HS Basketball Prodigy What Could Have Beens

[Umami Zen]

Fair enough. I don't think I worded my OP as well as I should have worded it.

Was looking for players who went from HS stars, to odd college or no college, and somehow made it to the NBA but never shined.

the Hawk definitely had a good career or better.

This is an inside joke between Chin and me.....Kind of a casual use of the English language.. Don't you think?? LOL

 

[storrsroars]

Ernie Cobb bit me once in HS, so I put a curse on him.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Dejaun Wagner
Omar Cook

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Ernie Cobb bit me once in HS, so I put a curse on him.

You really are salty huh? You roasted him.

 

[XLCenterFan]

God Shamgod?

 

[olehead]

Lloyd Daniels was another one.

Gaucho teammate of mine from back in the day. I remember practicing out at the Las Vegas Invitational and he was talking ish and shooting around the three line and making each shot with his left hand (his strong hand) and then he did the same thing with his off-hand. Incredible.

Despite the horrible rep, he was a great teammate. He was our Steph Curry and all you had to do was play off him for success.

Last thing, Garfinkel referred to him as a rising jr as the greatest ball player living. Prone to hyperbole, Lloyd could have been a great one and if you base his ability off the San Antonio stint, you would be in error, at that point he was a shell of himself athletically.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Gaucho teammate of mine from back in the day. I remember practicing out at the Las Vegas Invitational and he was talking ish and shooting around the three line and making each shot with his left hand (his strong hand) and then he did the same thing with his off-hand. Incredible.

Despite the horrible rep, he was a great teammate. He was our Steph Curry and all you had to do was play off him for success.

Last thing, Garfinkel referred to him as a rising jr as the greatest ball player living. Prone to hyperbole, Lloyd could have been a great one and if you base his ability off the San Antonio stint, you would be in error, at that point he was a shell of himself athletically.

Great story.


I started this whole thread to get to Lloyd Daniels. I just couldn't remember his name at first.

He definitely had some bad handlers and made some bad decisions himself all of which kept him from showcasing his skills on his prime.

 

[weo777]

Look no forward than Kolbe HS Bridgeports Walter Luckett. SI s national high school player of the year and an authentic nice guy and legend.

https://justinrwilliams.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/luckett_dime1.pdf

 

[ucp990411]

Roosevelt Lee from hard hittin New Britain

 

[nomar]

Wasn't Felipe Lopez supposed to be better than a 5ppg in the NBA?

First name that came to my mind

He was basically LeBron in HS. Not so much in college or the pros.

 

[storrsroars]

You really are salty huh? You roasted him.

Cobb actually rehabilitated himself quite well. Our one white starter had some continuing issues though.

 

[Chin Diesel]

First name that came to my mind

He was basically LeBron in HS. Not so much in college or the pros.

The thing with Lopez was it turned out he just wasn't good enough. He played four full seasons at SJU.

There wasn't anything external affecting his path through college and the pros.

 

[olehead]

Look no forward than Kolbe HS Bridgeports Walter Luckett. SI s national high school player of the year and an authentic nice guy and legend.

https://justinrwilliams.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/luckett_dime1.pdf

Awesome article, very inspiring. Thank you for this. Wish the young bulls coming up were aware of Luckett and his legacy. Quite a role model.

 

[olehead]

Jay Edwards from Indiana (late 80's) is a 1st teamed on this list. Beast in college, not sure whether demons held him back. Seems to easy to chalk it up as that.

Jay had to be one of the most fluid players with the prettiest shot that I've ever seen. Hit so many game winners for IU back in the day. Check the clip below.

 

[nomar]

The thing with Lopez was it turned out he just wasn't good enough. He played four full seasons at SJU.

There wasn't anything external affecting his path through college and the pros.

TBH I read the thread name and glossed over what you were looking for. (Although I'm confused as to whether you were asking for guys who had good or not good NBA careers after middling college careers.)

Agreed - Lopez was just overrated.

 

[RichZ]

Kwame Brown

 

[RichZ]

Sam Bowie. Had a semi-OK career, but not drafted ahead of MJ level OK, and it was made worse by being injury prone.

 

[WlfdHusky]

The kid from Georgetown that had the samurai sword incident among others.

 

[Umami Zen]

More sad than flameout..Ernie D's wing man .. Bad News Barnes

 

[Zonepress]

Used to see Walt luckett at the gym years ago great guy. Was fortunate to see the Kobe /Notre dame game with Frank olenik
Who went on to play with Seattle in the nba

It would be nice to see that level of play
In hs again!

 

[UCTitleTown]

Anthony Harris. The best CT player I've ever seen. Things came too easy for him and he never achieved greatness. I thought he was a sure NBA player.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Adonal Foyle. Mcdonald's All-American who decided to go to Colgate for academics. He put up great numbers there and was drafted but never really lived up to the hype.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Tarkanian seemed to be involved with a few of these. Chris Herren maybe?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Some random guys that had big names in recuiting (maybe some of them peaked early, like Fr. or Soph, by the time their class graduated they might've slipped somewhat), did okay in college but not what was expected, went on to barely any pro career as far as I can remember: Robert "Tractor" Traylor, Winfred Walton, Schea Cotton, Esteban Weaver, Jelani Gardner.

 

[Chin Diesel]

TBH I read the thread name and glossed over what you were looking for. (Although I'm confused as to whether you were asking for guys who had good or not good NBA careers after middling college careers.)

Agreed - Lopez was just overrated.

I screwed up my OP. I really wanted guys who were great in HS, had a wandering path to the league and then never caught on. Maybe they had a great game or two but it was clear they maxed out in HS.