Ben's advantage as one poster pointed out (Forever?) is that, unlike Paige and Whalen, we have a boatload of 50-125 type recruits, not top 5 recruits. Top 5 will be sought after by everyone. Below 50 reduces their appeal especially from the one and done factories. Ben has a much better opportunity than Lindsay in landing quality local recruits in the first class. There are a lot of them and they are at a level that they can help right away and are attainable.
The problem is that the window is very small. I think real winning has to give way to the "we're going to turn this thing around and make the whole community proud" pitch. He has between now and November to convince the loaded 22 class to get on board, and there won't be any games, much less wins, to sell.
Right, of course that's the pitch.
Are they all likely to sign early? (honest question) @Holy Man I edited to add this.
You have identified the problem, but I think your timeline is off. I would say most of the 22 class will make decisions in November. I think Ben will need to insist on it if they want to be on board. If they are pushing him off to the spring, that will be a really bad sign.
(assume him was them)
Ben has a better base as the all important "one of us" that Pitino never had. I'm not suggesting it is a huge advantage, but it is a real advantage.
Day one I was disappointed. I woke up day two thinking this has potential. He was brought in to recruit locally. I think he can do it. I haven't seen anyone say he's going to win big next year or go to the NCAAs- I don't think that happens. But it is crucial that he gets out of the gate with good recruits in the fall or it is going to be a tough slog. Getting promising recruits that he can build his own brand with, will buy him time to succeed on the court. Real success on court might not happen until year 3....if he does well this fall.
My suggestion that it is a bad sign is that they have not immediately bought in on the vision and the project. It's hard for me to see much if anything happening in the 21-22 season that could positively influence a guy waiting for the spring to sign. That would be mitigated if Ben lands a Garcia or some other really high level local player that could seriously impact the 21-22 season.
This borders on nonsense. No one is creating false expectations. Most of us see the window for showing the program is on the upswing is really tight. I think most of us see that Ben needs to make clear inroads locally basically immediately to create momentum in the program for both fans and potential local recruits. For one, I haven't said anything I expect. I'm making observations about what I think is needed to change the vibe of the program. Grit on the floor will help, but getting players on board who can provide a foundation for winning is way more important. I hope he can do it. I want him to do it.
And this is exactly why I think it is much more important to hire a coach than it is a recruiter.
This is spot on!
To me the chicken and the egg discussion goes like this:
Uh huh.
The bold is untrue. We can get a foothold with 3* and 4* guys if the players are cohesive and the team is well coached. Then you build from there. 5* guys are not a birthright for any program.
The gophers can also build from outside the state which nobody likes to hear. I realize the best possible odds of getting a 5* guy are one in your backyard but we don't need the in state guys to be successful. We could start with landing top 100 guys from elsewhere and get good enough to where local guys want to stay home.
Tubby had the best class of the U of M has ever had here for his first class.