2016 Recruiting needs and potential recruits

Old Cage · Post by **Old Cage** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:30 am

uz2b-len wrote:What about him?

We have offered per NERR.

This just now:

HoopDreamsMag.com ‏@HoopDreamsmag 3m
Bruce Brown plays with a determination on getting to the basket. Brown sinks a free throw to secure a 65-64 win for BABC #bbulljuly

iwearglovesndhat · Post by **iwearglovesndhat** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 11:12 am

Brown is a pipe dream

NilesGold · Post by **NilesGold** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 12:09 pm

iwearglovesndhat wrote:Brown is a pipe dream

Kind of like Jared Terrell was a pipe dream for URI?

iwearglovesndhat · Post by **iwearglovesndhat** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 2:26 pm

^
Didn't hear that anywhere? Especially when URI seems to recruit well all over and was a finalist for Terrell the first time. But think what you want, we don't recruit the northeast very well.

eldonabe · Post by **eldonabe** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:51 am

^
It would be nice to get some locals, but it is not required. The goal should be to get the best players we can get our hands on. I know you have a hard-on for getting kids from the northeast but most don't want to stay here if they have the chance to get out. Winters suck around here and the locals know that first hand. Amherst has a great campus and atmosphere when the bandwagon is full, but the allure of warmer weather is A LOT to overcome.

NilesGold · Post by **NilesGold** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 9:03 am

^ I'm not an ESPN insider so I can't read the whole article, but what little they do allow non-subscribers to read says this about Tom Izzo's recruiting philosophy...

'"Coach's philosophy has always been to recruit kids within a four hour radius," Michigan State associate head coach Dwayne Stephens said.'

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncbrecr ... t?id=10778

I want UMass to get the best kids, regardless of where they come from. To that end, sometimes going after players within the region is the best way to accomplish that goal.

uz2b-len · Post by **uz2b-len** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 9:32 am

I really can't buy your argument, Eldonabe. Plenty of great players go off to the Midwest, where the winters are worse than ours. And plenty of players stay around home, don't want to be that far away from family. Obvoiusly, some prefer warmer climates, I'm not debating that. But I do think the region should be an asset when recruiting some kids.

eldonabe · Post by **eldonabe** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 9:36 am

NilesGold wrote:^ I'm not an ESPN insider so I can't read the whole article, but what little they do allow non-subscribers to read says this about Tom Izzo's recruiting philosophy...

'"Coach's philosophy has always been to recruit kids within a four hour radius," Michigan State associate head coach Dwayne Stephens said.'

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncbrecr ... t?id=10778

I want UMass to get the best kids, regardless of where they come from. To that end, sometimes going after players within the region is the best way to accomplish that goal.

That is very easy for one of the best coaches in college basketball to say. DK is definitely not in that luxurious position. If Tom Izzo is looking at you, you are listening - PERIOD.

If DK is knocking on your door, I am sure a decent player is going to listen, but you are in a long line of coaches and programs with similar and better existing track records. In 6 years DK still only has one NCAA appearence and that was not exactly a stellar showing. He needs to string two or three together to get towards the top of that "peer group" he is competing with.

The A-10 is still one level below the big 5, and the number of true 4 and 5 star recruits are small in numbers so they get quickly picked off by the Big Boys, that leaves us with the local scraps - which to me is not that exciting. There is a big drop off in talent after the stars are gone, and being the best of a mediocre group just makes you a good mediocre player. Other regions have much deeper talent pools with elevated overall competition, so that second tier is much better than the second tier on New England.

eldonabe · Post by **eldonabe** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:02 am

We can go around and around all day. It would be awesome if Umass was able to put a New England All-Star team on the court every year, but that isn't happening.

I want them to get the best player they can get, regardless of where the kid is from, and if DK continues to have more and more success, those locals will show more and more interest. IMO he has not yet done enough to earn that kind of local following/respect (and the proof is in the recruiting results).

In time this will (hopefully) change.

NilesGold · Post by **NilesGold** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:07 am

eldonabe wrote:I know you have a hard-on for getting kids from the northeast but most don't want to stay here if they have the chance to get out. .. the allure of warmer weather is A LOT to overcome.

You know this how exactly? Have you spoken to lots of elite HS and college basketball players on how weather affects their college destination? There are so many schools that are in just as shitty (or shittier) climates than UMass that recruit at a very high level.

eldonabe wrote: The A-10 is still one level below the big 5, and the number of true 4 and 5 star recruits are small in numbers so they get quickly picked off by the Big Boys, that leaves us with the local scraps - which to me is not that exciting. There is a big drop off in talent after the stars are gone, and being the best of a mediocre group just makes you a good mediocre player. Other regions have much deeper talent pools with elevated overall competition, so that second tier is much better than the second tier on New England.

I don't think anyone is advocating that UMass should settle for lesser players just because they're local. The idea is that there are going to be some very good kids who are local that place some importance on staying closer to home, so in those instances leverage your advantage and recruit them. UMass is relatively close (distance wise) to an extremely large number of 3, 4 and 5 star recruits. NYC, Boston, parts of New Jersey, even Philadelphia is just over 4 hours away. Then consider all of the players who are prepping in MA, CT, VT, NH and RI, while some of them come from other areas of the country, UMass is within close proximity to the school which allows for them to attend games/practices rather easily.

69MG · Post by **69MG** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:17 am

I'm not taking sides on this issue, but does anyone think DK is NOT trying get the best local kids he can? For now, we don't have the cache to win the recruiting battle against power conference schools or slightly lesser ranked conference schools with a better NCAA track record than us. If we can make the tournament a couple of more times in the next 3 or 4 years, we will start getting these kids and we'll all be happier.

TruBluMaroon · Post by **TruBluMaroon** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:46 am

^ He is not getting paid to TRY....

Tman1319 · Post by **Tman1319** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:56 am

NilesGold wrote:
eldonabe wrote:I know you have a hard-on for getting kids from the northeast but most don't want to stay here if they have the chance to get out. .. the allure of warmer weather is A LOT to overcome.
You know this how exactly? Have you spoken to lots of elite HS and college basketball players on how weather affects their college destination? There are so many schools that are in just as shitty (or shittier) climates than UMass that recruit at a very high level.

How many of those schools had a 16 year hiatus from the big dance? BC has success with Skinner making 8 or 9 NCAA's and we always have UConn boasting championships. As much as I hate those schools, it is tough to compete for recruits during such a dry spell.

69MG · Post by **69MG** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:02 am

TruBluMaroon wrote:^ He is not getting paid to TRY....

Well, if you have any ideas he hasn't tried I'm sure he'll be happy to hear from you.

NilesGold · Post by **NilesGold** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:09 am

I'm not sure exactly how we got off on this tangent, but it seems to happen every month or so. It'd be great to get Bruce Brown, regardless of where he's from.