Most Underrated and Overrated College Prospects of All Time.

[MiA's Finest]

There's been alot of times where #1 picks have disappointed us and I think the most disappointing was Greg Oden. But there has been times where draft picks suprise us. Not that many come to mind.

[Scott812313]

Most overrated I would say: Michael Olowakandi or Greg Oden, probably Oden because he overshadowed the best prospect in the past 10 years in KD.

Most underrated would have to be Kevin Durant. I literally think me and Bill Simmons were the only people on earth that were baffled at anyone even considering Oden over him. KD was the most dominant offensive player that college basketball had seen since Chris Jackson. Throw in the fact that he's 6'10" and a terrific rebounder and it makes it even more egregious.

[viner]

I dont know how you can say KD is underrated when he was picked 2nd overall, that just shows how overrated Oden was.

[MiA's Finest]

I think he is saying that he is underrated because he was overshadowed by a truly mediocre player.

[viner]

I know that, I am just saying that just shows how overrated Greg Oden was.

[rangerrick012]

Am I going to have to defend Oden here? The guy had flashes of great stuff in college and if he had continued to progress without injuries should be a solid starting C right now, even if he probably was never going to be the Bill Russell-type player some people hyped him as. But the big man is almost always overrated to a degree, Oden was just a victim of it and the injuries. And no one thought ALL of the scouts could be wrong, everyone had Oden as a higher prospect than Durant.

Sorry don't want to turn this into a Durant/Oden thread, but 99% of us would have made the same choice as the Blazers did that year, you don't pass on big man and scorers don't always translate from college to the pros. Obviously KD has, but who could've seen that coming and been 100% sure of it?

And to answer the OP - I guess technically he's not a college prospect, but Detroit picking Darko over Melo still baffles me to this day. I guess Melo would be underrated in that regard.

[Taur3asi3]

Quote: Originally Posted by rangerrick012

Sorry don't want to turn this into a Durant/Oden thread, but 99% of us would have made the same choice as the Blazers did that year, you don't pass on big man and scorers don't always translate from college to the pros. Obviously KD has, but who could've seen that coming and been 100% sure of it?

Usually I agree with this 99.9% of the time but here I can't. I think if not everyone then an awful lot of people knew that Durant was going to be an amazing player in the NBA. I didn't see much of anything in Oden while he was in college, I wouldn't have taken him if I had the 1st 5 or 10 picks that year. Especially if I was the Blazers, who have the worst history in the world when it comes to drafting big men. Portland was just tempting fate by taking him 1st.

And this is coming from a guy who would take Olajuwon over Jordan every time if I was Houston and I can even understand why the Blazers took Bowie over Jordan.

[bigeastbumrush]

First name that popped in my head was Mateen Cleaves.

Second name was Christian Laetner.

Third name was Eric Montross...