This topic came up at work today

[JSHoosier 19,560]

With Damon Bailey---there was a lot of hype he would lead us to a championship-- but he was injured a lot at IU and still ended up near the top of many top ten lists at IU---so I can't blame him.

Bailey wouldn't have lived up to the hype if he fed a village with two fish and a loaf of bread.  He was still one heck of a player though.

[OliviaPope40 6,295]

I'm not going to name my list it is too long and too painful.

Edited November 13, 2014 by OliviaPope40

[cthurston 27]

In fairness, he was just a freshman. Very few freshmen anywhere come in and blow people away.

True. Didn't expect to be blown away but for as many minutes as he got I expected more contribution than a few sportscenter dunks.

[Hovadipo 52,937]

True. Didn't expect to be blown away but for as many minutes as he got I expected more contribution than a few sportscenter dunks.

I don't mean to make this a Crean thing, but last year Troy would start then we wouldn't see him for 25 minutes. He didn't really get a chance to get anything going. He was pretty turnover prone and didn't have much of a jumper, but I wish he could've gotten more minutes than he did. Anyways, I'm expecting big things from him this year.

[LIHoosier 24,997]

For my day (turn of the century), it was Dane Fife. For a burger boy, he was clueless whenever he had the ball; especially in his 1st 3 years. He learned to be a solid defender (foul on Williams notwithstanding) by his senior year, but I was expecting him to at the very least be better than Dugan was at Michigan.

[cthurston 27]

I get he could have been more productive. But, double digit rebounds is not bad combined with near double digit points.

7.3 ppg and 4.4 rpg? Not bad, just not the scorer and Oladipo-like as I heard him compared to. Who knows he may turn out that way and I hope he does. Maybe the latest events will inspire him to camp out in Cook Hall. Picked a lot of pockets last year too which I did like about him.

[Bigdaddy76 111]

I'm a little older, but for me, Lawrence Funderburk comes to mind. He was supposed to be a beast in that recruiting class, but it never materialized. I think he went to Ohio St. after that if memory serves. Had an ok career there. I agree on Hollowell too. A lot of potential, but no gold. Ivan Renko was another that really never materialized! haha Literally!

[Lt. John McClaine 541]

Donald Perry comes to mind, he was the Player of the Year in Louisiana, and he never even finished his career at IU.  I never really found out the problem, but he hardly looked like a Mr. Basketball.  Also, AJ Ratliff suffered the same kind of fate.  He was top 3 in Mr. Basketball for Indiana and he never even finished his Senior year at IU on the basketball team.  Can't think of any other former Indiana All Star just fading out like that.  

[schoosier 3,445]

From my generation, Delray Brooks was easily the most overhyped player at IU. Granted that was before the internet so you rarely got to see thes highly recruited players player, which helped him. Do you know who his back court mate was after transferring to Providence? He's one of my top choices if a head coach change is made. How about their coach?

[Geometry Hoosier 1,150]

Here is an article written about Delray Brooks from 2012.

http://m.thepostgame.com/features/201203/delray-brooks-providence-final-four-rick-pitino-indiana-bob-knight

[BGleas 7,880]

Donovan was his backcourt mate and Pitino was his coach. What do I win?

From my generation, Delray Brooks was easily the most overhyped player at IU. Granted that was before the internet so you rarely got to see thes highly recruited players player, which helped him. Do you know who his back court mate was after transferring to Providence? He's one of my top choices if a head coach change is made. How about their coach?

[Alford Bailey 12,248]

Jay Edwards. He came in with high potential. He displayed it on occasion, but off court issues derailed him here and any promise in the NBA.

Yea, that guy was a natural. Made it look so easy.

[Alford Bailey 12,248]

But much like Pritch had that ONE DUNK---Andrae had that ONE GAME against Duke!   What a show he put on that day!

Yep, the night before Thanksgiving. I still remember sitting at a bar with a couple of buddies watching that one.

[Alford Bailey 12,248]

Donovan was his backcourt mate and Pitino was his coach. What do I win?
 

Delray was pretty good in high school and in college just not under Knight. Made it to a final four.

[Alford Bailey 12,248]

For my day (turn of the century), it was Dane Fife. For a burger boy, he was clueless whenever he had the ball; especially in his 1st 3 years. He learned to be a solid defender (foul on Williams notwithstanding) by his senior year, but I was expecting him to at the very least be better than Dugan was at Michigan.

What, Fife is near my top ten favs.

[Alford Bailey 12,248]

Hollowell recently. But the threesome of Patterson, Miller and Reid came in highly ranked and they all stunk. Really, thats when the wheels started falling off the program.

[Jafo71 149]

Details to bolster Ratliff or Brooks as the two who underwhelmed in their expectations.

Ratliff
Indiana Mr. Basketball - 2004
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Mr._Basketball
http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ratliff_aj00.html
http://www.insidethehall.com/2008/01/29/what-happened-to-aj-ratliff/

Brooks
Indiana Co-Mr.Basketball - 1984
USA Today HS Basketball Player of the Year -1984
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Mr._Basketball
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delray_Brooks
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Today_All-USA_high_school_basketball_team#Boys.27_basketball_players_and_coaches_of_the_year

Look at that last list and compare how Brooks faired against the rest on the award winners.

[rebelhoosier848891 9,588]

What about Jay Edwards other high school teammate---Lyndon Jones---I thought he might do more as well as they both had the hype coming out of high school?

[Kineticz 87]

Wait.. Brian Evans? The guy redshirted his freshmen year and then missed a total of 3 games the next 4 years. He was Big Ten Player of the year in 1996 and a third team all american. He's our 10th all time leading scorer, and his teams never finished worse than 3rd in the Big Ten. He's the guy that didn't live up to your expectations? Color me confused.

Was mentioning how great his shot was before he ?seperated? his shoulder, never seemed to be the same after that, I remember his shot always seemed a bit short after his injury, but he still hustled and played strong, not trying to start stuff, but always thought he could have been really really special if he was healthy

[Lt. John McClaine 541]

What about Jay Edwards other high school teammate---Lyndon Jones---I thought he might do more as well as they both had the hype coming out of high school?

Yes i agree, Lyndon Jones was co Mr. Basketball I believe out of Marion with Jay.  He was pretty decent as a Freshman at IU, but he just kind of stayed the same offensively over the course of his career.  I will say that he did stay all 4 years and was nice on Defense, but as highly decorated as he was he never really scored the ball as good as you would think a Mr. Basketball would.