We are just stuck in a rut in this day and age.
We used to have talent that left for the draft earlier than expected. That usually went hand in hand with winning.
Today we have teams that use the portal to upgrade their teams for the next season. Outside of Gbinjie and AW and Gillon, we use the portal hoping the replacements can replicate the lost production.
There are over 1300 players in the portal and we have only pursued 1 to this point coming off a losing season.
We have some dead weight on the roster similar to albatross contracts that cant be traded in the NBA. If the last scholarship isnt utilized we essentially have 3 scholarships that wont contribute much combined with 6 freshman where only 2 or 3 of those will contribute to next year. So thats nearly 6 scholarships that you cant expect much of a contribution towards a winning season. That leaves very little margin for error to replace the lost production from last season and relying on Benny and freshman who have not arrived on campus yet.
We have covered how Jim is struggling to recruit and how he doesnt travel like he used to. To me it would seem easier to pound the portal to bring in experienced players. Its less effort, he doesnt have to go and watch them during the evaluation period or high school games during the season and, its a shorter courtship. Weeks instead of a year and half. I think this years class is a good start but maybe not the answer to having an immediate impact. For those that say we cant bring in transfers because of the freshman class, then tell me how Musselman and Arkansas with 6 freshman in the #2 rate class with guys for the most part higher rated than ours are bringing in 4 transfers from the portal? It can be done. Cuse.