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Message: [QUOTE="cuse522, post: 2118369, member: 1149"] One thing that people may not think about tying into recruiting, but it will help, is not relying on only 7 guys and playing 2-3 of them 35+ minutes. The last time we balanced the playing time a little more was 11-12. Every year since then, at least two players have averaged 35+ minutes. So when a recruit hears that they're going to have a chance to compete for a starting job, if they look at our stats the last few years, they may realize (or be told by other coaches) that they're either going to win it and get 35 minutes or lose it and get next to nothing. This could be a huge deal to a kid like Waters if we don't guarantee that we won't take a grad transfer. Realistically, our best path forward right now would be Waters + Grad Transfer, one of them ends up playing 25-30 minutes a night, the other gets 10-15, maybe with both on the floor together for a couple minutes if warranted. If he's basically guaranteed 15 minutes with a shot at 25-30, that's a better proposition than 35 or nothing, isn't it? More balanced playing time also opens up some flexibility in what sort of defense they play once Hop takes over, and in keeping program guys. Some of the kids who transfer may stay if they were seeing even a few more minutes and had a realistic chance of getting 15+ a game their junior years. Defensively, if you don't recruit exclusively for zone and have four or five guys who can play it, you can play it while they're on the floor... And if you balance the playing time it makes it easier to do that. Those are two of the things I'm really hoping change when Hop takes over, even though I'm nervous about the transition overall. [/QUOTE]

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