College Basketball: Five Recruits That Did Not Live Up to Expectations

With mere weeks before the next college basketball season starts, the air is pregnant with promise.

Not many teams return their starters from the previous season due to graduation or early departure. Most teams look to transfers and rely heavily on freshmen to carry on the tradition of winning or to turn a program around.

There are many freshmen entering college basketball this year, and to helping us differentiate the diamonds from the charcoal are numerous recruiting analysts.

At some point many teams will get a raw deal, or at least feel like they have.

Just to remind you that recruiting is not an exact science, I have chosen five recruits within the last five years that turned out to be overrated.

Taylor King, Duke 2007

Taylor King can actually play. He is a great rebounder for someone 6'7", but his focus was never fully there.

His problem was that he lived and died by the three-point shot. If it was falling, he was fine. When it wasn't he became disruptive.

He transferred to Villanova after his playing time took a serious cut at Duke. He would later transfer again to NAIA school Concordia.

Derrick Caracter, Louisville 2006

Derrick Caracter made a name for himself early in high school and on the AAU circuit.

Expectations were very high when he arrived at Louisville but, after averaging 8.8 points and 3.9 rebounds, the 6'9" post player transferred to Texas at El Paso after his sophomore year.

There he was able to transform himself into the player everyone expected him to be, albeit against lesser competition.

The Lakers took a chance on him in the second round of the 2010 Draft.

He was then assigned to the D-League.

B.J. Mullens, Ohio State Buckeyes 2008

B.J. Mullens was the top center in the 2008 recruiting class. At 7'1" 260 pounds he was expected to be the post-Greg Oden center.

Mullens, A McDonald's All-American, mailed in 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 20 minutes per game at Ohio State.

He was the 24th pick of the 2009 NBA draft because NBA GMs liked his size and shooting percentage.

He is currently playing in Europe.

Avery Bradley, Texas 2009

Avery Bradley was ranked as ESPN's top recruit going ino the season in 2009. That was four spots above John Wall.

Bradley scored 11 points per game to go along with two assists and one steal. If you watched him play at Texas, he often seemed lost on the court.

The Boston Celtics took a chance on him with the 19th pick of the 2010 draft.

Fabricio Melo, Syracuse 2010

Syracuse expected big things from this seven footer. He did not have the impact they wanted from him as a freshman, but he will have a second chance.

The preseason Rookie of the Year in the Big East only averaged 9.9 minutes per game, which really says it all. He could not get on the court and, when he did, he couldn't stay on, mostly due to foul trouble.

Syracuse is hoping they'll be luckier the second time around. Especially after the graduation of Rick Jackson.