Anthony Glover was a 5* recruit rated higher than anyone we have now,
False. Heron was RCSI #18, Glover was 23.
#18 Heron
#23 Glover
#28 Ingram
#30 Simon
#36 Ponds
#52 Diakete
#63 Cuffe
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/awards/rsci-recruit-rankings-1998.htmland I think he lived up to that billing in college all things considered. He redshirted on an Elite 8 team and started on a Big East championship team as a freshman.
I'm not going to say anything bad about Glover but he was a 6'6" center playing against e.g. Emeka Okafor.
Elijah Ingram was a McDonald's All-American who averaged double digits on a tournament team. Cuffe, Shaw, and Diakate were all top 75 recruits. While it's safe to say Diakate didn't live up to his #52 ranking, I think Shaw and Cuffe did.
Yeah, you don't believe that, you're saying that because it plays into your I-loved-Ponds-more-than-anybody-first inner dialogue. Diakete was a joke. Kyle Cuffe e.g. was one of the softest players SJ ever had and if there had been a JJ back then you've had spent more time trashing him than you did trashing Dom Pointer, whose scholarship was the worst SJ's ever wasted. Unranked Willie Shaw averaged 6 points a game and shot 25 percent from three on the NCAA team before his career impoded. Ingram had a respectable career but nowhere near what you'd expect from a top 30 recruit: Allan Ray, Brandon Roy, Jarett Jack, Gerry McNamarra, Randy Foye, Deron Williams, and Taquan Dean were all ranked lower and all had markedly better careers.