Most Hyped High School Recruits

[nyg]

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1220869

Most hyped high school recruits, did they get it right?  I recall Felipe Lopez from New York who went to St. Johns, he was on the cover of SI at age 17. 

[TedBaxter]

6-11 Earl Jones of West Virginia who went to the University of District Columbia in the 80's.  Wasn't he something like a 3 time Parade Magazine All-American?

[Hards Alumni]

a fun read.

[reinko]

Totally forgot about the Jewish Jordan.  That dude had skillz.

[NYWarrior]

This is fun stuff .... Tom McMillen deserves to be on this list -- he was an SI overboy as a high school senior in 1970 (ala Rick Mount) and picked MD over UNC to the surprise of many.

Agreed on Felipe Lopez btw - he was the coverboy for an article talking about how the Big East was back based on a sublime group of incoming freshmen around the league which included the troubled Chris Herren at BC and the academically questionable Zendon Hamilton (also to SJU).

FWIW, the hype around Alonzo Mourning was deafening in 1988 ... at the time that class was thought to be among the most talented ever assembled and he was at the top of that group (Kemp, Billy Owens, LaPhonso Ellis, Laettner, Don MacLean, Stanley Roberts, Chris Jackson, Malik Sealy, Chris Mills, Jarrod Mustaff, Donald Hodge, Litterial Green, Lee Mayberry, Todd Day, Adam Keefe).  That class was pretty amazing.

[BCHoopster]

How about Bernard Toone?

[Hards Alumni]

How about Larry Johnson?

[NYWarrior]

How about Larry Johnson?

Larry Johnson was  not even the most hyped recruit in the state of Texas in 1987, though his SAT odyssey was interesting.  The most hyped kid that year was LaBradford Smith from Bay City, then Louisville.  Smith was a freak athlete, best I've ever seen at the high school level (played against him).  It was said that he high jumped 6'10" in a baseball uniform (track meet was in the adjacent field ... 6'10" seems like B.S. but I gathered he did something of note), he was an all-state pitcher with a 90ish mph heater, and he could really hoop.

As a high school soph he jumped over a guy to dunk at the state tournament in Austin ... it was insane.  His high school team was loaded -- he teamed with the talented Sammy Jackson (track guy), Billy Dykes (tight end for OU under Switzer) and Hart Lee Dykes, perhaps the most infamous high school athlete of that decade.  Who else but the guy who put four schools on probation.  That team won state during Smith's sophomore year -- his team lost in the semifinals as a senior.

[DFW HOYA]

With the exception of Goodman, almost all the players in the article lived up to expectations--even Rick Mount was a very strong college player.

Five more to add to the list of players with huge recruiting buzz in high school:

1. Patrick Ewing. A big deal in 1981, and he delivered. (Almost went to UNC--imagine that lineup!)

2. Damon Bailey. Made famous by John Feinstein's book on Bob Knight.

3. Lloyd Daniels. Considered the top NYC recruit since Alcindor, was tossed out of UNLV before he enrolled.

4. Elena Delle Donne. The dominating girls HS player for three seasons, she committed to UConn and spent exacty one day there, quitting school to return home to take care of her sister, who is deaf, blind, autistic and suffers from cerebral palsy. Reenrolled at nearby Delaware a year later.

5. Fab Melo. From pre-season Big East Rookie of the year to....what?

[Pakuni]

Lloyd Daniels.

Edit: D'oh. Beaten to the punch by less than 30 seconds.

[Canadian Dimes]

Lloyd Daniels.

Edit: D'oh. Beaten to the punch by less than 30 seconds.

sweet pea?

[NYWarrior]

Lloyd Daniels.

Edit: D'oh. Beaten to the punch by less than 30 seconds.

Garfinkel once said of Lloyd Daniels, he "is the greatest junior ever-alive or unborn."  A great line

details here http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-11-08/sports/9204110410_1_prep-schools-alcohol-cat-has-nine-lives

[TedBaxter]

Isn't Garfinkel the one who pushed Roseboro to the MU coaches or was that Tom Konchalski?

[TheFarEastMovement]

Lance "Born Ready" Stephenson

[Pakuni]

Marcus Liberty probably belongs in the discussion as well.

Regarding the Rivals list, does LeBron really belong, much less at #1? It was pretty much assumed from the time he was 16 that he never was going to college, so how does he rank as a hyped recruit? Same with Kobe, to a lesser extent.

[NYWarrior]

Marcus Liberty probably belongs in the discussion as well.

Regarding the Rivals list, does LeBron really belong, much less at #1? It was pretty much assumed from the time he was 16 that he never was going to college, so how does he rank as a hyped recruit? Same with Kobe, to a lesser extent.

Agreed on both of them ... really, with Kobe there was not much hype relative to so many others listed here (and, you could argue that Ronnie Fields got much more hype than Kobe). And while LeBron was never going to college his hype as a prodigy, not a recruit, was something we might never see again.

[Goose]

NYWarrior---How big of a recruit was Pearl Washington out your way?  I remember hearing about him at early age.

[NYWarrior]

NYWarrior---How big of a recruit was Pearl Washington out your way?  I remember hearing about him at early age.

I didn't live here at the time but he played at Boys & Girls High School, which was a powerhouse in the 80s.  Must have been a huge recruit during what was a golden era of high school point guards in NYC (Kenny Smith, Pearl, Mark Jackson, Kenny Anderson, Rod Strickland and surely others)

[ChicosBailBonds]

Larry Johnson was  not even the most hyped recruit in the state of Texas in 1987, though his SAT odyssey was interesting.  The most hyped kid that year was LaBradford Smith from Bay City, then Louisville.  Smith was a freak athlete, best I've ever seen at the high school level (played against him).  It was said that he high jumped 6'10" in a baseball uniform (track meet was in the adjacent field ... 6'10" seems like B.S. but I gathered he did something of note), he was an all-state pitcher with a 90ish mph heater, and he could really hoop.

As a high school soph he jumped over a guy to dunk at the state tournament in Austin ... it was insane.  His high school team was loaded -- he teamed with the talented Sammy Jackson (track guy), Billy Dykes (tight end for OU under Switzer) and Hart Lee Dykes, perhaps the most infamous high school athlete of that decade.  Who else but the guy who put four schools on probation.  That team won state during Smith's sophomore year -- his team lost in the semifinals as a senior.

Hart Lee Dykes...name from the past.  First kid ever to win the national Punt, Pass, Kick competition and the national Pitch, Hit, Run contest.  Played for the Patriots....got hurt...end of career.

[NYWarrior]

Hart Lee Dykes...name from the past.  First kid ever to win the national Punt, Pass, Kick competition and the national Pitch, Hit, Run contest.  Played for the Patriots....got hurt...end of career.

Bingo .. he was an amazing athlete back in the day....but in the end, he might not have even been the best athlete on his own high school football team (DeLoach, Joe)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122822/index.htm

[4everwarriors]

How 'bout Colt Knost?

[NYWarrior]

How 'bout Colt Knost?

how 'bout Ivan Renko

[4everwarriors]

Enos Henricksen

[GGGG]

FWIW, the hype around Alonzo Mourning was deafening in 1988 ... at the time that class was thought to be among the most talented ever assembled and he was at the top of that group (Kemp, Billy Owens, LaPhonso Ellis, Laettner, Don MacLean, Stanley Roberts, Chris Jackson, Malik Sealy, Chris Mills, Jarrod Mustaff, Donald Hodge, Litterial Green, Lee Mayberry, Todd Day, Adam Keefe).  That class was pretty amazing.

Yeah, but when I look at this class I see a lot of reasons why USA basketball and the NBA sucked in the immediate post-Jordan era.  I see a lot of kids that were great athletes, but outside of a couple, not many good basketball players.

[Warriors4]

I believe the quote was "...the greatest junior dead, alive, or yet to be born."  pretty strong endorsement from a professional recruiting evaluator

not to turn Scoop into a book club or anything, but this is a great book: SweePea and Other Playground Legends by John Valenti and Ron Naclerio