MORE: Have you seen the legend of Mac McClung? Founded by Sonny Vaccaro in Pittsburgh, that event was the fore-runner of the McDonald's All-American Game. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. The first high school player to be drafted straight out of high school was Tim Duncan of Rock Hill High School in South Carolina. He was one of the most-touted players to come out of New York in years and won the Mr. Basketball USA award in 1994. In this blog post, we are going to talk about the Best High School Basketball Player That Never Made It. 'Man among boys'was not a cliche with him. The third-ranked player, Korleone Young, played 3 NBA games. Like Antoine Walker and Juwan Howard before him, Smith was thought to be the next All-Star big man to come from Chicago. He dominated the Georgia basketball scene that year, leading. And one more player was drafted but never made it to any teams -- he died at age 20 in his own bed while sleeping. They had to wheel out another one. McBride now has 1,822 career points going into the sectional. Follow Nonstop Sports Instagram - https://instagram.com/nons. There are some basketball high school phenoms that simply never take that next step at the pro level, whereas others are even better as pros. Seriously, that's how you had to do it. Hell, he wasnt even the next Ray Jackson or Jimmy King. He was later recruited by Chicago's DePaul University, but was ruled academically ineligible. Sean Marbaugh, Cathedral: The student manager got a chance to suit up on senior night and made the most of it by scoring a basket in the fourth quarter of a 67-55 win over Zionsville. 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. Swift then transferred to the dully named Highland High School where he had to win a court battle to be eligible to play. Along with teammate Chris Monroe, Roger led Good Counsel to the WCAC tournament finals. He went for 24 points, six rebounds and three steals in a 69-39 win over Wood Memorial. Sun-Times Player of the Year. Hes been arrested multiple times and has been charged with reckless driving, unlawful possession of a shotgun, and an armed home invasion. Well never know. Favorite athlete: Stephen Curry. How Tall Is Basketball Player Caitlin Clark? Inside Her Life! It could be Williams' lack of desire or competitive fire, or maybe he didn't get a chance, sometimes it's as simple as that. He was the best player on his varsity team when he was just in 7th grade. He also had 14 points, eight rebounds, six blocked shots and three assists in a 57-46 win over Columbus North. Jerryd Bayless 4. He was seen as the surer thing between he and fellow top prospect Kevin Durant, whom many felt wouldn't last in the NBA due to his lanky frame. Because ESPN ranked her as the second best guard, more people started paying attention to what she had to say about the game. Vinnie Iyer, "Before she starred at North Carolinaand was later drafted No. 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. Malone was a three-time NBA MVP (1979, 1982 and '83), and in 1981 took alackluster Houston Rockets team all the way to the NBA Finals, before Larry Bird and Kevin McHale won their first title with the Boston Celtics. I don't mean potentially better, I mean better today. Bailey was LeBron before LeBron and had over 40,000 people coming to watch his high school games which remains an all-time attendance record. 15 Basketball High School Phenoms Who Never Made It In The NBA (And 5 Who Became Bigger Stars). Indiana high school basketball: Top performers last week of 2023 Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Best High School to NBA Players | Stadium Talk 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. Two significant NCAA Division I freshman of the year honours, the USBWA Tamika Catchings Award and the WBCA Freshman of the Year award, were shared by her and UConns Paige Bueckers. As a senior he led the Mustangs to a 25-2 record and a state championship after an undefeated regular season and semi-finals appearance the previous year. It didn't take long to see that it was. But then it all went downhill for Fields, who fractured a bone in his neck before his senior year playoffs. Welcome to The Whistler News, your go-to source for the latest news and trends across a wide range of categories, including Application, Business, Celebrity, Dating, Entertainment, Event, Food, How To, News, Questions, Streaming, Technology, Trending, and Uncategorized. These four players, and many more, skipped college to jump straight from high school to the NBA to great results. His NBA career was even more of a letdown as he played for just four seasons and averaged 5.8 points per game. They were the best onthe court, and it wasn't close. The man who was once dubbed The Spanish Michael Jordan reached his peak at just the age of 14. Here's a Butler that no NBA team wanted serving them. He was selected in the first round of the 2003 draft (26th overall) by the Timberwolves, but was never suited for the pros and wound up playing overseas for one obscure team after the next. Tadd Haislop. Caitlin won the IPSWA Miss Iowa Basketball award in 2020. 11 overall by the Detroit Shock in the 2007 WNBA Draft, Ivory Latta was a huge star at York High School. The rest is a cautionary tale seen here in this Homage documentary , but for the sake of a modern comparison it felt like watching Derrick Rose and Vince Carter at the same time. I mashed up some of what I captured for an Instagram video. They will all be in the Hall of Fame one day and are considered some of the greatest players in NBA history. The bleachers at the Sumter Civic Center were full by the time Williamson's team took the floor for pregame warm-ups. 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. After the 2005 draft, the NBA's collective bargaining agreement ended the prep-to-pro pipeline. For this particular list, we take a look at those basketball phenoms that are termed "Prep-to-Pro," meaning thatno college was deemed necessary for this or that particular player to achieve success in the National Basketball Association. Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, was Rafer Alston 's launching point for an incredible career that evolved from the AND1 Mixtape Tour all the way to the 2009 NBA Finals. But Maggette was the best all-around player on the floor against a favorite team that had Kentucky recruit Ryan Hogan. Best High School Basketball Player That Never Made ItBest High School After bouncing around myriad high schools in two states, he enrolled at a private school in Orlando for his senior season. Lopez stayed local with his college choice at went to St. Johns where he was solid but unspectacular. "It's like playing with your brother in the backyard," said Panguitch coach Clint Barney. IHSAA boys basketball Class 3A Jimtown Sectional semifinal games That also is where the aforementioned indelible moment happened. Brent and Anne Nizzi-daughter Clark's Caitlin is a Clark. Is The Famous Actress And Comedian, Aubrey Plaza, Married? best high school basketball player that never made it. That's like saying a Lamborghini isn't as impressive because it's sharing the road with Volvos and Subarus. Mike DeCourcy. 10 Best Basketball Players to Never Play in the NBA That is, until July 1, 2016 when he was banned from the league for two years for drugs. McCain grew up in Sacramento and spent a majority of his life in the . However, Ryan did have his moment in the sun, starring at John Jay High in Brooklyn, where he averaged 26 points a game as a guard with a deadly shot during the late 1970s. She also received the most weekly Player of the Week honours in the Big Ten Conference with five. Damon Bailey was LeBron James before LeBron James, in the sense that he was so hyped up as a high school prospect and he drew tens of thousands of fans to see him play. 'Whatever seed we are, we're ready': Is there room for Cleveland among the East elite? Brent and Anne Nizzi-daughter Clarks Caitlin is a Clark. But with Korleone, it was a total surprise. Young would be a second round pick of the Pistons in 1998 but played a total of 15 minutes in the lockout-shortened season before being cut. Dating back to the 1960s, and with a decade-long heyday beginning in 1995, some of the NBA's greatest talents made the leap right to the pros. The 'Punks'section of Slam Magazine and maybe ESPN's 'SSA'were the primary ways we caught wind of big-time hoopers elsewhere. Fat chance. Howard opted to forego college and head straight for the draft where he was the number one overall selection by the Orlando Magic. 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. "He was a star guard for Salem High, someone we all saw regularly at the Salem YMCA. We wound up matching up against his team late in the tournament. First player in Chicago history to ever be named top high school player in the nation in 1983-84. He would spend the next three years shuffling between the NBA and the G-League and played a total of 80 NBA games. On Caitlins current financial situation, nothing is known. For this piece, let's take a look at the 10 best basketball players to never play in the NBA. She is 5 feet 11 inches tall and 70 kg, and she has a slim build. 1 entry. When Butler was with the 2006-07 San Antonio Spurs, a very telling comment by coach Gregg Popovich revealed the player's true nature: "Most of (Butler's) playing time in the initial part of the season is going to be in practice, learning what a work ethic is day in and day out and what it takes to play at this level.". His unstoppable offensive drives, clutch defense, dominating physicality and sheer will to win are an almost incomparable combination; and only playing some great Spurs and Warriors teams in the NBA Finals over the years has prevented "The King" from owning more than three crowns at this point in his career. Young was a talented small forward from Kansas but even his high school coach was surprised he opted to skip college. Caitlin Clark is an accomplished basketball player born and raised in Iowa, USA. Unfortunately, once Wagner reached the NBA his body started to fail him as he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and ended up having to remove half his colon. Pretty sure I gave him the same look. These are the best high school basketball players in the country, state by state, and they represent the future of the game. High school basketball player videos, pictures, profiles, and high school basketball recruiting information. Other stories are more positive; some international players elected to ball out and stack paper in their home country instead of making the leap to the States. Was Manigault the original "G.O.A.T"? Best move: Uses a hesitation dribble to free the defender then shoots a 3-pointer or blows past for a lay-up. We will revisit some of these players as we look at 15 high school phenoms who never made it in the NBA. 4 in MaxPreps Top 25 rankings. But damn are they fast." Telfair played for nine NBA teams in 10 years and spent some time overseas as well, never living up to the incredible hype. When I was a freshman at Independence HighJamison was a senior at Providence, our archrival in just about every sport. Only twice has a player won the award two times: LeBron James and Greg Oden. USA Today has named its top high school player since the 1982-83 season. Player poll:These are the 3 best boys high school basketball teams in Louisville Top artist to listen to: EST Gee From Mary Travers to Jack Harlow, Louisville loves to support its local artists. When you're known by just two letters--as in "KG"--you have to be something special. There's been an ongoing debate for years, even decades, on whether the "one and done" rule in the NBA should be liftedor if in fact, basketball players should spend even more time in college. 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. Which is a shame because the guy was insanely talented. Standing about 6-8 and about 230 or 240 pounds, he looked like a grown man, and I had no clue who he was. High school basketball: 2023 Chicago Sun-Times All-Area basketball team Arlington Martin High basketball team players punished after fight But at that peak, he was years before his time. Selby was one of the best players to ever come out of the DMV area and he was the No. The 6'4" wing guard was equally good off the court where he maintained over a 3.0 GPA and is also an accomplished piano player. His post-career life (as well as his college and NBA days) proved that his peak was at age 17. Cooke's story is proof positive there is a very thin line between achieving athletic greatness and being mired in obscurity. 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. Her zodiac sign is Aquarius, based on the day of her birth. Ranking the 20 Most Hyped High School Basketball Recruits in History I was in the hunt for the starting point guard slot, a battle I'd eventually lose a couple games into the state AAU tournament at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando. I had the unfortunate pleasure of guarding her while I played for Dorman High School. A legend of Rucker Park, Hammond destroyed opponents with his thunderous jams and smooth shot. I beat my defender baseline and went up for a layup, but turned my back to him to avoid the contact before flipping the ball over my shoulder. Herman "Helicopter" Knowings Image via Complex Original Accolades: One of 24 ESPN Rucker Park Legends The. 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. Wrenn was the 1998 Washington (state) high school player of the year playing for O'Dea High, a Catholic all-boys school in Seattle's famed "First Hill" district. MORE: Jalen Brunson is SN Player of Year. The San Antonio Spurs drafted him first overall in 1997. The fact that Bennett went to three different high schools should have been the first sign of trouble but he excelled in basketball at all three.