The danger of the term “upside” has just reared its ugly head again.
Peace out,¬†Sean Williams, your 6’11” frame will be missed (on the frat row party scene at least.)
Williams was a mellow, easygoing kid who never had any problems up on the Hill, save for finding his feet on Jim Boeheim court.
He’s leaving simply because he wasn’t going to play for the ‘Cuse, with Ricky Jackson set to take over at center once Arinze Onuaku graduates,¬†Baye Moussa Keita officially on the 2010 docket,¬†Fab Melo looming his head into the Orangesphere.
This all brings you back to the great summer of 2007, when the ‘Cuse had all it’s ducks in a row.¬†The third rated recruiting classes touted names like Jackson, Jonny Flynn, and Donte Greene, with enough hype to satisfy a fanbase that labored through an N.I.T. berth in the previous year.
Even Williams was given the “upside” term, a project player a la Arinze Onuaku, who could be molded into a great player thanks to his tremendous wingspan and lengthy limbs.
They called themselves the dynasty, and everytime they made a spectacular play in the dome, they would put their hands up in a diamond as they yelled to the student section.
The dynasty symbols had the campus in a Fizz, with middle-aged white men across the blogosphere trying to figure out what on earth they were doing.
Look at what exists of the Dynasty today. Greene and Flynn are gone, Williams has transferred, so now Scoop and Ricky are the only remaining members of a class that was supposed to deliver more than an N.I.T. bid and one sweet sixteen.
Things like this put the whole Scout and Rivals’ cradle-robbing player rankings into the question: How do you judge talent that correlates to the level of D-1 or pro basketball?
But it’s not to say that one shouldn’t be excited about this years class, or the 2010 unit that may well be a Top-10 group by the time they arrive. It’s good to know that Boeheim and Hopkins continue to bring in the best guys in the country.
So¬†The Fizz would like to give the proper send-off: this one’s for you, Sean.
