In Reply to: Re: Highly unlikely posted by Dr.Bruin on June 12, 2026 at 09:57:27
1) I never said one had to make the NBA to be a great college player.
2) Ed O was a lottery pick and did play in the NBA. Cotton was not drafted, and never got close to playing in the NBA.
3) A lot of guys go pro prematurely, and many get drafted, even though they sometimes don't pan out. If Cotton was a top flight talent, one year in the SEC was plenty to get a look from the NBA. When he came up for the draft, he was about to turn 22. Deshawn Stepehnson got taken out of high school that same year. The NBA knew who Schea Cotton was, and was not impressed.
4) You didn't suggest Cotton could have been a great player at UCLA. You suggested he could have been one of our "greatest".
5) I don't think Lavin did much development of anybody. But Lavin and the NBA are just side issues. The reason Schea Cotton would not have been one of UCLA's greatest players is because he just wasn't that good. Another reason is because he probably wouldn't have stayed long, as he was convinced he belonged in the NBA already with the likes of Kobe, Garnett, etc. He was not a guy who was going to stick around for multiple years and work on his game. He regretted even going to college.
I took your original post to be in line with what Cotton himself seems to believe: that he was destined for greatness, and that greatness was shortcut by the NCAA and circumstances. But the real problem is that he was not a particularly skilled basketball player.
The guy was 6'5" and could run, jump, power, and dunk over high school kids. That was about 90% of his game. Probably closer to 100%.