Appropos of nothing, I saw Walt Williams was at the MD/Iowa game the other night. And it got me to wondering how he's kind of a lost figure in MD hoops history. He came to Maryland right after the Bias/Bob Wade fiasco left the program with a de facto death penalty. Gary Williams (who came in on the ###-end of those scandals) credits Williams with cutting years off of Maryland getting back to be a competitive program. Walt was allowed to transfer and play immediately, IIRC, anywhere. He stayed.
The Wizard was a fantastic player - an All-American who stayed home when he could have gone anywhere and enhanced his value. Yet, you rarely hear him mentioned among the greats of Maryland basketball. He'd be on my starting 5 of all-timers there.
Sooooooo.........who are some other great college players who seem to have been forgotten?
Walt Williams also rocked the high socks, which was awesome.Other great "forgotten" college Bball players:
Sean Elliott - He really was the beginning of the great run by Arizona basketball. Absolute beast that had a complete game many young players just don't have.
Tony Bennett - HC at Virginia now was once a one man show at UW-Green Bay when his dad **** Bennett was HC there (he later led the Badgers to a Final Four).
Chris Jackson (later Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) - Just a unique player. He had the odd twitches but he was explosive and would absolutely drill open shots. He's largely remembered only for off the court stuff now, but as a player he was so skillful, had the ball on a string.
Lamar Odem - While at Rhode Island he became a must watch. In college he reminded me of a Derrick Coleman type that could do absolutely anything he wanted against college players and would only be stopped by his own actions.
Calbert Chaney & Big Dog Robinson - These two Big10 players could not have been much different but they were so, so good in college around the same time. Each just would rip the heart out of the opposition and always seemed to step up and make plays on the road, silencing crowds.
No college, but still great/forgotten list...
Lloyd Daniels - He was this playground legend I recall reading stories about out of NY, not even sure if it was legit in a time before YouTube clips or Vines. He had drug issues and never made it to school (UNLV). Next thing I know, he's somehow, someway playing for the Spurs when Tark was the HC. In one of his very first games he goes crazy and I couldn't believe it (near triple-double type stat line). Tark was fired early that season and "Sweet Pea" never went off again, but occasionally you'd see this unorthodox play and/or ridiculous pass in traffic that required vision most HOF's didn't have.
Brandon Jennings - He skipped college to play overseas for a year before entering the NBA but he had one of the most impressive McDonald's All-American games ever. He torched defenders and turned a game rife with dunks already into a complete And1 tour like event. I recall he had almost 20 assists and just looked like a ridiculous talent. In one of his first 10 NBA games, he put up 55 and that night I thought we may have another great player on our hands with the moxie to match.