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Message: [QUOTE="RF2044, post: 2165545, member: 40"] Pfister1, I think you are an outstanding poster, but I honestly believe that you are barking up the wrong tree with this post. Most everybody recognized that by bringing in two grad transfers last year, we were going to have an excessively large # of open scholarships for the class of 2017, and that the focus of this class needed to be on adding depth at the perimeter positions. Right now, we have a class comprised of two bigs and a backup guard, and all of the same gaping roster holes that we did last November. I think that most posters are very excited about Brissett / Sidibe, and recognize that both are probably better than what their rankings suggest. And many are excited about Howard's potential, both as a program guy and as a true point who might eventually round into form as a starter. But to date, the recruiting class hasn't done enough to fill our holes, and as of right now we only have 8 scholarship players lined up to be on next year's squad. Yes, we might add Tucker and Ayala. If we do, then I agree with the post above that this will shape up to be a pretty damn good class. Maybe not one that would have been as exciting as if we'd added Quade Green, but a solid, top 25 class that would replenish the depth and put a lot of four year program guy types back onto the roster. BUT there are still some obstacles to landing that eventual class -- namely, it sounds like we aren't a shoo-in for Tucker with GT / Oregon / potentially Duke also in the mix, and even if we land Ayala we still have to deal with hurdles associated with him reclassifying and being able to play next year. From my point of view, most of the hand wringing is about the circumstantial factors that put us in this precarious spot -- namely: [LIST] [*]NCAA sanctions that bit deeper than many anticipated [*]Several players that we brought in washing out in recent seasons, which compromised depth / experience [*]The coaching staff's perceived lack of effort on the recruiting trail [*]Unnecessarily restricting ourselves to the northeast corridor for recruits [*]Other players we turned up our noses at playing extremely well at other schools [*]Missing out on two key recruits last fall that seemed like they were in the bag [*]Our continued practice of putting all of our eggs in one basket to fill needs [*]The fact that an unprecedented # of highly rated point guard recruits shook free this spring, but we didn't actively pursue any of them despite PG being such a key position of need [*]Mike Hopkins's departure [*]Concern over whether JB can flip the switch and suddenly take on the majority of operational responsibilities he delegated to Hopkins increasingly over the last 18 years [*]The disturbing four year trend where we've amassed 42 losses since starting out 25-0 during the 13-14 season. [/LIST] While it is very true that we might also actively hit the 5th year transfer market again, it remains to be seen [1] whether any starting-caliber players who would fill our holes will be on the open market, [2] whether they would consider coming here, or [3] whether we could actually land them. Imagine how last year might have gone if we hadn't landed Andrew White, for example. Most people aren't very excited about a 20 win season where we landed in the NIT. How many games would we have won sans a guy who we didn't even know would be on the team until the first day of fall semester? That's the situation we're facing right now. You might be sick of some of the hand wringing, but speaking for myself -- I'm sick of the slippage. And I'm CONCERNED about the staff being able to reverse that trend, as JB approaches a "second" inevitable retirement. And this is coming from somebody who loves JB, and is an unabashed supporter of the program. I honestly believe that in the all-time pantheon of great college coaches, JB is in the top 10, and that we're very, very lucky to have him. I'm just worried that the old man might not be able to flip the switch at his age and get back to rolling up his sleeves and doing the heavy lifting necessary for the program to excel anymore. Others may disagree, but I believe that to be a valid concern. We're in a precarious spot, and the class of 2017 thus far doesn't dispel those concerns. Again, not a knock on you directly or your post. I just disagree with your position. [/QUOTE]

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