Watching the McD AA Game | Syracusefan.com

Watching the McD AA Game

Depressing. I remember when it was a surprise we didn’t have a guy in the game. Flynn and Donte were fun to watch in theirs.
And I got to see Melo play in person at MSG. My friend that I was with at the Garden (not a 'Cuse fan) says I was so excited at what I was watching that I said something to him to the effect of "wow, we're gonna win a National Championship with this guy". Can't believe it's been 20 years already since that McDonald's game.
 
And I got to see Melo play in person at MSG. My friend that I was with at the Garden (not a 'Cuse fan) says I was so excited at what I was watching that I said something to him to the effect of "wow, we're gonna win a National Championship with this guy". Can't believe it's been 20 years already since that McDonald's game.
Me too, man! The game itself no longer generates the buzz it used to. And not just saying this as a sour cuse fan.
 
Freaking Arkansas has three 5-stars. Our program is toast unless we can up our recruiting game.
Recruiting isn't as good as it needs to be, but even when we were good we never got 3 McDonalds All Americans. Using this game as a comparison is going to make everyone angry. Heck, Kansas has none on their roster right now.
 
Just an FYI Kansas, who was a number 1 seed and is in the final 4 has NO 5 star guys and 10 4 star guys who have stuck together and learned to play with one another.

Villanova is in a very similar position….this is the way of the future in college basketball in my opinion

The 5 star guys aren’t the end all be all
 
Just an FYI Kansas, who was a number 1 seed and is in the final 4 has NO 5 star guys and 10 4 star guys who have stuck together and learned to play with one another.

Villanova is in a very similar position….this is the way of the future in college basketball in my opinion

The 5 star guys aren’t the end all be all

you need a kid or two widely regarded as top 30. we went years without burger boys.

Also, Kansas usually has them.
 
Just an FYI Kansas, who was a number 1 seed and is in the final 4 has NO 5 star guys and 10 4 star guys who have stuck together and learned to play with one another.

Villanova is in a very similar position….this is the way of the future in college basketball in my opinion

The 5 star guys aren’t the end all be all
For comparison's sake, we're looking at probably five 4 star guys next season and the rest being 3 stars.

Edit: Also, we used to get majority 4 star recruits. That hasn't happened since 2016 though.

Prior to 2016, this is a list of all of our 3 star recruits dating back to 2003:

Buss Patterson
Chino Obokoh
Baye Moussa Keita
Sean Williams
Kris Ongenaet
Devin Brennan-McBride
Arinze Onuaku

Since 2016, most of our recruits are 3 stars. It's just not a winning formula for us. From 2003-2016, we brought in seven 3 star recruits. Since 2016, we've brought in 14.
 
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Just an FYI Kansas, who was a number 1 seed and is in the final 4 has NO 5 star guys and 10 4 star guys who have stuck together and learned to play with one another.

Villanova is in a very similar position….this is the way of the future in college basketball in my opinion

The 5 star guys aren’t the end all be all
We are better off focusing on developing and keeping guys with sprinkling in a couple top 50 guys. That’s what we did from 2003-2016 or so.

Anyone who looks at these lists are just going to be disappointed.

I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice to get a few of these guys, but that was mainly the exception even when we were good.

They guys we are losing to transfer now are the reason we used to be good in the past.
 
Recruiting isn't as good as it needs to be, but even when we were good we never got 3 McDonalds All Americans. Using this game as a comparison is going to make everyone angry. Heck, Kansas has none on their roster right now.

Correct. Also, historically, we didn't get many Mickey D guys, it certainly wasn't an annual thing. However, we did seem to get many type just outside that 24. And, how it was often argued here that had our guy gone to one of those other schools instead, etc., then he would've been a Burger Boy. :)

Nowadays, we are about as far away of actually landing one of those as an McDonald's employee is to being a franchisee. ;)
 
Just an FYI Kansas, who was a number 1 seed and is in the final 4 has NO 5 star guys and 10 4 star guys who have stuck together and learned to play with one another.

Villanova is in a very similar position….this is the way of the future in college basketball in my opinion

The 5 star guys aren’t the end all be all
Didn't Nova just sign the MVP of the MickeyD's game?
 
We are better off focusing on developing and keeping guys with sprinkling in a couple top 50 guys. That’s what we did from 2003-2016 or so.

Anyone who looks at these lists are just going to be disappointed.

I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice to get a few of these guys, but that was mainly the exception even when we were good.

They guys we are losing to transfer now are the reason we used to be good in the past.

100%
 
Didn't Nova just sign the MVP of the MickeyD's game?
They did, but they also don't have any in their current main rotation.

Moore, Daniels, and Gillespie were sub 100 guys. Nova has mainly built their program on player development.
 
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Just an FYI Kansas, who was a number 1 seed and is in the final 4 has NO 5 star guys and 10 4 star guys who have stuck together and learned to play with one another.

Villanova is in a very similar position….this is the way of the future in college basketball in my opinion

The 5 star guys aren’t the end all be all
So you are saying the strategy of pulling 2 and 3 star guys, players with family ties, and the occasional foreign dude and having half leave every other year doesn’t work?
 
It is not our strategy. It is our default since we no longer win recruiting battles. We lost our attractiveness, gravitas. panache... It was inevitable and the staff is not at fault.
 
We are better off focusing on developing and keeping guys with sprinkling in a couple top 50 guys. That’s what we did from 2003-2016 or so.

Anyone who looks at these lists are just going to be disappointed.

I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice to get a few of these guys, but that was mainly the exception even when we were good.

They guys we are losing to transfer now are the reason we used to be good in the past.
Feel like this class is getting back to that a little bit. Wasn’t the initial goal (Dior, Lands) but am excited to have a big class coming in. Hopefully we can supplement them with a little more support (Cole returning and either Mintz or a portal guard) so they can develop at their own pace.
 
It is not our strategy. It is our default since we no longer win recruiting battles. We lost our attractiveness, gravitas. panache... It was inevitable and the staff is not at fault.
Agree with your second sentence, but your last sentence is a horrible take - so I will just assume that is sarcasm! Lol
 
Duke know$ how to impre$$ recruit$
Serious question, and I'm not just singling you out 181- but what exactly does this mean, or matter, to the bigger picture?
I see folks post about "bags" and "getting paid under the table" and I'm like...AND?
The NIL is literally a license to pay these kids, so funneling funds to a prospect is not the stigma that it once was...if it ever was. It's outdated thinking, IMO, to still believe that schools are NOT paying prospects. And to suggest that Duke is somehow shamed by paying their recruits is so... beside-the-point. They're getting guys, and getting away with it, while good old Syracuse maintains the moral high-ground and continues to rot.
Seriously, we'd better stop farting around and get in the game or we're in for a lot of years like this one- wistfully looking at the McDonald's AA game and lamenting how we were once "contenders". (end rant)
 
Serious question, and I'm not just singling you out 181- but what exactly does this mean, or matter, to the bigger picture?
I see folks post about "bags" and "getting paid under the table" and I'm like...AND?
The NIL is literally a license to pay these kids, so funneling funds to a prospect is not the stigma that it once was...if it ever was. It's outdated thinking, IMO, to still believe that schools are NOT paying prospects. And to suggest that Duke is somehow shamed by paying their recruits is so... beside-the-point. They're getting guys, and getting away with it, while good old Syracuse maintains the moral high-ground and continues to rot.
Seriously, we'd better stop farting around and get in the game or we're in for a lot of years like this one- wistfully looking at the McDonald's AA game and lamenting how we were once "contenders". (end rant)

It’s illegal when it comes to recruiting. Listen to Babers interview yesterday.
 

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