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Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - nachoman91 - 06-10-2021 12:21 PM
We've got a thread on the biggest busts. So now lets look at the opposite. Which players came in as lower level recruits that surprised everyone by becoming a great elite player.
Here's my Top 4.
4. Nick Van Exel - He was a juco All-American so it wasn't a total shock that he was good but in those days coming from the juco ranks and dominating was very very rare. Third team All-American his senior year and a great NBA career.
3. Sean Kilpatrick - 3 star, ranked 341 nationally. Ended up as UC's #2 all-time leading scorer and First team All-American.
2. Steve Logan - Low 3 star recruit. UC's #3 all time leading scorer and First team All-American. I rank him ahead of Kilpatrick because he wasn't even close in athleticism. Its amazing what he did being a short fat guy :).
1. Kenyon Martin - 3 star recruit to consensus First team All-American and national player of the year.
Honorable Mentions: Roger McClendon, Louis Banks - both big time scorers.
My UC knowledge is mostly relegated to 1989 - present so there may be some older players I don't know about.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - BearcatMan - 06-10-2021 12:26 PM
I feel like this would be a way more fun topic on the football side, because this is and always will be between your Top 3 with Kenyon winning out because of the NPOY unless we somehow land another 2000 point scorer as a low 3 star guy somewhere down the road.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - chatcat - 06-10-2021 12:41 PM
(06-10-2021 12:21 PM)nachoman91 Wrote: We've got a thread on the biggest busts. So now lets look at the opposite. Which players came in as lower level recruits that surprised everyone by becoming a great elite player.
Here's my Top 4.
4. Nick Van Exel - He was a juco All-American so it wasn't a total shock that he was good but in those days coming from the juco ranks and dominating was very very rare. Third team All-American his senior year and a great NBA career.
3. Sean Kilpatrick - 3 star, ranked 341 nationally. Ended up as UC's #2 all-time leading scorer and First team All-American.
2. Steve Logan - Low 3 star recruit. UC's #3 all time leading scorer and First team All-American. I rank him ahead of Kilpatrick because he wasn't even close in athleticism. Its amazing what he did being a short fat guy :).
1. Kenyon Martin - 3 star recruit to consensus First team All-American and national player of the year.
Honorable Mentions: Roger McClendon, Louis Banks - both big time scorers.
My UC knowledge is mostly relegated to 1989 - present so there may be some older players I don't know about.
Don't know about Roger McClendon, he was a McDonald's All American.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - RuckleSt - 06-10-2021 12:49 PM
I would add Tre Scott to that list.
He was a lightly recruited 3 star who was pretty raw his first few years, and turned into an all conference player.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - Bearhawkeye - 06-10-2021 01:36 PM
(06-10-2021 12:41 PM)chatcat Wrote:(06-10-2021 12:21 PM)nachoman91 Wrote: We've got a thread on the biggest busts. So now lets look at the opposite. Which players came in as lower level recruits that surprised everyone by becoming a great elite player.
Here's my Top 4.
4. Nick Van Exel - He was a juco All-American so it wasn't a total shock that he was good but in those days coming from the juco ranks and dominating was very very rare. Third team All-American his senior year and a great NBA career.
3. Sean Kilpatrick - 3 star, ranked 341 nationally. Ended up as UC's #2 all-time leading scorer and First team All-American.
2. Steve Logan - Low 3 star recruit. UC's #3 all time leading scorer and First team All-American. I rank him ahead of Kilpatrick because he wasn't even close in athleticism. Its amazing what he did being a short fat guy :).
1. Kenyon Martin - 3 star recruit to consensus First team All-American and national player of the year.
Honorable Mentions: Roger McClendon, Louis Banks - both big time scorers.
My UC knowledge is mostly relegated to 1989 - present so there may be some older players I don't know about.
Don't know about Roger McClendon, he was a McDonald's All American.
Yeah, he doesn't belong on the list - even as an honorable mention. Same with Lou Banks. Those guys were huge recruiting wins and expected to be big for us.
I think you might be overestimating NVE's standing as a recruit. Perhaps he made somebody's 3rd team JUCO A-A, but I'm pretty sure he had only one offer besides UC. On the other hand, it doesn't seem fair to give him full credit since he was only here two years (maybe transfers should be a different category). On the third hand (?), he tends to get extra credit based upon his NBA success which is a questionable factor to consider. So he is tough to peg depending upon your assumptions.
Kenyon wasn't a big time recruit when Huggins first targeted him, but he started to get a bit bigger recruiting notice very late in the rankings iirc (i.e. a new addition into the final rankings), but you can't really argue about his career. I always liked Logan and SK since they committed to UC, but I doubt anybody can say they saw how big of a career either would have at UC and I don't think either had a lot of other options as recruits, especially Logan.
I may have missed somebody, but for now I'd give NVE a slight edge over SK and drop the honorable mentions from the OP's take. Instead, I'm giving some credit to Deonta Vaughn. He was highly recruited in HS, but then went to Cincinnati Harmony for prep school under UC's Rodney Crawford. I could be wrong, but I don't think he was still getting the big-time recruiting attention at that point. His teams weren't great, but he did end his career as the #3 leading scorer in UC history.
5. Deonta Vaughn
4. SK
3. NVE
2. Logan
1. Kenyon
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - levydl - 06-10-2021 02:45 PM
Bobby Brannen went from a sort of rebound, set picks, and play D big his first 3 years to a legit scorer his senior season.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - nachoman91 - 06-10-2021 03:37 PM
(06-10-2021 12:41 PM)chatcat Wrote:(06-10-2021 12:21 PM)nachoman91 Wrote: We've got a thread on the biggest busts. So now lets look at the opposite. Which players came in as lower level recruits that surprised everyone by becoming a great elite player.
Here's my Top 4.
4. Nick Van Exel - He was a juco All-American so it wasn't a total shock that he was good but in those days coming from the juco ranks and dominating was very very rare. Third team All-American his senior year and a great NBA career.
3. Sean Kilpatrick - 3 star, ranked 341 nationally. Ended up as UC's #2 all-time leading scorer and First team All-American.
2. Steve Logan - Low 3 star recruit. UC's #3 all time leading scorer and First team All-American. I rank him ahead of Kilpatrick because he wasn't even close in athleticism. Its amazing what he did being a short fat guy :).
1. Kenyon Martin - 3 star recruit to consensus First team All-American and national player of the year.
Honorable Mentions: Roger McClendon, Louis Banks - both big time scorers.
My UC knowledge is mostly relegated to 1989 - present so there may be some older players I don't know about.
Don't know about Roger McClendon, he was a McDonald's All American.
Wow I was completely unaware McClendon was that good in high school. My first year attending UC games was 1989 so I didn't know much about him.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - rogeroh - 06-10-2021 03:52 PM
Corie Blount--- A 6'1senior point guard to working in a grocery store to( 9' growth spurt) juco to UC to 10 year nba career
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - rath v2.0 - 06-10-2021 05:08 PM
SK hands down IMO.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - bww - 06-10-2021 09:27 PM
Tarrance Gibson was a guy who would come off the bench, and just would not disappoint game after game. Had a great 3 point shot from the corner and played great defense on the press and man. Created TO's and finished. Didn't think he was a big time recruit, but bought into Hugs system and executed.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - Bear Catlett - 06-10-2021 09:32 PM
Be honest.
Who thought Justin Jackson would end up being any good???
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - rath v2.0 - 06-10-2021 09:40 PM
I did. That guy had springs for legs like Tigger when he showed up. He was something different. Just took some time.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - bww - 06-10-2021 09:46 PM
Jackson had lots of energy the coaches could convert to a defensive monster. He was fun to watch develop.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - Bruce Monnin - 06-10-2021 10:19 PM
(06-10-2021 03:37 PM)nachoman91 Wrote:(06-10-2021 12:41 PM)chatcat Wrote:(06-10-2021 12:21 PM)nachoman91 Wrote: Honorable Mentions: Roger McClendon, Louis Banks - both big time scorers.
My UC knowledge is mostly relegated to 1989 - present so there may be some older players I don't know about.
Don't know about Roger McClendon, he was a McDonald's All American.
Wow I was completely unaware McClendon was that good in high school. My first year attending UC games was 1989 so I didn't know much about him.
Plus Roger was an engineer. Last one on the UC basketball team?
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - blackcattitude - 06-12-2021 11:39 AM
Two years from now, Jeremiah Davenport is gonna be #1. kid was the 5th best player on his high school team, and there are people who would big up Alec Pfriem over him as well
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - rath v2.0 - 06-12-2021 04:02 PM
(06-12-2021 11:39 AM)blackcattitude Wrote: Two years from now, Jeremiah Davenport is gonna be #1. kid was the 5th best player on his high school team, and there are people who would big up Alec Pfriem over him as well
Don’t know if I agree with that. I went to about a dozen of their games that year and he was likely the best player on his high school team the year Duce McBride missed the entire season except for the state semis and finals due to a football injury. There were guys whose game translated way better to the next level but he was the best player on the court most games that year. He just didn’t have a college position when he was a Senior in HS...he wasn’t a guard and he was too short to be a 3 or 4. He grew about 4 inches in his prep season.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - OKIcat - 06-14-2021 08:34 AM
(06-12-2021 04:02 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:(06-12-2021 11:39 AM)blackcattitude Wrote: Two years from now, Jeremiah Davenport is gonna be #1. kid was the 5th best player on his high school team, and there are people who would big up Alec Pfriem over him as well
Don’t know if I agree with that. I went to about a dozen of their games that year and he was likely the best player on his high school team the year Duce McBride missed the entire season except for the state semis and finals due to a football injury. There were guys whose game translated way better to the next level but he was the best player on the court most games that year. He just didn’t have a college position when he was a Senior in HS...he wasn’t a guard and he was too short to be a 3 or 4. He grew about 4 inches in his prep season.
Yep, here's hoping Davenport achieves all that at UC. His passion and energy seemed to ignite the fans on nights when the rest of the team seemed flat and he could be the guy who makes everyone around him better while still dropping in double digit points nightly.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - Captain Bearcat - 06-14-2021 09:16 AM
(06-12-2021 04:02 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:(06-12-2021 11:39 AM)blackcattitude Wrote: Two years from now, Jeremiah Davenport is gonna be #1. kid was the 5th best player on his high school team, and there are people who would big up Alec Pfriem over him as well
Don’t know if I agree with that. I went to about a dozen of their games that year and he was likely the best player on his high school team the year Duce McBride missed the entire season except for the state semis and finals due to a football injury. There were guys whose game translated way better to the next level but he was the best player on the court most games that year. He just didn’t have a college position when he was a Senior in HS...he wasn’t a guard and he was too short to be a 3 or 4. He grew about 4 inches in his prep season.
Yeah. Davenport was the Enquirer's Player of the Year in greater Cincinnati.
My brother (a high school basketball coach) said that Davenport was the most developed player in the whole Cincinnati region that year. Not the highest ceiling, but the most able to step onto a D-1 team and contribute immediately.
Jaxson Hayes was the same year as Davenport at Moeller. 17 months after playing in his last high school game as the #3 option on his team (behind Davenport and McBride), Hayes was starting for the New Orleans Pelicans.
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - dsquare - 06-14-2021 10:24 AM
For those of us who go back, Cedric Glover would be at or near the top of that list. He had little basketball back round coming in compared to guys in this era.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/cedric-glover-1.html
RE: Bearcats Basketball - Biggest Surprises - doss2 - 06-14-2021 09:28 PM
(06-14-2021 10:24 AM)dsquare Wrote: For those of us who go back, Cedric Glover would be at or near the top of that list. He had little basketball back round coming in compared to guys in this era.I guess he got hurt early in 86-87 and the year off must have been great as he went from 3.9 per game tp 18.9
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/cedric-glover-1.html
Man that is breakout!