Do 2019 Nominees Deserve To Be Inducted in 2020?
Brandon Walker
After taking a look at 11 possible candidates and their cases to be nominated for the Hall of Fame this year, it’s time to look back at the five nominees from last year that missed out on being inducted and see what they’ve been up to in the seven months since last year’s announcement.
Dustin Dupont
Not much to report here on Dupont, as he hasn’t played an Ultimate Hoops game since the Class of 2019 was announced on July 24, 2019. Dupont’s last game was an 81-66 loss in the Spring 2019 Bloomington South championship game, which came at the hands of the Guerrillas, the Rebels’ biggest rivals.
Dupont still has one of the more impressive resumes from UH Minnesota, as he has 10 championships, a national championship, the most steals of all-time and he’s currently second in assists.
Jay Harris
Harris
Harris has played in three Syosset Vet League seasons since the Class of 2019 was announced, and he’s put up solid numbers in that span, averaging a double-double of 12.3 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Unfortunately for Harris, this hasn’t been able to translate to many wins, as his Hooligans have an 8-17 record over the 25 games Harris has played in during those three seasons. That includes an 0-5 record in games this season with Harris, as the Hooligans are off to an 0-6 start this winter.
Harris has expanded his impact in UH New York beyond just playing however, as he took over as the league coordinator in the Syosset Vet League this season, and he’s been doing a great job in his debut season taking charge of the league. The highlight has been his weekly power ranking articles, which combines his vast knowledge of each players’ game with a dry, and sometimes self-deprecating, humor.
Chris Maher
Maher has played in 640 career games, and his numbers in the past three seasons have been as good, if not better than his career numbers. In 27 games since the Class of 2019 has been announced, Maher has averaged 20.4 points (1.9 higher than his career average) and 7.9 rebounds (his exact career average) with shooting percentage splits of 57/47/85. He’s helped The Originals get to a 20-7 record in the Fridley Rec-Plus League during that span.
He’s currently having arguably the best of his nine career Rec-Plus seasons, as he’s boasting shooting splits of 64/51/83 while averaging 23.7 points and 8.5 rebounds. That’s the highest his field goal percentage has been in a Rec-Plus league, and it’s his second-best points per game average and his third-best rebounds per game average.
Brandon Walker
Walker was apart of X Over’s national championship run last May, but that wasn’t enough to convince the Hall of Fame voters for him to get inducted. He’s played in three seasons since the Class of 2019 was announced, with one coming in a vet league and two coming in a draft league.
Young-Graves
He played in the Gilbert Vet League last summer, and averaged 25.4/8/6.4 on his way to helping Wheelchair Mafia to the title, which was Walker’s first championship in a vet league. He had a triple-double of 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the title game, which Wheelchair Mafia won 94-76.
Walker has played in two draft leagues after the vet league in the summer, and they’ve had very different results. He averaged 16.3 points during the fall season, shooting 52% from the field and 46% from deep. His winter season has not gone as well, as he’s averaging 10 points per game while shooting 32% from the field, and Lemon Mint currently sits at 0-6 this season.
Sonny Young-Graves
Unfortunately for Sonny, he was on the wrong end of a five-on-four 104-102 loss in last year’s Las Vegas National Tournament to BBQ Chicken, which may have plagued his chances to get inducted last year.
Keeping with the consistency of his entire career, Young-Graves has played in six seasons since the Class of 2019 was announced, compiling 50 games played over that span. This has helped him surpass 800 career games, which only Hall of Famer Ryan Jansen has done before Young-Graves.
He has averaged 13 points in those 50 games, shooting 42% from the field and 39% from deep. He has a 33-17 record over that span, making it as far as the semifinals in two of those seasons.