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The point has been made that KD & staff do a fine job of finding & securing under the radar prospects that turn out to be quality A-10 players. I agree with that. Sincere, EW, MHughes, Weathers, Baker, Okani, & Baylee are all examples of players that didn't have large lists of impressive suitors bombarding them with offers as high school recruits and/or transfers that turned out to have A-10 starter level skill. Some, have more game than that. Last edited by phil95 (10/21/2021 12:11 pm) I really like this well thought out post. I agree that Coach had to find the under-recruited talents to bring our moribund program back to respectability. Covid aside, we were trending upward. But, if we are going to become a yearly contender, then I agree that it is time to put the big boy pants on and go fight A10 teams for highly regarded kids. And, every year prioritize one star - Royce Parham, for example- and be relentless in going after him. I don't disagree with everything said in the previous posts on recruiting; but to be fair, even if we recognize the improvement made by KD and his staff over the last several years, it doesn't have much impact in basketball circles or recruiting circles until you put together a "breakout season" or two nationally. That would mean an A`10 final appearance and an NCAA bid. Until you are on the national radar, you can offer all of the top 100-200 players you want, but you will probably just be wasting your recruiting budget without results. I agree with you, levon1975. Unless there is some special family, teammate, or coach's connection with a Top 150 player, making a bunch of offers to those recruits is largely futile. The program just isn't there yet. I like all of these comments you guys have posted and in large part, I am in 100% agreement. What really bothers me is we apparently just offered a guy who is shorter than KD for crums sake and unless he is the second coming of Calvin Murphy I don't get it. (I do see JJ as the second coming of CM though!) Harper said with the new COOP we would be raising our recruiting bar and guys with this offer I just don't get it. This is the year to start going after guys like the top-tier A-10 teams with our new facility. This to me is a disappointing start to this year's recruiting cycle - that is just how I see it.
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Frustrated By Recruiting
I think of this year's transfer haul in a similar way; well done.
In resurrecting this moribund program,this had been a tremendous advantage that should continue to help the team.
However, I am deeply frustrated with what seems to be the staff's aversion to offering recruits of higher quality. Someone has to explain to me why Duquesne is the best offer available to players such as L.A. Platt & Kareem Rozier while none of the other known offers have gone to players for whom Duquesne is one of their middle of the road choices.
When will the chase for much better players begin?
How do you expect to compete with VCU, Dayton, SBU, & Richmond if their isn't an inherent upgrade in the presumed talent of the players?
Don't misunderstand me, I don't, in principle, hate the idea of chasing somebody like Kareem Rozier. He seems likely to have a good career at a second or third tier school limited only by his size. He seems like a player DU would be fortunate to get. (I think there is no chance he ever sees an offer from Michigan or Michigan State. This kid has an awesome PR machine working for him.)
Didn't DU just bring in a taller, stronger, high-end prep school tested, older version of this prototype in Jackie Johnson?
Given the tendency for players to transfer at the drop of a hat,does it make any sense to bring in 2 such similar players in consecutive seasons? What other A-10 team is actively trying to have 2, sub-6' lead guards.
Hima is all but M.I.A.. Is there anyone among us that now believes that Rotroff will be a fringe A-10 starter or offer a Baylee Steele-like contribution from the bench?
Where are the offers to bigs that have multiple offers from top-tier A-10 teams or their equivalents? (I loved the offer to Elijah Saunders but he eventually became a Top 150 recruit & out of reach.)
It is time to dress for the job you want to have!
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Re: Frustrated By Recruiting
The Big East Commissioner just said that they are going to look into expansion. If we want to be considered, we have to show chops that match VCU and Dayton in recruiting. Us and St. Louis would be great Big East fits, but we will not surface in the talks unless we get the better top 125-200 players who are known in recruiting circles.
Love what KD has done and is doing. But, it is time to be greedy and want more. Let’s go Dukes!
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Re: Frustrated By Recruiting
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Re: Frustrated By Recruiting
My frustration is based on the idea that there are large numbers of high-quality (for the A-10) players to be recruited in the middle ground that exists between the #200 recruit & the #500 recruit in any given class & we see so few offers to such players. For every one of those offers, there are 3-5 offers extended to players that either fall outside the Top 1,000 recruits or have offers only from schools that consistently finish in the sub-250s of KenPom or have no other D-I offers of any kind. That this appears to be the plan rather than something KD & staff are relegated to is what seems so wrong.
Jackie Johnson was rated by Rivals as the 34th best point guard in the 2021 class, excelled at a high exposure prep school, was offered by SBU & was reported to have attracted legit interest from Pitt. He's now a Duke. It is possible.
I am not picking on or degrading Rozier or Platt. I would love to see DU become the go-to local school for the best of the best that western PA has to offer. They merely represent, for me, a talent level that should, after hiring a coach with a long track record of winning & providing student-athletes awesome new facilities in which to work should now be Plan B. •
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Re: Frustrated By Recruiting
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