High School Studs who never made it in the NBA

[G.O.A.T]

Composing a list of the most "sure-thing" or "can't miss" prospects coming out of High School who flopped in the NBA or before they got there.

Here's my short list

DuJuan Wagner
Lenny Cooke
Felipe Lopez
Rashard Griffith
Erick Barkley
Jerod Ward
Derrick Caracter
DerMarr Johnson
Johnathan Bender
Donnell Harvey
Earl Jones

[L.Kizzle]

Wasn't Earl Manigualt a High School stud? His team beat Lew Alcindors Power Memorial.

[WillC]

Composing a list of the most "sure-thing" or "can't miss" prospects coming out of High School who flopped in the NBA or before they got there.

Here's my short list

DuJuan Wagner
Lenny Cooke
Felipe Lopez
Rashard Griffith
Erick Barkley
Jerod Ward
Derrick Caracter
DerMarr Johnson
Johnathan Bender
Donnell Harvey
Earl Jones

The colour-coding in this article should be of use to identify the underachievers: http://basketballjournalist.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/slam-magazine-hs-all-americans-hit-or.html

[Rooster]

Most definitely Schea Cotton. He was like the Cali player of the year when he was sophomore. He was supposed to play at UCLA but NCAA cockblocked him. I think the problem with himwas he peaked too soon and did not developed competitive edge.

[Kingwillball]

Juanny Wags #1 for me.. In HS people thought he would be next AI.. Sux injuries/sickness derailed him..

[artificial]

Had a semi-decent career, but when in highscool Darius Miles was head and shoulders above anyone else. Had me expecting a wing version of Kevin Garnett.

Wasn't Bassy Telfair was supposed to be on par with Lebron?

Lenny Cooke also comes to memory. Sad story.


And yeah, one of the first names to come to memory was Dajuan Wagner and his 100 point game.

[G.O.A.T]

Does anyone remember Griffith (who had his own Lenny Cooke moment) or Ward or Lopez?

Nice call on Schea Cotton btw

[the mesiah]

The ones I remember when i was a kid that haven't been mentioned was Ronald curry, Ronnie fields,randy livingston,..

[imdaman99]

I remember Felipe Lopez. The hype was ridiculous at St Johns. He honestly should have left after his freshman year, because he got exposed after that. As a freshman if you struggle, it's like big deal even Wiggins had his struggling moments. I think there was another hyped frosh that he wanted to win with, Zendon Hamilton or something.

Obviously he was still a 1st round pick, but he could have been top 5. The hype was strong.

They never lived up to it in college either, that class.

[G.O.A.T]

I remember Felipe Lopez. The hype was ridiculous at St Johns. He honestly should have left after his freshman year, because he got exposed after that. As a freshman if you struggle, it's like big deal even Wiggins had his struggling moments. I think there was another hyped frosh that he wanted to win with, Zendon Hamilton or something.

Obviously he was still a 1st round pick, but he could have been top 5. The hype was strong.

They never lived up to it in college either, that class.

I played against Lopez a few times when we were both teens. Our entire team was convinced he was the next star of the NBA. He was so gifted so young, but I think like a lot of guys on this list, he never had the fire that kept him working harder than everyone else.

Like Lenny Cooke said once, "The hardest thing isn't making it to the top, it's staying on top."


The ones I remember when i was a kid that haven't been mentioned was Ronald curry, Ronnie fields,randy livingston,..

Curry is another good call. Although I do think playing two sports hurt him. Same thing with Drew Henson, another two sport stud from his era (baseball/football)

Also want to thank Will C for the link to a really nice article. Reminded me of a few State of Michigan busts...

LaVell Blanchard, Winfred Walton, Anthony Roberson and Kelvin Torbert. Saw all these guys multiple times in HS. Remember LB doing work on Jason Richardson in the class A state title game. Remember Kelvin Torbert and Desmond Farmer catching multiple oops a game as far back as their frosh/soph season in HS.

Another underrated Detroit area Prep Hoops star was Antonio Gates, also had his team in the state title. Would have played football and basketball at Michigan State instead of Kent State in then MSU football coach Nick Saban would have allowed it.

[wakencdukest]

The ones I remember when i was a kid that haven't been mentioned was Ronald curry, Ronnie fields,randy livingston,..



I remember Curry, he played quarterback and point guard for UNC, he failed at both.

[L.Kizzle]

Sebastian Telfair

[LAZERUSS]

Raymond Lewis.

http://www.raymondlewis.com/

http://espn.go.com/high-school/boys-basketball/story/_/id/7943393/one

[QUOTE]When ESPNHS took on the task of naming California's streetball legends in celebration of the Boost Mobile Elite 24 (Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m. EDT, ESPNU), digging deep was a must.





EVERYTHING ELITE 24

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[IGotACoolStory]

Curry is an example of poor timing. He comes in when both programs were in flux. He gets recruited to play under Mack Brown and spends his career under Torbush. Could have played under Coach Smith and he gets Guth. Torbush I have many problems with, Guth not so much. But Guth was a terrible talent evaluator and he ran alphabetical rotations (which I still believe cost us a championship in 1998. You don't bring Shammond off the bench in that situation when you know he struggles in the role). Nevermind that he was pretty much the perfect spread option QB before the spread became popular.

I was never too impressed with him as a PG. His QB potential, however, was unreal. You ask high school football scouts and some say he was the best football prospect they have ever seen. Bobby Bowden is on record saying as much.

Tom McMillen might be one, although he had a long NBA career. Mentioning because he had Ewing-level hype. Cooke was the first name I thought of, though.

[MC Gusto]

I remember Curry, he played quarterback and point guard for UNC, he failed at both.
He was a halfway decent NFL receiver though.

[SouBeachTalents]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/2002/0218_large.jpg

Lol, remember this guy? Never amounted to shit

[MC Gusto]

DeAngelo Collins and Hassan Adams.

Ndudi Ebi also. At one point, he was considered the 2nd best player in the LeBron HS class.

[dubeta]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/2002/0218_large.jpg

Lol, remember this guy? Never amounted to shit

btw, has anyone noticed that LeBron was probably the only HS player to come in and dominate straight away?

[kshutts1]

Jeremy Tyler, Sebastian Telfair, Korleone Young

[RedBlackAttack]

I remember Felipe Lopez. The hype was ridiculous at St Johns. He honestly should have left after his freshman year, because he got exposed after that. As a freshman if you struggle, it's like big deal even Wiggins had his struggling moments. I think there was another hyped frosh that he wanted to win with, Zendon Hamilton or something.

Obviously he was still a 1st round pick, but he could have been top 5. The hype was strong.

They never lived up to it in college either, that class.
The hype was ridiculous once he made the cover of Sports Illustrated. That was back when that actually meant something. Basically, if you were on the cover, it was expected that you'd be a star in the league.


One recent one that popped into my head is Samardo Samuels. He was ranked by Scout as the second best prospect in the 2008 graduating class.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=4&pid=88&yr=2008

Ahead of guys like Klay Thompson, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Demar DeRozan, Greg Monroe, Kemba Walker, Iman Shumpert, Draymond Green, etc.

Only Brandon Jennings was ranked ahead of him.

[the mesiah]

Now that I see the SI refernEnces , I remember seeing tamir goodman.The fraud jew jordan averaged like 30+ a game and he was about to steal a scholarship from Maryland , I would always think gary williams is a fool for giving him a scholarship to play.He had a lot of hype with that SI story as well.

[MC Gusto]

The hype was ridiculous once he made the cover of Sports Illustrated. That was back when that actually meant something. Basically, if you were on the cover, it was expected that you'd be a star in the league.


One recent one that popped into my head is Samardo Samuels. He was ranked by Scout as the second best prospect in the 2008 graduating class.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=4&pid=88&yr=2008

Ahead of guys like Klay Thompson, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Demar DeRozan, Greg Monroe, Kemba Walker, Iman Shumpert, Draymond Green, etc.

Only Brandon Jennings was ranked ahead of him.
Byron Mullens was ranked #3 in that class. :lol

And Terrelle Pryor was ranked ahead of Draymond Green and Reggie Jackson.

[andgar923]

Most definitely Schea Cotton. He was like the Cali player of the year when he was sophomore. He was supposed to play at UCLA but NCAA cockblocked him. I think the problem with himwas he peaked too soon and did not developed competitive edge.

cAme to say this.

Schea was a super stud, Lebron before Lebron.

[RedBlackAttack]

Byron Mullens was ranked #3 in that class. :lol

And Terrelle Pryor was ranked ahead of Draymond Green and Reggie Jackson.
I never saw Pryor play basketball in person, did I have seen some footage and heard stories. He was supposedly pretty damn good. It just so happened that he was the most heralded high school football player in a decade or more, so basketball took a backseat.

Who knows what might have happened if he opted for basketball instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpvtfUkRgnI

[VelvetHoop]

http://www.sptimes.com/News/050601/photos/sp-balls.jpg
Kwame Brown

http://www.iconsportsmedia.com/image/thumb/180-180/13708718.jpg
Eddy Curry

http://www.thedraftreview.com/history/drafted2003/images/ndudi-ebi.jpg
Ndudi Ebi

http://overtheboards.com/justin/hs1119ocdm.jpg
Darius Miles

More come to mind,but i just remember these guys being massive disappointments

[ImKobe]

Kobe

[RedBlackAttack]

Surprised Sebastian Telfair hasn't been mentioned yet. Crazy hype coming out of Staten Island. Even though he was just 5-11, he was ranked ahead of other guys in his 2004 class like Rajon Rondo, Lamarcus Aldridge and Josh Smith, to name a few.

Steph Marbury was his cousin and he was seen as a more natural point guard version of Steph. Jay Z and other celebs would routinely attend his high school games, which became huge media events.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXsTa3UuXrU

Taken 13th overall straight out of high school... never found a place for himself in the league.


The Curious Case of Sebastian Telfair: From NYC Phenom to NBA Bust (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/230844-the-curious-case-of-sebastian-telfair-from-nyc-phenom-to-nba-bust)

[MC Gusto]

I never saw Pryor play basketball in person, did I have seen some footage and heard stories. He was supposedly pretty damn good. It just so happened that he was the most heralded high school football player in a decade or more, so basketball took a backseat.

Who knows what might have happened if he opted for basketball instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpvtfUkRgnI
I didn't see anything special in that highlight. Looks like an undersized power forward to me. He probably made the right decision by sticking with football.

I remember everyone being pissed at him for dragging his football recruitment along to concentrate on basketball season, but I never knew he was a top-100 recruit in basketball.

[MC Gusto]

Surprised Sebastian Telfair hasn't been mentioned yet. Crazy hype coming out of Staten Island. Even though he was just 5-11, he was ranked ahead of other guys in his 2004 class like Rajon Rondo, Lamarcus Aldridge and Josh Smith, to name a few.

Steph Marbury was his cousin and he was seen as a more natural point guard version of Steph. Jay Z and other celebs would routinely attend his high school games, which became huge media events.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXsTa3UuXrU

Taken 13th overall straight out of high school... never found a place for himself in the league.


The Curious Case of Sebastian Telfair: From NYC Phenom to NBA Bust (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/230844-the-curious-case-of-sebastian-telfair-from-nyc-phenom-to-nba-bust)
Too small and no jumpshot. Horrible combination.

It's a shame, because he could get to the basket whenever he wanted even at the pro level.

[WillC]

James Lang is a name nobody has mentioned yet.

[RedBlackAttack]

I didn't see anything special in that highlight. Looks like an undersized power forward to me. He probably made the right decision by sticking with football.

I remember everyone being pissed at him for dragging his football recruitment along to concentrate on basketball season, but I never knew he was a top-100 recruit in basketball.
Like I said, I never actually saw him play bball and there are relatively few highlights of him and no real game footage I can find. It was more a word-of-mouth thing at the time. He probably did make the right decision by sticking to football since he's a borderline starting QB in the NFL and that's a job only 32 people on earth can claim.

But, I can see how he'd be a really good basketball player, too. He's 6-5 and extremely athletic, with an unusual combination of speed/balance. You never know how things will transfer from sport-to-sport, though.