MBB (1990-Present): Recruits that left you wanting more
Seth's front pager (Link, here: http://mgoblog.com/content/hokepoints-beilein-vs-all-time-recent-guys ) where he opined on recent Michigan basketball coaches included a component highlighting the future NBA players each coach recruited.
That piece led me to thinking - there were a ton of great recruits that came in with hype and expectations that didn't end up having the impact many expected. Some are more obvious than others - Jerod Ward being the #1 national recruit in 1994 for example. But who are the guys you really thought would have brought about the current Basketball Rennaisance on an expedited time table?
Talking strictly about recruits that were thought to have NBA potential - this is not your time to throw out Avery Queen/Dommanic Ingerson references.
My choice: Albert White. I saw this guy in High School while he was playing for Inkster and he was an unstopable scoring machine. His senior season at Inkster High, White averaged 31 points, 15.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.7 steals and 3.0 blocks. He was a McDonald's All-American when that used to mean "virtual lock for NBA stardom". While he was "ok" as a freshman at UM (9.0 ppg/4.7 rpg), he wound up being jettisoned by Fisher and transferring to Missouri for a variety of reasons (relationship with Fisher, ties to Martin, etc). At Missouri his stats were very good, but mostly empty - and he never even got a sniff in the NBA.
Who you got?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makhtar_N'Diaye_(basketball)
I don't know if Legion technically qualifies since he never ended up here (and then transferred 12 times), but my recollection is that he was a 5 star and Amaker's biggest get.
As for a player that was okay in his role but who I hoped would be Nik Stauskas -- Matt Vogrich. I know he wasn't 6'6'' like Nik but his shooting resume out of high school was impressive.
So every player since 1989 (which means this entire list)...has left me wanting more.
The largest failure ever to develop a player at Michigan was Bill Frieder's botched handling of Antoine Joubert. Frieder never let him shoot from his natural range, trying to turn him into something he wasn't. That's exactly what Frieder did, although not in the way he intended.
At the very least, "The Judge" would have been Jimmer Fredette under this staff. Joubert was finally given the "green light" on senior day against Purdue and had a game that was reminiscent of his high school days. If he had been given the green light as a freshman and developed the way JB develops players, people would still be talking about him , possibly as the greatest player in the history of the program.
1994 Mr. Basketball from Detroit Pershing right at the tail end of the Fab 5 era.
another one
February 22nd, 2017 at 12:50 AM ^
I used to hang out at the pool hall in the Union back then and would alway see Makhtar up in there getting grub in the basement. Wendys, Little Caesars, Subway. Probably not the best diet plan.