re: Spin off thread. Best that never was

For Auburn, IMO, Raven Gray.

Nope. Blackmon contributed a little. I don't know that Raven Gray even sniffed the field. I heard so much about him coming out of HS. He didn't qualify and had to go the JUCO route. I heard so much about him coming out of JUCO. Again, I don't think he contributed a single play while at Auburn.

Cecil Collins

LINKFor me the saddest case of wasted talent was Pittsburgh Steelers QB Joe Gilliam who became ensnared by cocaine and died at 49. Gilliam was perhaps the most talented black QB to ever play. I still remember watching him on TV and being amazed. RIP Mr. Gilliam.

Randy Livingston, basketball, LSU 1993-1996ish.

Won high Schhol player of the year with Jason Kidd when he was a junior. Won it by himself as a senior. When he was at Newman (New Orleans) High School, he was the superstar, not the football QB (Peyton Manning). He tore his knee up at a post season all star showcase before he enrolled at LSU.

Dontae Walker... Complete beast his freshman year.. Then continually got worse until he was just terrible.

Ken Hall will always own this category. Possibly the greatest HS RB ever and still holds multiple National HS records after setting them in 1953 including most points per game (32.9), most TD's per game(4.8), and most rushing yards per game (337). He had one game in HS where he rushed for 520 yards on 11 carries for a 47 yard average. This while playing short seasons and typically being pulled at halftime. At his first practice at A&M future Heisman winner John David Crow thought he was destined to be a career backup after seeing Hall.

Bear Bryant always felt his biggest mistake was how he dealt with Hall and pushed him away. His issue was he didn't like to play defense and back in those days you had to play both ways. Bear pushed him and he ended up quitting and bouncing around the CFL/NFL/AFL for a few years.