I will say a couple of things about the recruiting so people get a better sense of where things are...
So, here it goes.
Thank you for sharing your insights. I appreciate the thoughtfulness and openness with which you share, and how you lay things out. It's great your are willing to do this and I hope you continue to do so.
Agree for the most part on JBs systems. The zone is not appealing and/or a good fit for a lot of recruits, let alone high end ones. On offense, there is a disconnect between the free-wheeling teams of old (even into the early 2010s) and the slow down, stagnant stuff that came out circa Tyler Ennis. At the same time though, it is something of a "pro" system, and there is a bit of a disconnect between recruits not liking the offense, and kids wanting to play in the NBA. The short bench is nothing but a negative, and is patently absurd.
Jalen Carey is a bit of an odd case. Your point is well taken - prolific scorers don't come to college and forget how to score. But space is at an absolute premium at the highest levels, everyone is bigger, and just being the fasted doesn't work as well, especially when you can't shoot it. It's not a coincidence his best game came against UCONN, which featured a bunch of guards who play in the same style he does, opening up the court. You later used Mookie Jones, who is a really bad example, given he played on some of our most prolific teams, with lots of tempo and ball sharing. Mookie just wasn't as good.
Liked your insights on JB's recruiting and your greater points are spot on. I have stated a dozen times, the biggest impact of the sanctions is the fear of getting caught cheating again. SU, JB in particular, just cant play as fast and loose as the other big name head coaches. In a world where you are dealing with people who may be ignorant about college in general, handlers, AAU coaches, and now the personal trainers (all of whom have their own vested interests), it's got to be difficult to recruit without being gun-shy or, after 40 years, simply not being worn down and unwilling to tolerate all the bull. Your own experience has some parallels (whole heartedly agree about wanting to hear directly from the HC), but you played an individual sport, one that was not terribly well-funded, so it could always be all about you, and likely there were not assistants making six figure salaries expected to be impactful recruiters.
In another post, you mentioned Dior's intentions and that people were speculating and waiting to say "told you so." I thought this was really patronizing. You are not the only formerly recruited athlete on this forum. There are lots of people with valuable insights, who are formerly recruited athletes, parents, school administrators/educators, and even people from and around Saugerties who pointed out the tenuousness of Dior's "commitment." Everyone wanted it to work out. I always assumed the staff new Dior would never make it, but needed the sizzle of the big name for cache with other recruits, which is fine. I also think its good they cut bait now (mutually per reports) as it allows them to refocus there efforts. Hope it's not too late.
Thought your last paragraph about the pandemic and its impact was really insightful.
We won our National Championship with a generational talent and a support case with elite abilities. That seems to be the formula for the most part. We need to get back to landing Dior level players every year or two.
