The "Oh, What If" team

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Floyd
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The "Oh, What If" team

Post by Floyd » Thu May 30, 2019 7:03 pm

Len brought up Daryl Traynham's name in another thread and it got me thinking about some of the guys over the years who came and went quickly with a lot of hype, and what could have been had they stayed and had the careers as expected. Some had injuries, others just don't know why they left. I don't go back as far as some of the old timers on here, but I'll throw out a couple names.

Tiki Mayben
Lawrence Carrier
Tyrell Lynch
Andre Burks
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69MG
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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by 69MG » Thu May 30, 2019 7:19 pm

I'll throw in a recent one, Jaylen Brantley.

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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by uz2b-len » Thu May 30, 2019 7:46 pm

I can't think of the guy's name. A super-smooth killer from Philly who couldn't get academically eligible. Was it Jared something? Bruiser recruited him, and it weren't for academics he would have had this guy and Anthony Anderson playing together on the team that proved to be his last. But wouldn't have been his last if those two guys had played.
Oh, I think I want to add more recently Jesse Morgan.
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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by km109 » Thu May 30, 2019 8:04 pm

I'll go way back to Scott Drapeau. With a stable team and good coaching, I think he could have been a good player. Big Deli not so much.

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Jackson96
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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by Jackson96 » Thu May 30, 2019 8:18 pm

I was thinking Drapeau too. And then Ajmal Basit and Luke Cothron.
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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by minutefanjsf » Thu May 30, 2019 8:20 pm

Jerome Malloy

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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by Floyd » Thu May 30, 2019 8:27 pm

Jackson, Basit is a good one. He was supposed to be the jewel of that class, no?

Art Bowers was another highly regarded guy
Stephen Briggs. Don't think he ever played a game
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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by Minutemaniac74 » Thu May 30, 2019 8:30 pm

^ I was just going to mention Artie Bowers! David Gibbs is another one

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Jackson96
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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by Jackson96 » Thu May 30, 2019 8:55 pm

When I think “what if” I think of guys who could have been good if they had stuck around. Some of these guys mentioned I don’t feel that way about.
"I wrote a column and it went national"

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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by mlaconte459 » Thu May 30, 2019 8:55 pm

He never played here.. but Air Laguerre will always be on the top Of the list for what if’s for me.. I remember a lot of hype around him
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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by m626t » Thu May 30, 2019 9:03 pm

Jet fueled lead guard AJ Wynder tops this list for me.
All due respect, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, I'm gonna pass.

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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by Floyd » Thu May 30, 2019 9:08 pm

M626t, AJ was one of the quickest guys I can remember. Kid is lucky he's alive after that incident
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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by m626t » Thu May 30, 2019 9:45 pm

^ correct on both counts.
All due respect, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, I'm gonna pass.

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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by Cool_Hand » Fri May 31, 2019 4:19 am

We always overhype recruits just like weve been doing over the last two months. I dont these players would have amounted to much. Just some quick hits, Traynham apparently playes for Livingston College? Tiki wad arrested for dealing coke.. a where are they now thread might be more appropriate.

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Re: The "Oh, What If" team

Post by tom mclaughlin » Fri May 31, 2019 8:41 am

AJ Wynder is a great basketball player and an even better person. For those who aren’t familiar with AJ let me give you some background. AJ was a 6’1” ultra thin ultra quick guard out of Long Island. He played on the same team as Billy Donovan at St.Agnes and was coached by legendary coach Frank Morris. He was a better player then Billy Donovan. He came to UMass and had a great future ahead of him until one Sunday night at 10:2he was walking in Southwest with Daryl Carter and a kid from Boston who was jealous of him over a girl came up to him and stabbed him in the stomach. AJ was in shock and ran back towards his dorm (the worse thing you can do because you lose blood) . They called the police and an ambulance came and got him to Cooley Dickinson Hospital. I got a call and couldn’t believe this happened - rushed to the hospital and the doctors told me he was lucky to be alive - he had no pulse in the ambulance.
Called his parents and told them to get there ASAP and don’t worry we would take care of hotel and everything. His parents were the salt of the earth.Bottom line AJ never felt comfortable on campus after that attack - who would? He transferred to Fairfield to be closer to his family and who would blame him? He was a star there and ended up playing in the NBA for the Celtics and now is the coach @ Nassau Community College. Keep in touch with him and he is an outstanding young man.
Had a fight with people in the athletic department over this because I felt his parents should be taken care of with hotel and meals. The administration was upset but I didn’t care because AJ almost lost his life and his parents didn’t need any worries. I think I ended up paying. This incident was very serious and I always remember it because I had been entrusted with their son and he almost died. One of the reasons I got out of coaching and decided to concentrate on my own kids - life is precious and it’s tough enough worry about your own kids never mind someone else’s kids. Now that I look back and see my own kids and my grandkids it was more then worth it.
AJ was as close to death that night as you can get. Thank God he made it he’s one lucky kid and when the Celtics signed him I was thrilled knowing what he had gone thru to get there. He is one outstanding human being.

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