Two years ago, the biggest recruiting steal in college basketball was the commitment of San Ysidro teammates to play for Memphis. The track record of one-and-done players at Memphis has been worse than that of Donda Academy. It is a close second to Memphis when it comes to frustrated basketball players.
The blue chip recruits keep rolling in because of the lack of blame on Hardaway. Over the last four years, no coach has found himself in the same situation as Memphis. The stock of Memphis' newest recruits has plummeted and parallels are being drawn to the recent one-and-down developments of the program.
The top-5 class was led by five-star bigs James Wiseman and Precious Achiuwa. After only seven games as a senior, Wiseman decided to leave. The off-the-court drama involving payments made by Hardaway to Wiseman's family for moving expenses caused him to put college hoops in his rear-view mirror.
One year after being named the first sophomore to be named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Emoni Bates reclassified to play at Memphis a year early along with fellow sophomore Jalen Duran. Bates averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 rebound, 1.3 assist, and found the rim more often than the net, even though he was drafted in the lottery.
Projections for Williams and Taylor have been going down for a while. A freshman with over one million followers on social media, Williams began high school playing with another teammate. He was considered the best player in his class. Basketball Insiders have observed Williams since he was a pre-teen and he has been a staple of his game for a long time. One of the biggest mysteries of prep hoops is what Williams has to offer.
Williams was named MaxPreps Freshman of the Year after setting a number of California freshman records. Williams went back to San Ysidro for his senior year after multiple transfers.
He's a social media hoops powerhouse, but his one-dimensional game and only one inch of growth since middle school have undermined his value as a combo guard. Williams has fallen to 23rd in the rankings while a star has been removed from his rating. Williams has had more success on social media than on the field. He has never been a part of USA Basketball, passed up opportunities to participate in FIBA events that would have given him a better idea of how he stacks up.
It doesn't always translate to Division I basketball. His father had a problem with him being thin and weak because of his jumper and lack of athletic ability.
Williams and Taylor will join each other at Memphis. Taylor left Donda Academy after the program ended. The prototypical size for a forward, the 6-foot-8 forward was once ranked top-five on all major recruiting ranking platforms. He is 45th on Rivals and 118th on ESPN. Taylor was seen as a KD clone. He might be closer to the ceiling than KD is.
The Memphis program almost lost Hardaway his job due to the disappointing freshman year of Bates. It shows that Memphis is still a hot spot for questionable games.
The implosions of the two players didn't deter Williams and Taylor from committing to Memphis, but it will make the team the most hit or miss powder keg in college basketball.
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