Just for a little perspective. As my son is a track athlete, and I happened to be at one of his meets this year when a boy set the MD season high mark for High Jump at 6' 10". I was curious as to how good a 6' 6" high jump really was.
Understand that many track athletes play multiple sports, and like my son, often do it to stay in shape for their primary sport. So, it isn't uncommon for kids to play multiple sports.
Robert Braswell's 6' 6" high jump was good for a tie with 5 other athletes for the 4th best high jump in South Carolina this year. He did the same as an 11th grader as well. 7' 3" is the highest in the US this year.
My own two cents. Braswell fits the mold of a SU basketball player much more than Golden did. At this stage, Golden is a better player, who would have had a greater immediate impact. He fit the roster needs better than Braswell does, and his decision process was more imminent. That is why Golden was a higher priority.
Having said that, Braswell has a higher upside to him than Golden. Golden is quite a bit closer to his maximum potential than Braswell is, as far as fitting SU's needs. It could ultimately play out that Braswell would be the better long term player for SU. I think it is fair to say that Golden would have been JB's preferred choice at this moment. But, it wasn't a killer. Dasher made it very clear that it would be an uphill battle, and I am sure JB knew that.
But, despite many people on here who didn't think the coaching staff perceived the need at forward, the staff DID recognize the need, and have been proactive about filling the need. What some people don't seem to recognize, is that it takes time to find players, and evaluate them, then make contact, and try to build a relationship. As hard as it is to believe, not every kid is sitting out there just waiting to hear from Syracuse about an open spot.
Bazley did something that no other top 25 player has done. No coach, not one who had a top 25 player was out recruiting his replacement because they expected them to announce they were skipping college to go to the G-league (or at least till now!) this late in the process. So, sometimes things happen, and you adjust as best you can. This is the coaching staff assessing the situation and adjusting, Just like they did last year with Dolezaj. He isn't a wasted scholarship, and I have confidence that time will prove that, if Braswell makes it here, it also will not be a wasted scholarship. These are the things that getting stripped of scholarships does not allow you to do, build depth. And now that they are all back, these issues should start to disappear in the rear view mirror.
