Soriano and St. John’s Big Men

austour said:
Sean frickin' Muto anyone?
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I got a great Sean Muto story. May have told it on here before. Back in the 80s I was at the club Johnny Rocket on Broadway and 21st. It was maybe 2:00AM and I'm pretty lit up. I see Sean Muto and go up to him. He's even more lit up then me. In spite of the fact that you couldn't miss him, no one at the club knew who he was. He was pretty pumped when I recognized him. Very open to hanging, chatting and having a few more cocktails, not that either of us needed any more. Really great guy.

I started good naturedly ribbing him. Told him that Louie doesn't know he's doing, wasting his talent on the bench, and that he ought to consider going pro because he'd be a first round pick for sure. He was high fiving me the entire conversation and I know he left the club that night thinking about the NBA draft. I'm sure he forgot the entire conversation by the morning, or he came to his senses when he sobered up. lol.
 
Zeke Zawoluk was a good pick, although he was only 6'6".

Rub the dust off because in the mid 40's, center Harry
Boykoff was a big star with Dick McGuire feeding him.
 
swish said:
Zeke Zawoluk was a good pick, although he was only 6'6".

Rub the dust off because in the mid 40's, center Harry
Boykoff was a big star with Dick McGuire feeding him.
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It’s pretty hard not to give it to Walter Berry . He was College BB Player of the year in 1986 . He had a monster year .

In the 60’s Era , Sonny Dove was the best . Despite his size 6’7”” and slender build . He was also on 2 nd Team All American and a number 1 pick of the Pistons .

Joel is putting up great numbers in his 5 th year and could be rising in NBA Scouts polls

If those Scouts are thinking Clingan as a 1 st Rounder, how can Joel not be ? He gets up and down the Court better than both , Edey and Clingan . Quicker than both too .
 
Mean Gene said:
Jeff Allen, Mohamed Diakite
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I think Jeff Allen used to hang with my cousin back in the 80's. It was either him or Muto. Funny thing is my cousin is 5'5" in shoes. They were an odd couple. He's also a facist but that's beyond the point.
 
Jeff allen. Above average on defense. Below average on offense. I went up to Providence to see the johnnies. The johnnies won by one point.
In the game there was a violation that I had never seen before or since. The ref blew the whistle when the ref said Allen took too much time to shoot the free throw.
 
monte said:
I got a great Sean Muto story. May have told it on here before. Back in the 80s I was at the club Johnny Rocket on Broadway and 21st. It was maybe 2:00AM and I'm pretty lit up. I see Sean Muto and go up to him. He's even more lit up then me. In spite of the fact that you couldn't miss him, no one at the club knew who he was. He was pretty pumped when I recognized him. Very open to hanging, chatting and having a few more cocktails, not that either of us needed any more. Really great guy.

I started good naturedly ribbing him. Told him that Louie doesn't know he's doing, wasting his talent on the bench, and that he ought to consider going pro because he'd be a first round pick for sure. He was high fiving me the entire conversation and I know he left the club that night thinking about the NBA draft. I'm sure he forgot the entire conversation by the morning, or he came to his senses when he sobered up. lol.
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Pretty sure that’s either the night you took 3 chicks home from some club met vacation you were on
 
I was thinking of this very question since yesterday's Xavier game. Great answers.

I don't go as far back as Paultz but saw him as a pro. I think the general consensus was that if not for the period in the ABA where he continually improved, would not have been an NBA center. So I would say right now as a collegian Soriano is better than Paultz was at St. John"s.

LeRoy Ellis was a decent pro and legit big man. For this conversation I'd only include true centers and guys I've seen.

Jeff Allen - competent college center. Formed good tandem with Wennington. Avg 5.9 ppg 4.3 rebounds, but 10.6 ppg 6.6 rpg as senior starter. 3rd round nba pick.

Bill Wennington - solid center at sju who competed well against Ewing. Could shoot, run the floor, play defense. 1st round nba pick. 12.5, 6.4 as senior, 8.2 ppg 5.2 rebounds overall.

Jayson Williams - good college player, better nba player until injury. Avgd 14.9, 6.8 over 3 seasons but 19.5, 7.9 as junior. Injured ltd sr yr to 13 games. Still nba 1st round pick.

Zendon Hamilton - solid college career but could not live up to very lofty expectation of eventual ncaa contender. Athletic center. Avg 15.9 ppg 8.3 rpg. Played parts of 5 nba seasons. Avg 20.8, 10.3 as soph

Rob Werdann - very skilled player especially for a big man. Defend, rebound, pass, score down low and mid range, second round nba pick. 9.7 ppg 7 rpg at sju. Parts of 3 seasons in nba.

Chris Obekpa - shot blocking machine avgd 3.4 blocks over 3 year career. 4.0 ppg 6 rpg.

Lamont hamilton - 11.8, 6.6 over 4 years. 13.4 ppg 6.5 reb as senior. 6-10 but more of a forward. Suffered being part of dismal norm years.

Wayne McKoy - most hyped center in our history. As close to Felipe as anyone we recruited. At 6-8 and not ever in top shape, college career couldnt come close to expectation of next jabbar as a 7th grader. Still, 13.0 ppg and 7.0 rebounds over 4 years was no slouch. Tandem with pal Reggie Carter and strong cast of some good johnnie teams. 3rd round nba pick. High pt 14.9 ppg 7.8 reb as soph. So heralded looie hired willis reed to school him.


Joel Soriano - has averaged 10.0 and 8.5 reb over career. Avg 15.2, 11.9 last season. Meteoric improvement.



Ok. Subjective ranking

1. Jayson Williams
2. Soriano
3. Wennington
4. Zendon Hamilton
5. Wayne McKoy
6. Lamont Hamilton
7. Jeff Allen
8. Chris obekpa

Not quantitative and based on their high point of their career.

Not a bad list but shows how hard it is to find true centers.
 
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Marillac2 said:
Owens was as good of a college player as any of them. I wish he was a little more disciplined while he was here, but that fell more on the staff.

Soriano is so steady. I’m really going to miss him next year. My only criticism of him before the season was that, while he was very good, he wasn’t a star. He’s really knocking on that door now IMO.
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Tariq high water mark was 8.7 ppg 5.8 reb as senior. Only 2 year starter so 6.2, 4.7 for career. Can't possibly rank him very highly but was good defender
 
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A wide berth here about what constitutes a big man. Many of these players (Berry, Williams, Burrell, Grant, Glover, etc.) were not true centers, even though they played there in college. Others (Allen, Owens, Obepka, etc.) were very limited in terms of time here or playing time. If you limit it to true centers who played full careers here, in the post 1975ish era, IMHO (probably missing someone):

1. Joel Soriano
2. Zendon Hamilton
3. Lamont Hamilton
4. Werdann
5. Wennington
6. Wayne McKoy
7. Shawnelle Scott


But, some of the best we've had here at the position (adjusted for the eras they played in) were probably pre-1975 - guys like Zawoluk, George Johnson, Ellis, etc.
 
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