hoyazeke
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,839
|
Post by hoyazeke on Aug 3, 2020 11:22:19 GMT -5
Well......that's disappointing! Somebody is going to get a helluva a ball player. Hopefully he stays in the BIG EAST! Please not Maryland, L$U or Auburn, but especially not Maryland or L$U! He's going to be fun to watch depending on where he goes. I personally hope that he goes to L$U. I hate Calicheat and UK's fanbase waaay more than Wade and LSU. As long as Wade can turn his cheating into long nights for UK I'll deal with losing a few recruits to L$U.... For the vets that were students/fans in the 80s, what type of recruit was Patrick? Was he a Top 5/5*, solid 4* that outplayed his ranking or a unknown prospect that people heard rumors about him scoring 100pts in small gyms(lol)....
|
|
vv83
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,333
|
Post by vv83 on Aug 3, 2020 11:59:01 GMT -5
Well......that's disappointing! Somebody is going to get a helluva a ball player. Hopefully he stays in the BIG EAST! Please not Maryland, L$U or Auburn, but especially not Maryland or L$U! He's going to be fun to watch depending on where he goes. I personally hope that he goes to L$U. I hate Calicheat and UK's fanbase waaay more than Wade and LSU. As long as Wade can turn his cheating into long nights for UK I'll deal with losing a few recruits to L$U.... For the vets that were students/fans in the 80s, what type of recruit was Patrick? Was he a Top 5/5*, solid 4* that outplayed his ranking or a unknown prospect that people heard rumors about him scoring 100pts in small gyms(lol).... Ewing was far and away the #1 recruit in the country, and was considered one of the best college prospects of his era. He was beyond just a "5 star" recruit, he was considered a program defining recruit. He lived up to every bit of the hype.
|
|
|
Post by nanman88 on Aug 3, 2020 12:29:31 GMT -5
I personally hope that he goes to L$U. I hate Calicheat and UK's fanbase waaay more than Wade and LSU. As long as Wade can turn his cheating into long nights for UK I'll deal with losing a few recruits to L$U.... For the vets that were students/fans in the 80s, what type of recruit was Patrick? Was he a Top 5/5*, solid 4* that outplayed his ranking or a unknown prospect that people heard rumors about him scoring 100pts in small gyms(lol).... Ewing was far and away the #1 recruit in the country, and was considered one of the best college prospects of his era. He was beyond just a "5 star" recruit, he was considered a program defining recruit. He lived up to every bit of the hype. From November of 1980: "That Ewing Kid" is none other than Cambridge Rindge and Latin's seven-foot center Patrick Ewing, who is undisputedly the most sought after high school basketball player in the country. Ewing lists BC as one of six finalists in his recruiting chase, so the teenaged phenomenon payed his official recruiting visit to the Heights this past weekend. Ewing's individual accomplishments are remarkable, those of his team over the past two years are equally stunning. The lowering center, who is often compared to the likes of Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at this stage of his career, has already poured in over 1200 points as a schoolboy, averaged 13 blocked shots per game last year and was-invited to try out for the 1980 US Olympic Basketball Team last spring... Cambridge coach Mike Jarvis claimed "Patrick is as good a high school center who has played the game..." newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=bcheights19801117.2.67
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 12:31:13 GMT -5
Well......that's disappointing! Somebody is going to get a helluva a ball player. Hopefully he stays in the BIG EAST! Please not Maryland, L$U or Auburn, but especially not Maryland or L$U! He's going to be fun to watch depending on where he goes. I personally hope that he goes to L$U. I hate Calicheat and UK's fanbase waaay more than Wade and LSU. As long as Wade can turn his cheating into long nights for UK I'll deal with losing a few recruits to L$U.... For the vets that were students/fans in the 80s, what type of recruit was Patrick? Was he a Top 5/5*, solid 4* that outplayed his ranking or a unknown prospect that people heard rumors about him scoring 100pts in small gyms(lol).... Patrick was basically a super recruit. He was beyond a 5 star as already mentioned by hoyazeke (vv83). He was supposed to be a game changer for a college program. So many schools wanted Patrick and the people at his hometown college, Boston College, were not happy when he chose Georgetown. Patrick said it was down to UCLA, Carolina and Georgetown to make his final choice. He said that Coach Dean Smith, coach of North Carolina Tar Heels and a good friend of Coach John Thompson III, persuaded him to choose Georgetown if he were not going to go to Carolina. Imagine how history would have turned out if Patrick would have chosen Carolina over Georgetown. I probably wouldn't be as big as a Georgetown fan today, if he had chosen Carolina (I hate Carolina). Georgetown definitely wouldn't have made that championship game in 82. Georgetown probably wouldn't have gotten all those great recruits that followed Ewing. Most importantly, Georgetown would not have had the historical impact that it has had over the black community and the nation for that matter, had Ewing not come to Georgetown. Essentially Ewing, Thompson, the rest of the Hoyas basketball team and the university became famous in the four years of Ewing and has made the university a brand because of this history. Carolina would have been stacked with Perkins, Ewing, Worthy, Jordan, Black, and Doherty as their first 6. But of course, Ewing said it was down between UCLA and Gtown and thus coach Dean Smith persuaded him to go to Georgetown. Thank god!! Patrick wasn't the main focus of Thompson's offense. They hardly ran plays for Ewing but Ewing was dominant scorer when he touched the ball and he was an outstanding defender! He was incredible force down low. You couldn't stop him on offense and on defense. He was just incredible. Go look at the Hoyas/Tar Heels championship game in 82 on Youtube to see what I mean.
|
|
|
Post by hoyas89 on Aug 3, 2020 12:39:18 GMT -5
Very simple. Ewing was the #1 recruit and most heavily recruited player out of HS probably since Lew Alcindor (Kareem)
|
|
DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,888
|
Post by DFW HOYA on Aug 3, 2020 14:41:19 GMT -5
Very simple. Ewing was the #1 recruit and most heavily recruited player out of HS probably since Lew Alcindor (Kareem) Not so simple. Ewing was the top recruit but one of three centers named to the Parade and McDonald's All-America first team, as there was significant regional bias. Remember, there was no televised coverage per se of HS sports in 1980-81 and coaches relied on writers and scouts to lead the way. The west coast writers prioritized 7-0 center Stuart Gray as the top pick. He eventually went to UCLA and played nine years in the NBA, two as a backup to Ewing with the Knicks (1991-93). In the midwest, 6-11 center Greg Dreiling was the next big star, staying home at Wichita State and eventually transferring to Kansas. He played 10 years in the NBA. All three were on top 20 teams in 1981-82 season (UCLA as high as #2, Wichita State #2, Georgetown #6) but when Ewing went to the Final Four as a freshman, the issue was closed as far as the writers were concerned. Most heavily recruited since...? He's up with Ralph Sampson (1979) on that one, but it's hard to quantify. Alcindor only had a handful of schools he was even considering: UCLA, St. John’s, Columbia, and NYU were the leaders, so "heavily recruited" did not apply vs. those evaluating 100+ offers. (In the end it came down to UCLA over St. John's.)
|
|
hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,469
|
Post by hoyarooter on Aug 3, 2020 17:36:58 GMT -5
Very simple. Ewing was the #1 recruit and most heavily recruited player out of HS probably since Lew Alcindor (Kareem) Not so simple. Ewing was the top recruit but one of three centers named to the Parade and McDonald's All-America first team, as there was significant regional bias. Remember, there was no televised coverage per se of HS sports in 1980-81 and coaches relied on writers and scouts to lead the way. The west coast writers prioritized 7-0 center Stuart Gray as the top pick. He eventually went to UCLA and played nine years in the NBA, two as a backup to Ewing with the Knicks (1991-93). In the midwest, 6-11 center Greg Dreiling was the next big star, staying home at Wichita State and eventually transferring to Kansas. He played 10 years in the NBA. All three were on top 20 teams in 1981-82 season (UCLA as high as #2, Wichita State #2, Georgetown #6) but when Ewing went to the Final Four as a freshman, the issue was closed as far as the writers were concerned. Most heavily recruited since...? He's up with Ralph Sampson (1979) on that one, but it's hard to quantify. Alcindor only had a handful of schools he was even considering: UCLA, St. John’s, Columbia, and NYU were the leaders, so "heavily recruited" did not apply vs. those evaluating 100+ offers. (In the end it came down to UCLA over St. John's.) Stuart Gray was a highly recruited stiff. I thought he was a major disappointment at UCLA. Honestly, though, as someone living in LA, my recollection of that time is that while Gray was considered a major recruit, he was not thought of as being in a class with Ewing.
|
|
|
Post by professorhoya on Aug 3, 2020 18:14:57 GMT -5
Very simple. Ewing was the #1 recruit and most heavily recruited player out of HS probably since Lew Alcindor (Kareem) Not so simple. Ewing was the top recruit but one of three centers named to the Parade and McDonald's All-America first team, as there was significant regional bias. Remember, there was no televised coverage per se of HS sports in 1980-81 and coaches relied on writers and scouts to lead the way. The west coast writers prioritized 7-0 center Stuart Gray as the top pick. He eventually went to UCLA and played nine years in the NBA, two as a backup to Ewing with the Knicks (1991-93). In the midwest, 6-11 center Greg Dreiling was the next big star, staying home at Wichita State and eventually transferring to Kansas. He played 10 years in the NBA. All three were on top 20 teams in 1981-82 season (UCLA as high as #2, Wichita State #2, Georgetown #6) but when Ewing went to the Final Four as a freshman, the issue was closed as far as the writers were concerned. Most heavily recruited since...? He's up with Ralph Sampson (1979) on that one, but it's hard to quantify. Alcindor only had a handful of schools he was even considering: UCLA, St. John’s, Columbia, and NYU were the leaders, so "heavily recruited" did not apply vs. those evaluating 100+ offers. (In the end it came down to UCLA over St. John's.) Stuart Gray and Greg Drieling were scrubs in the NBA. Backup scrubs. Look at their career stats.
|
|
SirSaxa
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 15,620
|
Post by SirSaxa on Aug 3, 2020 18:20:18 GMT -5
Most heavily recruited since...? He's up with Ralph Sampson (1979) on that one, but it's hard to quantify. Alcindor only had a handful of schools he was even considering: UCLA, St. John’s, Columbia, and NYU were the leaders, so "heavily recruited" did not apply vs. those evaluating 100+ offers. (In the end it came down to UCLA over St. John's.) Alcindor may have had only a few schools recruiting him, but everyone knew he was going to be a program changer. There was no question he was the best HS player in America and a phenom extraordinaire. You are right though about Gray and Dreiling... at least how they were perceived. Once the games started, there wasn't a question as to who was the best. Since Alcindor? Well, Bill Walton was a HUGE recruit as was Tom McMillen who bailed on UNC at the last second and went to UMD instead. Richard Washington was another. Moses MaloneRalph Sampson for sure- as DFW mentioned Spencer Haywood, after his appearance on the US Olympic team -- well, he was not a HS recruit at that time.. so cross him off the list. I think he went to U of Detroit- just before or after the Olympics.. maybe from Jr College.... As great as he was, he probably does not belong on this list. OK, I'm not an expert so I can't say exactly, precisely with certainty.... but Ewing was super highly regarded coming out of HS. Put it this way, I can't think of anyone from whom as much was expected, with the possible exceptions of Walton and Sampson. One more thing on Ewing -at 18 years old in HS, he was nowhere near the brawny powerhouse he became aa a pro. He was thin, lithe and superathletic. And he could shoot. JT didn't want him to, but he could. He used that outside shot - the baseline jumper - in the pros - a lot, but it was always there at GU. OK - yes, I loved the guy. I recall seeing video clips of him as a HS recruit. A 7ft athlectic phenom. When he announced for GU I just about went through the roof!
|
|
hoyazeke
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,839
|
Post by hoyazeke on Aug 3, 2020 19:01:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the info fellas...I remember when I was a kid watching Zo. My sister graduated from his biggest HS rival in '87. I was 10/11yrs old and we would go to the game because my next door neighbor was the star of Deep Creek's girl bball team. Indian River would come out the locker room and I swear they had 2-3 players that were 6'5"-6'8" plus Zo.. they were the most intimidating HS team I've ever seen that wasn't a basketball farm system. Deep Creek had 2 bigs that were around 6'4"...we beat them at Deep Creek Zo's junior year... I'm pretty sure they swept us his senior year...were was Zo in the national rankings?
|
|
hoyazeke
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,839
|
Post by hoyazeke on Aug 3, 2020 19:11:15 GMT -5
I personally hope that he goes to L$U. I hate Calicheat and UK's fanbase waaay more than Wade and LSU. As long as Wade can turn his cheating into long nights for UK I'll deal with losing a few recruits to L$U.... For the vets that were students/fans in the 80s, what type of recruit was Patrick? Was he a Top 5/5*, solid 4* that outplayed his ranking or a unknown prospect that people heard rumors about him scoring 100pts in small gyms(lol).... Patrick was basically a super recruit. He was beyond a 5 star as already mentioned by hoyazeke. He was supposed to be a game changer for a college program. So many schools wanted Patrick and the people at his hometown college, Boston College, were not happy when he chose Georgetown. Patrick said it was down to UCLA, Carolina and Georgetown to make his final choice. He said that Coach Dean Smith, coach of North Carolina Tar Heels and a good friend of Coach John Thompson III, persuaded him to choose Georgetown if he were not going to go to Carolina. Imagine how history would have turned out if Patrick would have chosen Carolina over Georgetown. I probably wouldn't be as big as a Georgetown fan today, if he had chosen Carolina (I hate Carolina). Georgetown definitely wouldn't have made that championship game in 82. Georgetown probably wouldn't have gotten all those great recruits that followed Ewing. Most importantly, Georgetown would not have had the historical impact that it has had over the black community and the nation for that matter, had Ewing not come to Georgetown. Essentially Ewing, Thompson, the rest of the Hoyas basketball team and the university became famous in the four years of Ewing and has made the university a brand because of this history. Carolina would have been stacked with Perkins, Ewing, Worthy, Jordan, Black, and Doherty as their first 6. But of course, Ewing said it was down between UCLA and Gtown and thus coach Dean Smith persuaded him to go to Georgetown. Thank god!! Patrick wasn't the main focus of Thompson's offense. They hardly ran plays for Ewing but Ewing was dominant scorer when he touched the ball and he was an outstanding defender! He was incredible force down low. You couldn't stop him on offense and on defense. He was just incredible. Go look at the Hoyas/Tar Heels championship game in 82 on Youtube to see what I mean. Thanks for the info. I made myself watch the'82 C'ship game. Well at least all but the last minute. Ewing and Jordan are the most famous from that game but I came away completely impressed with Worthy and Floyd. GTown had so many chances to take control of the game but Worthy kept UNC in the game and then Floyd kept GTown in the game when UNC was trying to pull away...the Nova game is a sham that I will never watch again. Out of those 3 C'ship gms I believe all but Nova would be similar if they were replayed under today's rules. We would destroy them if we had a 3pt line or shot clock...smh
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 19:18:10 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 19:56:10 GMT -5
Patrick was basically a super recruit. He was beyond a 5 star as already mentioned by hoyazeke. He was supposed to be a game changer for a college program. So many schools wanted Patrick and the people at his hometown college, Boston College, were not happy when he chose Georgetown. Patrick said it was down to UCLA, Carolina and Georgetown to make his final choice. He said that Coach Dean Smith, coach of North Carolina Tar Heels and a good friend of Coach John Thompson III, persuaded him to choose Georgetown if he were not going to go to Carolina. Imagine how history would have turned out if Patrick would have chosen Carolina over Georgetown. I probably wouldn't be as big as a Georgetown fan today, if he had chosen Carolina (I hate Carolina). Georgetown definitely wouldn't have made that championship game in 82. Georgetown probably wouldn't have gotten all those great recruits that followed Ewing. Most importantly, Georgetown would not have had the historical impact that it has had over the black community and the nation for that matter, had Ewing not come to Georgetown. Essentially Ewing, Thompson, the rest of the Hoyas basketball team and the university became famous in the four years of Ewing and has made the university a brand because of this history. Carolina would have been stacked with Perkins, Ewing, Worthy, Jordan, Black, and Doherty as their first 6. But of course, Ewing said it was down between UCLA and Gtown and thus coach Dean Smith persuaded him to go to Georgetown. Thank god!! Patrick wasn't the main focus of Thompson's offense. They hardly ran plays for Ewing but Ewing was dominant scorer when he touched the ball and he was an outstanding defender! He was incredible force down low. You couldn't stop him on offense and on defense. He was just incredible. Go look at the Hoyas/Tar Heels championship game in 82 on Youtube to see what I mean. Thanks for the info. I made myself watch the'82 C'ship game. Well at least all but the last minute. Ewing and Jordan are the most famous from that game but I came away completely impressed with Worthy and Floyd. GTown had so many chances to take control of the game but Worthy kept UNC in the game and then Floyd kept GTown in the game when UNC was trying to pull away...the Nova game is a sham that I will never watch again. Out of those 3 C'ship gms I believe all but Nova would be similar if they were replayed under today's rules. We would destroy them if we had a 3pt line or shot clock...smh I'm glad you watched it. Yes, Floyd and Worthy were the superstars in that game. Worthy went on to become a sensational player in the pros as well, as you might have already known. Did you noticed all the goaltending Patrick was doing in the game? That was by design. Coach Thompson wanted him to block shots even if they were goaltends to intimidate the Tar Heels. So he let Patrick goaltend like five or six of the Tar Heels first few shots. I wished he hadn't done that because the team gave away so many points. I often think if that were not the strategy, could the Hoyas have defeated the Tar Heels. This was the first of the Tar Heels national championship. I think it was either the year before or two years earlier they had lost to the Indiana Hoosiers led by Isiah Thomas. The Hoyas would miss the title game the next year but make it in 84 and win it with a freshman intimidator by the name of Michael Graham. Michael Graham was just what the Hoyas needed to help Ewing on that front line. The team was sensational. in 85, the Hoyas lost in a fluke game to conference rival Villanova led by Coach Rollie Massimino, Ed Pickney, Harold Pressley, Gary and Dwayne McClain (no relations) Harold Jenson and I believe Pinone was on that team but don't quote me on that. The Hoyas had Reggie Williams, Ewing, (no Michael Graham as he was let go by the team), David Wingate, Harold Broadnax, Michael Jackson etc. Both teams shot very well in the game. I believe both teams shot over 50% but Villanova was scorching. Villanova couldn't miss a shot in that game! I think they shot 65% or something like that. Our defense could not contain them. It was the most disappointing loss for the Hoyas in a championship game even more than the Tar Heels loss. That year, the Big East was the beast in college basketball. St. Johns, Georgetown and Villanova all made the final four. That was Patricks last year.
|
|
|
Post by professorhoya on Aug 3, 2020 19:59:58 GMT -5
Thanks for the info fellas...I remember when I was a kid watching Zo. My sister graduated from his biggest HS rival in '87. I was 10/11yrs old and we would go to the game because my next door neighbor was the star of Deep Creek's girl bball team. Indian River would come out the locker room and I swear they had 2-3 players that were 6'5"-6'8" plus Zo.. they were the most intimidating HS team I've ever seen that wasn't a basketball farm system. Deep Creek had 2 bigs that were around 6'4"...we beat them at Deep Creek Zo's junior year... I'm pretty sure they swept us his senior year...were was Zo in the national rankings? Top 5. I think he was one or two depending on the ranker. I think it was like him and Billy Owens (That dude really didn't pan out, not as bad as Roderick Rhodes or Ron Mercer in terms of the hype coming out of high school but never lived up to his full potential) Zo almost made the Olympics team out of high school (sure Pops was coach but he was that good). The only question on Zo was his height at 6-9 as a center but that didn't stop him at any level. (6-9 JR Reid was a monster at UNC but was a mediocre pro cause his size given his skill set didn't translate to the NBA)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 20:11:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the info fellas...I remember when I was a kid watching Zo. My sister graduated from his biggest HS rival in '87. I was 10/11yrs old and we would go to the game because my next door neighbor was the star of Deep Creek's girl bball team. Indian River would come out the locker room and I swear they had 2-3 players that were 6'5"-6'8" plus Zo.. they were the most intimidating HS team I've ever seen that wasn't a basketball farm system. Deep Creek had 2 bigs that were around 6'4"...we beat them at Deep Creek Zo's junior year... I'm pretty sure they swept us his senior year...were was Zo in the national rankings? I remember when Zo was being recruited by the Hoyas. Actually, the Hoyas didn't have to really recruit Zo. Zo was a huge Patrick Ewing fan. He loved Patrick Ewing when he was coming up in high school. Back in the days, the Hoyas centers would come back to campus to work with the Bigs on the Hoyas team. It was all started with Patrick Ewing. Through Patrick's workouts with Zo, naturally, Patrick and Zo became the best of friends and Patrick sort of became Zo's, big brother/mentor. So it wasn't hard recruiting Zo for Coach Thompson. Also, Zo loved Coach Thompson. Now, where was he ranked nationally. To be honest, I am not sure but I think he was ranked fairly high. I don't know if he was the number 1 player in high school. He could have been but I'm not sure. I just know I was so happy when we got him and I thought of him as Patrick Ewing number 2. Zo was a special player for the Hoyas. He was physical, a damn good rebounder and he was, in my opinion, a better scorer than Ewing. Zo was terrific for the Hoyas. Also, I apologize for saying you were the one who said that Patrick was beyond a five star in my response to you. I corrected it (in my earlier post with a strikethrough on you name and I put vv83's name in parenthesis) as it was vv83 who I should have credited that to especially when you were the one who asked the initial question about Patrick's ranking. Sorry about that.
|
|
hoya73
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,222
|
Post by hoya73 on Aug 3, 2020 20:12:03 GMT -5
I think Laettner was considered, along with Zo and Owens,, one of the prize HS class of '88 recruits. I believe at least in some rankings, Reggie Williams was considered the #1 recruit in his hs class too.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 20:16:40 GMT -5
I think Laettner was considered, along with Zo and Owens,, one of the prize HS class of '88 recruits. I believe at least in some rankings, Reggie Williams was considered the #1 recruit in his hs class too. Reggie Williams was definitely number 1. Wingate, his teammate who came out a year earlier, I believe was high also. Mugsy Bogues, another one of Reggie's high school teammate who graduated in the same class as David Wingate was ranked high also. They all attended Dunbar High School in Baltimore and had the number 1 team in the country for years. Reggie Lewis, a Celtic great, also played with the tandem, I think as a freshman.
|
|
cas92
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 295
|
Post by cas92 on Aug 3, 2020 20:49:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the info fellas...I remember when I was a kid watching Zo. My sister graduated from his biggest HS rival in '87. I was 10/11yrs old and we would go to the game because my next door neighbor was the star of Deep Creek's girl bball team. Indian River would come out the locker room and I swear they had 2-3 players that were 6'5"-6'8" plus Zo.. they were the most intimidating HS team I've ever seen that wasn't a basketball farm system. Deep Creek had 2 bigs that were around 6'4"...we beat them at Deep Creek Zo's junior year... I'm pretty sure they swept us his senior year...were was Zo in the national rankings? Top 5. I think he was one or two depending on the ranker. I think it was like him and Billy Owens (That dude really didn't pan out, not as bad as Roderick Rhodes or Ron Mercer in terms of the hype coming out of high school but never lived up to his full potential) Zo almost made the Olympics team out of high school (sure Pops was coach but he was that good). The only question on Zo was his height at 6-9 as a center but that didn't stop him at any level. (6-9 JR Reid was a monster at UNC but was a mediocre pro cause his size given his skill set didn't translate to the NBA) As an alumnus who graduated the same year as 'Zo, I recall him being ranked # 1 for the better part of his senior high school campaign. My resident assistant @ Harbin also asserted that my incoming class would be a championship contender (for our 4 years) during our initial group orientation for what it's worth. Milton Bell (out of Richmond) was part of that freshman squad. 'Zo was listed @ either 6' 9 or 6' 10", but really was/is closer to 6' 8" - he ably compensated w/ his on court ferocity. As for JR Reid, Scott Williams enjoyed a better/longer pro career by embracing his role as a complementary player focused on rebounding and defense. During a television interview @ half-time of a UNC game during Reid's senior year, Julius Erving was asked whom he would select if he were a NBA GM w/ the first overall pick - he glibly mentioned Reid's name and praised JR's basketball prowess, lending support to the notion that superlative players don't necessarily translate into astute coaching/management personnel (see Kevin McHale, Clyde Drexler - although applicable regardless of sport).
|
|
SirSaxa
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 15,620
|
Post by SirSaxa on Aug 3, 2020 20:51:03 GMT -5
Thanks for the info fellas...I remember when I was a kid watching Zo. My sister graduated from his biggest HS rival in '87. I was 10/11yrs old Hey Zeke, if you were 10 or 11 at that point, you've had a really rough life or your avatar looks a lot older than you!
|
|
SirSaxa
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 15,620
|
Post by SirSaxa on Aug 3, 2020 20:53:12 GMT -5
I think Laettner was considered, along with Zo and Owens,, one of the prize HS class of '88 recruits. I believe at least in some rankings, Reggie Williams was considered the #1 recruit in his hs class too. Reggie Williams was definitely number 1. Wingate, his teammate who came out a year earlier, I believe was high also. Mugsy Bogues, another one of Reggie's high school teammate who graduated in the same class as David Wingate was ranked high also. They all attended Dunbar High School in Baltimore and had the number 1 team in the country for years. Reggie Lewis, a Celtic great, also played with the tandem, I think as a freshman. Here's the story on Dunbar HS - Baltimore - greatest HS team ever medium.com/@uarkpress/the-greatest-high-school-basketball-team-ever-4445533123a7#:~:text=The%201982%E2%80%931983%20Paul%20Laurence,impressive%20college%20and%20NBA%20careers.
|
|