Red flags in recruiting?

[*Deleted Account*]

Starting to have some doubts regarding miles and his assistants ability to recruit. Should I step away from the ledge or are my concerns justified?

[MandRHusker]

You can step away from the ledge. This is still year one. And this isn't a Bob Huggins "anything goes" operation. Recruiting will improve incrimentally. We'll get lower rated players with large upside at first and then improve our recruiting as the staff proves itself on the court. Unless we hire a high profile name, or someone willing to cheat, there is no other way to do it.

[jimmykc]

DOATH: that would be akin to giving up on your MLB team if they get beaten in the opener tomorrow. Take a long slow breath and see what happens over the next few weeks. And months.

[hskr4life]

I would step away from the ledge... We lost 1 guy.  We also signed a four star and two really good 3 stars.  I think that what Miles got to sign in less than 8 months on the job shows that he can recruit a little bit.

[MandRHusker]

I always felt that Doc started with a small pool of players and ended up settling for the lower end of that pool. With Coach Miles and staff I feel we start with a much larger pool of recruits almost all with higher ceilings than any of Docs recruits. The key here are the assistants. IMO Coach Miles did a masterful job of recruiting talented assistants!!! They can all both coach and recruit!

[Norm Peterson]

Starting to have some doubts regarding miles and his assistants ability to recruit. Should I step away from the ledge or are my concerns justified?

Too early to tell and too early to worry.

 

The guys we've missed on?  One signed with a current #1 seed in the NCAA tourney and a future HOF coach.  The other signed with a guy who could be out the door as early as the end of next season.  I didn't realize he's been there 3 years and hasn't moved the needle much in the time he's been there.  After learning that, I'm thinking the kid who we lost to Auburn just signed himself up for a coaching change inside of 12 months from now.  Not a career move if you ask me.

 

Sometimes recruits choose other schools and you don't win every recruiting battle.  We're not Kentucky.  We can't expect to go 6 for 6 on 5-star recruits.  What we need to do is win our share of recruiting battles and, more importantly, develop the guys we bring in.  On balance, I'm pretty pleased with what Coach Miles has found, managed to get in on and sign.  A couple of misses doesn't change that.

[Norm Peterson]

I'll tell you what, I'll be a whole lot more worried if the recruiting battles we win end up being guys who are not the players we thought they'd be.  It's OK to lose to recruiting battles as long as the players you bring in can play.

[Huskerpapa]

Without being inside the program, it is difficult to judge how much of a failure losing Matthew Atewe actually was.  For those of us in the dungeon, we devoted 40+ pages to this kid.  Given the fact that coaches went to Toronto to visit him last week tells me we were trying to close on him (unless of course we told him we were no longer interested).  But you just never know. 

 

Hey, we closed on Biggs, Petteway, Pitchford, Fuller, Webster, Vooch and Hawkins.  We lost out on at least Akoy and Atewe.  Let's see how things play out, but I am waiting with great anticipation for the signing of four and five star studs.

[tcp]

Normally losing a player like Atewe isn't going to bug me. It does this year for two reasons: first, we're dying on tall for next season. Second, we lost a recruiting battle to a crappy SEC team. And really, it's the second reason bugging me the most.

 

On the other hand, as Norm just reiterated, we've done pretty well with the class as a whole, and we have. ANd hey, Michigan's done pretty well with a guard heavy team, so there's that.

[KZRider]

The track record for Miles so far is OUTSTANDING! Look at the class he has signed. That's pretty impressive in my book. As to whether to step away from the ledge or not it CAN be pretty thrilling out there so who am I do say? Just be careful out there! Don't want anyone getting hurt.

[Concrete]

From all accounts, Fuller, Hawkins, and Webster were 'A' list guys for this staff.  They were identified early on in the process and all 3 of their verbal commitments were immediately accepted by the coaches.  Atewe was probably a "B" list guy behind Akoy and Vitto Brown.

 

Can't really remember any other legit* targets besides Fuller, Hawkins, Webster, Atewe, Akoy, and Brown.  Going 3/5 on your 'A' list and 3/6 overall is remarkable for any program, and unheard of for Nebraska.

 

*Legit in this context is a target that visited campus

 

Not sure where Leslee Smith and Sai fall into the mix.  I think Smith is just a "get me over" player until we land a strong 4 or 5 from the HS ranks, but I think Sai could be really good.

[HuskerCager]

I've always had doubts.  Not because I think Miles and his staff are inept.  This has just become a very hard program to resurrect (funny that word would come to mind today!).  Hmmm... maybe it's possible after all.

Seriously, the scary thing is it's almost impossible to detect a difference in what we have signed post-facility upgrades vs. pre-upgrades.  I know, it's still early - it really is.  In 4 years, we'll know how good Fuller and Webster are, but right now, we'll just have to wait. 

[Silverbacked1]

We just need to stop trying to recruit players who last name start with an A.

[Norm Peterson]

Forgot about Vitto Brown.  But that's not really a miss either because he was well on his way to Wisconsin and we got in on him at the last moment and at least swung a visit out of the deal.  Getting him to come here for a visit was a victory in itself.  We won a battle; we just didn't win that war.  But we had no real chance anyway.

[hhcmatt]

If Atewe signs this is a "Is this the greatest class we've ever signed" thread instead.

Atewe would have been a great get but not nearly enough to swing between doom best ever

[nustudent]

I've always had doubts.  Not because I think Miles and his staff are inept.  This has just become a very hard program to resurrect (funny that word would come to mind today!).  Hmmm... maybe it's possible after all.

Seriously, the scary thing is it's almost impossible to detect a difference in what we have signed post-facility upgrades vs. pre-upgrades.  I know, it's still early - it really is.  In 4 years, we'll know how good Fuller and Webster are, but right now, we'll just have to wait. 

No offense....but I don't think that's necessarily correct (post-facility vs. pre-facility)

[HuskerCager]

None taken, NU.  My point is, we've signed - who - Fuller, Webster and Hawkins this year, Petteway, Pitchford, Vooch and Biggs last year.  Throw in Shields and Parker, plus the 3 players that didn't come last year, Coleman, Alihodzic and Young.

OK, how do the best players from that group compare with the best we signed the prior 12 years?  Can we say any of them rise above Maric, Dagundaro, Nate Johnson, etc?  Too early to say on the incoming players obviously.  My hunch is they are on par, but not above what we signed in the past.

It's early, right?  If this staff is Big Ten  caliber, I would expect those muscles to start flexing with their third recruiting class, which should start next summer.  And this is why I almost hope we don't sign 2 marginal JUCOs this spring so we have 3 open scholarships for the fall.

[nustudent]

None taken, NU.  My point is, we've signed - who - Fuller, Webster and Hawkins this year, Petteway, Pitchford, Vooch and Biggs last year.  Throw in Shields and Parker, plus the 3 players that didn't come last year, Coleman, Alihodzic and Young.

OK, how do the best players from that group compare with the best we signed the prior 12 years?  Can we say any of them rise above Maric, Dagundaro, Nate Johnson, etc?  Too early to say on the incoming players obviously.  My hunch is they are on par, but not above what we signed in the past.

It's early, right?  If this staff is Big Ten  caliber, I would expect those muscles to start flexing with their third recruiting class, which should start next summer.  And this is why I almost hope we don't sign 2 marginal JUCOs this spring so we have 3 open scholarships for the fall.

I would agree that that are maybe on par with Maric, Dagundero and Johnson.

 

But you know what....if Maric, Dagundero and Johnson all played together as juniors and seniors you have yourself an NCAA tournament team.  

 

We've signed some decent players over the last 12 years.  But it was always one at a time.   They were always seperated by multiple years.

 

All those guys you listed have been signed in the last 12 months...not the last 12 years.

[TomEadesSucks]

It takes time to build relationships. Miles is recruiting an entire different kind of player and locations than while he was at CSU. No need to worry, unless it's 3-4 years from now, and we're still competing with lower lever BCS teams and mud-majors for recruits.

[CrazyforNUHOOPS]

You all are too nice...this is one of the most ridiculous threads on this board.

[hhcdave]

I'm thrilled with this recruiting class. My advice? Jump off the ledge with a parachute on and enjoy the thirll and ride that is going to be the next several years. Great things to come.

[MilesForPrez]

actually this is the best thread on the damn board.  nustudent is right about class spacing.  its just effin ridiculous that two coaches couldnt space it out right.  i mean gosh dangit.  can we get someone to build a roster.  please.  obviously im frustrated as hell, but i think miles is smart enough to space classes and at least decent at idenifying talent.

[Chuck Taylor]

actually this is the best thread on the damn board.  nustudent is right about class spacing.  its just effin ridiculous that two coaches couldnt space it out right.  i mean gosh dangit.  can we get someone to build a roster.  please.  obviously im frustrated as hell, but i think miles is smart enough to space classes and at least decent at idenifying talent.

I agree that Miles has some sense about what he's doing. He built a roster at CSU and he can do it here. Look, we're not going to get bigtime recruits until we show some success. The facilities thing is completely overblown. That just shows you're serious. But kids still want to go to a place where there's some success. The top players just don't want to come and be part of some magical process of turning us into a major power. It's the same reason Kansas football isn't in the hunt for top football players. Top recruits won't look at us until they're sure we're going to be competitive.

[hhcmatt]

It's looking more and more like the strategy to hold back a scholarship last year was a poor one.

If we do end up signing Smith we essentially held back a scholarship one year for a JUCO player.  

Wouldn't we have been better off signing Fahro to bridge the gap with his size or even Jeran Young with his scoring ability?

 

FWIW it's probably better we have a staff that swings for the fences and misses on occasion than one who always plays it safe.

[nustudent]

It's looking more and more like the strategy to hold back a scholarship last year was a poor one.

If we do end up signing Smith we essentially held back a scholarship one year for a JUCO player.  

Wouldn't we have been better off signing Fahro to bridge the gap with his size or even Jeran Young with his scoring ability?

 

FWIW it's probably better we have a staff that swings for the fences and misses on occasion than one who always plays it safe.

 

 

Maybe they didn't hold back the scholarship just to leave room for this year.   Maybe they didn't think much of those players

It's looking more and more like the strategy to hold back a scholarship last year was a poor one.

If we do end up signing Smith we essentially held back a scholarship one year for a JUCO player.  

Wouldn't we have been better off signing Fahro to bridge the gap with his size or even Jeran Young with his scoring ability?

 

FWIW it's probably better we have a staff that swings for the fences and misses on occasion than one who always plays it safe.