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Message: [QUOTE="Ward, post: 1666072, member: 1958"] Great post, thanks for putting together. A few names that pop out and are interesting to me: John Groce - It has to be a killer to be so close to such an absolutely loaded area of talent in Chicago and not being able to get most of the big names to stay home. They need to find a guy who can keep those Chicago kids home or else I can't see them ever really emerging from their current status. I mean just from 2011-15 here is a brief list of the guys from Illinois who left the state - Fred Van Vleet who was a 4 star and best player in the state as a senior, Anthony Davis, Wayne Blackshear, Quincy Miller, Sam Thompson, Ryan Boatright, Frank Kaminsky, Roosevelt Jones, Jahlil Okafor, Cliff Alexander, Jabari Parker, Tyler Ullis, Keita Bates-Diop, Paul White, Jalen Brunson, Charles Matthews. That's just the last 5 recruiting classes! Can you imagine if they even got 1/4 of those kids? It's crazy because sometimes all it takes is one to get the ball back rolling and provide credibility to the hometown school but that first domino is always so elusive. With the right guy that can crack that code they will be an absolute monster. Lorenzo Romar - I think he'll turn it around in the next couple seasons because he's recruited pretty well and has some good talent coming in. I read that they said what's really hurt him is that the Northwest had a stretch where they were producing pretty good talent and he was able to get some of them to stay home. Lately that area hasn't produced talent at the same levels and it's hurt him in terms of being able to stock up his roster. With Fultz coming in and I think he is Michael Porter's godfather or something and just signed his brother so if he ends up at Washington with Fultz and some of the other guys they have brought in they could be primed to get momentum for the program going again. Josh Pastner - Never been a fan of his. In his defense though I think whoever had to follow Calipari there was somewhat destined to fail. What he did at Memphis in terms of building them up and then when he left they had a great class lined up to follow up their NC game run with Rose is really rare and difficult to do at a school that isn't in a "major" conference so to speak. Having said that though, Pastner's teams have basically been a glorified AAU team the last few years. They're fun to watch just because you're due for a few moments a game that are just ridiculous that a major college program has things like that taking place. They pull talent in and then they look like they practice once a week which consists of lay up lines and a scrimmage for an hour before they go home. I feel like they might get caught in that trap where they're always chasing someone who can let them relive the Calipari years which would be a mistake but who knows maybe I'm wrong. Either way I think Pastner is not the long term answer. [/QUOTE]

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