Inspired by a
great read from Bleacher Report about the best candidates for Rookie of the
Year NOT named Anthony Davis, I started reminiscing about the draft class of a
decade ago.
The Draft
Class of 2002 was seen as one full of promise. It boasted of one of the best
talents to ever come out of the US NCAA ranks – Duke’s Jay Williams. It also
held the promise of one of the most intriguing international prospects ever –
China’s 7’6 giant, Yao Ming. Aside from these guys, several other names were
hyped to be potential stars – Duke’s Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Kansas’s Drew Gooden,
Maryland’s Chris Wilcox, Memphis’s Dajuan Wagner, UConn’s Caron Butler, and
Indiana’s Jared Jeffries. Prep-to-pro prospect Amar’e Stoudemire turned a lot
of heads along with early foreign entrants Nikoloz Tsikitishvili, Nene Hilario,
and Nenad Krstic. Unbeknownst to everyone, however, perhaps the most enduring
and consistent player of this particular rookie set wouldn’t even be picked in
the first round.
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| Jay Williams was taken with the 2nd overall pick in 2002. How did he fare? (image from ABC News) |
Ten years
later, how has this rookie class fared? Who remains, and who’s out? Who
blossomed into stars, and who turned out to be busts?
Let’s find
out.