Post-GMac is an interesting idea b/c it includes, IMO, the second golden era for Cuse hoops. I think you need to account for a couple of things -- how unique is a player's skill set (Flynn/MCW/Waiters/Onuaku/Wes stand out) and how long was he a truly positive influence on this program (Fair/Joseph/Scoop/RJ). A guy like Malachi suffers on this list b/c while he had a phenomenal iconic moment at a HUGE time, it's really the one defining thing he did. Rak and Nichols suffer a bit too b/c I see 2-3 disappointing seasons with one really, really good one.
So for me, it looks like this:
1. Flynn -- not a great PG his frosh year, but super productive and that team got crushed with injuries (full year of Devo and/or Rautins makes a huge difference, IMO). Soph year was excellent and featured the iconic 6OT win. Just ran into a buzz saw with a red hot Oklahoma team.
2. Waiters -- Frosh year sucked but thought he was transcendent as a soph. Both ends of the floor. Would probably draft Waiters first if it were that kind of format.
3. Wes -- Great year on arguably my favorite SU team since the late-80s. It's one year but dude was a stud and a BE POY.
4. MCW -- I'm of the belief that MCW should have played more in place of Triche as a frosh. Loved his vision and length in the zone. Ugly numbers but dude ends up as ROY at the next level and had a really nice tournament as soph on a team that was really thin on offense.
5. Ennis -- Not sure how he's left off these lists. Dude was HUGE in our 25 straight wins and that's a team that even with struggles late ended up 14-4 in a really tough league. Talented dude who only turned it over 58 times total despite playing 34 games and nearly 35 mpg. That's a pretty badass year.
6. Fair -- Would be higher if he hadn't struggled a bit as a senior. But people tend to underrate guys who don't need to have the ball in their hands a lot to make an impact. Fair personified that. Perfect complimentary player.
7. Onuaku -- Not sure we utilized him perfectly but absolute stud down low. Like a bigger, more physical Otis Hill. knees hurt him but three straight years as a double-figure post scorer is hard to do here in this offense.
8. RJ -- Numbers don't pop until his senior year (13.1 and 10 AND a total stud defensively), but don't forget that he put up 9 and 7 as the 5th and maybe, at times, sixth or seventh option on the 09-10 team. Dude shot essentially 60% his last three years. Pretty efficient.
9. Gbinije -- I'm frankly probably ranking him too low. His numbers are hard to argue with and he played out of position as senior and we went to the freaking final four. But I just never felt he was a guy who could create his own shot when it really mattered. Kind of like a CJ Fair but with two good years instead of four. Not sure that's fair, but it just gives me slight pause.
10 -- Rautins -- A lot closer to Devo in win shares than you might think and, for my money, the best defensive player at the top of the zone I can remember. Dominating pressure and coverage at the top of the zone. Made threes off screens and made contested threes. Great passer. Handled the ball decently. Loved the way he pushed the tempo.
Toughest omissions: Devo (IMO one of the best jump shooters we've had, made a lot of contested shots), Rak (wonderful senior season but felt he had so much more potential the previous three seasons), Scoop (much better than people realized), Joseph (Loved his soph season but felt he just wasn't the same player as a junior/senior), Nichols (loved his senior year but needed much more out of him as a soph and he was OK, not great as a junior).
I have a 75 post rule. If I see a thread has more posts than that, I'm probably going to open it and have no idea what people are talking about based on the title of the thread. But this one has been an interesting offseason conversation.
