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Looking Back: The 2001 Recruiting Class

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Next week, the first session of July’s live recruiting period will begin, and high school hoopers around the country will take their talents to tournaments across the country, looking to impress coaches enough to earn a spot on a team at some level.

Those that are good enough will be playing for a scholarship. The best of the best will have a spot in all of the top 100 recruiting rankings on the line.

Over the course of this week, we will be looking back at the RSCI -- a composite index for top 100 lists -- to reinforce a point: recruiting rankings are not a guarantee. Top ten recruits flame out and unranked players make the NBA. The only thing that is a given is that hard work will be talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Keep that in mind while tracking where a kid is ranked and who is recruiting him.

We’ll be looking at the Class of 1999-2008, the last 10 classes that have finished the five years they are allowed to use their four seasons of eligibility.
To read through the rest of our Looking Back posts, click here.

THE TOP 20

1. Eddy Curry: Curry went pro out of college and played his first four seasons with Chicago. His best year came in 2006-2007 when he averaged 19.5 points and 7.0 boards for the Knicks. He’s played 26 games in the NBA the last four years as conditioning and motivation issues continually pop up.

2. Kelvin Torbert: Torbert had a good-but-underwhelming four-year career at Michigan State, but he wasn’t even a full-time starter on the 2005 Final Four team. Torbert went undrafted in 2005 and has bounced around Europe since then.

3. Dajuan Wagner: Wagner spent a season at Memphis after a legendary high school career. He averaged 13.4 points as a rookie in Cleveland after getting picked sixth in the 2002 Draft, but injuries ended his hoops career way too early. He left Cleveland after 2005, and played just one more game in the NBA.

4. Tyson Chandler: Chandler skipped college and has developed into one of the best defensive centers in the NBA. He’s been an all-star, a Defensive Player of the Year, an NBA champion and an Olympic champion.

5. Ousmane Cisse: Cisse skipped college and was the 46th pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. He never played in the NBA, bouncing around basketball’s minor leagues and international leagues.

6. Kwame Brown: Brown was the first pick in the 2001 NBA Draft after skipping college. He’s never lived up to the hype, but he’s been in the NBA for 12 years and made more than $60 million in his career. Not bad.

7. Julius Hodge: Hodge had a solid four-year career with NC State, eventually getting picked 20th in the first round of the 2005 draft. He lasted all of 23 games before heading overseas.

8. DeSagana Diop: Diop never made it to college, going straight from high school to the No. 8 pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. Diop made the Finals with the Mavericks in 2006 and has been in the NBA for 12 years despite the fact that he’s never averaged more than 2.9 points in a season.

9. Rick Rickert: Rickert played for two seasons at Minnesota, where he earned all-Big Ten first team honors, but entered the draft after his sophomore season. He was picked 55th in the 2003 draft, but has never played in the NBA and lasted just three seasons in the NBDL.

10. David Lee: Lee played four years at Florida, averaging 13.6 points and 9.0 boards as a senior. He was the 30th pick in the 2005 draft, playing five years in New York and the past three seasons in Golden State. He’s become a consistent double-double threat, a two-time all-star and one of the more valuable big men in the league.

11. Jawad Williams: Williams played four seasons at North Carolina and averaged 13.1 points as a senior on the 2005 national title team. Williams bounced around Europe, but did play three years in the NBA with Cleveland.

12. Carlos Hurt: Hurt played just 14 games at Louisville before getting hurt and, eventually, kicked off the team. He ended up at Robert Morris, an NAIA school in Illinois. He played all of one seasn in the NBDL.

13. Jonathan Hargett: Hargett played one season at West Virginia, was arrested for selling weed and transferred to Virginia Union but couldn’t get eligible. He’s been locked up since.

14. David Harrison: Colorado played at Colorado for three seasons, averaging 17.1 points and 8.8 boards as a junior before entering the NBA Draft. Harrison went in the first round, 29th overall, to Indiana in the 2004 NBA Draft and lasted with the Pacers for four seasons. He played for three years in China afterwards. He’s perhaps best known for either partaking in the Pistons-Pacers brawl in Auburn Hills or an appearance on Real World: Philadelphia.

15. Aaron Miles: Miles had a terrific four-year career at Kansas, but he wasn’t picked in the 2005 NBA Draft. He latched on with the Warriors for 19 games in the 2005-2006 season, but hasn’t been back to the league since, instead bouncing around overseas.

16. Mo Williams: Williams went to Alabama and lasted with the Crimson Tide for two seasons, averaging 16.4 points and 3.9 assists as a senior. He went pro and was picked 47th in the 2003 NBA Draft. He’s been a starter in the league since his second season with Milwaukee, and played with Utah last season. Williams was an all-star in 2009.

17. TJ Ford: Ford had two wildly successful seasons at Texas, earning Freshman of the Year honors before leading the Longhorns to the Final Four as a sophomore while being named National Player of the Year. Ford was the No. 8 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and was one of the best young point guards in the NBA before spinal cord injuries derailed his career. Ford was most recently on the Spurs roster in 2011-2012.

18. Josh Childress: Childress played three seasons in college and was an All-American as a junior before becoming the sixth pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. He had four successful years in Atlanta, but he accepted a more valuable contract to play in Greece over a five-year deal in the NBA. He lasted two seasons in the Greek League before returning to the NBA. Childress played with Brooklyn last season.

19. Cedric Bozeman: Bozeman played out his eligibility at UCLA, but he only managed to stay healthy for three full seasons. He ended his career as a fifth-year senior, but only lasted 23 games in the NBA during the 2006-2007 season.

20. Wayne Simien: Simien was a two-time All-American at Kansas and was a first round pick, 29th overall, of the Miami Heat in the 2005 NBA Draft. He won oa rin in 2006, but only lasted two seasons in the league. Simien retired from basketball in 2009.

OTHER NOTABLE PLAYERS


  • 22. James White
  • 32. Jason Maxiell
  • 32. Pierre Pierce
  • 36. Billy Edelin
  • 40. Travis Diener
  • 41. Ben Gordon
  • 46. Chuck Hayes
  • 53. Will Bynum
  • 65. Josh Powell
  • 87. Channing Frye
  • 87. Lawrence Roberts
  • 91. Keith Langford
  • 99. Emeka Okafor
  • UR. Luther Head
  • UR. Hakim Warrick

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.