Predicting the Biggest Overachievers in College Basketball in the 2014-15 Season
Recruiting rankings are a highly inexact science. For every can't-miss 5-star megastud who misses, there's an unknown player who barely rates a scholarship and blossoms into a pro.
Just in the last two years, we've seen unknown prospects Trey Burke and Russ Smith become All-Americans, while a consensus 3-star forward, according to VerbalCommits.com, who wasn't even the best player on his high school team became one of Division I's five most prolific scorers ever. And it wasn't just because Doug McDermott played for his dad, either.
The current college-hoops landscape is dotted with players who play much larger roles for their teams than they were ever expected to. These nine players—presented alphabetically—are merely the tip of the iceberg. Feel free to respectfully and intelligently suggest a few more in the comments.
Kendall Anthony, Richmond
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At 5'8" and 140 pounds, Richmond guard Kendall Anthony isn't among college basketball's biggest anything, but don't tell him that. The Spiders' only returning senior was named a second-team All-Atlantic 10 selection last season and tabbed for the first team this preseason.
According to VerbalCommits.com, Anthony wasn't even a top-100 prospect at his position coming out of Jackson, Tennessee. He's only become one of those players whom his coach never wants to remove from the game. Over the Spiders' final 11 games last year, Anthony averaged 37 minutes per game, playing 39 or 40 on four occasions.
"He's the captain of our team, and as deserving a captain as there is in college basketball," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said on the Gotham Classic Facebook page. The Spiders will play Pepperdine in that event, held at Madison Square Garden, on Dec. 20.
"He's a leader, the hardest worker on our team, and an exciting player to watch," Mooney continued. Most objective observers are inclined to agree.
Amida Brimah, UConn
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UConn center Amida Brimah's basketball past isn't extensive, but he shows signs of potential for a lengthy future every time he takes the court. Brimah grew up a soccer player in his native Ghana, taking up hoops only five years ago. Not many players can say they've won an NCAA championship less than five years after taking up the game.
Brimah immigrated to Miami to play his high school ball, but he was very lightly recruited. His VerbalCommits.com's profile shows 3-star ratings from ESPN and Rivals, but neither saw fit to rank him, even at his position.
His lack of experience is mitigated somewhat by his physical gifts, but we've seen lengthy big men with some athletic skill disappear from the college game without a ripple before. Brimah established himself quickly as a key rim protector for UConn, but he saw his playing time fluctuate thanks to recurring foul trouble. Still, coach Kevin Ollie was impressed with his attitude as he worked to improve.
From Dave Borges of the New Haven Register, Coach Ollie said:
"The kid works extremely hard, so whatever he gets, he earns. When he went in that little lull and wasn’t getting a lot of playing time, he still came in and worked, had energy, went in the weight room. ... He’s very grateful to be here on this basketball team. That’s the type of student-athlete that I want—guys that are grateful and willing to do anything for their teammates."
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Brimah began his sophomore year with 12 points, five rebounds and five blocks against Bryant, managing to commit only two fouls in 28 minutes. So, the improvement is already noticeable, and the hard work appears unlikely to flag.
Johnny Dee, San Diego
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Ever seen one of the recruiting sites render a 1-star rating? ESPN did it to a little (5'11", 155 lbs at the time) guard from California named Johnny Dee. Dee committed to the University of San Diego and could have simply disappeared from there.
As that clean-cut kid, now up to 6'0" and 185 pounds, prepares for his senior year, he's become an All-West Coast First-Team selection and last season's national free-throw percentage champion. He's already San Diego's all-time leader in three-pointers made and attempted, and he should take the school's career scoring crown sometime around New Year's Day.
Dee and point guard Chris Anderson, also a senior, have been starters since the moment they arrived on campus. They've stayed that way thanks to the contrasting elements of veteran gunslingers' cool and a fiery willingness to hit the deck face-first in pursuit of loose balls.
Toreros coach Bill Grier understands their role in helping USD pull itself past a game-fixing scandal that rocked the program back in 2011. “Their character and competitiveness has rubbed off on everyone in the program," Grier told Don Norcross of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
It's only appropriate that a kid with a name and face made for 1960's surf movies will leave such a sizable legacy in San Diego.
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Patricio Garino, George Washington
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Argentinian hustler Patricio Garino so impressed George Washington coach Mike Lonergan last season that Lonergan broke with his typical protocol, unilaterally adding Garino to his usual player-selected group of captains.
Despite starting only half of the Colonials' games as a sophomore, Garino still played 28.7 minutes per game, posting 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game—the latter figure good for third in the Atlantic 10. His efforts earned him selection to the All-A-10 third team as well as the All-Defensive team.
It was an impressive sophomore season for a young man who received the dreaded "NR" for "not rated" by ESPN coming out of Montverde Academy in Florida. Scout and Rivals? They never even created profile pages for him.
With that kind of motivation, it's no wonder that Garino plays as hard as he does. "Patricio is a hungry kid," Lonergan said to College Hoops Daily.
David Kravish, California
5 of 9
When Missouri native David Kravish committed to Cal, he was a skinny 200-pound coat rack. What he lacked in bulk, however, he made up in skill and intelligence. Those intangibles made him a regular starter in his first season, averaging 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds on 59.4 percent shooting.
Since then, he's been a fixture in the Golden Bears' first five, putting in a string of 90 consecutive starts. He's been among the Pac-12's top 10 shot-blockers all three seasons, also setting career highs last year with 11.4 points and 7.7 boards per game.
It's been a strong career for a kid whose biggest recruiting acclaim was being ranked No. 39 among the class of 2011's center crop by ESPN.
New Cal coach Cuonzo Martin knows that his most experienced player will have a major role in the team's success this season. "The guy is just battle-tested," Martin said at Pac-12 media day, with Kravish sitting next to him on the stage (h/t The Oregonian). "Understands what it means to win. Probably one of the better leaders I've ever been around."
Nic Moore, SMU
6 of 9
Nic Moore fit the profile of a nice mid-major signing when he enrolled at Illinois State in 2011. The 5'9" Indiana product was a 3-star prospect, according to Scout.com, ranked No. 29 among the nation's point guards. He wasn't exactly a consensus-generating prospect, however. ESPN gave him two stars and didn't even rank him in their top 50 at his position.
After a solid freshman season under head coach Tim Jankovich, Moore elected to leave when Jankovich left to become Larry Brown's associate head coach at SMU. It wasn't long before Moore decided to follow his coach to Dallas and play for Brown, a Hall of Famer who carries a legendary reputation for being tough on his point guards.
Moore had to work hard to adapt to Brown's daunting expectations in his first season as a Mustang, but he succeeded in the eyes of most observers. He was named to the American's inaugural all-conference team, joining stars such as Sean Kilpatrick of Cincinnati, Shabazz Napier of UConn and Russ Smith of Louisville.
Last February, Brown said of Moore, "I ask (point guards) to do a lot of things, and it's not easy, but he's trying to do what I ask, and I'm thrilled with the way he's responded." (h/t CTPost.com) For the occasionally gruff Brown, that passes as a major compliment.
With power forward Markus Kennedy out for the first semester with academic issues, Moore's role as leader is even more important if the Mustangs are to avenge last season's NCAA tournament snub.
Ryan Spangler, Oklahoma
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Oklahoma native Ryan Spangler left for the Pacific Northwest to play his college basketball when he committed to Gonzaga. With minutes hard to come by in a loaded Zags frontcourt, he decided to transfer after one season to a school closer to home.
That school, the University of Oklahoma, has derived instant benefit from Spangler's toughness on the glass. The 6'8", 230-pound sophomore nearly averaged a double-double in 2013-14, carding 9.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Of his 15 double-figure rebound games, 11 came against major conference opposition, including eight against Big 12 opponents.
The Sooners needed rebounding help after losing top glass-eaters Romero Osby and Amath M'Baye following the 2012-13 season, and Spangler gave them that in spades, according to coach Lon Kruger.
“Ryan's kind of been the cornerstone for our growth in the toughness area,” Kruger told The Oklahoman's Jenni Carlson following last January's Bedlam win over Oklahoma State. “I think we're getting tougher. I think we've made big strides in that area. ... We're kind of feeding off of Ryan's toughness in there.”
Spangler the rebound wrangler may not push the lofty numbers he produced last year, but it's not for lack of effort. Houston transfer TaShawn Thomas being ruled immediately eligible takes some of the pressure off, but Spangler is still likely to play out of position at center. No matter how big the opposition is, however, the effort won't change.
Matt Stainbrook, Xavier
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Apparently ESPN slaps one star on more prospects than we know—or more likely, pay attention to—because here's another one.
Matt Stainbrook was listed at 6'9" and 290 pounds coming out of high school, and he landed at Western Michigan because it was his only Division I scholarship offer. The effort was rewarded with 60 starts over two seasons, in which he averaged 10.1 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Like many, Stainbrook wanted to get closer to his hometown of Lakewood, Ohio, so he transferred to Xavier, becoming eligible just in time for the Musketeers to join the Big East. In that first season, he earned an All-Big East honorable mention selection, improving many of his numbers from where they were in the MAC.
With Semaj Christon going pro and Justin Martin transferring to SMU, Xavier has become Stainbrook's team this season. Six freshmen join the team, and Indiana transfer Remy Abell played his first game on opening night.
Stainbrook will never be built like a Mr. Olympia finalist, but his bulk and classic low-post skills give the Xavier offense a stable foundation, while the newcomers find their way to success at the Big East level.
Alan Williams, UC Santa Barbara
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Through the first two games of this season, UC Santa Barbara center Alan Williams has racked up video-game numbers: 51 points and 29 rebounds. Most guys who feast that heartily do so against schools with compound directions in their names or even Division II institutions.
Williams got his against Kansas and a still-dangerous Florida Gulf Coast.
The Gauchos' workhorse led the nation in rebounding last season (11.5 per game) and ranked 13th in scoring at 21.3 PPG. And as the Kansas game proved, his 6'8" frame is no deterrent to him getting baskets, rebounds or blocks (he swatted four against the Jayhawks). After all, his 265 pounds are tough to dislodge when he's got post position—and he almost always has post position.
Just ask Kansas coach Bill Self how good Williams is. As Self told the Lawrence Journal-World's Tom Keegan:
"Williams is a great guy at getting angles. He scores before he catches. He’s a man down there. And he goes after the ball like a man. We haven’t had a man compete like he’ll compete against us, even in practice guarding each other, because he really gets after it.
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You might be able to guess from his presence on this list that Williams wasn't exactly considered a blue-chipper coming out of Phoenix (Ariz.) North HS. In fact, ESPN didn't rate him at all.
Oops.
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