It has been some time since I crafted a "Searching For," and it's funny how a newspaper stand in downtown Boston can compel me to do so.

Will Blalock, product of the Hub and former Iowa State Cyclone, is, like many run-of-the-mill college guards from the good part of last decade, still trying to find his place and realize potential. He's a fringe player. A guy with enough talent to play in the NBA, but lacking consistency, or maybe a mid-range jumper, to secure a one-year contract. The Phoenix's Paul Flannery followed Blalock out to Vegas this summer to assess the former golden boy's game and stature among his peers, getting me up to speed on one of Boston's great prep players.

Playing for East Boston High and then Notre Dame Prep in the winters, and the BABC AAU program in the summers, Blalock was perceived as a living legend during his teenage years. But nationally, he barely cracked the top 100 in Scout.com's 2003 Prospects List.  His stardom as a prep player gave way to a mediocre career in Ames, Iowa playing alongside NYC-bred Curtis Stinson.

Since leaving Iowa State as a Junior in 2006, Blalock has logged exactly 166 minutes of play in an NBA jersey. It was his rookie year with the Detroit Pistons, a team who deemed him expendable just 16 games into the season. From there he's played minor league ball in Anaheim to pro ball in Israel, with many other stops in between. Other stops, like a stroke at Logan Airport that prevented him from attending the Seattle Sonics mini-camp, and also from living. Yeah that's right, Blalock had a stroke at the age of 24 due to a blood clot in his neck. He also was born with a hole in his heart yet maintains he is OK to continue pursuing his dream.

A story of perseverance aside, Flannery's story on Blaclock reminded me of the overall lack of  talent produced in the seventh largest media market in the country.  Sure the amount of prep schools in the area have drawn top-flight talents like Michael Beasley, Francisco Garcia and Jarrett Jack to Massachusetts, but they're not natives; they don't roc Red Sox caps tilted to the site. Right now, there is not one Boston-born active NBA player. Even more grim - former UConn forward Jeff Adrien and Notre Dame center Torin Francis might be the two most successful college players from the area in the last decade. You don't need their career statistics to understand that it's a shallow talent pool up here in the Northeast. The last Boston-born basketball player that really left an imprint on the college game? Try Kentucky's Wayne Turner from the late 90s.

So is Blalock really that special? Frankly, his game is just average when presented on a national stage, and the feature piece, while insightful and providing that tingly feeling of "oh I remember that guy," reminds us that Boston is not fertile grounds for Division I basketball talent. He left the Vegas with a deal to play in Australia. Always upbeat, Blalock explains it's a chance to lead, and secure his place in the basketball landscape.

While it's been documented in earnest, the 2010 NCAA Tournament was weird. Very weird. A group of heralded freshman and outspoken coach didn't even win their region. A small school in a Mid-Western city has suddenly morphed into an elite basketball program. Furthermore, seven teams seeded under four reached the Sweet 16, meaning a bunch of no name dudes thrust themselves into the forefront of American sports for a few weeks in March. Call it 15 minutes of fame? Perhaps. Whatever it is, here are four players and one team that will be getting the "Hey Remember Him/Them!?" treatment by the year 2015.

Tweety Carter (Baylor)

Some may disagree, as the McDonalds High School All-American made the Elite Eight Bears go, but Carter's big smile and quirky first name mask Carter's actual talent and ability to play in the pros. A career 36 percent three-point shooter during his time in Waco, Carter's inconsistent scoring outputs and turnover problems means he's a D-Leagueer at best. DraftExpress refuses to even acknowledge Carter in their senior rankings, meaning there's absolutely no room for the 23-year old on Madison Square Garden's theater podium.

Ali Farokhmanesh (Northern Iowa)

ESPN Radio is currently running a promo for Colin Cowherd's show in which Colin emphasizes his slight disdain for the tournament. The reason for his beef is primarily because one of the most memorable players is not Evan Turner or John Wall, it's a diminutive guard from Northern Iowa named Fark-ma-nesh. Yes, as in the wrong way to say Farokhmanesh. Poor kid; the Worldwide Leader is even poking fun at you.

Ali was my Grandmother's favorite college basketball player this tournament. No joke, and he was probably your grandmother's favorite player too. Any sub six-foot Caucasian who can hit a ballsy three in transition over powerhouse Kansas earns that distinction hands down. Compared to the others in this post, Faroukmanesh has the slimmest chance to play professional basketball... in America or Angola. The dude has a nice shot, but he was truly just a "perfect place, perfect time" type of player. So long Ali. I feel like I hardly knew ya.

The Entire Cornell Big Red Roster

My favorite team in the NCAA Tournament, thanks to some coaching by The New York Times' Pete Thamel, the Big Red were a classic senior-laden team who had been playing for this type of opportunity for four years. They advanced to the second weekend of the tournament, made basketball relevant among the undergrads, only to lead their head coach to bolt for greener pastures. Seven footer Jeff Foote and sharpshooting Ryan Whittman may get some NBA looks, but both are much better suited to lead a random German league in scoring than ride the pine stateside. As Ivy League grads, they're probably wise enough to bolt for that overseas money, too.

Omar Samhan (Saint Mary's)

For a kid who looked like he wore over sized t-shirts in public swimming pools growing up, Samhan really maximized his opportunities as a college basketball player. It still amazes me that a team can lose a scorer in Patty Mills and rebound hound Diamon Simpson, and improve in their absence. Samhan thought we was pretty cool. He might be, as many were digging his role as prophet, but I wasn't really buying his brand. The NBA might, however. While I am not sure how long his career will be, expect the Gaels star to open the 2010-2011 NBA season on a roster. He will have to prove he can log minutes and, like the scouts say "do one thing really well," to stick around.

Matt Howard (Butler)

While the Bulldogs big man still has another year of eligibility, it's certainly not going to be a season where his NBA draft stock rises to the point where he's a sure fire pro. The dude is a hack-job, not in the sense that he's not talented, but in the sense that he is about as foul prone a player as you can imagine. He even looks the part too. A loveable guy and Academic All-American, Howard is the true embodiment of a college basketball player.

During a recent informal reunion with high school friends, a reminiscence of one of those youthful innocence road trips became a topic of conversation. The event: first NCAA Tournament without the supervision of parents.  The weekend was a mix of fast food, P-Funk All-Stars and BL smoothies, with a side dish of six first and second round games in the Boston Garden (we refuse to acknowledge all that Fleet, TD Bank non-sense). Placed adjacent to a crow's nest, our assigned seats left us feeling insulted and we were brave enough to haggle Tom Coverdale's parents for their loge seats as the rest of his extended family mourned the conclusion of Tom's career.

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Considering our blog title gives a shout out to a once promising Syracuse guard gone astray, we figured it would be a good idea to keep the nostalgic juices flowing from time to time and give you that "oh wow I remember him" feeling. We will be dishing out some write-ups on former players; ranging from the All-American type who didn't have the "NBA Body," to one-hit-wonders who played their best when it mattered most...March. Feel free to pass along your favorite forgotten college basketball players, as we get back into the season and compile a list of prospective guys to feature.

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Despite being the shepherd for supreme athletes and seasoned basketball players, college coaches will still grill their troops on the fundamentals early in the season.  When it comes time to teach the rudimentary ideas of rebounding and posting up, look no further than Oklahoma’s Kevin Bookout game tapes as a Sooner, which serve as a model of consistency and excellence in simply doing every damn thing correctly. 

Kevin Bookout was a true corn-bread fed, homebody who was tagged to be a Sooner walking out of the womb.  The elder Bookout brothers were Sooner athlete standouts; Casey holds the OU career home run record and Kyle competed on the OU track and field team in the events of discuss and shot-put.  Kyle was not the only shot putter in the family, our spotlight athlete Mr. Kevin Bookout can push the stone too.  Kevin won the state title in shot put and discus all four years in high school.  Oh and he can also challenge brother Casey to a home run derby after setting a high school career record in the long ball department.

Once attending Oklahoma he became one of the program’s very rare four-year starters.  Bookout amassed 1,018 points and 682 rebounds during his tenure in the paint for the Sooners.  He never really grabbed any awards during his four year run with the Sooners, accept for Valedictorian and that 4.0 GPA, but he did rewrite the book on "How to Play the Secondary Big Man and Provide Weak Side Defensive Help," if there is such a leather-bound out there.  His ability to establish post presence and clean the boards with box out abilities that allow the ball to hit the floor before being collected were impeccable and outstanding, so much so that the D-League wanted his services.  During the 2007-2008 season, Bookout started eight games for the Rio Grande Vipers and put up a reassessment of talent causing internal conversation of 4.6 points per game and 5.6 rebounds.

Kevin has since taken a step back in his basketball maturation and decided that he is going to get back to throwing heavy things..like real far.  Kevin will now be looking to return to the glory of out muscling other massive men in the most historical and barbaric competitions of all time, the 2012 Olympics.  Bookout is hard at work (check out all five!) in the World Throws Center (www.worldthrowscenter.com) in Phoenix, Arizona hoping to bring home the gold for Our Lady of Liberty. 

We wish our All-American boy from the Midwest the best of luck, but with that kind of music for a workout video, how can he not be the favorite?

Google the common name of "Wayne Turner," and you yield a bevy of wide-ranging results. 

There's Wayne Turner the real estate company serving the suburban communities of Nashville, Tennessee, Wayne Turner the 2001 recipient of the MIT Excellence Award, and my favorite, Wayne Turner the Phoenix, Arizona connoisseur and self-proclaimed 44-year-old dodge ball enthusiast.

But as you would expect, for all intents and purposes of this blog, the Wayne Turner we are interested in is the former University of Kentucky point guard who drove the ship in Lexington en route to two national titles in the late 90s.

A 1995 McDonald's All-American his senior year at Beaver Country Day in Brookline, Mass., Turner went south and dished out 494 assists in his illustrious career under Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith.  Playing alongside guys future NBA notables Saul Smith Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, Walter McCarty, Tony Delk, Derek Anderson, Nazr Mohammed and Jamaal Magloire, Turner had to have set some sort of record for future pros played with while in college. That record I am unsure about, but Turner does in fact hold the record for most career games played with 151. This is great news to me, because it seems like something Tyler Hansbrough would smugly hold claim to.

After college, Turner was swiftly backhanded by reality.  After joining Pitino in Boston (along with nearly every aforementioned player) Turner appeared in only three games, and logged just one made field goal, before his time in The League was up.  He went here and there, most notably a brief stint with the Harlem Globetrotters.  At last check is back where he started - in Kentucky playing for the Eastern Kentucky Miners.

Turner is not all forgotten though.  Newly minted coach John Calipari has already gotten Turner to return to campus and complete his degree and work with the current  team as they prepare to live up to the enormous expectations already being placed on them.  Perhaps he can convince John Wall to set the goal of donning the royal blue UK jersey...for a record 152 games.

 Considering our blog title gives a shout out to a once promising Syracuse guard gone astray, we figured it would be a good idea to keep the nostalgic juices flowing from time to time and give you that "oh wow I remember him" feeling. We will be dishing out some write-ups on former players; ranging from the All-American type who didn't have the "NBA Body," to one-hit-wonders who played their best when it mattered most...March. Feel free to pass along your favorite forgotten college basketball players, as we compile a list of prospective guys to feature.

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Fat, doughboy, obnoxious, pudgy, chubby, portly pig, goof.  Khalid El-Amin has heard them all.  Heck, a few times from the writers of this blog.  But El-Amin can also be called something else:  A National Champion. 

The point man of UCONN's 1998-1999 team, Khalid the Kid (I can't really confirm that was a nickname, it just came to me)  was as brash and smug as there was. While many remember him simply driving and dishing to Rip Hamilton and Ricky Moore, El-Amin was actually a Naismith Award finalist in 2000.

Sadly though, the NBA wasn't too interested in his sub-six foot, plus-two-hundred pound frame.  He was a mid-second round pick by the Bulls, and eventually landed on the Heat.  His NBA career totals from 50 games: 6.3 points with 2.9 assists, 1.6 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 1.1 turnovers and 2.0 fouls in 18.6 minutes.

So Europe it was.  El-Amin began his Eurotrip in France, and also made appearances in Israel and Turkey.  Currently he's in Ukraine, where he's played for Azovmash Mariupol since 2005.  Quite a tenure given the usual bouncing around American players tend to experience across the pond.  In 2006 he won the country's Superleague title with the MVP honor to boot.

Not bad for a fat kid.

He's not your average middle-school teacher

Only two full seasons removed from the college basketball spotlight, Kevin Pittsnogle has returned to his hometown of Martinsburg. He's a regular guy-- a middle school teacher and unpaid assistant basketball coach. The New York Times' John Branch updates us on the former WVU oddity, who is living in a double wide with his wife, contemplating his next attempt at professional basketball.

Frankly we couldn't stand Pittsnogle during his glory days. This is due in large part to his atrocious last name and the fact he looked more like a ratly mountaineer than a basketball player. The article portrays Pittsnogle as a likebale guy however, and we're willing to give him a pass as he seeks to carve out his future.

Considering our blog title gives a shout out to a once promising Syracuse guard gone astray, we figured it would be a good idea to keep the nostalgic juices flowing from time to time and give you that "oh wow I remember him" feeling. We will be dishing out some write-ups on former players; ranging from the All-American type who didn't have the "NBA Body," to one-hit-wonders who played their best when it mattered most...March. Feel free to pass along your favorite forgotten college basketball players, as we compile a list of prospective guys to feature.

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When Billy Donovan made his initial etch in college basketball lore, he was flanked by a group of young and colorful players that were assembled to fit the brand of basketball he wanted to play. Circa 2000, The Gators were by no means synonymous with March Madness, or were even perennial forces in the SEC. At that point in time it was all about The Swamp and the Church of Spurrier down in Gainesville. We guess it still is, but after back to back national titles, you gotta think the people down there at least mildly care about what happens on the hardwood.

Along side Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Donnell Harvey and Brett Nelson, Teddy Dupay was the sparkplug for the 2000 runner up Gator team. He was a Mr. Basketball in the Sunshine State, one of the most revered prep players ever in Florida, and layed the groundwork for Billy Ball--as the first recruit to sign under Donovan. Dupay seemed like a pretty decent guy, someone you could violently kill beers with, but was unassuming and well-mannered at the same time.

Sadly our perception can be blurred and far from reality, as Teddy Dupay isn't actually a good guy at all. Teddy Dupay, if found guilty in the coming months, will be forever labeled a bad guy, because Teddy Dupay was accused of second degree rape charges this past summer.

After falling to the Flint Boys of Michigan State, the Gators had essentially done their job of reinvigorating the basketball program in Gainesville. They appeared to just be happy to be there-- after dumping Duke and UNC en route to the finals-- and had that "wow I can't wait to see what they do next year," effect.

That return to the top didn't really happen, and after one more season, the downward spiral for Dupay was set into motion. Teddy Boy was dismissed from the team in the fall of 2001, amidst allegations he was dribbling with his right hand, while placing bets with his left. Dupay of course denies it all, but the State of Florida was convinced it was true as numerous former teammates testified against him.

After a few years of what probably every player we do a "Searching For" piece on--playing ball overseas--Dupay popped up in 2006 as a telemarketer in Utah, a career move his parents called a relief. Really? A relief? Interesting.

Anyway, this summer those rape charges came down on Dupay, filed by a woman he had a relationship with for the last two years. Pretty tough love if you ask us, as the woman suffered two fractured ribs according to investigators. There's no word on the next steps for Dupay, and if or when he will face sentencing.

Bottom line, it sounds like a Tim Tebow moderated intervention couldn't even appropriately re-wire this guy, and we will probably never hear from the once-revered-guard-gone-mad again.