What High School players did you watch live in HS and say 'NBA' | The Boneyard

What High School players did you watch live in HS and say 'NBA'

Kitaman

Kitaman

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On another thread a post by @AidanFan20 made me think of young high school ballers I saw in person (at their HS games), who I knew would make an NBA roster. In my experience, I can only think of two. I'm talking non-Tournament, AAU, camps and other recruiting type events, just traditional high school basketball games.

Chris Smith (had range/handles in HS)

Kelly Tripucka (dominated everyone, just unstoppable)


Which HS ballers did you see young and just knew they would be in the NBA?
 
Kitaman said:
On another thread a post by @AidanFan20 made me think of young high school ballers I saw in person (at their HS games), who I knew would make an NBA roster. In my experience, I can only think of two. I'm talking non-Tournament, AAU, camps and other recruiting type events, just traditional high school basketball games.

Chris Smith (had range/handles in HS)

Kelly Tripucka (dominated everyone, just unstoppable)


Which HS ballers did you see young and just knew they would be in the NBA?
Expand ...

Cade Cunningham. He had just gotten to Montverde and I'd never heard of him at that point.

A bunch of guys at various HoopHall events really. I only know the UConn or local recruits so any random 5* having a decent game you're going to be awed by.
 
I saw Chris Jackson play live (Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) and knew he was going to be an NBA player.

On another front, I watched the 84 McDs game on ESPN and thought John Williams (went to LSU) was the best High School player ever (granted, I hadn't seen much basketball). Thought he was going to be great, but he ate himself out of the NBA.

It's funny when you see kids who have that flair. I remember watching the top young women soccer players aged 17 with my daughter and Mallory Swanson (now Pugh) just had this outrageous dynamism that was easy to spot. She was like a cheat code on a video game.
 
coached against Kris Dunn thought he had a chance, but thought Allan Chaney was more likely to get a chance to go to the pros

played and covered Vin Baker for 7+ years. Never thought he was NBA til he made Toraino look foolish on ISOs at the game at the civic center playing for UHart

Saw a bunch of guys at Tmore earthgro tourneys, but I thought Charles Minlend and Ed Cota had NBA chances. Wrong on both
 
bobbyinaz said:
Kenny Anderson.
Saw him play 4 or 5 times when he was at Molloy.
He could get anywhere he wanted on the floor and nobody could stay in front of him.
He was maybe 150lbs but dominated games.
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I saw him play in HS as well but thought he was too thin. I was wrong.
 
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Kitaman said:
On another thread a post by @AidanFan20 made me think of young high school ballers I saw in person (at their HS games), who I knew would make an NBA roster. In my experience, I can only think of two. I'm talking non-Tournament, AAU, camps and other recruiting type events, just traditional high school basketball games.

Chris Smith (had range/handles in HS)

Kelly Tripucka (dominated everyone, just unstoppable)


Which HS ballers did you see young and just knew they would be in the NBA?
Expand ...
Played against Mike Gminsky…saw Wes Matthew’s. Both did things beyond imagination.
 
Tyson Wheeler at New London / URI. I know he was small, but he made it to the league for a game.
 
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Scottzer said:
Tyson Wheeler at New London / URI. I know he was small, but he made it to the league for a game.
Expand ...
Was going to say Wheeler also. I played against him in a summer league and he did…not…miss.
 
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Kinda cheating, but the McD's AA game was at Springfield. Chris Webber and Glenn Robinson were just better than everyone else on the court and it wasn't too hard to predict they'd be going on to the NBA.
 
Rod Foster. Holy Cross Junior High School, St Thomas Aquinas High School, UCLA and the Phoenix Suns
Corny Thompson, Middletown HS, UConn and Dallas Mavericks
Ray Allen Dalziel HS, UConn, Sonics, Celtics and Heat
 
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Calvin Murphy - inch for inch,pound for pound, the greatest ever.
John Williamson
Darrell Griffith (went 800 miles out of my way to see him Jr. year at Louisville Male 1975)
Charles Smith
Wes Mathews
Missed the boat on -Michael Adams, John Bagley, Scott Burrell and Rick Mahorn
Biggest Crying Shame - Curvan Lewis, Hillhouse. EPIC battles vs. Super John
 
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No one saw the Jewish Jordan?
IMG_2396.jpeg
 
Not football, but I remember going to the class S track and field championship and seeing Bruce Campbell (former Raiders OT from Hamden CT via Hyde and Maryland) throw a shot put and thinking how giant he was. Put that weight like 10 feet past the second place finisher. Disc was 20' past the second place finisher. Yes, I get it was class S. But they were still huge throws.
 
Only NBA player I’ve seen play in high school in person was Aaron Gray (who went to my high school). Had a dunk in high school during a game that shattered the backboard. Everyone knew he was going to the NBA with his size.
 
CCSUblue said:
Not football, but I remember going to the class S track and field championship and seeing Bruce Campbell (former Raiders OT from Hamden CT via Hyde and Maryland) throw a shot put and thinking how giant he was. Put that weight like 10 feet past the second place finisher. Disc was 20' past the second place finisher. Yes, I get it was class S. But they were still huge throws.
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Bruce Campbell, Wilbur Cross/Providence.
 
I watched AAU for a few years in the 1990s, mostly looking at UConn recruits. I went to an AAU tourney to check out Jay Williams and Tony Robertson, both of whom UConn was recruiting, and Jay Williams was an obvious NBA player and Tony Robertson was obviously not, I was disappointed Duke got Jay. I watched Ajou Deng and Justin Brown who were highly touted play together and came away disappointed, Justin didn't do much and Ajou though he had skills was spindly and not assertive, stood around too much. Some of the players who did impress me were Mike Miller (very aggressive, always attacking), Richard Jefferson, Corliss Williamson. Pretty much everybody I watched who looked like he would be an NBA player in high school, made it.
 
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