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[QUOTE="SWC75, post: 2832628, member: 289"]
There's been a lot of discussion about our failure to produce productive big men. It seems to me we've had a lot of foreign born big men at the 'Cuse in recent years. Yes, they've been elsewhere as well but look at our list:

Fab Melo from Brazil
Baye Moiussa Keita from Senegal
Rakeem Christmas was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Virgin Islands
Chinoso Obokoh was from Nigeria
Paschal Chukwu is also from Nigeria
Bourama Sidibe is from Mali

Looking at our recruits:

Jon Bol Ajak, who has committed, is from the Sudan.
Qudus Wahab who has not decided, is another Nigerian
Kofi Cockburn undecided and we didn't make his final five, is from Jamaica

Two things we've often heard from JB: 
"Big men take longer to develop."
"He's (fill in name) only been in this country/playing this game for 2-3 years"

When he recruits a foreign-born big man, isn't he getting a double whammy- both factors mean his development will be delayed?  Would it be better to focus on American born big men who have been playing basketball all their lives? Also, a lot of these guys have been pretty skinny. That may be a factor of not having grown up in this country, as well.

Notes: Arinze Onuaku was born in Maryland, And he was more muscular and more advanced than our big men have been in recent years. Rakeem Christmas did become a strong inside player for us but it too three years. All these guys did play high school ball here. hey just didn't grow up playing the game. I did not include Marek Dolezaj because he's more of a forward pressed into service as a center and I think he probably did play basketball from an early age and that the game is more advanced in Europe than in Africa or the Caribbean.
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