My transfer thread, which I originally titled 'Where Are They Now?' had me thinking about a new thread idea. How many times have you watched or rooted for a player for four straight years on the collegiate scene, and then he just disappeared, never resurfacing in the NBA? A lot of names come to mind for me - Scoonie Penn, Ed Cota, Byron Mouton, etc.; so I wanted to make this thread to let people know what happened to some of these former collegiate stars and to also inquire on a few who I can't find any information on. Here are a few I know are doing successfully abroad - Antwain Barbour - Kentucky - SG 2004 Summer League - Kentucky Reach (WBA): 14ppg, 3.5rpg 2004-05 Season - Kentucky Colonels (ABA): 26.5ppg, 5.2rpg, 3.4apg 2005-06 Season - Yakama Sun Kings (CBA): 20.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.8 apg LaVell Blanchard - Michigan - SG 2004-05 Season - Reggio Calabria (Italy): 13.7 ppg, 6.2 ppg, 0.6 apg 2005-06 Season - Oldenburg (Germany): 12.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.3 apg Taleik Brown - UConn - PG 2005-06 Season - Pinar Karsiyaka (Turkey): 11.0 ppg Erwin Dudley - Alabama - C 2005-06 Season - Turk Telekom (Turkey): 18.2 ppg Steve Logan - Cincinnati - PG 2005-06 Season - Mersin BSB (Turkey): 21.7 ppg Preston Shumpert - Syracuse - SF 2002-03 Season - Besancon (France): 22.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.5 apg 2003-04 Season - Montecatini (Italy): 16.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.9 apg 2004-05 Season - Livorno (Italy): 18.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.5 apg 2005-06 Season - Olimpia Milano (Italy): 11.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.4 apg Kelvin Torbert - Michigan State - SG 2005-06 Season - Jeunese Laique Bourg-En-Bresse (France) - 11.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.4 apg Players I'm looking for info on - Tom Coverdale - Indiana - PG Chris Hill - Michigan State - PG Chris Marcus - Western Kentucky - C Blake Stepp - Gonzaga - PG Marcus Taylor - Michigan State - PG
Haha, Antwain Barbour was supposed to be Kentucky's savior when he signed to play for Tubby out of junior college, but that didn't exactly work out. Consistency was his biggest problem in his two seasons at Kentucky; he could go out one night and put up a solid 12-15 points, or he would come out one night and turn the ball over like crazy. This would eventually lead to a significant decrease in his playing time, and he graduated Kentucky labeled as a major "bust".
What about Lynn Greer from Temple? The kid had a nice four year run with the Owls and just signed a contract with the Bucks after being overseas for a couple years. It's nice to see college players, who worked their tails off for four years, get a chance in the league...
Hey VC, think you find something on Joesph Forte, Michael Wright or Jason Gardener? I remember Forte messed up by not staying in college, he left to early and wasn't ready for the NBA.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Whatever Happened to Joseph Forte?:</div><div class="quote_post">It seemed like it was yesterday when you'd see the #40 of Joseph Forte's jersey number on a North Carolina jersey. At UNC, his name could be seen on a list among Jerry Stackhouse, J.R. Reid and the great Michael Jordan to earn consensus First Team All-America honors. Indeed, it seemed like yesterday that he was ACC Rookie of the Year, winner of the Jimmie Dempsey Award and a scoring leader for the UNC team. Such a smooth quiet guy who had the wettest jumper when he took the shot and would swish it, the 6'4 Forte would give his usual shy smile and carry on back to get on defense. During his freshman year at North Carolina (1999-2000) he began under Head Coach Bill Guthridge. He began his collegiate career giving the fans a sample of what he had to offer within his next two years in Tar Heel blue. In his first game, he scored 24 points (a then-freshman record at UNC - broken in 2002 by Rashad McCants) against Southern California, then going on to lead the team to the Maui Invitational championship. He led Carolina in scoring and scored 600 points -- shattering the school record for points by a freshman -- a record that was previously held by Sam Perkins (550 points in 1980-1981). Also, Forte averaged more points than Phil Ford's 16.4PPG(1974-1975). During his Freshman campaign, he was a big part of helping UNC to the Final Four. He led the team with 17 points in a upset victory over top seeded Stanford. After even more upset victories, Forte was named MVP of the NCAA South Regional, where he averaged 25.0 points in key wins over Tulsa and Tennessee. In 5 NCAA Tournament games he scored 95 points, second to Morris Peterson's (Michigan State) 105 points (in 6 games). In the Final Four, Joe scored 15 points and the Tar Heels were defeated by Florida. During his second season, under new coach Matt Doherty, Forte continued to shine shooting his jumper in front of the 20,000 faithful at the Dean Smith Center. He was named first-team All-American as he averaged 20.9PPG for the Tar Heels and shared ACC Player of the Year with Shane Battier of Duke. Forte was winner of the Jimmie Dempsey Award and a preseason candidate for the Wooden and Naismith Awards. Forte helped the Heels defeat rival Duke and compile an 18-game winning streak -- taking #1 in the nation for a while. This also resulted in another trip to the NCAA Tournament where the Tar Heels defeated Princeton, but went down to Penn State in the second round. That game, Joe only scored a quiet 15 points. After the season as it had became evident throughout the season, there was some friction between Coach Doherty and Forte. Even players had begun to show bitterness towards Forte as some called him selfish and a ball-hog who shot too much. But what stuck out the most was that the relationship between Doherty and Forte was in a decline. </div> Read the Rest
This is what I found on Blake Stepp from Wiki, VC: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> He appeared in a handful of 2004-05 preseason games with the Wolves but did not manage to make the final cut. He then spent the 2004/05 season playing in Belgrade, Serbia with KK Partizan. During the offseason Stepp joined Valencia BC (Pamesa) in the Spanish League (ACB) for the 2005/06 season. </div> Marcus Taylor <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="2"><div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Joined the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the CBA in January 2003. Signed with Southern Crescent Lightning of the WBA in March 2005. Selected by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds as 14th overall pick in the 2005 NBADL Draft. Joined the team that season. Waived in December. Signed with the Tulsa 66ers of the NBADL in December 2005. Waived in January. Returned with the Tulsa 66ers of the NBADL in March 2006. </div></font></font> I read something a few weeks ago that Forte is like a God there, playing in Greece's basketball league. He's also playing for the Heat's summer league team.
i guess its to early to tell but i wonder whats guna happen to Keydren Clark this kid can flat out score,
