By John McMullen
Remember Ron Powlus?
For those of you who don’t -- Here’s a brief history:
Powlus was a Berwick, Pennsylvania native that went on to play quarterback at the University of Notre Dame.
He was one of the most highly-touted prospects in the history of high school football -- I would argue, he received the most hype of any high school football player in history after being named Parade Magazine prep player of the year and USA Today offensive prep player of the year in 1992.
When Powlus signed his letter of intent to play at Notre Dame, ESPN analyst Beano Cook predicted that the quarterback would win the Heisman Trophy two or three times!
Some goofy scouts even professed he would be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft if such a thing was ever allowed and to be honest, there is little question that Powlus would have been a first round draft choice in the NFL as a high school senior.
Then a funning thing happened -- Powlus couldn’t play.
Every time he stepped on the field for the Irish, his draft stock dropped. When it was all over Powlus wasn’t even selected by the NFL and signed as a rookie free agent in 1998 with the Houston Oilers. He migrated to Detroit in 1999 and even spent some time on the Eagles' roster during his non-descript career.
Which brings me full circle to Andre Iguodala -- the Ron Powlus of the NBA.
To be fair, Andre never received Powlus level hype but many were awed by Iguodala’s athleticism and dozens of shrewd basketball minds declared the former Arizona star as the future of the downtrodden Sixers.
When Billy King had a chance to move Iguodala last season for a legitimate All-Star in Ron Artest, most scoffed. ‘How could you trade a player with an upside of Andre Iguodala .for a head case?’ they said.
Now, it’s become obvious -- Iguodala has no upside.
And much like Powlus, every time he steps on the floor -- more and more people figure that out.
Consider this exchange I had with the Daily News’ Phil Jasner at a recent Sixers game. As Philly Jazz droned on about how the Sixers want to get Iguodala more touches -- I asked why?
“Phil, tell me what Iguodala does well on the basketball court,” I said.
Jasner paused, reflected and gave me a one-word answer -- “Nothing.”
2 comments:
This is clearly one of the worst idea's for an article ever. A big thanks to you Mr. Writer for ruining my day. Signing off from Broad Street...Barney.
Iggy was drafted in the first round, so I don't think it's fair to compare him to Mr. Powlus.
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