Why is everyone surprised? We are not Duke, Kansas, or Gonzaga. We are not who we think we are. We are a team on a downtrend with a coach who could retire at any moment and probably should sooner than later.
Getting guys like this should be expected. We aren’t winning any recruiting battles for top guys. Just not happening at this stage.
The first step to fixing the problem is realizing that we have a problem. We have to be realistic of where we are currently.
Put yourself in a recruits shoes. Why would you want to play at Syracuse over the blue bloods of the world. I can go play in a very cold environment with a coach who may or may not run me over with the bus at his pressers. Also may or may not make he tournament.
Or I can go get some serious NIL money and play NBA style defense with a good chance of getting drafted after my teams success season. Not have to worry about the the coach belittling me to the press.