Amen Westender, couldn't have said it better myself, bang!

Oh sure; that’s a great idea; just beat out Penn State, Illinois, Ohio State, and The two Michigan schools for talent!  So, what are you selling to get them to come to Duquesne instead of the BIG 10? It doesn’t work that way in the real world.  There is defined stratification these days between players who are designated as P-5 players and those who are mid-majors.  In the East it seems that only the Big East teams, and a few others nationally such as Gonzaga can swim with the big dogs and win enough of the recruiting battles to stay afloat.  Duquesne isn’t there yet; so you do what they’ve been doing and hope to find those under-recruited guys that  may only have offers from other mid-majors and some interest from the lower tier P-5 schools.  You need to get lucky on a few of those guys who have the physical attributes to play at a higher level.  When you do get lucky and “steal” a guy the big dogs will be sniffing around looking to get him to transfer after one or two years.  If the new transfer rules pass, it will be next to impossible for mid-majors to build a talented team.  This is what you face when you are at this level.  The P-5 schools make the rules and they only benefit them!

CLK wrote:

Wait didn't KD beat out Penn State and Northwestern for Maceo?

 

Did those schools give him an offer, or did they just recruit him, there is a difference as schools always have players as a fall back in case they miss on their main targets. Also, Maceo is local. Local always gives you more of a chance. We're not going into Michigan and taking players away from the Big 10. I remember when we landed Eric Evans, posters were calling Tom Izzo crazy for not offering him. Evans turned out to be a borderline A10 player at best. Williams was a player the big schools missed. That's the type you need to land. Obi Toppin was missed by all of the blue bloods. Bet they would all take him now.
 

duq81 wrote:

CLK wrote:

Wait didn't KD beat out Penn State and Northwestern for Maceo?

 

Did those schools give him an offer, or did they just recruit him, there is a difference as schools always have players as a fall back in case they miss on their main targets. Also, Maceo is local. Local always gives you more of a chance. We're not going into Michigan and taking players away from the Big 10. I remember when we landed Eric Evans, posters were calling Tom Izzo crazy for not offering him. Evans turned out to be a borderline A10 player at best. Williams was a player the big schools missed. That's the type you need to land. Obi Toppin was missed by all of the blue bloods. Bet they would all take him now.
 

They sure did offer. Among many others, Maceo had legit offers from Pitt, Penn State, Xavier, Northwestern, Richmond, Dayton, & Virginia! His list always impressed me.

You really have it right though. Digging up a couple of Sin/EW style recruits each class is the most likely way to consistently pump-up the talent level until the program matures to the point that Maceos become the rule rather than the exception.

I remember thinking after his freshman season that EE was going to be another in a long line of ass-kicking, undersized, star A-10 guards. Alas, it was not to be. He was stil a favorite of mine.

duq81 wrote:

phil95 wrote:

duq81 wrote:

Did those schools give him an offer, or did they just recruit him, there is a difference as schools always have players as a fall back in case they miss on their main targets. Also, Maceo is local. Local always gives you more of a chance. We're not going into Michigan and taking players away from the Big 10. I remember when we landed Eric Evans, posters were calling Tom Izzo crazy for not offering him. Evans turned out to be a borderline A10 player at best. Williams was a player the big schools missed. That's the type you need to land. Obi Toppin was missed by all of the blue bloods. Bet they would all take him now.
 

They sure did offer. Among many others, Maceo had legit offers from Pitt, Penn State, Xavier, Northwestern, Richmond, Dayton, & Virginia! His list always impressed me.

You really have it right though. Digging up a couple of Sin/EW style recruits each class is the most likely way to consistently pump-up the talent level until the program matures to the point that Maceos become the rule rather than the exception.

I remember thinking after his freshman season that EE was going to be another in a long line of ass-kicking, undersized, star A-10 guards. Alas, it was not to be. He was stil a favorite of mine.

The only thing that bothered me about Evans was there were posters who thought that Aaron Jackson was just some bum that Evans would quickly dispatch to the bench. Shows you how little fans know. A few years later we did have one of those undersized, kick ass guards that was very underappreciated on this board, Derrick Colter. I wish he was here now.

I always think of Colter & Micah as a set. I have similar feelings about the set as I do about MLewis. What a missed opportunity for these guys!

Under a different regime that understood the level of play in the A-10 sooner & had the wherewithal to land  recruits accordingly, the program could be 6 years into a true renaissance. Those guys might be remembered as that legendary Duquesne backcourt that catalyzed a great shift in the program's fortunes.

Those two & all of the other promising players in the program during the Ferry years experienced very little year to year development and/or transferred out. That is one of the many proofs that the coach was unsuccessfully punching way above his weight class.

Regrettably, I was very encouraged when Ferry was hired. That too shows how little fans know.😉 Luckily, I am sooo much wiser now!

Last edited by phil95 (2/23/2020 12:54 pm)

duq81 wrote:

Did those schools give him an offer, or did they just recruit him, there is a difference as schools always have players as a fall back in case they miss on their main targets.
 

His final four was Penn State, Northwestern, VCU, and of course Duquesne. He also had offers from Virginia (defending national champion), West Virginia, Pitt, Xavier, Dayton, Richmond, and St. Joe's. He's a power conference player, but he's a true freshman whose sister died halfway through the season. He hasn't been great the past few weeks, but don't give up on the kid. He's the type of recruit we need to be bringing in to move up in the conference and get where we want to be. We also need to not support them when they do come or they won't keep coming.

Last edited by luckymcd (2/23/2020 4:55 pm)