High Time

[Finwad32]

For some prediction threads around here, no? Getting to mid-July now.

Couple thoughts and musings that ran through my head in the meantime.

Assuming Blair will make it, when's the last time Syracuse had a recruiting class with "0" academic casualties? This is just off the top of my head, but, since I've been following recruiting, I don't know if I can recall this happening.

I think there's a misnomer out there that for Syracuse to get the athletes they need to compete, they'll need to take riskier kids. While I know of 3 recruits who needed to have significant work done, the rest of the class was pretty solid from what I understand.

I've heard the new philosophy is to take a player with a better work ethic, character and grades over athleticism. I think that played out a lot over the last cycle. Obviously, it's apparent this cycle.

I also think our last two recruiting classes will prove to be significant upgrades from the years prior. There will be a lot of contributors early in their careers from these two classes.

 

[Stern]

I've heard the new philosophy is to take a player with a better work ethic, character and grades over athleticism. I think that played out a lot over the last cycle. Obviously, it's apparent this cycle.

I hope that isn't true. I mean it would be a great philosophy if SU was an Ivy league school competing against the Harvard's and Yale's of the world. In a Power 5 conference take the best athletes you can get. The character and work ethic matters to a point no doubt but at the end of the day you gotta have guys who can hold their own on the field and compete vs the other ACC teams and their talent level. If someone is a better athlete but they have a "C" in History and they show up in the weight room at 10am not 5am, I'm not gonna turn him away cause a lesser athlete is more of a gym rat who is up and at it at 6am every day and has a 4.0 GPA. Athleticism is the most important thing in a recruit, you start there and then look at everything else after that.

 

[Finwad32]

I hope that isn't true. I mean it would be a great philosophy if SU was an Ivy league school competing against the Harvard's and Yale's of the world. In a Power 5 conference take the best athletes you can get. The character and work ethic matters to a point no doubt but at the end of the day you gotta have guys who can hold their own on the field and compete vs the other ACC teams and their talent level. If someone is a better athlete but they have a "C" in History and they show up in the weight room at 10am not 5am, I'm not gonna turn him away cause a lesser athlete is more of a gym rat who is up and at it at 6am every day and has a 4.0 GPA. Athleticism is the most important thing in a recruit, you start there and then look at everything else after that.

Nothing saying you can't have the best of both worlds. And the scenario wouldn't be, in the weightroom at 10 vs 6 and a "c" in history, it would be doesn't go and 's.
And it's not like their sacrificing all-ACC potential players for D-3 guys. Sound strategy for any conference.

 

[Full_Rebar]

Syracuse is still going to have to take risks from time to time, they just need to be calculated risks on kids who show the work ethic. If you are on a kid early enough, there are ways to make sure they can be eligible with the right effort.(I think our basketball recruiting shows this) Once they arrive on campus, they will be fine as long as they show up for their CFS or CRS classes and tutoring appointments.

On the flip side, I know I heard some talk a couple of years back of the staff trying to follow Stanford's model and get athletes who also wanted a strong education. It makes the coaches work harder recruiting, but honestly getting the right group makes their lives easier the next 4-5 years when they aren't worried about having 85 knuckleheads on the roster. I don't think that happens overnight, so winning games and playing an appealing style on both sides of the ball will help.