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[QUOTE="RF2044, post: 2875708, member: 40"]
We used to play the game.  Remember Rob Johnson, and how we got hammered in the early 90s by the NCAA, to be made an example of?

After that, we stopped chasing elite talent.  By the mid-90s, we were struggling to recruit quality players, and the program slipped a bit, only to be reenergized when we hired an AC [Troy Weaver] who was a stud talent evaluator / recruiter.  We also got lucky with players like Carmelo and Hakim -- the former of whom blew up into an elite blue chipper after committing, and Hakim who was barely in the top 100 and became an all american.

Nowadays, Boeheim recruits for a system above all.  It is almost like they don't even try to go head-to-head with the top programs you mentioned anymore.  Sure, every once in awhile we'll get in on guys that we identify early, like Anthony Davis or Quade Green, but more often than not we'll drop out of contention once the big dogs start sniffing around.  And I'm sure that a big part of it was correlated with the $$$ nonsense that the FBI is now investigating, which we don't get involved with anymore.

I just don't think that Boeheim is willing to go after those types of elite blue chippers anymore.  He seems to prefer high quality 4-stars who are good system fits and have the athletic profile that the NBA desires [like CJ Fair, Grant, Waiters, Lydon, Malachi, etc.].  But IMO, the "profile" we covet has changed -- there was a time when we used to go after the Derrick Coleman / Billy Owens / John Wallace / Kenny Andersons every year.  Those times are long gone.
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