7 recruit in his class would average all of 3.7 PPG in two seasons with the Gators and declared for the 2015 NBA Draft. IF POLL DOES NOT APPEAR, click here to vote. But damn are they fast." The game meant something to us, but it was everything for him. He was so skilled that the Lakers even selected him in the NBAs 1971 hardship draft. The center/power forward's other "claim to fame" is being the first player to ever skip college basketball and go directly to the minors, the NBA's Tulsa 66ers, a franchise in the former "NBA D League", now called the NBA G League. She is 5 feet 11 inches tall and 70 kg, and she has a slim build. The closest the shooting guard ever came to the NBA was playing in the Summer League for the Boston Celtics. Like Antoine Walker and Juwan Howard before him, Smith was thought to be the next All-Star big man to come from Chicago. It's unfortunate Ebi didn't make it in the NBA. He was on top of every national all-America team and recruiting ranking, along with Manning and John Williams (later known, after a blown-out knee and massive weight gain, as Hot Plate). Two days after being taken by the Celtics, Biasdied of a cardiac arrest brought on by a cocaine overdose. We take an in-depth look at the greatest high school hoopers ever, and how their stats compare. No, that isn't comedian Carrot Top, that's NBA flame-out Robert Swift, a great high school player that managed to get Garces High School (Bakersfield, CA) ranked in the USA Today top 25 teams during the 2002-03 season. Wren basketball wins first ever boys state championship, beats Crestwood 56-49. The San Antonio Spurs drafted him first overall in 1997. In this blog post, we are going to talk about the Best High School Basketball Player That Never Made It. However, Manigault should be glad he never made it to the NBA, because he became much more famous being a "never made it" as opposed to some obscure player who rode the bench for a couple of meaningless NBA seasons. Buchanans 10 3-pointers set a program record for a single game. But imagine an alternate reality where injuries had kept one of these gifted, highly scouted prospects from ever becoming an NBA player. Washburn, from Hickory, N.C., was 6-11, 230-plus pounds, ran the floor like a forward, handled like someone eight inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter, shook backboards with his dunks and blocked everything in sight. There's a reason the NBA stopped letting kids straight outta high school join the league--because most have been disappointing, as this list will demonstrate time and time again. 1 entry. As it stands, Selby has played 38 games in the NBA and 31 games in the D-League although he has found some success overseas. Believe me, I tried. Jared McCain is a prominent face in high school basketball. Our staff picks includeone of the greatest basketball players of all time, but there are a few cautionary tales in the mix too. Maggette, a Fenwick (Oak Park, Ill.) star on his way to Duke and the NBA, dominated Deerfield with 27 points, 15 rebounds and three steals. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Markelle Fultz, is currently enduring what has become a Philadelphia 76ers' rite of passage: spending his rookie year watching from the sidelines as he rehabs an injury. Oden lived up to his billing in college, leading the Ohio State Buckeyes to the National Championship game. Mayo became the first player in 10 years to be banned by the NBA. Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list, NBA Power Rankings: Kevin Durant's return could rock the West. Instead he went to the NBA, where he was a memberof the final iteration of the Seattle SuperSonics (2007-08) before they became the OKC Thunder. played in two separate stints for the Harlem Globetrotters, arguably the greatest California streetball legends of all time, drug kingpin and superstar basketball player, fair share of ESPNs 30 for 30 documentaries. Jerryd Bayless 4. Last week, we unveiled our top high school basketball team in each state and today we are digging . 9. Williams was a star with two different high schools in Mississippi and Texas and was ranked in the top 20 prospects of 2009. Selby was one of the best players to ever come out of the DMV area and he was the No. Montverde Academy . Here are SN's staff picks: "I will always be indebted to my sophomore year biology teacher for noting my passion for basketball and asking if I'd like to go along with him to see the 1976 Dapper Dan Roundball Classic. But when the Nets told Ryan to hone his skills in the NBA's former minor league, the CBA, Black Jack gave up his pro playing aspirations and gave up on the game altogether. AIKEN For the first time in its history and in coach Fran Campbell's 39-year stint at the school, the Wren boys . Because ESPN ranked her as the second best guard, more people started paying attention to what she had to say about the game. Therefore, in most of these cases, as you shall discover, college probably would have been a good idea for the player in question. The third-ranked player, Korleone Young, played 3 NBA games. He was later recruited by Chicago's DePaul University, but was ruled academically ineligible. Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Initially, he committed to Louisville after a stellar run at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, but extenuating circumstances prompted him to change his mind and declare for the 2004 draft. The volume of his talent is staggering, even breathtaking. For every teenage phenom that comes along, there are many who go into the pros at a young age and they clearly aren't ready for the added responsibilities that come with being a pro athlete. He was named NBA Rookie of the Year and went on to be named an All-Star six times, earning $161 million over a 14-year career. Nick Birdsong. Caitlin might have a future plan to reveal it, and if she does, regular readers will be aware of it. She also won awards including Iowa Miss Basketball, Gatorade State Player of the Year, and the McDonalds All-American title. The WCAC was the best high school league in the country, as at least 3 teams were nationally ranked. She was the most sought-after student at her high school and rose to fame as a result of her performances in high school athletics. 18 pick in the 1973 draft, yet on account of a contract dispute, Lewis never played a single game in the NBA. Malone didn't need college; his last two years in high school, his team didn't lose a single game, taking back-to-back state titles in Virginia. Caitlin has played basketball since she was very little. Mayo AKA Grocery List was the consensus top player of the Class of 2007 and ahead of such players as Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and James Harden. The man who was once dubbed The Spanish Michael Jordan reached his peak at just the age of 14. The National Basketball Association is known for its history ofphenomenal players. I vividly remember his first post-stretch action being a rebound off a teammate's missed warm-up jumper. During her junior season, she averaged 32.5 points, seven rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 steals per game as she guided Dowling Catholic High School to a 17-8 record and a spot in the Iowa Class 5A playoffs. 15 Basketball High School Phenoms Who Never Made It In The NBA (And 5 Who Became Bigger Stars). By Posted google sheets script get row number In los angeles skateboard deck 1. Unfortunately, like many of the other NYC playground talents, Manigaults life was destroyed by drugs. But then Jackie decided he was too good to go to the University of Tennessee and declared for the NBA Draft. He added six rebounds, four assists and one steal in 32 minutes, attempting double-digit 3 . That's where I saw him, Wearing straight-back cornrows, he was laced in a Tracy McGrady Nike Swingman jersey with a oversized grey tee beneath it, a gleamy gold chain with a matching medallion, shin-length jean shorts (Hey, that was the wave back then), and a pearly white pair of mid-top Air Force 1s. Some players are just a flash in the pan. Telfair also had various run-ins with the law including multiple arrests for possession of weapons. And in the early 1990s, I began to cover recruiting camps like the ABCD and then the elite tournaments like the Big Time and Peach Jam. MISHAWAKA MARIAN (41): Dareon Thornton 3 2-2 10, Deaglan Sullivan 7 5-6 21, Jackson Price 1 0-0 3, Deuce Owens 1 0-0 2, Zion Rhoades 1 3-4 5 TOTAL: 13 10-12 41 His last known basketball activity was a tryout with the Warriors D-League team in 2016. "He was a star guard for Salem High, someone we all saw regularly at the Salem YMCA. Smith's off-the-court shenanigans are far more interesting than his fizzled pro hoops career. On the other hand, she can currently make a respectable living as a college player. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. There was no Ball is Life, Overtime or Mars Reel. Who was the best high school basketball player you ever saw in person? Standing about 6-8 and about 230 or 240 pounds, he looked like a grown man, and I had no clue who he was. Dakota Candler, South Knox: The 6-5 senior made the game-winning three-point play in the final seconds as South Knox defeated Pike Central 60-58. At one point he might have placed higher on this list, but he'll never compete with the top 3 who became bigger. Others achieve college stardom. She has gained recognition for her exceptional gaming senses. His NBA career was even more of a letdown as he played for just four seasons and averaged 5.8 points per game. Duke has been viewed as the leader for his services for a long time, and the Blue Devils hope to add him to a class that already includes two top-10 players on this list. Caitlin was born on January 22, 2002, in Des Moines, Iowa, and is currently 19 years old. The only thing I could think was, There can't be eight players better than him. Samaki Walker, Michael Redd, Gary Trent and Kenny Gregory were must-see players too, but I can't remember a time when I was more excited to see a player for the first time than Weaver. It's baffling to think that at one point, Sebastian Telfair shared a Sports Illustrated cover spot with LeBron James and the two were hyped as the two players set to take over the NBA. In the state tournament shortly thereafter, Burnson had perhaps the greatest performance in Massachusetts high school basketball history: 42 points against Bishop Feehan in the state tournament at Boston Garden. 4 in MaxPreps Top 25 rankings. Since he was never a senior, we dont have his senior rankings but he was ranked the 7th best junior in the nation and had college offers from UNC, Louisville and UCLA. In addition, she also retains the award of Iowa Gatorade Player-of-the-Year in 2019 and 2020. How Tall Is Basketball Player Caitlin Clark? ', Was I wrong about any of that? Jordan really didn't top that one until the 1988 NBA dunk contest maybe. McBride now has 1,822 career points going into the sectional. I nearly killed a full phone charge by pressing record each time Williamson touched the ball during the game. With five players ranked in the 2023 ESPN 100 and four more ranked in the 2024 ESPN . Howard practically fulfilled the selection by taking the 2008-09 Magic all the way to the NBA Finals. The streets run ripe with ball players who had the talent but never played in the NBA for various reasons. The NBA has been home to plenty of elite ball handlers, but in all fairness, point guard Marques Hayenes was on another level. Teenage almost-seven-foot Chris Washburn doing it was like seeing man walk on the moon. Smith is the only prep-to-pro to ever be drafted by the Spurs as he was taken in the first round of the 1999 draft. The No. He ran the floor like a defensive back doing the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. With Providence visiting Independence for a pivotal conference game one night, my buddies and I decided to go see if the hype was real. True, Washburn is now a cautionary tale, and always will be. Weve watched our fair share of ESPNs 30 for 30 documentaries, yet few affect us as much as, BENJI, the story of Ben Wilson, Chicagos pride and joy and the best high school basketball player in the country. Shes a stunning basketball player with a well-built body. Best High School Boys Basketball Player in Every State 2022: West By Tony Adame on October 24, 2022 Twitter Stadium Talk's annual preseason list of the best high school boys basketball player in all 50 states is upon us, and we're trying something new and exciting this year by dividing the stories up into regions. Wagners hype reached epic proportions when he was billed as a bigger, stronger Allen Iverson right after the former Sixer won the 2001 MVP award. Wagner was the No. 3. She was leading in the nation in assists (214), points (799), points per game (26.6), made field goals (266), and made 3-pointers (116), and second in assists per game (7.1) and 3-pointers per game (3.87). Jerod Ward was supposed to be the centerpiece of this second wave of Michigan freshmen after winning the Naismith Prep Player of the Year award in Mississippi in 1994. I remember listening to Weaver's first high school game against Lancaster on the radio. Dwight Howard's decision to forego college was influenced by KG, who went from high school stardom in Chicago at Farragut Career Academy directly to stardom in the pros. He dominated the Georgia basketball scene that year, leading. He was drafted in the second round of the 1994 NBA Draft by his hometown Pacers but it became evident that Bailey had peaked in high school as he would never see the court in the NBA. She also received the most weekly Player of the Week honours in the Big Ten Conference with five. By the time Weaver reached high school, you couldn't get a seat at the gym. Professional journalist for 25 years, contributing writer with High Times magazine and High Times.com since 1993. 30. 1 player in the nation and skipped college altogether, going No. I left the game that night feeling lucky to have seen that caliber of player in person but also anguished knowing that I'd be seeing a lot more of Antawn Jamison in the future." She was an incredible shooter and I had NEVER seen handles like that, ever." The scant highlight clips available in those prehistoric days for videoshowed a kid who looked like the next evolutionary stage of the game. Luke McBride, Norwell: The senior became Norwells all-time leading scorer with 24 points and eight rebounds in a 48-46 win over Homestead. The No. For this piece, let's take a look at the 10 best basketball players to never play in the NBA. Offensively, there is nobody like him.. It didn't take long to see that it was. In 2017 and 2019, she won two gold medals in the FIBA Americas Tournament and the FIBA World Cup Tournament with Team USA. I mashed up some of what I captured for an Instagram video. A Lamborghini is a Lamborghini, and Williamson is a Murcilago with a 6.2 L V12 engine. Such was the case when my Tampa Raptors, a rag-tag, best of the rest team, consisting of a band of players not good enough to be scooped up by Nike or adidas' summer outfits. They arent All-Star caliber players but they still made tens of millions of dollars and proved right in their decisions to skip college. Dylan Moles, Greenfield-Central: The 6-3 senior and Marian recruit went for 29 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals on 9-for-13 shooting from the field and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line in a 69-53 win over Plainfield in the final regular-season game. The 6-foot-3 senior guard committed to Duke earlier this year. Hes looking at a future of second-rate foreign leagues and G-League appearances. Demetrius Hook Mitchell may have only been 5-foot-9, but the man who could jump over a Volkswagen was a legend on the playgrounds of Oakland. He was so skilled that the Lakers even selected him in the NBA's 1971 hardship draft. Walker thought that his play in high school would warrant a draft selection in the pros but that wasnt the case and he ended up lasting just one month as an undrafted free agent with the Rockets. Sergio Llull Unlike the other players in this list, Sergio Llull still has a chance to make. When you've put on the "classic" uniform of basketball franchises like Lokomotiv Mineralnye Vody and Bnai HaSharon, who needs the Celtics or the Lakers? This is what I wrote in Sporting News after seeing LeBron James play as a rising junior at the 2001 ABCD Camp in New Jersey: 'Some baby boomers who've got me by a few years make a big deal of the first time they saw The Beatles on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' In 1984, as a senior, he was the Parade Magazine co-player of the year with none other than Danny Manning. Tadd Haislop. And one more player was drafted but never made it to any teams -- he died at age 20 in his own bed while sleeping. That's how real it was." Basketball scorers start young. Pee Wee Kirkland, another legend of Rucker Park, made a name for himself in two highly distinct ways: as a drug kingpin and superstar basketball player. Thornton, which played in the second game against King, had its team loaded with athletes that year, featuring future college stars Melvin Ely (Fresno State power forward), Antwaan Randle El (Indiana quarterback) and Napoleon Harris (Northwestern linebacker). Bill Bender. J.J. Redick was one of the best players in Duke basketball history, and he was one of the kings of the college basketball world at the time. For those who think Julius "Dr. J" Erving is all that, keep in mind that Erving never won an NBA title until the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers acquired the late great Moses Malone to replace the lesser great but also late Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins at center. On the day before his senior year at Simeon High School, Wilson was shot and killed, sending shockwaves through the city of Chicago and the rest of the country. Almost literally, because he resembled no player more than he did Shaquille O'Neal. Despite never playing high school or college ball, Joe The Destroyer Hammond was perhaps the greatest basketball player to ever come out of Harlem. 10. Daniel Tippit, New Palestine: The senior hit a 30-footer in New Palestines 61-31 win over Greenwood on senior night as the Dragons finished off a 21-2 regular season. And even though phone and computer screens set what seemed to be unreasonable expectations, my own eyes could not believe what they saw. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. In three seasons at Loyola Marymount, 6-foot-7 forward Hank Gathers averaged 28 points and 11.1 rebounds per game and was one of the most dominant forces in college basketball. The Philadelphia 76ers selected Raymond Lewis with the No. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. Maggette was smooth and fun to watch doing everything on the floor." -. Swift has swiftly faded into obscurity, fodder for lists such as this. IHSAA boys hoops: Avon defeats Danville 61-49. Like many of the players on this list, Cisse switched schools, finishing up at St. Jude Catholic High. 'Estaban.' First player in Chicago history to ever be named top high school player in the nation in 1983-84. Now, everbody knows Amar'e Stoudemire." USA Today has named its top high school player since the 1982-83 season. You were drawn to Estaban. A 2008 documentary that follows the lives of 8 of the best high school basketball prospects at the time leading up the 1st annual Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic at Rucker Park. Despite being an unathletic, overweight and undersized power forward, the Cavs thought he was worthy of the top pick of the 2013 draft. Of course, Williamson is not just a great athlete; hes a great basketball player. He was a two-time All-Star in the Israeli League and at the age of 26 he could still get one more opportunity in the NBA. Whether it was bad luck, bad advice, or tragedy, here are the top 5 football / basketball players who never made it in their professional sports league. 7. The most vivid thing I remember was how fast Jamison would get his shot off after catching a pass. Top 6 High School Basketball Players in California History Guard - Jason Kidd, St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda), 1989-92 Courtesy of The Sacramento Bee Jason Kidd, St. Joseph Notre Dame A four year starter, a two-time state Player of the Year and the National Player of the Year as a senior, Kidd was the most canonized prep in state history. The two brothers she has are Blake and Colin. In the 2010s, seeing high schoolers do things beyond their sizes is almost commonplace. It's still debatable. Telfair was arguably the most famous basketball player in the New York City area in the early 2000s. He now plays for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the G-League and averaged 5.9 PPG in 2016-17. I had the unfortunate pleasure of guarding her while I played for Dorman High School. He went for 24 points, six rebounds and three steals in a 69-39 win over Wood Memorial. She therefore embraces her subject of interest with zeal and determination, which is why she is currently becoming more well-liked among basketball fans.