We're all beyond excited about TB and the direction he has the program going. Recruiting "misses" have ended up recently with as good or better endings than we started with. That said, our hoops past have had quite a few heartbreaks and closes misses that could have changed the direction of the program.
If you could only pick one guy who we missed on, turn back the clock, and magically make him a Hoo...who would your pick be? Has to be someone who at least seriously considered the Hoos, took a visit, and had us among his final choices.
I've seen these types of discussions on UVa boards in the past, and frequently see common names. Mark West because we could have paired him with Sampson to form an incredible interior combo. Jason Lawson because he would have been the missing piece to the 1995 team, and was so close to picking UVa. Jordan because he apparently wanted to play with Sampson...not sure that was true, or if it just developed into message board legend over the years. Even Christian Laettner...no doubt one of the best college players ever, but (as much as we dislike him) IMO K was the perfect coach for him. Don't believe Holland or Jones would have made him into that same player.
My pick would be Chris Mullin. Was watching the 30/30 "Requiem For the Big East" not too long ago, and he took an OV to UVa, but ultimately decided to stay home at St. John's. To me, he would have been that designated big perimeter scorer opposite Ralph, that we never had after Lamp graduated. He would have made that 1984 Final Four team SO much better. I seriously doubt we go to the 1985 NIT if we had Mullin and he had that dominant SR year like he did at St. John's, winning the Wooden award over Ewing...we would have been an NCAA tourney team. Plus during that era we had some good players out of NYC...Olden, Mel Kennedy, John Johnson. Mix them in with a player as high profile as Mullin, and that could have helped establish a true NYC pipeline.
If you could only pick one guy who we missed on, turn back the clock, and magically make him a Hoo...who would your pick be? Has to be someone who at least seriously considered the Hoos, took a visit, and had us among his final choices.
I've seen these types of discussions on UVa boards in the past, and frequently see common names. Mark West because we could have paired him with Sampson to form an incredible interior combo. Jason Lawson because he would have been the missing piece to the 1995 team, and was so close to picking UVa. Jordan because he apparently wanted to play with Sampson...not sure that was true, or if it just developed into message board legend over the years. Even Christian Laettner...no doubt one of the best college players ever, but (as much as we dislike him) IMO K was the perfect coach for him. Don't believe Holland or Jones would have made him into that same player.
My pick would be Chris Mullin. Was watching the 30/30 "Requiem For the Big East" not too long ago, and he took an OV to UVa, but ultimately decided to stay home at St. John's. To me, he would have been that designated big perimeter scorer opposite Ralph, that we never had after Lamp graduated. He would have made that 1984 Final Four team SO much better. I seriously doubt we go to the 1985 NIT if we had Mullin and he had that dominant SR year like he did at St. John's, winning the Wooden award over Ewing...we would have been an NCAA tourney team. Plus during that era we had some good players out of NYC...Olden, Mel Kennedy, John Johnson. Mix them in with a player as high profile as Mullin, and that could have helped establish a true NYC pipeline.
