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Best Players that Never Were...

Dante Saywer was a BEAST at Macateer. probably the best player on the court when he played. Went Juco and was All-American there too...such a fun player to watch

I remember Dante, and that team fondly. What was the name of that little Cannon Ball of a point guard. He would have made a hell of a running back.

Here's wishing you great hoops
 
I remember Dante, and that team fondly. What was the name of that little Cannon Ball of a point guard. He would have made a hell of a running back.

Here's wishing you great hoops

Are you talking about Dave Pushia? I think that was his name...
 
Clifford Allen (Carson HS in LA) schollied at UNLV w other flame out Lloyd Daniels. I don’t think either ever played a game. Clifford ended locked up in California Youth Authority and then in Florida for murder. Kid was freakish. Biggest waste of talent ever.
he used his talent. the talent being from south central gives you it just is illegal and not always on the court. his story is duplicated so many times for LA kids. Sad stuff.
 
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Who was the kid from Santa Cruz (02??) that went to Iowa and left after a month. Never heard from again.
That was Josh Rhoades. He was an absolute man-child. Spent maybe 3 weeks in Iowa, came home, was on the corner doing corner stuff and not sure what he is up to now. Very sad story/
 
That was Josh Rhoades. He was an absolute man-child. Spent maybe 3 weeks in Iowa, came home, was on the corner doing corner stuff and not sure what he is up to now. Very sad story/
wait... there are corner boys in santa cruz??? like real ones? like the ones on The Wire? or you mean like skateboarders....
and is this him
if so i would say life turned out well from the corner to her
 
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wait... there are corner boys in santa cruz??? like real ones? like the ones on The Wire? or you mean like skateboarders....
and is this him
if so i would say life turned out well from the corner to her
Unfortunately even in places like SC...go to lower downtown and dudes on "the corner" not just skateboarding. Very glad for Josh that he turned his life around. He truly was a ginormous fish in a very small pond and was being talked about like Jordan from a young age. As a SoCal native who saw A LOT of "dudes" I was skeptical and then saw this physical freak just destroying people. I know there were some family challenges and his brother played at a couple of JCs but Josh just basically hung them up.

I hope this is Josh from Santa Cruz as this looks like a great pivot but I don't believe that is him.
 
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BTW, I guess I can't call Drew Gordon a "never were". He's still playing pro ball in Russia. Maybe not the high-living hoop dream he envisioned, but he's still making a living hooping it up.
 
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Deshon Brown. Modesto high late 80’s. Many wanted him ended choosing Cal but I don’t think he ever actually played for Cal. He and Gerald Madkins from Merced had some great matchups. Madkins played at UCLA I think. But whatever happened with Brown?
 
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I'm interested in hearing from anyone about stories they have of kids who could've gone on and played big time ball but never worked out for them. Who are the best players from NorCal that never panned out? What happened to them?
Not a Bay Area kid, but I cant help thinking of Schea Cotton from Mater Dei. Saw him as a high school sophomore in the state championship game.What a talent.
 
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I remember Schea Cotton... Saw him play in the De La Salle tournament (Were they calling it the Vontoure Classic yet?). I think it was for St. John Bosco after a transfer from Mater Dei.

Physical specimen, to be sure. 6'5" and built like Schwarzenegger. Scared the bleep out of the rims... Terrific finisher!

If he had grown maybe 3 inches so he could play inside at the next level, or if he had developed a better shot and handles to be a next-level guard, the sky would have been the limit. Neither happened, unfortunately for him...

He did play college and pro, mostly overseas.
 
Deshon Brown. Modesto high late 80’s. Many wanted him ended choosing Cal but I don’t think he ever actually played for Cal. He and Gerald Madkins from Merced had some great matchups. Madkins played at UCLA I think. But whatever happened with Brown?
Brown played 1 game for Cal, transferred to Biola and became a baseball player. Drafted by the Yankees out of HS then the Rangers ou of college, played in the Rangers minor league system
 
For some of these guys, these were cases of great athletes who happened to play basketball, not so much great basketball players who were also athletic.
 
the dude in that pic is definitely not Josh Rhodes from Santa Cruz... will echo what others said about him tough, dude was a manchild in HS
 
Brown played 1 game for Cal, transferred to Biola and became a baseball player. Drafted by the Yankees out of HS then the Rangers ou of college, played in the Rangers minor league system

Thanks for the update. Good for him. He was fun to watch on the court.
 
Winters Patterson, Balboa. Died after a seizure or heart attack after hitting his head in a pickup basketball game.

I read about that, he had a heart attack.

He had a teammate named Marquette Alexander who later played for Hawaii. I was just doing some browsing and apparently he was being held on suspicion of murdering someone in the Sunnydale projects, and then got killed a few months ago.




The comments on the twitter link a long blog article with more information.
 
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Luke whitehead - St Ignatius

Watched old video of whitehead vs Kenny Walls - walls had a solid if unspectacular college career. But whitehead never panned out in college

Drew Gordon - Mitty

The only reason I remember drew Gordon is because of Jeremy Lin. Lin and Paly beats drew and Mitty to get to 2002 D2 state title game. Of course Lin goes on to beat mater Dei and Taylor King (another flop) to win the state title. But drew was supposedly a stud but he barely played in the NBA while Lin has earned a spot (though he is injured this season)
Luke Whitehead ended up starting at Louisville by his junior year and was great statistically...that's hardly a failure? He didn't make it to the NBA but played big time college hoops for a great program.
 
Luke Whitehead ended up starting at Louisville by his junior year and was great statistically...that's hardly a failure? He didn't make it to the NBA but played big time college hoops for a great program.
guy called 2 players who made it to D1 flops, and another who played in the nba a flop. smh
 
Was thinking about Fred LaCour (dubbed a West Coast version of Oscar Robertson by some) but calling him a total flop would be inaccurate. The 1956 SI grad, a smooth, fluid 6-5 guard/forward, played for USF for the better part of two seasons, was drafted high by the old St. Louis Hawks of the NBA, played a tiny bit for the SF Warriors of the NBA and SF Saints of the old ABL and then lapsed into runaway substance abuse and died broke and alone early in the 1970s at a San Francisco hospital. He wasn't close to 40 at the time of his passing. LaCour, a mixed race fellow at a time when segregation was still the rule in many parts of the U.S., struggled with his ethnicity. He was a two-time California State Player of the Year at SI and MVP of the East-West All-Star Game in Kentucky. He never reached his potential. But he was not a total bust either. Bob Feerick, a former Warriors' coach and GM (and a Lowell star, Santa Clara stud and NBA player), said LaCour was simply not hungry enough. The game was too easy for him as a young player. He didn't have to work hard to be effective, if not dominant. The pros, though, were different. He couldn't handle the racist atmosphere in St. Louis (Len Wilkens was a teammate and verified that circumstance) and went downhill. A very sad story. A chronic gambler, he could not handle money at all. At USF, his academic career was a shambles. He remains something of a legend at SI, a truly gifted player who played during an era when the AAA was one of the best prep basketball leagues in the state. Tom Meschery, for example, played for Lowell at the same time LaCour was at SI. If LaCour was playing now, he would be one of the nation's top prep recruits for sure. He wasn't a bust. But he could have been so much more.
This summer is the sad 40th anniversary of Fred LaCour's death in a San Francisco hospital. He could have had it all. Booze, drugs, gambling et all put him on a slow roll to the grave much too early. "Tragic" doesn't begin to describe his short life.
 
guy called 2 players who made it to D1 flops, and another who played in the nba a flop. smh
Drew Gordon is still playing professionally overseas too lol

Luke Whitehead played overseas a few years as well. That fall he had at Louisville when trying to catch the alley-pop was scary.

Anyone seen my stereo?

Washburn could join Shawn Kemp & Nick Van Exel on the All-Time College “Stealing from Teammates” team.

I remember I went to a basketball camp and Don Nelson spoke. The topic of Washburn came up and he said they once found him strung out, passed out on the street.
 
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Damon Powell, Mack.
Will Cherry his PG at Mack played a bit in the league...


a BTW, NBA 76 at 75, Oakland has 3 players making the team.
Even a 4th if you classify as Jason Kidd as an Oakland player (grew up in Oakland, but played for St Joe's/Alameda)..
Bill Russell/Mack, Gary Payton/Skyline, Damien Lillard/Oakland.
 
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Damon Powell, Mack.
Will Cherry his PG at Mack played a bit in the league...


a BTW, NBA 76 at 75, Oakland has 3 players making the team.
Even a 4th if you classify as Jason Kidd as an Oakland player (grew up in Oakland, but played for St Joe's/Alameda)..
Bill Russell/Mack, Gary Payton/Skyline, Damien Lillard/Oakland.
And Paul Silas and Joe Ellis
 
Damon Powell, Mack.
Will Cherry his PG at Mack played a bit in the league...


a BTW, NBA 76 at 75, Oakland has 3 players making the team.
Even a 4th if you classify as Jason Kidd as an Oakland player (grew up in Oakland, but played for St Joe's/Alameda)..
Bill Russell/Mack, Gary Payton/Skyline, Damien Lillard/Oakland.
Powell might be the best athlete I’ve seen in HS. If he played football he would have had a long NFL career. Problem for his was he couldn’t shoot or dribble. Basketball skills he was not a d1 player.
 
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My Cousin, Who I think should be at the top of the list. From norcal moved to Socal freshman year.

Deangelo Collins 6'11. Played in the Mcdonalds game. Out played Amare Stoudamire and they came out with that article of how he beat up his teammate the year before. Never got drafted, never was the same again.

And GREAT call on Dante Sawyer i played vs him and he was a MONSTER.
 
My Cousin, Who I think should be at the top of the list. From norcal moved to Socal freshman year.

Deangelo Collins 6'11. Played in the Mcdonalds game. Out played Amare Stoudamire and they came out with that article of how he beat up his teammate the year before. Never got drafted, never was the same again.

And GREAT call on Dante Sawyer i played vs him and he was a MONSTER.
can we get more info on him? where did he start, where did he transfer to, what college did he attend? where is he now?
 
can we get more info on him? where did he start, where did he transfer to, what college did he attend? where is he now?



There was 4 MVP's of the ABCD Camp in 2001

Antonio Lawrence, Sebastian Telfair, Lebron James and DEANGELO COLLINS.

He was suppose to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft straight out of HS. He went overseas but never played in the NBA.
 
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There was 4 MVP's of the ABCD Camp in 2001

Antonio Lawrence, Sebastian Telfair, Lebron James and DEANGELO COLLINS.

He was suppose to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft straight out of HS. He went overseas but never played in the NBA.
Good article, and right on topic for this thread. Deangelo sounds like a Wiseman type. It’s too bad he never made the league, but playing overseas is a great experience.
 
Good article, and right on topic for this thread. Deangelo sounds like a Wiseman type. It’s too bad he never made the league, but playing overseas is a great experience.
Like Wiseman? What does Wiseman have in common with this guy?
 
Good article, and right on topic for this thread. Deangelo sounds like a Wiseman type. It’s too bad he never made the league, but playing overseas is a great experience.

Not sure about wiseman yet but Deangelo was a guard in a center body. He was shooting 1/2 steps over half court with ease. i dont think wiseman can shoot like a guard.
 
Was thinking about Fred LaCour (dubbed a West Coast version of Oscar Robertson by some) but calling him a total flop would be inaccurate. The 1956 SI grad, a smooth, fluid 6-5 guard/forward, played for USF for the better part of two seasons, was drafted high by the old St. Louis Hawks of the NBA, played a tiny bit for the SF Warriors of the NBA and SF Saints of the old ABL and then lapsed into runaway substance abuse and died broke and alone early in the 1970s at a San Francisco hospital. He wasn't close to 40 at the time of his passing. LaCour, a mixed race fellow at a time when segregation was still the rule in many parts of the U.S., struggled with his ethnicity. He was a two-time California State Player of the Year at SI and MVP of the East-West All-Star Game in Kentucky. He never reached his potential. But he was not a total bust either. Bob Feerick, a former Warriors' coach and GM (and a Lowell star, Santa Clara stud and NBA player), said LaCour was simply not hungry enough. The game was too easy for him as a young player. He didn't have to work hard to be effective, if not dominant. The pros, though, were different. He couldn't handle the racist atmosphere in St. Louis (Len Wilkens was a teammate and verified that circumstance) and went downhill. A very sad story. A chronic gambler, he could not handle money at all. At USF, his academic career was a shambles. He remains something of a legend at SI, a truly gifted player who played during an era when the AAA was one of the best prep basketball leagues in the state. Tom Meschery, for example, played for Lowell at the same time LaCour was at SI. If LaCour was playing now, he would be one of the nation's top prep recruits for sure. He wasn't a bust. But he could have been so much more.
 
I had an older friend who went to SI back in the day. He said LaCour used to "eat Meschery's lunch" when they played. And I'm a Meschery fan. Meschery was the better poet, though.
 
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