What are the biggest busts of college ball?

[u/Onetimenotagain]

Who are some players who were ranked really highly, like a high 4-5 star recruit, who never panned out in college? Who do you think was the biggest bust? This is based off of rankings from high school, compared to how they performed in college, not the NBA.

[u/Semper-Fido]

Skal Labissière

What a swing and miss.

[u/marleythebeagle → u/Semper-Fido]

The problem with Skal was that he accidentally left his dorm window open and a really mean fly got in and knocked him over.

He was never the same after that.

[u/Igota31chevy → u/Semper-Fido]

Kahlil Whitney was worse. He was ranked 12th in his class based on ???. He had zero basketball skill and his only upside was that he had a pretty prototypical frame for the game. I don't think I can name a single thing he was good at while at UK.

[u/VelvetineMilkman → u/Igota31chevy]

Skal was the #1 recruit in the country and averaged 6 and 3. He had like 3 plays all season that got me excited before he ran down the court and got pushed off the block again by a gust of wind

[u/jaynay1 → u/VelvetineMilkman]

(Skal was #2. Ben Simmons was #1 by a giant margin.)

[u/Namath96 → u/jaynay1]

What giant margin? 247 had Ben at 1 but Skal was higher in the composite rankings

[u/hebsbbejakbdjw → u/Igota31chevy]

I'm a pretty big UK fan

Reading this, I can honestly say. The name sounds a little familiar but I have no idea who the fuck he is

[u/Wolframbeta312 → u/hebsbbejakbdjw]

I wanna say he was like sometime in the last five years but honestly couldn’t even guess which one.

[u/BlackEagle0013 → u/Semper-Fido]

I went looking for this one and I did not have to go far to find it.

[u/kingturk1100 → u/Semper-Fido]

Not ranked nearly as high but when we got Ryan harrow and we had a live practice and cal forced him to scream after getting hit and he had the weakest softest scream ever screamed I knew we were in trouble. NIT year for those keeping score

[u/BtownBound]

Khristian Lander was a massive disappointment for IU, but it wasn’t his fault. kid should’ve never reclassified, he was nowhere near ready for Big Ten ball and then got Archied. looks like he’s getting decent minutes at WKU now, which is great.

[u/Boom_Confetti → u/BtownBound]

Lander was mostly a product of COVID-era recruiting rankings. Was clearly not a 5-star, and the reclass only further exposed him.

[u/2013nattychampa → u/BtownBound]

He’s from Evansville, IN and I live here now. He goes to the same barber I go to. Really nice dude. I was cheering for him, I do wish he would have ended up at Louisville.

[u/tyrannyofwillsasso → u/BtownBound]

don’t love reading this with illinois bringing in a reclassified kid in will riley. and i mean for these kids’ sakes, ultimately who cares about what idiot fans think

[u/TmackkNation]

Cliff Alexander

[u/KSoccerman → u/TmackkNation]

More KU players on this list than I would have thought of lol

[u/ShittlesucksPDX4ever → u/TmackkNation]

A name I haven’t heard in years being a Trail Blazers fan

[u/GuyOnTheMike → u/TmackkNation]

100%. Went from 5-star prospect to being benched for Jamari Traylor and Landon Lucas reeeeal quick

[u/the_reddit_intern → u/TmackkNation]

Deserved to bust.

[u/ssp25 → u/TmackkNation]

Good

[u/jknuts1377 → u/TmackkNation]

Yeah, good riddance.

[u/Carolina_Captain]

Devin Askew comes to my mind immediately for recent examples. Guy was a borderline 5* and is now at his 4th school (UK -> Texas -> Cal -> Long Beach).

[u/finditplz1 → u/Carolina_Captain]

Lots of UK players high on the list. Not surprised.

[u/First-Chocolate-1716 → u/finditplz1]

On a long enough timeline you’ll have a lot of busts. Joe B had a lot too or guys that didn’t live up to their high school accolades.

There were a lot of warning signs about Skal coming out of high school.

[u/pimpcakes → u/finditplz1]

Given how Cal was recruiting the first ~ 8 years he was at UK, not surprising. It's a volume thing. Cal also targeted athleticism and size over skills (in the last few years he changed, but, well), and oftentimes those types of recruits end up being busts because their ranking is based on potential.

A lot of UK's busts were wings, which is odd because that big criticism from NBA scouts that I've heard (aside from no spacing) is that UK rarely ran PnR making ballhandling guards harder to evaluate, which is where Cal arguably did the best in terms of NBA players.

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/Carolina_Captain]

Idk how he was so terrible at texas. He averaged 2 points not even one rebound and 1 assist in 15 mpg. I thought in 22-23 he was getting better, but last year he sucked again. Hopefully he has an extremely big jump in numbers at LBSU this year, but he’ll still be a bust imo.

[u/dhalloffame → u/Onetimenotagain]

He was absolutely terrified to shoot. He’d just dribble drive and then lose the ball while desperately trying to find someone to pass too. I absolutely hated watching him lol

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/dhalloffame]

Yeah he was horrendous and incredibly unproductive. I just don’t understand why he got to play so much.

[u/eparedes19 → u/Carolina_Captain]

there was something about askew in high school that i just wasnt sure about. idk what rubbed me the wrong way about his game but im not too surprised that he didnt really pan out

[u/DrGeraldBaskums]

Renardo Sidney

[u/wilbo21020 → u/DrGeraldBaskums]

Man I haven’t heard that name in forever

[u/ilovemydawg → u/DrGeraldBaskums]

Renardo was so damn skilled as a big bodied big. He just didn’t care about being disciplined

[u/maroonfalcon → u/DrGeraldBaskums]

Too soon!

[u/patsniff → u/DrGeraldBaskums]

I’ll never forget him getting in a fight with a teammate on the bench. Good times.

[u/Long_Customer1187 → u/patsniff]

Or was it in the stands during a tournament game they weren’t playing in?!

[u/VelvetineMilkman → u/DrGeraldBaskums]

Lived most of my life 30 minutes away from State and I had to hear about Renardo Sidney from my friends everyday for a year lol they would’ve bet their life he was the next KG

[u/hooskies]

Emoni Bates

[u/goodkid_sAAdcity → u/hooskies]

Didn’t he stop growing earlier than projected? Also ended up with a negative wingspan

[u/CzarCW → u/goodkid_sAAdcity]

His left arm actually went to the right and vice versa?

[u/goodkid_sAAdcity → u/CzarCW]

his wingspan < his height

[u/MathPretend2424 → u/hooskies]

Looking back though, there were some signs. He was never a great shooter but made a lot because his dad was the coach and there offense evolved around him and could shot whatever he wanted. Also skipped a year and went to college early. Was a 6’9” point forward being guarded by slower/ shorter guys in high school Aau. 

[u/IcyPomegranate122 → u/hooskies]

He’s doing alright in the G League at least

[u/VelvetineMilkman → u/hooskies]

If anyone watched the high school games his Senior year they should’ve seen it coming. He looked worse than he did as a Sophomore from the nationally televised games I saw of him

[u/irishwolfbitch → u/hooskies]

Megastar potential squandered

[u/Junior-Hotwater → u/irishwolfbitch]

Did he really have megastar potential? Dude had T-Rex arms

[u/lafiaticated → u/hooskies]

Him and his dad let fame go to his head after the SI cover.

Wanted all sorts of shit from Izzo who wasn’t having it.

What could have been…

[u/storm2k → u/hooskies]

honestly when you look back at his entire story and all the stuff his dad did, the writing kind of felt on the wall with him.

[u/SimManiac → u/hooskies]

Im so glad we avoided that disaster

[u/lukebillwalker]

Seventh Woods was extremely hyped up to be an NCAA star.. didn’t pan out

[u/Icangetloudtoo_ → u/lukebillwalker]

Greatest middle school mixtape of all time.

He wasn’t a highly rated recruit by the time he was a junior/senior though bc he didn’t grow at all.

[u/Schned6 → u/lukebillwalker]

To be fair the hype is just a consequence of his absurd grade school mixtapes lol. He wasn’t the #1 player of the class or anything and he ended up being a solid role player that had some big games here and there. Definitely brought the right mentality to the program.

Could have been much much worse.

[u/BearForceDos → u/Schned6]

Dude has the middle school mixtape equivalent of Tavon Austins college mixtape.

[u/goheels062097 → u/lukebillwalker]

He was a good role player though

[u/RickyRocaway → u/lukebillwalker]

Yeah he couldn’t beat Coby White on the depth chart at Carolina. Has a chip tho (2017 as a fresh).

Signed a deal to play Super League ball in Cork Ireland a few months ago.

[u/xiclasshero → u/lukebillwalker]

Anybody else remember Jalek Felton?

[u/barlog123]

Khristian Lander was a 5 star who started at IU then transferred to Western Kentucky and isn't even a regular starter on Western Kentucky in 4 years he's started 13 games. His best year he averaged 9 points a game in the CUSA.

[u/cheezandcrakers]

Fab melo ugh! 🤦‍♂️

[u/Not_So_Bad_Andy → u/cheezandcrakers]

Between the play and being the reason for the NCAA to take wins away from Boeheim.

Also RIP.

[u/Local_Tackle_1774 → u/Not_So_Bad_Andy]

RIP. I remember seeing him around, couldn’t speak a word of English either

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/cheezandcrakers]

Yeah he wasn’t great. His sophomore year would’ve been a decent year if he would’ve put up those numbers his freshmen year if that makes sense. RIP tho.

[u/PashaCello → u/cheezandcrakers]

Didn’t he win a Defensive POY in the Big East though? Yeah he was raw and had some weight issues but he was vital to that team. Still was drafted even so he was not a college bust. Had he not been suspended then they had the pieces to challenge that Anthony Davis UK team.

[u/North_Reputation6967]

Khalil Whitney

[u/Sportacus98 → u/North_Reputation6967]

The dragon

[u/MayorMcCheeser]

Patrick Baldwin, Jr.

a 5 star who instead of going to Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Kansas (who he all had offers from) or other large programs, he decided to try and save his Dad’s job at UW-Milwaukee, and ya, it went bad.

[u/RepublicSuperb7057]

Makur Maker - Committed to Howard in the Class of 2020. Around that time there was a push to get HBCU’s back on the national map (ESPN ran a ton of articles about it back then) and he was the highest rated modern era player ever to commit to one. Played a couple games, got hurt, never heard from him again. Howard finally made the tournament after he left...the national hype waned before it even gained momentum & the SWAC & MEAC are still in roughly the same boat.

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/RepublicSuperb7057]

Where did he even go? He played like 2 games there I think

[u/cubuffs420420 → u/Onetimenotagain]

He declared after that season. Played overseas and was in the G League last season

[u/TommyRockbottom]

When someone makes a shot, they usually yell “Kobe!” When someone misses at KU, I yell “Selby!”

[u/Bent_Stiffy → u/TommyRockbottom]

Pre nagging injury, Selby was pretty dang good. Fans seem to forget that.

[u/finditplz1 → u/Bent_Stiffy]

Selby and Xavier Henry were the big players that were hyped to hell and didn’t really do anything when I was on campus.

[u/MisterBrotatoHead → u/finditplz1]

Xavier averaged 14 and 4 on a team with Sherron and Cole Aldrich. There's only one ball, and they got it first.

[u/crimsonphoenix12 → u/finditplz1]

Xavier was solid, just didn't quite live up to top recruit type expectations.

[u/GrossePointeJayhawk → u/crimsonphoenix12]

Ugh, Henry. He came my senior year and he was so hyped. If we are talking about KU basketball busts I gotta go with Silvio DeSousa. He basically sat on the bench while he was cleared to play and when he did play, he got into fights in the disabled persons section at Allen Fieldhouse.

[u/Milo_Minderbinding → u/finditplz1]

Henry nearly averaged as many ppg than Danny Manning did as a Freshman.

[u/patsniff → u/Bent_Stiffy]

Peaked with his debut and had a few solid games after but was MIA way too much.

[u/NotaRepublican85 → u/patsniff]

He was really coming on right before the injury.

[u/theZstands4Diamonds → u/TommyRockbottom]

Selby had such a huge ceiling. Never seen someone debut in AFH and exceed expectations like he did. One foot injury later and he’s the biggest bust in Kansas Basketball history. Really sucks.

[u/KSoccerman → u/theZstands4Diamonds]

Not the biggest bust.. we had a 5 star recruit leave college due to crashing a car (allegedly bought and owned by a booster) on campus (allegedly while getting head, while drunk), then subsequently sat games waiting for the investigation to finalize and see if there was either charges or NCAA punishment and instead just preemptively transferred to overseas play.

[u/patsniff → u/KSoccerman]

Then tried to sue us later on right?? Billy Preston was such a mess. Carlton Bragg not so great either.Same thing with Chieck Diallo and Cliff Alexander. We’ve had some good bigs since Joel but so many duds as well.

[u/KSoccerman → u/patsniff]

I had it in my mind that Xavier Henry was worse than his one year Stat line showed. It's not super underwhelming, but I remember his hype being so big for his performance being not that impressive.

Also, other people commented Quinton Grimes.

[u/CantFindMyWallet → u/TommyRockbottom]

I remember Jim Calhoun whiffing on Selby, Brandon Knight, and Cory Joseph all in the same offseason. Had to settle for a reclassing PG named Shabazz Napier instead.

[u/ActivateMyGlutes → u/TommyRockbottom]

Was devastated to lose his commitment as a Tennessee fan.

[u/nman95]

Jereme Richmond

[u/LDWfan → u/nman95]

Borderline McDonalds all-American to out of the game completely in like 2 years. Not even a mediocre career in Europe or something. Hope he is okay, Waukegan is not the easiest place to grow up.

[u/xmjm424]

Chris Walker, Florida.

Top ten recruit, was ineligible to play to start his freshmen season and then was finally eligible mid season for a 36 win Florida team, then did jack shit in two seasons in Gainesville.

[u/cubuffs420420 → u/xmjm424]

I still can’t believe he won that HS dunk contest with AG and Wiggins in it

[u/killerjags → u/xmjm424]

I remember being so hype for him and Kasey Hill both coming to Florida. I really thought we were going to see something special.

[u/RedRum_Diary]

Michael Porter Jr.

He sure has a bright NBA future ahead of him! However, he was basically the top recruit in the class, and committed to Missouri under some weird, pre-NIL circumstances.

Then, he got injured in the first half of the first game of the season, and couldn't play until tournament time. Was drafted 14th overall!

But his college career was basically nonexistent.

[u/caguirre211 → u/RedRum_Diary]

Not just the first half, the first two minutes of the game! I was at that game. I think his stat line was 2pts and 1 off rebound. I waited for at least 90 minutes on a cold Missouri November night to get the best seats possible in the student section. For two minutes of game time vs Iowa State 🤦🏽‍♂️.

[u/stahlern → u/RedRum_Diary]

Play the music Kyle.

[u/Gray_Beard_1963 → u/RedRum_Diary]

Peak Missouri... Just when things are looking up, apply the cup because the groin kick is coming.

[u/onewordbandit]

Josiah Turner

[u/SteelieP → u/onewordbandit]

Great oogly-moogly, I forgot about him. Just a mess.

[u/onewordbandit → u/SteelieP]

I knew when my roommate was smoking pot with him that he was going to be trouble

[u/TheCJbreeZy → u/onewordbandit]

There’s the name I couldn’t remember. Complete mess all around.

[u/PopDukesBruh]

Man… Let’s see

Chase Jeter

Taylor King

Harry Giles

And

Shavlik Randolph

[u/jt5574 → u/PopDukesBruh]

Giles had so many injuries before he got to Duke though. Tons of potential just robbed from that young man. Same with Randolph, found out later, was dealing with a foot problem he tried to fix himself using cut up tennis balls in shoes.

[u/norcaltobos → u/jt5574]

Sucks because he’s the nicest guy too.

[u/somethingsimple1290 → u/norcaltobos]

Yeah growing up near Wesleyan Christian I was fortunate to meet Harry Giles and Theo Pinson a couple of times. They were always nice, even when swarmed by high schoolers.

[u/BigTicket_J → u/PopDukesBruh]

Chase Jeter biggest one imo

[u/NoVacayAtWork → u/BigTicket_J]

Such a head case

[u/Nachowarrior595 → u/PopDukesBruh]

Trevon Duval

[u/wahfingwah → u/Nachowarrior595]

He actually improved throughout the year and was probably our best player in the Elite Eight game against KU

Problem was he was just an awful, awful shooter.

[u/sockrebel78 → u/PopDukesBruh]

Don't forget Chris Burgess

[u/PopDukesBruh → u/sockrebel78]

He was pretty forgettable too

[u/fentoozler336 → u/PopDukesBruh]

good ol shav 

[u/bloomingtonrail]

Sacha Killeya-Jones

[u/LukeG3224 → u/bloomingtonrail]

NC State legend 😂

[u/finditplz1 → u/bloomingtonrail]

I read some stuff recently about his struggle with mental illness that made me sad. Sucks that some of these kids have so much pressure thrust on them.

[u/Hopeful_Remote468]

Cheick Diallo… after all the drama with getting him eligible, Self lets him ride the bench all season 😭

[u/Mission-Anybody-6798 → u/Hopeful_Remote468]

Cheick couldn’t learn the plays.

But Kansas has had so many. Cliff Alexander. Selby. Quentin Grimes. And the one that started the avalanche, Billy Preston. Aaargh.

[u/ScoopMaloof42 → u/Mission-Anybody-6798]

Quentin Grimes was a very good college player. Just because he didn’t pan out at Kansas doesn’t make him a bust

[u/patsniff → u/Mission-Anybody-6798]

Just commented this somewhere else and forgot to include Grimes. Man we had some whiffs

[u/MBADumbMistake]

Chris Walker gotta be up there

[u/loro-rojo → u/MBADumbMistake]

You read my mind.

[u/Thorlolita]

Omar Cook was supposed to save St. John’s.

[u/trv78569 → u/Thorlolita]

Forgot about him completely. What a pull!!

[u/KrustyKrabPizzaMan]

Diamond Stone

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/KrustyKrabPizzaMan]

He wasn’t really terrible in college, definitely not top ten, but he was not horrendous.

[u/goodkid_sAAdcity → u/KrustyKrabPizzaMan]

Looking at his pro career, he’s Diamond Stone, International Man of Mystery now

[u/SorsumCorda → u/KrustyKrabPizzaMan]

Diamond was actually a good freshmen Big, he put up solid numbers, had he stayed for his sophomore yr, he would of been a big time college player i believe, he was just not a fit for the NBA

[u/mitchdwx → u/KrustyKrabPizzaMan]

I remember when he scored 40 against us.

[u/KrustyKrabPizzaMan → u/mitchdwx]

And then didn’t do much else in the games afterwards

[u/___SE7EN__]

Skyy Clark . I was so stoked when he commented to Illinois, but it was an epic collapse. I'm still hoping, for his sake, he can put together a good season.

[u/RealPublius → u/___SE7EN__]

ACL tear ruined him.

[u/Retro40Clip → u/___SE7EN__]

He had some really good moments at Louisville last year. I think he could ball out next year at UCLA

[u/simbar1337]

Jaylen hands

[u/NoVacayAtWork]

Josiah Turner

[u/Wazzoo1]

Micah Downs. Total head case and a bum who routinely got worked by Marcus Williams. Somehow he was the McD's AA over Marcus. He bounced around high schools. Also, his dad was an all-time worst sports dad.

[u/PapayaTr33]

Shabazz Muhammad

[u/Squirts-Faygojizzer → u/PapayaTr33]

He was all-Pac12 and a freshman All-American? Opposite of a college bust

[u/hk0125 → u/Squirts-Faygojizzer]

And he was also drafted in the lottery

Def opposite of college bust. NBA bust for sure.

[u/JBru_92 → u/Squirts-Faygojizzer]

It's weird to say this about a guy with his college accolades on a conference-winning team, but he really didn't do much to help the team win, just had a lot of empty scoring vs bad teams.

Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams were clearly much better players than he was even as freshmen.

[u/Celery-Man → u/PapayaTr33]

He wasn’t a bust in college

[u/DonkeyLightning → u/PapayaTr33]

My god, I haven’t heard that name in a long time

[u/WakednBaked → u/PapayaTr33]

Such a missed opportunity for a top tier name

[u/JustAnotherDay1977]

Dinky Proctor. Was supposed to be the next big thing back in the early 80s. Ended up playing 1 1/2 seasons at NC State and averaging about 1.1 ppg.

[u/ohverychill → u/JustAnotherDay1977]

Dinky Proctor

sounds like a name for the Baby of the Year sketch in I Think You Should Leave

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/JustAnotherDay1977]

Jesus man, that was wayyyyy before my time 😂 

[u/DarthJokic]

Khalil Whitney for UK. Idk how that kid was a 5 star. He's overseas now

[u/Fixner_Blount]

Maybe not a national bust, but Xavier Foster is certainly ISU’s biggest one lately. He’s apparently going to SMU next year, and I had no idea he was even still around.

You could say Omaha Billiew, but he at least stayed out of trouble and was by all accounts a damn good teammate.

[u/DiaperDonaldT → u/Fixner_Blount]

Xavier Foster has an IQ of a shoe. I doubt he’ll work out at SMU either.

[u/jonylahforever → u/DiaperDonaldT]

he was there this past season, did not do a thing. He's at Radford now.

[u/Schned6 → u/Fixner_Blount]

Maybe this is too blunt to say but… Foster is just a fucking moron. Really just that simple. A jerk and a moron.

Too early to call Omaha a bust imo. Let the game slow down for him over the next couple years and he could turn into an absolute monster.

[u/jonylahforever → u/Fixner_Blount]

Foster is at Radford now, after spending a season at SMU.

[u/Junior-Hotwater → u/Fixner_Blount]

I remember being bummed when Foster chose ISU over Iowa. In hindsight, thanks for taking him. Iowa had enough players like him during the Alfraud years

[u/LuckyStax]

Jordan Brown was a 5* lol

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/LuckyStax]

Ouch 😂 he wasn’t entirely terrible tho

[u/LuckyStax → u/Onetimenotagain]

Nevada, Arizona, Louisiana, Memphis, sure bounced around a lot

[u/Mr__Winderful__31]

Ater Majok was a bust

[u/fightin_blue_hens]

Does James Wiseman count?

[u/Schned6 → u/fightin_blue_hens]

If you’re a Golden State fan yeah

[u/Eschatonbreakfast → u/fightin_blue_hens]

Wiseman was decent in the 3 games he played in in college.

[u/Times_Person_of_2006]

That LeBron James kid from the early 2000's. He was such a great talent and big name but never really did anything on the collegiate level.

[u/GeorgeWBush2016]

Kelvin Torbert

[u/BonerHonkfart → u/GeorgeWBush2016]

I disagree - Kelvin never turned into the superstar he was supposed to, but he was an effective player at MSU.

[u/loro-rojo]

Chris Walker.

[u/ScoreTheBasekt]

Ricky Ledo is the answer

[u/Smegma-Santorum]

Alex Legion

[u/McClellanWasABitch]

Eddie Griffin wasnt the traditional #1 national recruit bust. he was just certifiably insane. even to his own team. RIP. 

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/McClellanWasABitch]

How was he a bust? He was a monster in college 😂 

[u/iJustWantTolerance]

RENARDO. SIDNEY.

[u/Plastic_Yesterday434]

I remember Wally Judge was supposed to be a huge snag for Kansas State. I think he was a 5 Star recruit. I just remember a crap ton of mediocre at best play.

[u/ItOnlyTakes3Inches]

Samardo Samuels

[u/TomCreanDied4OurSins]

Khristian Lander, Hanner Perea, Peter Jurkin

[u/hoosierspiritof79 → u/TomCreanDied4OurSins]

These names hurt.

[u/LukeG3224]

MJ Rice 😕

[u/crimsonphoenix12 → u/LukeG3224]

Same

[u/GoSquanchYoSelf]

Sebastian Telfair

[u/TomCreanDied4OurSins → u/GoSquanchYoSelf]

He played in the NBA for ten years brother

[u/Boti_24 → u/GoSquanchYoSelf]

How is he one of the biggest bust of college ball if he never ended up going to Louisville?

[u/spipscards → u/GoSquanchYoSelf]

This is a really silly answer. Didn't play in college and had a successful NBA career. Nonsense.

[u/Emperor-Octavian → u/GoSquanchYoSelf]

?? Bro never touched a college court

[u/Dontsaveme → u/GoSquanchYoSelf]

Wasn’t slam magazine touting him as the next Jordan?

[u/LDWfan → u/Dontsaveme]

More like next Marbury

[u/cgksu]

As a K-State fan Wally Judge was extremely disappointing. I love Frank Martin, but he might’ve broke him. I don’t think Judge was ever going to be a superstar looking at his skillset, but he was a 5-star recruit who could jump out of the gym.

[u/kjb3991]

John Riek

[u/IcyPomegranate122]

Seventh Woods if he ever made it that far

[u/oneoftheguysdownhere → u/IcyPomegranate122]

Best middle schooler of all time. But he didn’t really grow/develop at all in HS and was a 4* by the time his senior year rolled around.

[u/Nouseriously]

5* Simisola Shittu was part of Vandy's best class ever (with Darius Garland). They were both projected to be 1 & done first round picks. Garland got hurt, but was still a lottery pick.

Shittu had a mediocre freshman year on a seriously bad team. If he'd come back, the offense would have revolved around him. Instead, he declared & went undrafted.

[u/No-Pollution-4009]

Sam McGuffie

[u/cubuffs420420]

Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus

[u/WillMunny48 → u/cubuffs420420]

McRoberts was still a good player and had an nba career. Just was never a college superstar. Paulus was definitely a bust relative to ranking although he had moments. In retrospect the athletic limitations were so obvious I don’t know what the recruiting services were possibly thinking.

[u/TheHamSamples]

Bronny James

[u/NoVacayAtWork → u/TheHamSamples]

He had a fucking heart attack

[u/Onetimenotagain → u/TheHamSamples]

That’s kinda different imo, considering everyone knew he wasn’t great and was only popular bc of the nepotism. Peyton Watson is a better example in the pac 12, in recent years.

[u/INtoCT2015]

Andre Drummond. Great NBA player. Most mid college basketball player I’ve ever seen with that high a recruiting rating

[u/Responsible-Gap-8202 → u/INtoCT2015]

He was probably just not trying to get hurt all year.

[u/BradOverwood]

Lance Ware.

[u/RumHam1996]

Is it fair to say Malik Pope? A 5 star who actually committed to SDSU and was supposed to be a star, but averaged 8.9PT and 5.0REB in 4 years

[u/webberc]

LaRue Martin

[u/NotaRepublican85]

For us, Josh Selby, Chiek Diallo and Cliff Alexander.

[u/Supersoaker_11]

Not mentioned here yet, so:

Abdul Gaddy

Not the highest rated but he was an All-American who was genuinely horrible and couldn't figure out the college ball at all

[u/MegaWattson15]

Nick Smith Jr.

It didn’t matter what he did in college, he was always going to be a lottery pick. So I can understand the “injury management” but I think throwing him into the lineup screwed up the team chemistry. I was just never very impressed with his play at Arkansas.

[u/tanukis_parachute]

Russell Pierre. Transfer from NCSU to Tech in the mid 80s. Parade HS AA who wasn't impressive in college and he, and Johnny Fort, helped put us on probation. I just googled Johnny Fort's name and there is a documentary about him. About prison and redemption. Maybe I'll watch it.

[u/steelguy17]

Cincinnati fans will remember Jermaine Lawrence, 5* who was a very talented kid that had all the wrong people in his ear.

[u/Zargyboy]

I'll add one that's big for us at least: Brandon Weston.

Reason being is that at the time he was the 3rd highest rated recruit in Seton Hall history. Played in maybe one game for us before he transferred.

Now he's barely making 5 ppg off the bench at Rhode Island. Not sure why he hasn't worked out.

[u/ShadyJake75]

Ajou Deng. CBS showed him and even Nantz hyped him during the 99 championship game as the next great recruit and that UConn may be even better the next year. Two years later he transferred to Fairfield. His brother ended up ok though.