Ernie Sears

Theo

Patrick Christopher and Joe Shipp.

Christoper was 1st team all-conference his junior and senior years. Shipp was probably the runner-up for conference PoY, his senior year.

You hardly ever hear us wax nostalgic about those two guys. I guess I mean under-appreciated nowadays.

RFK--a walk-on w/ what turned out to be a deadly jumper.

UrsaMajor said:

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RFK--a walk-on w/ what turned out to be a deadly jumper.

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Beat fucla badly in LA

RFK and Keith Smith. Smith barely played as Kevin Johnson's backup. But had a great junior and senior year.

Most of the players listed so far: Theo, Kravish, Shipp, Kamp, Randle, RFK...were fan favorites, lauded extensively on this board and some even winning All-Pac or POY honors. Some were so loved by fans they may even be overrated at this point..Unless we mean underrated as recruits or freshmen? I do remember arguing with the majority on this board who preferred Knezevich over Randle as our PG. That is more common, initially fans under-rate a guy like Thurman and then celebrate him as proves them wrong and he earns a bigger role on the court.

UrsaMajor said:

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RFK--a walk-on w/ what turned out to be a deadly jumper.

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The word was underappreciate.

BearGreg said:

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Players who fans or the media seem to under-appreciate relative to their impact on the Bears winning on the court.

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Keith Smith.

Basically had the misfortune of pretty much being the bridge between two lottery picks at his position. He lead us to our first NCAA since Newell. IMO, hands down the third best PG at Cal in the past 45 years. I don't think he was underrated at the time, but for some reason he always goes forgotten.

calumnus said:

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Most of the players listed so far: Theo, Kravish, Shipp, Kamp, Randle, RFK...were fan favorites, lauded extensively on this board and some even winning All-Pac or POY honors. Some were so loved by fans they may even be overrated at this point..Unless we mean underrated as recruits or freshmen? I do remember arguing with the majority on this board who preferred Knezevich over Randle as our PG. That is more common, initially fans under-rate a guy like Thurman and then celebrate him as proves them wrong and he earns a bigger role on the court.

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My take on the question was guys that NOWADAYS we don't seem to remember too much when thinking of past good players, which is why I mentioned Christopher and Shipp. They were appreciated at the time.

my memory of Theo was he was the 5th guy, with Randle and PC the showtime players

Theo would sit back in the shadows and hit those deadly open 3s

He never had to force those shots because most of the defensive attention were on others

And besides his shooting, Theo was the glue guy, just making plays

Brian Hendrick

While he was at Cal he was a beast and was acknowledged as such but because he made no impact in the NBA he seems to be underappreciated.

In a similar vein I would go with Sean Lampley. Absolute stud college player who seems forgotten in the Cal pantheon.

OaktownBear said:

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BearGreg said:

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Players who fans or the media seem to under-appreciate relative to their impact on the Bears winning on the court.

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Keith Smith.

Basically had the misfortune of pretty much being the bridge between two lottery picks at his position. He lead us to our first NCAA since Newell. IMO, hands down the third best PG at Cal in the past 45 years. I don't think he was underrated at the time, but for some reason he always goes forgotten.

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There was this other guy inbetween. I think he had a connection - an in with the coach. Kid transferred to Cal to play for the coach. Not many did.

Keith Smith was my introduction to Cal basketball. He played with such a grace. Beautiful to watch. He's on my personal Mt. Rushmore of Cal basketball players. The win over Villanova is one of my all-time favorite sports experiences. And that NCAA run and win over Bobby Knight/Indiana was pure magic.

Hendrick is another on my Mt. Rushmore. Never seen anyone work as hard as BH. His battles with Adam Keefe (thanks for the assist, ncbear) were epic.

Prentice McGruder.

A crucial, but very underrated part of the '97 Sweet16 team. His ability to penetrate, dish, and defend, combined with his utter inability to shoot the ball made him the prototype for Rajon Rondo.

Brian Wethers. In watching Cal basketball for 55 years, I believe there was never a player who gradually got better from freshman year to senior year as Brian. By the time he was a senior he could do everything. Never got the props that he deserved.

drizzlybear said:

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Prentice McGruder.

A crucial, but very underrated part of the '97 Sweet16 team. His ability to penetrate, dish, and defend, combined with his utter inability to shoot the ball made him the prototype for Rajon Rondo.

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Beat me to it. Without his gear in the mechanism, the machine stopped.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Brian Wethers. In watching Cal basketball for 55 years, I believe there was never a player who gradually got better from freshman year to senior year as Brian. By the time he was a senior he could do everything. Never got the props that he deserved.

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Also the last player I can remember who had perfected the banked jumper from an angle.

drizzlybear said:

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Hendrick is another on my Mt. Rushmore. Never seen anyone work as hard as BH. His battles with Todd Lichte were epic.

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I think you mean his battles with Adam Keefe - including a winning jumper over Keefe at Maples completing a major Cal comeback from, I believe, 16 points down in the second half.

I like a lot of the names: Smith, Hendricks, McGruder, etc.

Let me thrown anther name: Ryan Anderson. Yes, we knew he was pretty good despite being a somewhat unheralded 3 start recruit. But did anyone think he would have that big of a NBA career. Imagine if he stayed the extra 2 years with Monty the team Cal would have had.

wifeisafurd said:

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I like a lot of the names: Smith, Hendricks, McGruder, etc.

Let me thrown anther name: Ryan Anderson. Yes, we knew he was pretty good despite being a somewhat unheralded 3 start recruit. But did anyone think he would have that big of a NBA career. Imagine if he stayed the extra 2 years with Monty the team Cal would have had.

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I can't understand why Ryan didn't stay at Cal, especially after Monty offered him a place to live, the master bedroom, in fact.

wifeisafurd said:

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I like a lot of the names: Smith, Hendricks, McGruder, etc.

Let me thrown anther name: Ryan Anderson. Yes, we knew he was pretty good despite being a somewhat unheralded 3 start recruit. But did anyone think he would have that big of a NBA career. Imagine if he stayed the extra 2 years with Monty the team Cal would have had.

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The frustrations of a Cal Fan: I still salivate at what Monty could've done with the Randle/Christoper/Theo teams and adding in Ryan Anderson. The way RA could score from anywhere, I kept expecting him to bust out with a HUGE scoring game or two, but, alas, he left before he could do that.

UrsaMajor said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Brian Wethers. In watching Cal basketball for 55 years, I believe there was never a player who gradually got better from freshman year to senior year as Brian. By the time he was a senior he could do everything. Never got the props that he deserved.

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Also the last player I can remember who had perfected the banked jumper from an angle.

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Exactly In the last 20 years this guy had the best bank shot around.

BearGreg said:

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Players who fans or the media seem to under-appreciate relative to their impact on the Bears winning on the court.

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Harper Kamp, Anwar McQueen, Theo (yes we loved him, but he was pretty amazing), Sanders-Frison, Solomon Hughes, Matt Beeasuart (never could spell his name), Brian Hendricks (the Duke NCAA game was a reminder), Monty Buckley, Martin Smith (great floor vision), etc.

wifeisafurd said:

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I like a lot of the names: Smith, Hendricks, McGruder, etc.

Let me thrown anther name: Ryan Anderson. Yes, we knew he was pretty good despite being a somewhat unheralded 3 start recruit. But did anyone think he would have that big of a NBA career. Imagine if he stayed the extra 2 years with Monty the team Cal would have had.

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I believe RA, along with Randle, were four-stars by the time the rankings ended.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Brian Wethers. In watching Cal basketball for 55 years, I believe there was never a player who gradually got better from freshman year to senior year as Brian. By the time he was a senior he could do everything. Never got the props that he deserved.

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One of my favorite things about following Cal Basketball is the players that stay for four years and get better every year, culminating in a great senior season (or at least, by far their best year as a senior).

Leonard Taylor
Wethers
Joe Shipp
Michael Chavez (never achieved a high level of play, but improved)
Keith Smith
Sean Lampley
Richard Solomon

(many more certainly)

I thought Max Zhang was going to be like that and was disappointed when he left after a redshirt year plus two years playing.

Big C said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Brian Wethers. In watching Cal basketball for 55 years, I believe there was never a player who gradually got better from freshman year to senior year as Brian. By the time he was a senior he could do everything. Never got the props that he deserved.

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One of my favorite things about following Cal Basketball is the players that stay for four years and get better every year, culminating in a great senior season (or at least, by far their best year as a senior).

Leonard Taylor
Wethers
Joe Shipp
Michael Chavez (never achieved a high level of play, but improved)
Keith Smith
Sean Lampley
Richard Solomon

(many more certainly)

I thought Max Zhang was going to be like that and was disappointed when he left after a redshirt year plus two years playing.

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My underappreciated team off the top of my head. Not necessarily in their day, but now:

PG: Keith Smith
SG: Chris Washington
SF: Roy Fisher
PF: Sean Lampley
C: Brian Hendrick

Off the bench:

Prentice MacGruder
Ayinde Ubaka
Michael Gill
Leonard Taylor
Mark McNamara

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Brian Wethers. In watching Cal basketball for 55 years, I believe there was never a player who gradually got better from freshman year to senior year as Brian. By the time he was a senior he could do everything. Never got the props that he deserved.

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+1

Yes! Thank you for the correction!

Idk why people are saying Sean Lampley was underrated. He was the entire team at the time; burst out of the gate as a freshman and continued to improve. Didn't he get accolades, and didn't he set the Cal scoring record? I(those are not rhetorical questions I really am not sure, but I thought he did). I feel like he got lots of accolades and continues to be well-regarded. Maybe it's because he didn't make it in the nba?

Like the Roy Fisher call. Similar game as Lampley: undersized F, very effective around the basket, and a quality perimeter shot. And weren't they both left-handed?

drizzlybear said:

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Idk why people are saying Sean Lampley was underrated. He was the entire team at the time; burst out of the gate as a freshman and continued to improve. Didn't he get accolades, and didn't he set the Cal scoring record? I(those are not rhetorical questions I really am not sure, but I thought he did). I feel like he got lots of accolades and continues to be well-regarded. Maybe it's because he didn't make it in the nba?

Like the Roy Fisher call. Similar game as Lampley: undersized F, very effective around the basket, and a quality perimeter shot. And weren't they both left-handed?

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Lampley owned all the Cal records, was named Pac-10 Player of the Year and was an honorable mention All-American and 2nd Round NBA draft pick. G