re: Tide Hoops | Recruiting

Coming up with a top five is actually pretty hard. "Skilled offensive player" is sort of vague, so I guess we could just change it to best offensive players.

My memories of Rod Grizzard include him having one really good year and one disappointing year, and that is basically it. He shot 27% from 3 on 4 attempts a game as a junior. Scoring dropped from 17 a game to 14. I think Winston was just a bit more skilled, and that's one of the more easy comparisons (wing versus wing)

Mo Williams wasn't even here very long, but he was a legit talent.

Ronald Steele was an absolute beast until he got worn down physically.

Kira was a fantastic offensive player.

I'm not sure what to do with the bigs, but Richard Hendrix was basically 60% from the field for his career here.

Collin
Kira
Mo Williams
Ronald Steele
Winston
Hendrix

Would be my top six. We'll call it a top six for right now

The guy I might be underrating is Releford. His senior season was so good.

I thought about Chuck earlier, and he should have been on the honorable mention list.

The injury in his senior year hurts, cause he was having a nice offensive season.

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So why did Gee make it in the NBA but Winston never did?

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Gee was a better defender and a better athlete - I'm just talking about college offensive players.

I also think Gee is basically a success story. I don't think many of us looked at him and thought he would have a multiple year NBA career. He obviously worked on his game and kept improving.

(I know Winston had some injury issues, but I don't have any idea if those played a role or not)

But as a college offensive player, I just don't see any argument for it. Winston was clearly better by the eye test (at least to me) and he had better offensive numbers pretty much across the board.

He was a better 3 point shooter, he had a better mid-range game, and he was better at getting to the basket. He was just better.

I don’t remember Gee being a very good shooter or really even very good offensively

Interesting interview with Winston from 2014

AL.com - Interview with Kennedy Winston

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"If I could do it over, there are a few things that I would have changed,'' said Winston, who led the SEC in scoring average his final year with the Crimson Tide, leaving school early to begin his professional career. "Not about the coming out process; I felt like that was a good decision, based on what I had done the previous two or three years in college and on what (information I was given). ... I think the process going into the draft left some decisions I could have altered that might have changed the outcome. But looking back on my life, it's easy to say you'd do some things different after the decision has been made and things have happened.

"But I might have stayed just to enjoy that last year (at Alabama). You don't get those years back. Those are some of the most fun, exciting times of your life, when you're in college. I would tell you and I tell kids all the time now, 'Don't be in a rush to leave school.' When I was in school I wanted to get to my ultimate goal as quick as possible. But enjoy that time; when you're in the real world, you're in the real world and there's no going back. From that aspect - forget what happened with the draft - I might choose to enjoy that last year of college basketball. College basketball is hands down the best basketball. It's better than any pro or high school. There's no feeling like college basketball. I should have enjoyed that last year there.''

"It was one of those things where in life, there are different stumbling blocks, things that happen,'' he said of not being taken in the NBA Draft when some projected he would be a mid-first-round selection. "It had always been my dream to play in the NBA. But I had to find another route for me that I'm still happy with, where I could still play professional basketball, which is what I've always wanted to do. I wanted that to be my profession and my job. I want to pass it on to the kids that, growing up, you may want to be one thing, but life may have a different outcome for you and you just have to keep pushing."

"It was really tough. I was at a point in my life where I was in a make-or-break situation because for the first 20 years of my life all I thought about was playing in the NBA. I never knew anything about (pro basketball) overseas or anything like that. I had tunnel vision toward that. When that didn't happen, I had to regroup and get myself back together. That allowed me to see that there were other avenues to still play basketball and still be pretty successful and do well at it. God has blessed me and it has worked out well. I just finished up my ninth year and I'm going to continue playing.''

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Winston has played in a number of different leagues and locations overseas. This past season, the former two-time All-SEC selection played in France for Olympique Antibes. The experience has been more than he had imagined, Winston said.

"There are pros and cons to playing there,'' he said. "One of the things that I hate is that family and friends and people that follow me, those who followed my career from high school to college, they don't get to see me play. They ask me all the time, 'Where can I watch a game?' Sometimes the games are on the Internet.

"The positives are, I have seen things that most people don't get to see in their whole lives. I've been to many different countries, met many different friends and been exposed to different languages and different cultures. It's a huge world out there, one that before I went, I didn't even know existed. It has helped me grow as a person and has done wonders for me. When it's all said and done for me I can say I've seen a lot in my life.''

His dream, his plan for his life, didn't go exactly as planned, but it has been exciting and in many ways, followed the path he had envisioned. He hasn't played in the NBA, but he is OK with that. If an NBA team called and the offer was right, he'd probably accept the offer, Winston said. But he noted he's OK right where he is and with how his life has played out.

"I did my first three or four years,'' Winston admitted when asked if he still hoped to make a NBA roster. "I would come back (to the U.S.) and go to all the (NBA) camps and all those things. But it's a grind on your body, because you play nine months out of the year (overseas) then you come back here and do numerous things and camps and summer leagues. You don't have a life. Everything is centered around basketball. You don't have time for family or friends or anything else.

"It got to a point it was wearing me down. Basketball is growing globally now and if (a NBA team) wants to get me from there and it's a guaranteed opportunity, sure, I'll come. But if not, I'm fine where I'm at. At the end of the day, I've still had a good career and I've left a good legacy.''

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"What does one know of England that only England knows?"-

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That Pizza Hut is the closest thing to good food in London.

But, yes, everyone should travel. It makes you grow as a person.

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The guy I might be underrating is Releford. His senior season was so good.

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releford is my favorite player. dude was so crafty. senior year he was a man among boys. a shame that was the case among his teammates as well.

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What does one know of England that only England knows?"-

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That Pizza Hut is the closest thing to good food in London.

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Aren't there a shitload of great curry and kabob places? Just don't eat english food.

But yeah, I've heard from many people how bad the good is in London. My parents planned on a week in Amsterdam then a week in London. After a couple days in London, they said frick it, and went back to Amsterdam.

If it were free, and I were Brown, it would be hard to turn down a free Ivy league education. I know they don't give out traditional athletic scholarships. But let's be real. If an elite athlete wants to go to an ivy, like Harvard or Yale, and money is the only issue, then they definitely won't have to pay.