I have not watched many Johns Hopkins or William and Mary games so not many. Nor New Hampshire or Lafayette so it will all be new to me. I am looking forward to what this mid major team looks like in the Big Ten, should be fun.
I think going forward that is the strategy and it is a good one for Ben. That part has me excited and I really believe it is the right way to go. The concern is that he has a short window to make people believe he can do it, so that they will trust coming here. No matter how much people like Ben, the better recruits won't come it they don't believe they can win.
That’s a fair comparison. I was more speaking to the comments about factual and tangible things. What you’re doing is defending a process we know nothing about. Which is just as ridiculous as critiquing it.
Ouch. The worst part is you are correct.
I do wonder what the deal is with Gates. He seemed like one of the top prospects in a market where a bunch of jobs that were potentially good fits (BC, DePaul, Minnesota, Marquette) came open, and he didn't get any of them. 3 of those 4 made hires that were somewhat underwhelming. Could be a really bad interview, or maybe he has a behind the scenes agreement at FSU. Either way I'm surprised he is still at Cleveland State.
I assume so.
I don't know, but I would hazzard a guess that if true the "significant issues" surrounded bench players who never got a shot at developing until they were thrown into the fire after injuries to Robbins and Gabe. Then add the fact that Carr viewed himself as a one man team. I would guess that Robbins might have been frustrated with the lack of feeding the post from Carr. My point is that these were not likely personal character issues, but rather guys that saw that they were not getting a shot at developing from the bench- Mutaf, Freeman, Gach and others were sitting and rotting. It should have been an opportunity for Ben to sell the idea that things would be different from schemes to playing time for those who gave the effort. Carr was always going to be gone.
A couple commits might temporarily relax some members of the fanbase but there really is no rush.
I think there is a rush. You need to create a bandwagon effect with recruits. The first commits are huge to getting others to come. Until we get one good one, it is going to be difficult to get them over the line. There is no urgency (so many open spots) and for most there are schools that are doing better on their list. You want players to feel like they better commit or they might lose their slot.
Guys didn't have relationships with one another that kept them together, and/or didn't fit what Ben wants them to do - he wasn't going to compromise just to keep someone around. Other than Liam (who Ben would have kept but was following Uncle) or Gabe (who simply wanted a fresh start) the others weren't worth "selling" to keep them based on skill or dynamics with teammates, and the evidence is pretty clear based on where they ended up. If they were that good they would have ended up at better programs.
And win. If he does all of that without winning, he isn't living up to expectations.
did Pitino recruit trash?
Yes and we all remember very well the Builtbadgers standards for what winning looks like were very high (which is good). I see no reason why the same standard would not hold true for the next coach.
My thoughts exactly. Ben's tenure will be 1-2 years. Then, we will be begging for Richard to return after a uber successful run with the Lobos. Don't know what you've got, 'til it's gone.
We'll be begging for 13th in the Big Ten!
Coyle, obviously.
I think the U's plan was to pick a nice safe candidate, local guy, connections to the U, not going to break the bank, someone probably happy to take a pay cut if we had another year of zero attendence due to covid, someone to allow all the school leaders to pat themselves on the back and signal their virtue here in the age of Floyd, someone that could tickle the ear of the selection committee with his plans to reach the local talent no matter how unrealistic. I think the plan was just to pick the lowest risk candidate and be prepared to throw him under the bus if it does not work out.
