1. Okafor
2. Boone
3. Clingan
4. Lamb

 

[EZPass]

One of my favorites from tcf’s stuff; Lamb in BET & NCAAs 2011

 

[husky429]

Lamb and Clingan come to mind for me.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Ray Allen

 

[Incursio007]

Lamb & Clingan - we don’t win 2 championships without them.

 

[Deleted at users request]

One of my favorites from tcf’s stuff; Lamb in BET & NCAAs 2011

How lucky are we as a fan base to have tcf’s archive of UConn basketball highlights? I don’t think anyone else has this in any sport.

 

[KeyWestUC]

How lucky are we as a fan base to have tcf’s archive of UConn basketball highlights? I don’t think anyone else has this in any sport.

Still watching all the tournament games LOL!

 

[Punkbo]

The confidence and leadership skills of Khalid El-Amin as a freshman were shocking to me. I thought he’d be good, but not that good.

 

[RedDog]

Shabazz showed how great he would be way back at the 2010 Maui Invitational.

Conversely, I was kind of disappointed in Drummond’s season. Given the hype, I thought he would be more dominant.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Boat show. Suspended for getting like $100 of improper benefits then first college game he hit some big FTs against FSU(?) To close it out. Rest is history

 

[August_West]

It’s Clingan and Lamb.

I’ve got a great one : Boone. He came out of nowhere and no one thought he’d see anything when we signed Villanueva late. But chuck had to miss a few games early for eligibility mishegoss , and Boone got the start and never looked back all the way to a trophy.

Honorable mention to Bazz.


KEA is not an answer in that he wasn’t a surprise. He was as advertised

 

[superjohn]

It’s Clingan and Lamb.

I’ve got a great one : Boone. He came out of nowhere and no one thought he’d see anything when we signed Villanueva late. But chuck had to miss a few games early for eligibility mishegoss , and Boone got the start and never looked back all the way to a trophy.

Honorable mention to Bazz.


KEA is not an answer in that he wasn’t a surprise. He was as advertised

Karaban

 

[Spaceman213J]

Granted the whole team was surprising to a degree, but Scott Burrell was impressive his freshman year. His defense was solid and he accepted his role on a team that relied on Chris Smith, The Dove and Rod Sellers.

 

[nadavtheman]

Nadav Henefeld. No one knew he he was.

 

[UCfor3]

Okafor. Played above his ranking from jump and ended up being a dominant stud who led us to #2.

 

[mauconnfan]

Henefeld, Boone and Bazz

 

[Horatio]

Shabazz. I had no idea

 

[superjohn]

Okafor. Played above his ranking from jump and ended up being a dominant stud who led us to #2.

Good call. Nobody had any clue how good he would be. The fanbase was distraught we didn't get Isaiah Fox or Jamal Sampson.

Okafor went into Arizona as a freshman and had 19 points, 15 rebounds, 9 blocks on 70% fg's getting UConn the win.

 

[Connecticut13]

I’ll throw Ben Gordon in. He was fairly highly regarded coming in, but not a top 20 recruit. We knew he’d be pretty good - but he wound up having an absolutely phenomenal freshman season.

 

[UKemba15]

Okafor. Played above his ranking from jump and ended up being a dominant stud who led us to #2.

And led himself to the #2 draft pick. His whole story is just incredible, and such a good dude.

 

[Mr. French]

Bouknight for me. Nobody could’ve known he was borderline nba by the end of year 1.

Lamb was way more of a surprise to me than Bouknight. But that's just my personal experience.

Lamb and Boone and probably Shabazz too are my answers. I also loved Shabazz's game, thought he'd be really good, but I didn't know he'd have the stones right away, especially being smaller and re-classifying.

 

[metsfan2323]

Okafor. Played above his ranking from jump and ended up being a dominant stud who led us to #2.

I remember reading somewhere that one of the coaches left Calhoun a post-it note after watching an early pre-season players only practice that said "Emeka, Oh My God". The coaches had no clue he was going to be that good.

 

[Sick Puppy]

Ray Allen

He was the best freshman in the country...as a 6th man.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Lamb was way more of a surprise to me than Bouknight. But that's just my personal experience.

Lamb and Boone and probably Shabazz too are my answers. I also loved Shabazz's game, thought he'd be really good, but I didn't know he'd have the stones right away, especially being smaller and re-classifying.

Yeah I was just throwing a different name out there. I think Lamb wins this argument generally speaking. But I didn’t think Bouknight was gonna be cooking people at an NBA level by the end of year 1.