The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

Heres my list, feel free to add your own. Mine is going to be all NFL/NBA, but you can include any sport.

#10: JJ Redick- Its still early, so maybe I shouldn't count him yet. But I was firmly in the pro-Reddick camp(and I'm a UMD fan). I remember arguing last summer against all the people who called him just another Steve Kerr. I told them how Kerr never dreamed of scoring 25+ per game in college in the toughest conference in America, and that only a legit talent could do that.

#9: Mario Williams- Like Reddick, this one is still way too early, which is why I have them as only #9 and #10 on my list. But I thought that he had to be the real deal if they were taking him over Bush. I thought he'd be DROY for sure.

#8: Kenyon Martin- I only include him at #8 because he certainly hasn't been a total bust. But I really thought he'd be a superstar in the NBA.

#7: Marcus Fizer- From the same class as Martin. I thought he'd be another Charles Barkley. I'm still not sure how these guys were so amazing in college yet so average(Martin) or poor(Fizer) in the pros.

#6: Joe Smith- I am a Maryland fan, so what do you expect?

#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

#4: Philip Rivers- If you remember correctly, he wasn't supposed to be a high first rounder until very late. In fact, Big Ben was very much thought to be the better prospect. Along with quite a few others, I thought he was a big reach. I thought he was a 2nd round talent.

#3: Carson Palmer- With so much talent round him at USC, I thought he had to be just another product of the system. I thought that Leftwich was the best QB of that draft class.

#2: Elton Brand- I thought he was a complete tweener and wouldn't be big enough for center or quick enough for PF. I thought Chicago made a huge mistake by not taking Francis #1(although I was obviously biased as a UMD fan and Duke hater).

#1: Mike Williams- Minnesota decided to go with Troy Williamson, and he slipped to the Skins. I was so happy....and when they drafted Carlos Rodgers instead, I almost stopped being a fan. I thougt BMW was going to be huge on the next level. I thought it was ridiculous that he was falling due to poor workout numbers. After all, just look at what he did on the field. I still have no clue how hes so bad.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

Martin got hurt, repeatedly. He was an acceptable #1 pick caliber player when healthy.

Also, haha at thinking Reddick was going to be good.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

i'm pretty sure everybody thought mark prior was gonna be awesome, but pitchers get hurt. [censored] happens.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

[ QUOTE ]


Also, haha at thinking Reddick was going to be good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Obviously I was wrong so far, but he averaged 26.8 points per game in the toughest conference in America, while being the main focus of the defense. Its not like there aren't any NBA calibre defenders in the ACC, so why wouldn't some of that translate to the pros?

At worst, I thought he'd be Steve Kerr with better driving ability.

I thought that people were unfair in evaluating him because A. He was white, so they automatically think hes not athletic and compare him to other white spot up shooters and B. He went to Duke and people hate Duke.

I compared him to Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton.

Like I said, I'm clearly wrong so far.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

I'm amazed Joe Smith has been in the league this long. He's not above average in any NBA skills category.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

[ QUOTE ]
Martin got hurt, repeatedly. He was an acceptable #1 pick caliber player when healthy.


[/ QUOTE ]

True, maybe I shouldn't have included him.

I just thought he'd develop more moves and not just rely on his athleticism. Kinda reminds me of a smaller version of Dwight Howard in that respect.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm amazed Joe Smith has been in the league this long. He's not above average in any NBA skills category.

[/ QUOTE ]

Looking at his stats now, I'm actually surprised at how effective he was early in his career. But then he got traded to Philly, and it was downhill ever since.

In his first two years, he put up:

15.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks
18.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks

Then in his third year he was having a decent year(17.3/6.9/0.8) and was traded with Brian Shaw for Jim Jackson and Clarence Weatherspoon. Can anyone remember why exactly Golden State traded him for so little? Seems weird to give up on a #1 pick that early, especially since his stats certainly weren't horrible.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

thats the weird thing about Smith, he was actually decent early on. but i remember watching him this past season and just couldn't believe hes still playing. did he suffer any serious injuries over the years? i mean what gives?

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

[ QUOTE ]
#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought he would be a big bust too. He's done better than I thought but I still think he's way overrated.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

Very good thread idea.
I'm going to ignore people who got injured.
I was wrong about Jason Gardner, I thought he would be a serviceable NBA player.
I thought Joe Forte would be awesome.
I really hope I'm wrong about Brady Quinn.
I really hope I'm right about Chad Greenway, but I doubt it.
It looks like I was wrong about Marvin Williams.