Name an all-star team of Dale Brown recruits who never made it to campus

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Hernan Montenegro

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Originally, Montenegro, a 6-foot-8 3/4, 234-pound forward, was a curiosity on Brown`s 1986 world recruiting tour. The prize was Soviet standout center Arvidas Sabonis. But during the World Championships in Spain, Brown was told to keep an eye on the Argentinian with the wide wingspan and dead-eye shot. Montenegro averaged 24 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots in the tournament.

``He was outstanding,`` Brown said.

The following February, Montenegro was in Baton Rouge, La., touring the LSU campus, talking, of all things, about his childhood idol, a former Tiger by the name of Pete Maravich.

Right then, Montenegro decided it would be Pete`s place or no place in America. He passed on offers to also visit Temple, Seton Hall and Michigan State.

``But he never had a chance here,`` Brown said.

Montenegro first had to pass a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam. Then he had to pay his own way because LSU, was out of scholarships. Still, Brown thought Montenegro would be able to make ends meet.

Then he found out Montenegro had a wife, Fabiana.

And a child, 1 1/2-year-old Antoinella.

``There was nothing we could do about that,`` Brown said. ``NCAA rules even prevented us from signing for a loan for him against his future earnings as a professional.``

Past earnings as a professional also were questioned. As a 16-year- old, Montenegro had played for a club team in Spain. Montenegro continued to practice with LSU last December, but was not allowed to play in the Tigers` season opener against Georgia Tech. That was after Brown had simplified his ``freak`` defense so he could build LSU`s game around Montenegro.

Eventually, Montenegro, by then badly out of shape, played -- in four games. Then he was gone from the team.

In addition to wife and child, Montenegro also had another child on the way when he arrived in Baton Rouge, unbeknownst to Brown. And when Fabiana learned she would have to deliver by Caesarean section, the Montenegro family, with none of the family members able to work because of Hernan`s student-visa status, had to put school payments on hold.

A badly twisted ankle sustained Jan. 4 helped seal the decision.

On Jan. 17, Montenegro withdrew from LSU.

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Lester Earl count?

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quote:Lester Earl count? Pretty sure he was on campus.

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RANDY44
Name an all-star team of Dale Brown recruits who never made it to campus by RANDY44


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Tito Horford, Hernan Montenegro


Both made it to campus. Montenegro even played some.

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Interesting. Do you know the backstory on this?

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Dale Brown was no Cold War diplomat, but he was willing to play one if it landed him a center. On June 20, 1986, the LSU coach sent what was presumably the only letter Mikhail Gorbachev ever received on the subject of college basketball recruiting. Dear General Secretary Gorbachev, Brown wrote to the Soviet leader, The world is moving at a faster pace each day and often times man doesn’t even have a chance to sit down and talk to one another because of our fast pace. With this in mind, I’m coming to Moscow with the hopes that I will have the opportunity to personally visit with you regarding something I strongly feel represents an excellent opportunity to improve relations between our two great countries.

This “opportunity” was in the form of an exchange program. Gorbachev had sort of been asking for one: In the joint statement he and President Ronald Reagan released from their first meeting, at the Geneva Summit in November 1985, they mostly addressed nuclear disarmament but also agreed upon “the utility of broadening exchanges” in “a number of scientific, educational, medical and sports fields,” and instructed “the relevant agencies in each of the countries” to develop such programs.

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