Who's Your One "What Could Have Been" UK Player?

[George]

Wouldn't Sam Bowie be the obvious choice?

Early departure. I'm looking at other things.

[GOCAT15]

Wouldn't Sam Bowie be the obvious choice?

Would be for me.

[KevinHall]

The Oscar Combs podcast episode with Brooks Downing has some interesting info about Carruth.

Unsurprisingly, he was a nightmare.

He and Bogans really butted heads. Bogans was bettered centered but they both had abrasive personalities and really tore into each other according to Downing. That was just part of the whole problem too.

[Catsrock]

Shawn Kemp. Still makes me ache he never got to suit up. Why couldn't Sean Sutton have just bought another darn necklace and shut up?

Also prop 48 victim. Oh what might have been. In a time when the greats played 4 years.

[George]

Shawn Kemp. Still makes me ache he never got to suit up. Why couldn't Sean Sutton have just bought another darn necklace and shut up?

Also prop 48 victim. Oh what might have been. In a time when the greats played 4 years.

Yeah. You win.

[J.Jennings]

Shawn Kemp...

If Kemp doesn't count, then it's Rajon Rondo without a doubt....

[Catsrock]

Wouldn't Sam Bowie be the obvious choice?

We got a lot out of Sam. His "what may have been?" was more about his NBA career had he been healthy. I go with Kemp because his career showed he was a perennial NBA all-star who never stepped on the court while here.

But definitely Sam would not have been seen as a bust who was drafted ahead of Jordan had he been healthy. Uber talented big.

[George]

Shawn Kemp...

If Kemp doesn't count, then it's Rajon Rondo without a doubt....

Kemp definitely counts.

[lilproUK98]

Didn't think of Kemp because he never played....that would be my choice.

[lilproUK98]

We got a lot out of Sam. His "what may have been?" was more about his NBA career had he been healthy. I go with Kemp because his career showed he was a perennial NBA all-star who never stepped on the court while here.

But definitely Sam would not have been seen as a bust who was drafted ahead of Jordan had he been healthy. Uber talented big.

If he doesn't get hurt we likely win one or two titles during his career here. He was a freak. He also would have been one of the best players in the NBA for his time there.

[Catsrock]

If we're going in this era then we have to throw out Eric Manuel.

Probably the best answer ever to the question: player most screwed out of his dreams by the NCAA? Not that there wasn't cheating but the coaches are OK, the schools are fine, Manuel is banned forever...goes to Hiawassee JC and never heard from again. Hope he's successful and happy but that's a raw deal from the association looking out for the well-being of the student athlete.

Clearly should have gone to UNC. May be a household name now.

[George]

Probably the best answer ever to the question: player most screwed out of his dreams by the NCAA? Not that there wasn't cheating but the coaches are OK, the schools are fine, Manuel is banned forever...goes to Hiawassee JC and never heard from again. Hope he's successful and happy but that's a raw deal from the association looking out for the well-being of the student athlete.

Clearly should have gone to UNC. May be a household name now.

Also, Enes Kanter.

[Joneslab]

Probably the best answer ever to the question: player most screwed out of his dreams by the NCAA? Not that there wasn't cheating but the coaches are OK, the schools are fine, Manuel is banned forever...goes to Hiawassee JC and never heard from again. Hope he's successful and happy but that's a raw deal from the association looking out for the well-being of the student athlete.

Clearly should have gone to UNC. May be a household name now.

There's a pretty rough article from SI about him (not from the "Shame" issue) where he talks about the fact that he didn't even have to take the ACT again. He was already a partial qualifier. He was doing it just to show his mother he could get a better score.

But Manuel absolutely did cheat.

[J.Jennings]

John Stewart is also a name i think about. Not sure if he was the real deal or not but would have been interesting...

[Old School]

I didn't think long and hard about it, because it came to me pretty quickly.

If we're talking about players who played at UK, but not a full career, and didn't fulfill their potential, for me it's Dwight Anderson, for the reasons another poster already mentioned. He was amazing.

If we're talking about players who didn't come to UK, it would be Ralph Sampson. He came very close to coming to UK, in the same class as Sam Bowie. He went to Virginia, which wasn't so good, and took them to the Final Four, and was National Player of the Year three times (3!), #1 overall NBA draft pick, NBA Rookie of the Year...imagining 7'4" Ralph Sampson playing for four years at UK, on a roster with Sam Bowie, Melvin Turpin, Kenny Walker, Kyle Macy, Dirk Minniefield, Jim Master, Charles Hurt, Derrick Hord, James Blackmon, Winston Bennett, and, yes, Dwight Anderson...wow.