Red was a fine player and had a solid career here but he came came in hyped much like Paul Harris would years later. He was supposed to be our David Thompson or Darrell Griffith -- hard to live up to those comparisons.
Add two more names, Rick Harmon and Michael Brown, huge talents that didn't use the possibilities
Harmon hurt his knee and was never the same player after that. Before the knee, he played alot like Brandon Triche. Michael Brown,Mike Jones and especially Josh Wright have no such excuses.
Yep - that's right about Ricky Harmon (that's what everyone called him back then). A bunch of years ago, my wife and I went to a bar in South Jersey (which is where he went to high school). The Nerds were playing. When we sat down, I noticed a bouncer that looked familiar. I asked the waitress, "Is that, by any chance, Ricky Harmon?" She looked at me a bit strangely, and said, "yeah, it is.". This was long after he left SU with the others after their freshman year (I can't remember the others or where he went, but Ron Payton stayed). So, she sent him over. He was genuinely shocked and pleased that I recognized him. Sat with us for 15-20 minutes and just talked. Really nice guy. He said leaving SU was the biggest mistake he ever made. We drank for free that night.
Yep - that's right about Ricky Harmon (that's what everyone called him back then). A bunch of years ago, my wife and I went to a bar in South Jersey (which is where he went to high school). The Nerds were playing. When we sat down, I noticed a bouncer that looked familiar. I asked the waitress, "Is that, by any chance, Ricky Harmon?" She looked at me a bit strangely, and said, "yeah, it is.". This was long after he left SU with the others after their freshman year (I can't remember the others or where he went, but Ron Payton stayed). So, she sent him over. He was genuinely shocked and pleased that I recognized him. Sat with us for 15-20 minutes and just talked. Really nice guy. He said leaving SU was the biggest mistake he ever made. We drank for free that night.
Gotta be Mike Jones and Josh Wright. Both just pissed away whatever talent and opportunity they had, both at SU and afterwards. Total and complete disappointments with no worthy contributions made while on the roster.
and Chris Zerebko
I'm with u man... I didn't have a problem with Forth... ya he'd awkwardly miss a gimme every now and then, but he ate up space and played hard.
What's funny with Forth is that playing AAU he was a totally different player. He seemed much more at ease running the floor and shooting 10 to 15 footers. When you watched him in HS games and at Syracuse he was definite more tentative and seemed "afraid". I think he should not be even mentioned in this thread, but I'll never forget that NCAA game vs Alabama where JB benched him after him playing only seven minutes. His stat line was four offensive rebounds and three turnovers. That was a game that we never should have lost but Bama forced 17 turnovers and DNic was in foul trouble and never got started.
Forth never became an AA, but how he ends up on a list of disappointments is beyond me. 4 year starter, did everything asked, very coachable, great representative of SU in perpetuity, NC, had big games in the NC run. He was a highly regarded recruit because you can't teach someone to be 7 feet tall, and he played in Albany against marginal talent. JB has a soft spot for local talent. Any more of an expectation than what he gave is just uninformed and unfair. His on court contributions are worthy of the middle of the SU pack, but nowhere near the bottom.
Yep - that's right about Ricky Harmon (that's what everyone called him back then). A bunch of years ago, my wife and I went to a bar in South Jersey (which is where he went to high school). The Nerds were playing. When we sat down, I noticed a bouncer that looked familiar. I asked the waitress, "Is that, by any chance, Ricky Harmon?" She looked at me a bit strangely, and said, "yeah, it is.". This was long after he left SU with the others after their freshman year (I can't remember the others or where he went, but Ron Payton stayed). So, she sent him over. He was genuinely shocked and pleased that I recognized him. Sat with us for 15-20 minutes and just talked. Really nice guy. He said leaving SU was the biggest mistake he ever made. We drank for free that night.
