Yeah, things never change in recruiting. Players know exactly where they are going years in advance and never change their mind.
If Ryan James is a "fraud" for saying he was a strong Minnesota lean, then so is the Wisconsin insider who had been predicting he would go to MN for a long time.
Yeah that's a good point, that will likely keep some in school longer. Not sure that will apply to Garcia though unless Gopher players are getting NIL deals that I don't know about.
Things have changed, though. Players leave early sometimes even if they aren't projected to be first round picks. Amir Coffey did the same thing and it has worked out just fine for him.
247 ranks Payne as the #3 in state prospect. My comment wasn't even a defense of Ben or attack on Pitino. It's just the fact that people get more exhausted and frustrated over time. Ben hasn't been here long enough to get the same complaints about recruiting that Pitino got.
Yeah certainly reasons to be nervous too. I want to make the NCAA tournament and hopefully win a game while we're there, but my main concern is just showing noticeable improvement each year and I expect that to happen even without Fox and Ihnen. We shall see.
This can still be a good team if Henley can be solid as a freshman. We should still be in good shape in the frontcourt with Garcia and Payne playing the majority of the minutes at the 4 and 5. Thompson and Battle will play some there and if we're lucky maybe Ola-Joseph and/or Betts. We need...