Sam Bowie told Jim Boeheim.....

[florange44]

I was watching the SEC Storied special last night on Sam Bowie.

Sam was The #1 recruit in the country out of Pennsylvania in ~1982. Syracuse thought we had a great chance to get him but he ended up going to Kentucky.

In the special, Sam was talking about recruiting and how much fun he had. He said “I told Jim Boeheim that I had the most fun on the Syracuse trip”. No wonder we thought we had a chance.

He also said “Kentucky literally rolled out the red carpet” and commented about all the schools he visited.

I always wondered why we didn’t get him and assumed Kentucky just paid him. They might have, and the story did not go into that at all, but from the story it is clear that the Kentucky on campus visit was on a whole different level than ours was at that time.

Helps to clear up a question from long ago.

FLorange44

 

[dasher]

I was watching the SEC Storied special last night on Sam Bowie.

Sam was The #1 recruit in the country out of Pennsylvania in ~1982. Syracuse thought we had a great chance to get him but he ended up going to Kentucky.

In the special, Sam was talking about recruiting and how much fun he had. He said “I told Jim Boeheim that I had the most fun on the Syracuse trip”. No wonder we thought we had a chance.

He also said “Kentucky literally rolled out the red carpet” and commented about all the schools he visited.

I always wondered why we didn’t get him and assumed Kentucky just paid him. They might have, and the story did not go into that at all, but from the story it is clear that the Kentucky on campus visit was on a whole different level than ours was at that time.

Helps to clear up a question from long ago.

FLorange44

I remember how disappointed I was. That and Sam Perkins

 

[Col. Bleep]

It's too bad the Orange didn't get him.
His freshman year would have enabled them to have both Bouie and Bowie in the front court.

Meanwhile...Sam Bowie was named to the 1980 Olympic team which never went to Moscow because the US boycotted the Olympics that year to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But it was quite a squad and went 5-1 on a barnstorming tour again various NBA all-star lineups.

From Wikipedia:
The 1980 U.S. team, was the youngest American national team ever assembled. The roster team featured: Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Sam Bowie, Michael Brooks, Bill Hanzlik, Alton Lister, Rodney McCray, Isiah Thomas, Darnell Valentine, Danny Vranes, Buck Williams and Al Wood.[12]

 

[joct]

Tarkanian tells a funny story in his book on recruiting Bowie. He said there was only 1 hotel in the town Bowie's from, so that's where he always stayed when in town. He ran into Leonard Hamilton who was then a UK assistant recruiting Bowie. The next few times in town, he called the desk asking for Hamilton's room seeing if he was in town, and he was checked in, but never answered the phone. He ran into him after Bowie picked UK and Hamilton said UK rented a room every night for the whole season, so they could drop in whenever necessary.

Of tough guys, thieves and Wildcats

When we recruited, we were realistic. We knew it was difficult for us to get blue-chip players. We had five McDonald’s All-Americas in my 19 ...

lasvegassun.com

 

[florange44]

I remember how disappointed I was. That and Sam Perkins

I remember reading a comment from Sam Perkins recently about his recruiting visit to SU. Can someone summarize it here?

 

[DoctorBombay]

I remember how disappointed I was. That and Sam Perkins

Really thought we had Perkins.

 

[Briancuse]

If I had a nickel for every big time recruit that we almost got.

 

[obokoh4mvp]

I remember how disappointed I was. That and Sam Perkins

Perkins went to my high school. Shaker High School in Albany area, they still have his jersey hanging up outside the gym in a trophy case, but other than that you would have no idea who he was or that he went to Shaker.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

It's too bad the Orange didn't get him.
His freshman year would have enabled them to have both Bouie and Bowie in the front court.

Man, that would’ve been confusing.

 

[hungrychuck]

I was watching the SEC Storied special last night on Sam Bowie.

Sam was The #1 recruit in the country out of Pennsylvania in ~1982. Syracuse thought we had a great chance to get him but he ended up going to Kentucky.

In the special, Sam was talking about recruiting and how much fun he had. He said “I told Jim Boeheim that I had the most fun on the Syracuse trip”. No wonder we thought we had a chance.

He also said “Kentucky literally rolled out the red carpet” and commented about all the schools he visited.

I always wondered why we didn’t get him and assumed Kentucky just paid him. They might have, and the story did not go into that at all, but from the story it is clear that the Kentucky on campus visit was on a whole different level than ours was at that time.

Helps to clear up a question from long ago.

FLorange44

Class of 1979. I met him in the SU locker room at Cole Fieldhouse in Maryland after SU lost the ECAC championship to Georgetown. Seemed a really nice kid and yeah, the feeling was he was coming here.

 

[hungrychuck]

Man, that would’ve been confusing.

View attachment 178660

Hilarious photo. Darryl looks like he's noticing the screw up on a video screen. And Rosie looks like he ate his former self for lunch.

 

[Sherman20]

Perkins went to my high school. Shaker High School in Albany area, they still have his jersey hanging up outside the gym in a trophy case, but other than that you would have no idea who he was or that he went to Shaker.

Tarkanian tells a funny story in his book on recruiting Bowie. He said there was only 1 hotel in the town Bowie's from, so that's where he always stayed when in town. He ran into Leonard Hamilton who was then a UK assistant recruiting Bowie. The next few times in town, he called the desk asking for Hamilton's room seeing if he was in town, and he was checked in, but never answered the phone. He ran into him after Bowie picked UK and Hamilton said UK rented a room every night for the whole season, so they could drop in whenever necessary.

Of tough guys, thieves and Wildcats

When we recruited, we were realistic. We knew it was difficult for us to get blue-chip players. We had five McDonald’s All-Americas in my 19 ...

lasvegassun.com

In JB’s book, he says he rented an apartment in Albany for several months while they they were recruiting Perkins so he could attend his games, etc. And as a young coach, he really thought he could land him. After losing Perkins to UNC, he says he learned it’s almost impossible to beat our UNC or UK (and later Duke) for a recruit they really want.

 

[joct]

In JB’s book, he says he rented an apartment in Albany for several months while they they were recruiting Perkins so he could attend his games, etc. And as a young coach, he really thought he could land him. After losing Perkins to UNC, he says he learned it’s almost impossible to beat our UNC or UK (and later Duke) for a recruit they really want.

Good call -- I had forgotten that from the book.