Now I realize that me only have one team for 23 seasons (poor college kid) makes this much more possible for me, but I'd love to hear some good stories about a recruit you took a chance on that turned out to be your favorite or your favorite school. Mine is James Womack at Colorado School of Mines in Crum that I found pre potentials that will always be someone I miss. He works at Enterprise now so we keep in touch. James still wishes he could give me a postseason win (0-9 career) so he comes in the offseasons and helps out with the youngsters. Paul Longo is starting to give him a run for his money though as he starts his Sr year very soon here in Golden, CO.

This is easy for me.  Earl Flinn and Howard Creasy dominated D2 Naismith together for 4 seasons while playing at Queens.

Flinn is the all time leading scorer in D2 scoring over 3,150 points and Creasy is #4 in D2 in career assists, though unlike most guys that rack up assists he was also a very effective scorer, notching over 1,450 points of his own.  The won a Championship in their final season going 35-0.

Creasy: https://whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx?pid=2164265

Flinn: https://whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx?pid=2120619

Easy answers:

Charles Barnes was my first stud at any level; won conference POTY as a soph and jr and is still the #9 blocks leader in Iba D2

Duane Brant is #1 though. Had D1 starter ratings at D3, led me to my first ever NC while scoring around 24 ppg as a senior.

Posted by bow2dacowz on 5/31/2013 2:32:00 PM (view original):
This is easy for me.  Earl Flinn and Howard Creasy dominated D2 Naismith together for 4 seasons while playing at Queens.

Flinn is the all time leading scorer in D2 scoring over 3,150 points and Creasy is #4 in D2 in career assists, though unlike most guys that rack up assists he was also a very effective scorer, notching over 1,450 points of his own.  The won a Championship in their final season going 35-0.

Creasy: https://whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx?pid=2164265

Flinn: https://whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx?pid=2120619

Wow 3,150 points!! No wonder he is your favorite player. That's ridiculous good. Did you have tough recruiting battles for them or just diamonds in the rough?

Posted by jetwildcat on 5/31/2013 2:37:00 PM (view original):
Easy answers:

Charles Barnes was my first stud at any level; won conference POTY as a soph and jr and is still the #9 blocks leader in Iba D2

Duane Brant is #1 though. Had D1 starter ratings at D3, led me to my first ever NC while scoring around 24 ppg as a senior.

What a stud pulling down boards at 5'11. Doesn't really look like a Duane though haha

I signed a couple of guys for my S. Mississippi team in Rupp a few seasons ago that I have to rank as All-Time favorites. The first was Small Forward Robert Curtsinger from Pittsburg, Texas. "Bo" as he prefers to be called was the Texas High School Rodeo Association Pole Bending champion as a sophomore. His favorite author is Steve Berry. He majored in Agricultural Forensics.

The second signing was Center Spencer Guthrie from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Spencer played banjo and washtub bass in a jug band called Syncopation Station. He wrote a 500 word essay on Samuel F.B. Morse in Morse Code. He majored in French Literature.

These two guys were roommates all 4 seasons and between them they pulled more stunts and practical jokes than the crew from Animal House. The difference was that they were both honor roll students. Tops among their many "accomplishments" was letting 3 skunks loose in the reception hall during a visit by some Sweedish Physics professors. It took a while to clear the air over that one. Then there was the time they TP'd a campus fire engine. That truck looked like a cloud on the ground. My personal favorite (although I was burning mad at the time) was when they brought a case of shaving cream and filled the team bus with foam. It wouldn't have been so bad except that it happened during a road game at Marshall.

Bo currently works for the Texas Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Spencer is teaching at a posh private school in Montreal. They keep in touch with me regularly and visit during the summer.

All from my DePauw team in Knight: 

Two older ones:


Nelson Schweda I recruited this kid out of Hawaii in the pre-potential era and he ended up being a stud SF/PF.  Though he never quite led my DePauw team to a championship he helped take us to two elite eights and was an all-around stud.  If he hadn't had such a talented supporting cast he might have put up more astonishing numbers. He'll always be that stud from Hawaii to me though, and he'll remain one of DePauw's all-time greats.

Emanuel Adams This guy is strange to put on here, but despite lackluster stats, not being in the records for any statistical category, and only managing a third team all-conference selection in his career, Emanuel Adams will always be one of my favorite player.  From Kokomo, Indiana, Adams was the first stud I ever signed.  From the pre-potential era he had decent ratings in every category and a high work ethic.  He finished very close to 800 overall (he may have exceeded 800, but I lost his profile which I had saved in a word document when my old laptop crashed).  He was an absolute stud who I only blame myself for misusing.  I can't blame him for underachieving because at the time I was still new to the game and probably should have fiddled with his distro more. I only wish I could have another Emanuel Adams sometime in the future, just so I could use the new one properly. 


Two more recent ones:

Garrett Bejarano This kid was just perfect.  He was an experiment I recruited who was under 40 miles from my school.  He was never a decent athlete, but he finished his career with 60-speed, which is amazing for a DIII pressing big man.  He put up very solid offensive numbers with an LP that I believe reached the 90's and was just super fun to use and abuse. I honestly wish I could have had him for longer and achieved more with him, but he was just an astounding player who led me to my first ever final four where I lost by I believe 1 to the eventual national champion...Partially because of free throws he missed I believe.  But he's still going to be remembered as a serious home-grown talent. 

Hugh Farley This guy JUST graduated a couple seasons ago but he was an ABSOLUTE STUD.  He was the first player I've had in the post-potential era to nearly eclipse an 800-overall rating (I believe he finished somewhere in the 780's) at DIII.  He was incredible and if not for his 7 shot blocking and mediocre durability would have easily eclipsed 800.  He put up amazing numbers and was Midwest Conference Player of the Year twice, First Team All-Conference twice, Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year once, and a First All-American once. 

My favorite was always this sg Jason Lee. It might have been my 5th season or something in HD and my focus was on this badass player I recruited named Kenneth Young. Young was my first truly stud recruit, so I expected a lot from him. Well by the time they were both seniors, I noticed Lee who I was not giving that much distribution to was scoring better than young. So I bumped his distribution up and the guy excelled. He also became a big time defensive presence setting the school record at the time for steals. With Lee leading the way, I went on to a sweet 16 in my first ever NT appearance and Lee made 2nd team AA (he would have been 1st team at pg where I was playing him, but he was listed as a sg so he made 2nd team). Young I think made 3rd team or honorable mention or something. I've had better players since then, but he was always my favorite.

Posted by dbarth101 on 5/31/2013 3:07:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bow2dacowz on 5/31/2013 2:32:00 PM (view original):
This is easy for me.  Earl Flinn and Howard Creasy dominated D2 Naismith together for 4 seasons while playing at Queens.

Flinn is the all time leading scorer in D2 scoring over 3,150 points and Creasy is #4 in D2 in career assists, though unlike most guys that rack up assists he was also a very effective scorer, notching over 1,450 points of his own.  The won a Championship in their final season going 35-0.

Creasy: https://whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx?pid=2164265

Flinn: https://whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx?pid=2120619

Wow 3,150 points!! No wonder he is your favorite player. That's ridiculous good. Did you have tough recruiting battles for them or just diamonds in the rough?

I don't believe i did.  they were actually in different classes.  Creasy came in a year before and redshirted and Flinn was recruited into a situation where he was able to play right away from game 1 of his freshman year.  Early on..maybe the first half or even 2/3 of that season he wasn't getting much distro, probably only scoring 6 or 7 ppg but he cranked it up after that and ended his rookie year at 10.5 or 11ppg IIRC.  He was over 20 ppg the next 3 seasons with his last 2 seasons being right around 30ppg

Avery Morris. I just stopped playing in Knight, so I can't see exactly, but I think he's the eighth highest scorer in D3 history there, and I know that he is the all-time minutes played leader across all three divisions. Two-time NPOY, also honorable mention AA as a sophomore, and National Freshman of the Year. He was a D2 pulldown, came in as a 462, and graduated as a 795 (51 ATH, 91 SPD, 14 REB, 62 DE, 19 BLK, 48 LP, 98 PE, 75 BH, 65 P, 92 WE, 100 ST (!!!), 80 DU, B FT).

A couple guys that I really love and wished they could have played longer.

www.whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerProfile/Ratings.aspx I posted about Conklin in the other thread I just love him so much I gotta post again. I recruited him as kind of an experiment to see if a PG could succeed without high per. I originally redshirted him and his WE dropped from 40 to 28 so I debated whether to leave it on or not. In the end I think I made a great decision. Starting as a soph his distro was low but he just kept scoring and hasn't stopped since.

www.whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx William Ruffin was my first ever All-American players in 90 seasons playing. Just an absolute beast of a D2 big. I think he averaged about 20 and 10 his senior year but somehow didn't win conference player of the year despite being first team All-American.

www.whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx Harold Michalak is a nice underdog story. Originally recruited as a backup PG/defender he had solid ath and speed, 80s in BH, 60s in passing, and 40s in LP. His biggest weakness coming in was his per was 20 but high/high. Well after 5 years (redshirt) he finished with 88 per, scored 1200 points, had 380 assists, and finished 7th in school history in 3pt % at .467.

www.whatifsports.com/hd/PlayerHistory/Default.aspx Gary Guidry was another stud I expected to be good but not great. Finished 2nd in school history in points, 7ths in assists, 4th in steals, and finished his career shooting 52.8% from the field and 47.1% from 3. Pretty fantastic %s for a guard. 3rd team All-American his junior year and 2nd his senior year (The first team guy averaged like 33 and 4 and Guidry was at 27 and 5). He carried my team to the elite 8 despite a fairly weak supporting cast before inexplicably having his worst game of the year against a crappy defender (typical).