So I posted in one of my rambling early-season threads about the importance of continuity and mentioned, I believe, that I'd like to see JB and co. take more of an interest in helping to chart a course for players we recruit. If it costs us some recruits in terms of having frank discussions, I'm OK with that, b/c I think it would also help land some recruits.
Anyway, point is, this section of that Nova article on the worldwide leader early in the week that Pfister1 quoted in his post was really interesting to me:
But once the Wildcats had success on a national scale, the expectations grew.
"I got sloppy," Wright said. "After we went to the Final Four, it was easy to get guys. So rather than sit down with them and explain, 'Look, I know you want to come, but this is what we do,' I said, 'All right, good, he's a great player? All right, good.'
"And then they got here, we start talking about it and they're like, 'Whoa, no one told me about that.' And they were right. We didn't explain to them what this was. Some of them, when they got here, they got it. Some of them were like, 'Wait, that's not what I signed up for.'"
...
"We had hit rock bottom after that season," he said. "What are we doing? We're not helping these kids. We're not true to our culture. This is on me. This is a decision I made. This is the culture I've created since the Final Four. These are the guys I brought in. I've got to change."
...
When Wright and his staff recruit a high school player, they make sure they lay out what will be asked of the player during his time at Villanova. The idea of family is paramount, and they point to players in the past who made it to the NBA while also being part of a winning culture for three or four years. And not only do they expect total buy-in from the recruit, they also make sure everyone around the recruit is on board, from the parents to the high school coach to the AAU coach.
"He's done a really good job of saying, 'What is my expectation for me and for Villanova and for my staff?' said Jason Donnelly, a former assistant coach under Wright who is now the executive director of athletic development at Villanova. "And my expectation is a certain kind of kid and a certain kind of culture and a certain kind of competitiveness -- and I'm not giving up on that."
So my question is simple: Would JB consider creating a position or delegating a responsibility to a staff member who was almost solely responsible for communicating what the program wanted from recruits/players and, conversely, taking a pulse of how those players feel and acting as something of a players' advocate or at least a liaison between the players and the staff?
I see the benefits being two-fold: One, both the player/recruit and the staff have at least a generally accepted understanding of what each needs to accomplish (on the court/off the court, in-season/out of season). Two, it hopefully reduces some of the conflicts like those with Moyer or Geno Thorpe or whatever by addressing those issues proactively instead of letting everything come to a head and then dealing with the mess.
Now, I'm not naive enough to think this eliminates any drama and I think you have to get a little lucky to avoid a situation where a guy just blows up for whatever reason (i.e. Malachi having a decent year but then the big game on a national stage vs. UVA), but it may help manage the roster better if you have more of an idea of where these kids stand, for better or for worse.
Anyway, thought it was interesting to see that Nova is actually employing this strategy and think it's an interesting tweak as opposed to many of the debates here that seem to be either all is well or JB needs to be put out to pasture.
Anyway, point is, this section of that Nova article on the worldwide leader early in the week that Pfister1 quoted in his post was really interesting to me:
But once the Wildcats had success on a national scale, the expectations grew.
"I got sloppy," Wright said. "After we went to the Final Four, it was easy to get guys. So rather than sit down with them and explain, 'Look, I know you want to come, but this is what we do,' I said, 'All right, good, he's a great player? All right, good.'
"And then they got here, we start talking about it and they're like, 'Whoa, no one told me about that.' And they were right. We didn't explain to them what this was. Some of them, when they got here, they got it. Some of them were like, 'Wait, that's not what I signed up for.'"
...
"We had hit rock bottom after that season," he said. "What are we doing? We're not helping these kids. We're not true to our culture. This is on me. This is a decision I made. This is the culture I've created since the Final Four. These are the guys I brought in. I've got to change."
...
When Wright and his staff recruit a high school player, they make sure they lay out what will be asked of the player during his time at Villanova. The idea of family is paramount, and they point to players in the past who made it to the NBA while also being part of a winning culture for three or four years. And not only do they expect total buy-in from the recruit, they also make sure everyone around the recruit is on board, from the parents to the high school coach to the AAU coach.
"He's done a really good job of saying, 'What is my expectation for me and for Villanova and for my staff?' said Jason Donnelly, a former assistant coach under Wright who is now the executive director of athletic development at Villanova. "And my expectation is a certain kind of kid and a certain kind of culture and a certain kind of competitiveness -- and I'm not giving up on that."
So my question is simple: Would JB consider creating a position or delegating a responsibility to a staff member who was almost solely responsible for communicating what the program wanted from recruits/players and, conversely, taking a pulse of how those players feel and acting as something of a players' advocate or at least a liaison between the players and the staff?
I see the benefits being two-fold: One, both the player/recruit and the staff have at least a generally accepted understanding of what each needs to accomplish (on the court/off the court, in-season/out of season). Two, it hopefully reduces some of the conflicts like those with Moyer or Geno Thorpe or whatever by addressing those issues proactively instead of letting everything come to a head and then dealing with the mess.
Now, I'm not naive enough to think this eliminates any drama and I think you have to get a little lucky to avoid a situation where a guy just blows up for whatever reason (i.e. Malachi having a decent year but then the big game on a national stage vs. UVA), but it may help manage the roster better if you have more of an idea of where these kids stand, for better or for worse.
Anyway, thought it was interesting to see that Nova is actually employing this strategy and think it's an interesting tweak as opposed to many of the debates here that seem to be either all is well or JB needs to be put out to pasture.
