From Grantland: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9038798/a-tournament-determine-most-hated-college-basketball-players-last-30-years
Is Aaron Craft really hated that much?
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Is there any way Christian Laettner doesn't win this?
Only if he meets Joakim Noah in the finals. By far the two easiest picks for me personally.
Exactly what I was thinking. Christian Laetner #1. Joakim Noah #2.
I was thinking Noah #1 and Laetner #2
He should have a handful against Hansbrough.
I always got the impression about Laettner that he'd love to have a handful of Hansbrough...not that there's anything wrong with that.
He locked this up as soon as he kicked the kid from UK......
Adam Morrison and Joakim Noah got bad draws. I thought they would both make the Final Four.
I have nothing to add to this conversation other than the fact that I LOVE that Duke gets their own bracket.
Yes... that is a riot. The deserve their own bracket. It's a guaranteed final Flour appearance.
Couldn't agree more. Fabulous! Screw Duke!
Those who stay will be CHAMPIONS!
~Bo Schembechler
My final 4 based on this bracket:
JJ Redick
Reggie Miller (maybe added some for his NBA career)
Jalen Rose
Joakim Noah
I'd sub in Laettner for Redick, and our brackets are the same. I've got Jalen Rose beating Laettner in the finals.
Hands down - it's J. Noah for me!
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
I still think he looks remarkably like a Quiznos creature:
Noah gets my vote.
And this my upvote, well done.
"Success - it's what you do with what you got" - Woody Hayes
You, sir, get my first ever upvote
Haha gracias
Great idea. I would have to say, though, that you want players on this list to certain degree. Hatred generally equals success. I love Aaron Craft, but can see why other fans would hate him or at least hate going against him.
Okay, sorry. I don't hate Aaron Craft. (How can anybody hate Aaron Craft?) And just to show that it's not race-based, I'd expect to have seen Scott Skiles in there. And no; not Aaron Craft.
Annnnnnnnd Troy Smith might be on a list for football. Simply because he was so good. Aaron is on the list for the rubics cube thing on national television. You are really impressed by that or you think he is an a$$hole showoff. I myself was totally impressed.
I thought the Rubik's cube thing was fantastic.
I hate to be "that guy" but did anyone else notice the amount of white guys in the bracket? Easy to hate I guess. Also goes along with the ESPN article about Craft.
No doubt, especially in the 00s. Duke is probably to be expected given that they seem to have a high percentage of high profile white players, but overall the percentage is much lower than what is represented here. Strange. Maybe it is the scrappy stereotype that seems to follow white players of all sports.
That's majorly Duke's fault though - and truthfully it does have a little something to do with them being white given the fact that they're really solid players at the college level and their skill-sets get to shine more at elite/consistent programs, as opposed to the next level. However, because of ESPN/Media hyperbole we have them shoved down our throats more often than not (despite if they actually deserve the accolades or not), and also, IMHO because of the disparity of their presence as marquee guys at the next level too to some extent.
But to reiterate - this is mostly because just about everyone hates Duke basketball.
"Leave...Your...Mark..."
Does coach K purposely recruit mostly white guys or do elite white players flock to Duke?
I've always hated Duke for it's elitist attitude and coach K's bitchy, whiny voice. Plus what really gets under my skin is how Kryszewski has something against JUCO players and won't recruit them. I grew up a fan of Bearcats basketball under Bob Huggins and Duke has always represented the Polar opposite of a Huggins-led team. Its a damn shame the Dukies (little shits) had to be so successful over the years.
At least we can throw lacrosse rapists in their smug little faces!
Rant over...
"Get him a body bag, Yeah!"
Uhh, by lacrosse rapists, do you mean the false accusations of rape levied against Duke Lacrosse players in 06? The one in which the accused were so obviously innocent that the lead prosecutor was disbarred?
I hate Duke as much as the next OSU fan, guy, but let's have a little class. That's not really anything to joke about.
Noah has grown on me as a pro. He's really worked hard to become a solid NBA player-with that said in college he was a tool.
Still, no one is worse than ol' Psycho T. Tyler Hansbrough is the biggest douche in college basketball history-in my opinion he's totally unrivaled.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
I can't believe that Craft has the same seed as Iverson.
I can't believe that Aaron Craft's name is anywhere near this entire bracket. What were they thinking?
Indiana, like Duke, deserved its own bracket.
And call me a homer, but Jalen Rose? Really? I mean, wasn't he one of the most popular college players in a generation? They could have put Chris Webber in, and he'd get my vote to the elite eight at least. I thought that some smartass might have put Webber in, in the Duke bracket.
My opinion may be an unpopular among buckeye fans, but personally I like Jalen Rose. This also might be because I wasn't alive to see him play, but still. Plus who hated Patrick Ewing? Reggie Miller deserves the one in that bracket.
Perhaps it is because of my relative youth, but I was also somewhat surprised by Ewing's inclusion... was he a heel during his collegiate years, I gather?
Austin Rivers shouldn't even be on this bracket. He wasn't around long enough to build up enough hatred from non-Duke homers.
There's only really been 2 guys who played @ Duke that I've actually liked: 1.) Grant Hill, and 2.) Kyrie Irving (I'm a Cavs fan)
i would take rivers off and replace him with...drum roll...Jon Scheyer
If you went back 41 years, I got 4 for you: Corky Taylor, Ron Behagen, Jim Brewer and Dave Winfield.
All #1 seeds.
"It's just another case of there you are". ~ Doc (1918-2012)
To this day I hate all of them..............Luke Witte didn't deserve that.actually no one deserves what they did to Luke......I remember when that happened ......It looked like a televised gang beat down
Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. Football is no different, the guys down in the trenches win the games, not the coach.
The worst part of that mugging was that Fred Taylor and Jimmy Crum (OSU's play-by-play man) were never the same afterward.
"It's just another case of there you are". ~ Doc (1918-2012)
Obviously this happened before my time (hell, my Dad was still in high school), so I'd never seen the video. It is unbelievable to me that this ever occurred, and that more or less nothing happened to any of these guys. I'm embedding the video so other "young'uns" like me can see what we're talking about:
I was shocked when I found this last year, too. I was digging around for precedent after the UC/XU basketbrawl. I couldn't believe what a light slap on the wrist those players got, especially a couple of the worst offenders (the UC/XU players got off easier than the Minnesota players). Apparently, nobody really cares that much if you stomp on a guy's face in college basketball.
I was hoping for this posting. Dave Winfield is my all time most hated player for eternity in any sport. I was young but I remember this (my dad came unglued as we watched it) and folks in Columbus demanded assault charges be placed by the police. I have often wondered why when we have such obvious public beatings which are in no way a part of the sport it's not prosecuted. This was horrible. The fact this man is in anybody's Hall of Fame is crazy considering what he did. He should have got 3-5 years in prison for 3rd degree attempted murder. When you are his size and you stomp on the head of a man already down, you are trying to kill him and no, I don't care if you are 20 and stupid.
So Winfield got away with this and a kid eating a pop-tart just got suspended from school. But no political replies or I'm in trouble here!!!! I'm just pointing out where we were and where we are.
Beyond that, I laughed that Duke had it's own bracket. They get what they deserve.
....and I'm Go Zags tonight. (Durn those down votes!)
Holy Crap, I can't believe I have never seen that! Thanks for posting. That was absurd.
no doubt -
If you went back far enough, Kent Benson would be a top seed. I never knew of a Big Ten player who drew more cheap fouls, or who got away with more chippy contact, than Benson.
WHERE IS KHALID EL AMIN?
That guy should have easily made this bracket.
probably in line for Cool Ranch Locos Tacos
Save some for me!!
I wasn't a big Jake Voskuhl fan from that UConn team either.
On behalf of the state of Minnesota, I apologize for the street mugging (way before my time) as well as Khalid el Amin (from Minneapolis). The entire state regrets having been associated with either.
Bobby Hurley should be a 2 or 3 seed, even if he is in the most stacked division ever.
Laettner wins in a landslide, I'd have Hurley and Reddick behind him.
The postgame show is brought to you by... Christ, I can't find it. The hell with it...
Laettner epitomized the arrogant preppy rich white kid and backed it up with his stomping on players chests and getting away with it giving you the impression he was privileged. He made it worse by playing the way he did. However, I always severely disagreed with him being added to the original Dream Team. He had no business being on a roster of legends, I don't care what he accomplished. That famous Dream Team photo he sticks out like a sore thumb.
Noah should just be on that list for being the ugliest player in the history of the universe. Dude makes Gheorghe Muresan look like Megan Fox.
Notice how many of those players in the bracket went to Dukie.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
Yea it's something like all 8 of them in the Duke bracket lol
"Who cares? Go Bucks." - Aaron Untch
JJ Redick, Fife, Noah, Tyler Hansbourogh
“Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.” - Woody
I'm not sure if Laettner will win or not because he was done playing college ball more than 20 years ago. He was a villain here in Kentucky though. Stomping on the dude's chest while he was laying on the ground, then hitting "the shot" at the end of that game to send Duke to the final four, he'll always be a hated man in Kentucky.
An easy 2nd for me is Steve Wojehowski. I hated how he played the game. He was annoying, over emotional on the court, and to top it off. All the announcers loved him. My favorite play he was involved in, came when he dove on top of Jamal Magloire on the floor in the Elite 8. When Magloire twisted him into a pretzel on the floor and Wojo was rolling around in pain on the floor, the announcers were OUTRAGED by what Magloire had just done to poor little Wojo. Even though Wojo initiated the whole thing.
Well, thanks for making me feel old Talbert. I have a feeling you're correct though. If Laettner loses, it will be because it was 20 years ago. As long as I've been watching college basketball (since the mid 80's) he's been the biggest villain I've seen.
My guess though is that one of the younger and more recent players from the 2000's could take the crown.
This is not a contest, its a coronation of Laettner.
And how does Juwan Howard not even make the field?
Also: Greg Anthony
I like Greg Anthony now, but didn't like anyone associated with Tarkanian's UNLV teams back in the day.
Give UNLV credit for destroying Duke by 30 points to win the 1990 national championship. If your not a Duke fan, you have to absolutely LOVE that.
"Get him a body bag, Yeah!"
I have to say Calbert Chaney would be one of my picks too. You couldn't watch a basketball game back in the early 90's without hearing his name mentioned by an announcer. That guy had so much hype around him it was awful. I don't have any problems with the way he played, just the way he was hyped.
We would all hate Craft if he played for another team against us... a smaller, less athletic than many, who distrupts your whole offense and never gets tired and rarely gets in foul trouble is everyone else's nightmare... my worry is that they will whistle him for some early fouls in the Big Dance, it's happened a few times with refs who aren't calling games like they do in the B1G.
D. Anthony
Less athletic than many? I have never thought that about Craft.
Other notable snubs: Chris Webber (can we just include all of the Failed Five?), Oliver Miller, Corliss Williamson, Steve Alford, Damon Bailey, Mark Jackson, and Ramzy (because all those screens are so annoying).
Damon Bailey for sure.
No Bailey is an oversight. They probably should replace Ainge with Bailey, since Ainge shouldn't be eligible (career ended in 1981).
I didn't hate Steve Alford as a person, but I sure hated the way the Hoosiers would set a billion moving screens to get him open.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
Your list is missing Zack Novak! He's the Mike Hart of M*ch*g*n basketball.
How about Cherokee Parks? Easy one for me on the Duke list.....
There's seriously enough hated Duke players to fill this entire bracket.
Agree.....How about Robert "Tractor" Traylor?
jordan hulls has the most sockable face in college basketball right now
That kid has no game all he can do is shoot three's and have dumb Shaggy Rogers hair I want to punch him right in the face every time I see him shoot that shot from his shoulder.
"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault."
--Jack Tatum
...besides Tom Crean.
Looking back on it, I wish Bob Huggins beat this dude senseless while Crean was coach at Marquette.
"Get him a body bag, Yeah!"
Study hard young Kiffin, as you are well on your way to the ranks of VP of douchebaggery.
"Get him a body bag, Yeah!"
I'd like to throw one Tom Coverdale into the mix. I don't think I've hated any basketball player as much as Joakim Noah. The guy is such a jackass. I remember him doing interviews acting like he's all ghetto...while his father was a pro tennis player and his mother was a model. Really toughing it on the streets. Plus, that dance...that horrible horrible dance.
I remember seeing Noah doing an interview where he kept saying the words "Trophies and rings baby, trophies and rings. That's why we play," over and over.
If any Buckeye needs to be on the list I'd like to switch Laurence Funderburke for Craft..Chris Webber is a HUGE ommission...that stupid face he ran back on D with each time he scored was the worst. He should be the #1 seed.
D. Anthony
Dick Vitale would agree with the inclusion of Funderburke. Of course Dickie V would be a #1 seed in the "Most Hated Announcers" bracket.
How did "The Jimmer" not make this list??? And LMAO @ Duke having it's own division.
"Leave...Your...Mark..."
Yes! That's another good one.
“Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.” - Woody
No way! I loved seeing Jimmer score points on points... he was put on the planet to put a ball in a hoop!! He didn't try to hurt anybody or was loud either he just scored
I like football
Montross.
I don't get why Craft is on the list. Because he plays great D? Or he's never out-worked? I don't get it.
He's The Academic All-American of the Year, reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten, was the PG on the #1 overall seed and a final four team the year later. You won't see him asking for attention as he is always the first to talk about the team rather than himself. He's active in giving back to the community, especially with children. Why would anyone hate this? Because he plays the best on-ball defense over the past decade on the perimeter? What? That's pretty sad.
Honestly, a lot of guys on that list really shouldn't be. I never thought Morrison hated until I saw this list.
Yeah, I guess Morrison is the token-Gonzaga representative for this list.
The only thing I remember people hatin' on him about was his creepy junior high mustache & his hair and then him collapsing and bawling on the court after losing to UCLA in the Sweet 16 (that is before he was an NBA bust, not that he's to blame for MJ taking him 3rd overall, but still).
What struck people about the UCLA thing was that Morrison started crying while the game was still technically in progress (and he was in the game instead of on the bench, not that it would have been acceptable on the bench either). I've never seen that before or since from anyone above the Little League level.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
Hey, hey, hey, leave Morrison off the list. The only thing he ever did besides grow long hair (and a Gonzaga tradition, look at Olynyk) he boo-hoo'd after they lost it in the elite 8. He was a national spokesman for type 1 diabetes and I think sometimes flaked out after a game, maybe insuliin driven? I live with a diabetic and his reactions could be consistent with that. Or maybe he was a drama queen, which I'll leave out there but I doubt it since Mark Few doesn't allow that crap.
Carlos Boozer should be on the Duke list. And also how does Derrick Rose not make this list. I could give a crap about Kansas basketball, but when Chalmers hit that 3 to rob Memphis of that title i was estatic!
Carlos Boozer = One of the best/worst names in all of sports.
Make you want to drink....LOL
Speaking of UF big men, how about Andrew DeClercq?
Do you remember Florida's Matt Walsh?
I wouldnt have without the picture, but now I do.
JJ Redick for me
I'm fairly young, so the only two I can remember hating are Noah and Hansbrough. I hated Hansbrough for being seemingly unstoppable, and I hated everything about Noah.
I've attended multiple Buckeye away games, and I can say with utmost certainty.....opposing teams HATE our beloved Crafty. Just start up a conversation with one legitimate Meeeechigan basketball fan, and they'll give you the endless list of no calls that AC gets night in and night out. Haters gunna hate...
Teddy Dupay would be the #1 in my Most Hated NIT. Just missed the cut in this one, I'm sure. One of College Hoops' all time great jerkoffs.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
You are correct sir.
Ahhh - Old Teddy is from my neck of the woods down here in FL...turned into one of the worlds biggest screw ups immediately following his leaving UF. He's the stuff of legend...
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
How about that Henderson douchebag that plays at Ole Miss right now?
If not than I can't imagine how Craft gets the nod over Yancy Gates. I guess little brother UC just isn't relevant enough.
Michael Graham from Georgetown in 1984
Can we insert Zack Novak into the bracket?
I apologize for the gigantic image, I'm new to this
No Kyle "Dracula" Singler in the Duke side??
Instead of one bracket for Dook, they need an entire tournament for them and one for everyone else.
Why isn't Chris Webber in this bracket? Class 1A Doucher.
Fitzbuck
Toledo - Ohio's right armpit
"A troll by any other name is still a troll".
If I'm picking from this bracket my final 4 and why
Luke Walton - because his father should never have been allowed to reproduce and was and is such an ass it's guilt by association.
Christian Laettner - most hatted white dude since Larry Bird. His crime - he played for Duke and he looked like a villain from an 80's ski patrol movie.
Derrick Coleman - you know I'm right don't you. If you say I'm wrong you are one of 5 people that belong to Derrick Colmans family and even then you are unsure.
Jalin Rose - trash talker supreme, member of a team that doesn't exist according to the NCAA, one of the most arrogant people in the world, member of the hated weasels, works for ESPN.
Fitzbuck
Toledo - Ohio's right armpit
"A troll by any other name is still a troll".
While Laettner and Noah are clear-cut favorites (and for good reason), we could make the final 4 a little more interesting if we opened it up to more sports than basketball. Throw Tim Biakabutuka in for the 90's and Desmond Howard in for the 80's (Heisman in 91, but began career in 89 I think). At least on an Ohio State board, those guys would get more than their share of votes.
I could not stand to watch Noah shoot a Free Throw. That Side-Spin knuckleball he threw up at the basket was hideous.
that Noah vs. Morrison second round matchup will be a grand battle of douchebaggery
Wouldn't Aaron Craft be technically 10s, since he never played a game for the Buckeyes prior to 2010?
Class of 2010.
Perhaps the only time I will be happy to see Noah beat Ohio State in anything.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/53914/most-hated-co...
Craft got pummeled!
Update to Bracket per voting from Grantland:
Duke bracket: Laettner over Paulus, Wojo over Battier, Rivers over Ferry (WAT?), Redick over Hurley
80's bracket: Ainge over Ewing, Ellison over Douglas, Coleman over Graham, Fox over Miller
90's bracket: Rose over Cheaney, Montross over Camby, Cleaves over Curley, Iverson over Johnson
2000's bracket: Hansbrough over Williams, Devendorf over Hinrich, Morrison over Walton, Noah over Craft
Wouldn't have been surprised to see either of the two younger Zellers on here or DeMarcus Cousins. I also feel like a lot of people hated Hasheem Thabeet and OJ Mayo.