For all his success in managing talent in his first six years as coach, the second half of John Thompson III's tenure saw some missed opportunities with player development. The first sign of this slippage was guard Vee Sanford, an underrated shooting guard from 2009 through 2011.

Sanford did not play in the AAU circuit and was elss heralded as a result. He averaged less than five minutes a game over two seasons despite a 45 percent shooting average. As a sophomore, Sanford saw no appreciable increase in playing time following a late season injury to Chris Wright, and began to consider transfer opportunities. Sanford departed Georgetown with the school's career record for free throw accuracy, with a 86.9 percent completion rate.

Sanford went on to star as a sixth man at Dayton, averaging 10.8 points per game with a 45 percent shooting average. His game winning shot against Ohio State in the 2014 NCAA Tournament propelled the Flyers to succeeding wins against Syracuse and Stanford, earning the school its first NCAA regional final appearance since 1984.