Players that got away

[mauconnfan]

Phil Lott and the kid Powell (marvin?) from Hartford went to MD and shot it really well. I believe he almost transferred to UConn too???

 

[huskyrob1]

Was wondering after El Ellis, how many of the players that got away from us at the last minute turned out to be great players. I know we really wanted Precious last year and he turned out to be everything we thought he would be.

Best recruits we just missed on?

One of Calhoun's biggest disappointments was losing out on Wayne Turner (Kentucky) and Randell Jackson (FSU) in the same year. It was around 1995-1996 IIRC.

 

[rayrayfor3]

Remember when we lost out on Brandon Knight and Cory Joseph? We got stuck with that reclass guy Shabazz..

 

[alexd]

That would have been vacated.

Yep. The Sports agent that got to Camby also got to Ricky Moore and Kirk King.

 

[temery]

Yep. The Sports agent that got to Camby also got to Ricky Moore and Kirk King.

No comparison as to what was taken by each. Camby didn't even hide it, and Calipari didn't care (or was behind it all).

 

[August_West]

Camby was a great college player, but it’s hard to argue he would’ve made those UConn teams better .

29-5 , 28-5, 32-3 respectively.

That’s UConn’s record during cambys time.

things don’t happen in a vacuum. This isn’t fantasy sports.

problem is no titles. But our style was set in those years built around yell and then ray. It obviously worked.

does camby help that? I don’t know. Did Drummond help a team coming off a natty? I say no. Great talent and guy but it upset the Apple cart.

 

[Waquoit]

No comparison as to what was taken by each. Camby didn't even hide it, and Calipari didn't care (or was behind it all).

When asked about all the gold Camby was wearing, the Squid said he thought it was "zirconia". He was flying so high he didn't need to even lie accurately.

 

[superjohn]

Camby was a great college player, but it’s hard to argue he would’ve made those UConn teams better .

29-5 , 28-5, 32-3 respectively.

That’s UConn’s record during cambys time.

things don’t happen in a vacuum. This isn’t fantasy sports.

problem is no titles. But our style was set in those years built around yell and then ray. It obviously worked.

does camby help that? I don’t know. Did Drummond help a team coming off a natty? I say no. Great talent and guy but it upset the Apple cart.

Yep, the best player in the country wouldn't have made those teams better.

 

[August_West]

Yep, the best player in the country wouldn't have made those teams better.

Wasn’t Drummond best player in country?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Wasn’t Drummond best player in country?

"That's different."

 

[superjohn]

Wasn’t Drummond best player in country?

What? No.

Drummond was the 4th best player on a UConn team that got smoked in the first round of the tournament.

 

[Mr. French]

What? No.

Drummond was the 4th best player on a UConn team that got smoked in the first round of the tournament.

That's how it played out ... but he was the #2 recruit in the country, so I think that's his point.

Not to say I agree wholeheartedly with either sentiment, but I also don't disagree with either of you.

Chemistry, especially with a big time player like Camby, could have been mixed up with the squads we had that were already really good.

Again, not agreeing or disagreeing necessarily, but Drummond having an average year for an average team that was way beyond, talent-wise, is actually his exact point.

When push comes to shove, I think I'm rolling the dice with adding a stud player every day ... so I'm with you there.

 

[August_West]

What? No.

Drummond was the 4th best player on a UConn team that got smoked in the first round of the tournament.

He was a top recruit in country

 

[huskyrob1]

Wasn’t Drummond best player in country?

No, at least that's what the NBA scouts and NBA teams thought. Drummond went #9 in a weak draft year. Camby went #2 right after Iverson and ahead of Marbury, Ray, Kobe, Jermaine O'Neal, among others. Camby had a much more dominant college career than Drummond had.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I’m too young, did we actually have a chance with KD?

 

[HooperScooper]

I’m too young, did we actually have a chance with KD?

He visited and actually told the UConn coaches he was committing. Got that from a source at UConn that would know. Of course he told UNC the same thing. And then the Texas staff also. Unfortunately for us the Texas visit came after the UConn visit.

 

[Mr. French]

Remember when we lost out on Brandon Knight and Cory Joseph? We got stuck with that reclass guy Shabazz..

This was when I really was getting into recruiting heavily, before that I only cursorily followed. I wanted Joseph BADLY. Was shook when we missed out on all 3 of the PGs, plus Doron Lamb. And it all ended up better than it would have with them, amazingly.

 

[August_West]

No, at least that's what the NBA scouts and NBA teams thought. Drummond went #9 in a weak draft year. Camby went #2 right after Iverson and ahead of Marbury, Ray, Kobe, Jermaine O'Neal, among others. Camby had a much more dominant college career than Drummond had.

I’m talking recruiting rankings.

 

[Old school]

Wouldn’t it have been nice to have gotten the great Calvin Murphy of Norwalk who ended up at Niagara.

 

[glastonbury50]

IMO any high ranked recruit out of CT that doesn't commit is someone who got away. Kris Dunn fits into that category. Also Hamidou Diallo. Thank god we are where we are at now but things could have been different for Ollie if that kid came through.

 

[superjohn]

That's how it played out ... but he was the #2 recruit in the country, so I think that's his point.

Not to say I agree wholeheartedly with either sentiment, but I also don't disagree with either of you.

Chemistry, especially with a big time player like Camby, could have been mixed up with the squads we had that were already really good.

Again, not agreeing or disagreeing necessarily, but Drummond having an average year for an average team that was way beyond, talent-wise, is actually his exact point.

When push comes to shove, I think I'm rolling the dice with adding a stud player every day ... so I'm with you there.

It's a hypothetical, that's the entire point of the thread. Drummond being ranked #1 or #2 coming out of high school isn't relevant, this isn't a thread about high school rankings. He is a state player who didn't get away, Camby is a state player who did get away and was the college player of the year and led UMass to the final 4. It's a fun thread to think what could've happened had we not missed out on certain players.

Back then the best college players stayed a few years. If Camby was UConn's starting center instead of Travis Knight, I think UConn has an extra national title or 2 and could've possibly had one of the best college bball teams ever with Ray and Camby as juniors together. Ray and Camby as freshmen alongside Donyell as a junior would've also been silly.

 

[CbbisGreat]

Rod Foster from St, Thomas Aquinas in New Britain would have been a tremendous get for us , He set a NCAA record for free throw shooting at the time .

Also , Austin Croshere who went to Providence was all but signed up. I thought Kirk King was going to be the better player,

 

[superjohn]

Walter Luckett, great baller but tore up a knee and never played in the NBA. Was almost a package deal with Tom Roy.

Walter Luckett was the best high school basketball player in the entire country. I never understood why he chose to go to Ohio University and not one of the national powers?

 

[Mr. French]

It's a hypothetical, that's the entire point of the thread. Drummond being ranked #1 or #2 coming out of high school isn't relevant, this isn't a thread about high school rankings. He is a state player who didn't get away, Camby is a state player who did get away and was the college player of the year and led UMass to the final 4. It's a fun thread to think what could've happened had we not missed out on certain players.

Back then the best college players stayed a few years. If Camby was UConn's starting center instead of Travis Knight, I think UConn has an extra national title or 2 and could've possibly had one of the best college bball teams ever with Ray and Camby as juniors together. Ray and Camby as freshmen alongside Donyell as a junior would've also been silly.

Agree with everything. But you had a problem with @August_West hypothesizing that the team chemistry could have been broken. We’re all hypothetically discussing situations. Your hypothetical isn’t a fact just bc he was great at UMass... that’s HIS POINT. So I’m not sure why that’s confusing.

Like I said, I’d overall agree that Camby makes that team insane (and probably vacated and who knows the future after that stain) but a hypothetical can have multiple outcomes.

 

[Mr. French]

IMO any high ranked recruit out of CT that doesn't commit is someone who got away. Kris Dunn fits into that category. Also Hamidou Diallo. Thank god we are where we are at now but things could have been different for Ollie if that kid came through.

Dunn was one I was going to mention, as I’m not local and wasn’t following recruiting as closely in the 90s.