Class of 2018 SF Cole Swider (RI) Transferring from Villanova to Syracuse

[jgeorge322]

Was so confused when I just moved to Tampa and saw him on a million commercials instantly.

My condolences. That guy is a virus. Heard hes a real a-hole in real life too

 

[Cusesky8214]

So after thinking about this today I have come up with this. Maybe cole did have a great visit and loved everything about cuse but I would have to think he may have played some pick up games with some of the guys...the guys that were around when he was here were oshae, Moyer, battle, Washington, belbey and I'm not sure if any others. Now I get that cole has a different skill set then our wings we have now because he is considered a knock down shooter but maybe Moyer and oshae are better then we all realize and cole was quick to notice, "man am I going to get much playing time with the likes of OB, MM and MD all trying to get playing time." Depending on How Good our young wings are and seeing how it's mostly unknown at this point to all of us, he probably wanted to go where playing time is more easily available. Now potentially add in someone like bazley and we have serious depth. That's what I'm going with...dont think our staff could have done anything different here to change the outcome.

 

[Oráiste]

What top targets have we hit on in the past two recruiting cycles?

Brissett & Sidibe were top choices last cycle; this cycle has not closed yet

 

[SUFan44]

Brissett & Sidibe were top choices last cycle; this cycle has not closed yet

This is partially true. Green & Randolph were 1 & 1A recruits and the top two priorities overall. Brissett was probably a priority guy.

In terms of Sidibe, Bamba and Richards were higher than him. Were those two realistic choices? Probably not. But people are making him out to be a top tier recruit. Sorry to break it to you, he's not. Could he be under the radar? Absolutely. But he wasn't a premier guy.

Brissett is a premier recruit with legit offers. The rest were not at the top of the recruiting board when the staff began looking at the class of 2017. Not saying Sidibe can't be good. Not saying the Euro kid can't be good. Just giving my opinion.

 

[Cusesky8214]

This is partially true. Green & Randolph were 1 & 1A recruits and the top two priorities overall. Brissett was probably a priority guy.

In terms of Sidibe, Bamba and Richards were higher than him. Were those two realistic choices? Probably not. But people are making him out to be a top tier recruit. Sorry to break it to you, he's not. Could he be under the radar? Absolutely. But he wasn't a premier guy.

Brissett is a premier recruit with legit offers. The rest were not at the top of the recruiting board when the staff began looking at the class of 2017. Not saying Sidibe can't be good. Not saying the Euro kid can't be good. Just giving my opinion.

Spot on!

 

[Fly Rodder]

Brissett & Sidibe were top choices last cycle; this cycle has not closed yet

Yeah? Those other offers they put out for top-25 guys were just formalities huh?

 

[Deano]

 

[iommi]

The revisionist history here is pretty remarkable. I don't get why people need to try to cover up from the blatant reality that our recruiting has been in a downturn lately. I like the guys we have gotten but it's who we have NOT gotten that is the concern. Why are people so defensive about it?

 

[CuseMan4]

The kids we have and the team we have can be a tournament team and have the potential to be a really good team. That being said, we are missing out on more targets and top targets than usual and that's a fact. We will still have good teams but that's not Syaracuse basketball, we are better than good and better than average, that is what we are use too. These last couple of years we have had a above average recruiting and results but nothing like we are use too.

 

[Ringostar57]

Cold cider who?

 

[iommi]

The kids we have and the team we have can be a tournament team and have the potential to be a really good team. That being said, we are missing out on more targets and top targets than usual and that's a fact. We will still have good teams but that's not Syaracuse basketball, we are better than good and better than average, that is what we are use too. These last couple of years we have had a above average recruiting and results but nothing like we are use too.

Exactly.

CuseMan4 is never negative just to be negative. Those of you that refuse to be blinded need to recognize that what he and others are saying is spot on. We can't settle for decent. We are supposed to be better than that.

 

[doc05]

The revisionist history here is pretty remarkable. I don't get why people need to try to cover up from the blatant reality that our recruiting has been in a downturn lately. I like the guys we have gotten but it's who we have NOT gotten that is the concern. Why are people so defensive about it?

Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[phil77]

Another day another recruiting loss. Not shocked we are lacking juice on the recruiting trail.

 

[sufandu]

we were in the final four 2x's past 4-5 years, we are on TV every game, we are top 10 ncaa brand, great school with so many choices, great facilities, 1st round picks 6-7 years in a row

but i agree, Jay Wright is fantastic

The problem is those were unlikely FF's and the season long hype of teams consistently in the top 10 trumps unlikely FF runs.

 

[Cusefan0307]

The problem is those were unlikely FF's and the season long hype of teams consistently in the top 10 trumps unlikely FF runs.

We were ranked in the top 10 most of 2013 and won 30 games behind our most dominant defensive team ever. I wouldn't call that FF very unlikely. People are getting carried away if you don't think that team was good.

 

[sufandu]

We were ranked in the top 10 most of 2013 and won 30 games behind our most dominant defensive team ever. I wouldn't call that FF very unlikely. People are getting carried away if you don't think that team was good.

You're right, I forgot that we had a pretty good year that year. I suppose the dropoff toward the end of the regular season sticks out in my mind. Still, we've had subpar seasons, even with 1 unlikely FF run, 3 years in a row now. That's three years of slow decline in comparison to the programs we want to compete with that have been getting season long hype. 3 years in a high school kid's mind is an eternity.

I grew up during the era of great teams in the mid to late '80's and saw the down era through much of the '90's and early '00's. Watching JB put together great coaching seasons with undermanned teams is not as much fun as watching teams full of studs. This feels like a similar decline.

 

[AZOrange]

Exactly.

CuseMan4 is never negative just to be negative. Those of you that refuse to be blinded need to recognize that what he and others are saying is spot on. We can't settle for decent. We are supposed to be better than that.

The difference though is that the last couple years we've been so narrow in our focus. At least now we're active again. But I don't disagree that the last 2 plus years has been tough.

And the Hopkins/JB story is all a hoax imo.

 

[Sherman20]

The revisionist history here is pretty remarkable. I don't get why people need to try to cover up from the blatant reality that our recruiting has been in a downturn lately. I like the guys we have gotten but it's who we have NOT gotten that is the concern. Why are people so defensive about it?

Not "lately." For one recruiting class--2017. It remains to be seen what will happen with 2018. There are issues that need fixing but the sky is not falling.

 

[Orangefan1]

I want to point to what orangeextreme had mentioned which was if he doesn't have the confidence to play in the ACC then perhaps it's best he play at Nova. ACC is not for the faint at heart.

 

[iommi]

Not "lately." For one recruiting class--2017. It remains to be seen what will happen with 2018. There are issues that need fixing but the sky is not falling.

It's has been a longer downturn than that. We did not capitalize on the 2013 Final Four run. We've gotten some highly-ranked top 40 guys (Malachi, Tyus) but there have been way too many swings and misses. And too many times when we have settled for a single when we needed a home run. The worst is when we didn't get in the batter's box at all when we could've gotten an early lead. That's about all the lame baseball analogies I could come up with right now.

 

[iommi]

I want to point to what orangeextreme had mentioned which was if he doesn't have the confidence to play in the ACC then perhaps it's best he play at Nova. ACC is not for the faint at heart.

It had nothing do with a lack of confidence.

 

[chakka3421]

The difference though is that the last couple years we've been so narrow in our focus. At least now we're active again. But I don't disagree that the last 2 plus years has been tough.

And the Hopkins/JB story is all a hoax imo.

The real story is that SUAD needs more revenue before it can affford to replace JB with a top 10 coach proven winner alongside what they will need to pay Babers to keep him. Having JB on a few more years allows Wildhack to get revenue from ACC TV and potentially just as much revenue from a new Nike/UA deal. The focus is on reviving the football program right now while keeping things status quo with JB until he finally decides to give it up.

Hop story is true about his taking over for JB next year but JB refusing to go quietly. Hop had no choice to leave to keep things from blowing up and taking over a bad situation. This leaves Wildhack many more options, especially with more income coming in, to replace JB with a proven winner just like we did with Babers.

I think and hope we are getting away from hiring #2s "on the cheap" as Hop was an atypical cheaper alternative during the pre ACC days.

 

[iommi]

The real story is that SUAD needs more revenue before it can affford to replace JB with a top 10 coach proven winner alongside what they will need to pay Babers to keep him. Having JB on a few more years allows Wildhack to get revenue from ACC TV and potentially just as much revenue from a new Nike/UA deal. The focus is on reviving the football program right now while keeping things status quo with JB until he finally decides to give it up.

Hop story is true about his taking over for JB next year but JB refusing to go quietly. Hop had no choice to leave to keep things from blowing up and taking over a bad situation. This leaves Wildhack many more options, especially with more income coming in, to replace JB with a proven winner just like we did with Babers.

I think and hope we are getting away from hiring #2s "on the cheap" as Hop was an atypical cheaper alternative during the pre ACC days.

Great post.

 

[doc05]

I want to point to what orangeextreme had mentioned which was if he doesn't have the confidence to play in the ACC then perhaps it's best he play at Nova. ACC is not for the faint at heart.

Oh Lord

 

[007]

The real story is that SUAD needs more revenue before it can affford to replace JB with a top 10 coach proven winner alongside what they will need to pay Babers to keep him. Having JB on a few more years allows Wildhack to get revenue from ACC TV and potentially just as much revenue from a new Nike/UA deal. The focus is on reviving the football program right now while keeping things status quo with JB until he finally decides to give it up.

Hop story is true about his taking over for JB next year but JB refusing to go quietly. Hop had no choice to leave to keep things from blowing up and taking over a bad situation. This leaves Wildhack many more options, especially with more income coming in, to replace JB with a proven winner just like we did with Babers.

I think and hope we are getting away from hiring #2s "on the cheap" as Hop was an atypical cheaper alternative during the pre ACC days.

Thanks, chakka - this makes a great deal of sense from a big picture perspective.

It will be VERY interesting to see how things play out with the Nike contract. This is Wildhack's wheelhouse - leveraging brand recognition and negotiating with giants like Nike and UA to maximize revenue. His position at ESPN makes him unlike any other AD in the country.