Garza commits to Iowa
- Thread starter mpfeiler
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Mick McCall, Adam Cushing, and Dennis Springer. They can't wait to get their hands on our offense.
One was supposed to be Flagg...he's out. I didn't catch the other names, Medill90 probably has one in Cowan.
I've got Gaines, Cowan and 2018 Libertyville guard Drew Peterson (no jokes allowed until he signs).
I'm not at all concerned about recruiting.
If NU plays like crap this season I'll start to be concerned because the roster is as loaded as it's been in decades. And will be again next year unless there's an exodus like at OSU or Nebraska.
Collins proved first at Duke and then at NU that he can recruit. Now he has to prove that he can get talent to perform at a very high level and close out games. It's NU so he really has to get talent to outperform expectations.
I think that guys like BMac and Law have the intensity and focus to keep the team on task through the Big Ten season. I'm very encouraged by what Scottie said about being more mature. Falzon was good as a freshman, tough rebounder, and will be better.
Frankly, Collins has more than enough to work with this year.
If NU plays like crap this season I'll start to be concerned because the roster is as loaded as it's been in decades. And will be again next year unless there's an exodus like at OSU or Nebraska.
Collins proved first at Duke and then at NU that he can recruit. Now he has to prove that he can get talent to perform at a very high level and close out games. It's NU so he really has to get talent to outperform expectations.
I think that guys like BMac and Law have the intensity and focus to keep the team on task through the Big Ten season. I'm very encouraged by what Scottie said about being more mature. Falzon was good as a freshman, tough rebounder, and will be better.
Frankly, Collins has more than enough to work with this year.
I'm not sure I agree with all the absolutes in your message, Medill. Unfortunately, like some many circumstances around NU basketball, there is a complete gray area that CC and this team haven't clarified. I'm not even sure they've come close.
On the other hand, things aren't the complete disaster that so many want to make it out to be. It's just an ugly middle ground that hasn't swung and needs just a little something.
1) I don't blame anyone who wants to reasonably question what the results might be in this recruiting class. Collins swung for the seats and struck out. And it's happening at a key moment in his tenure. This is a two- or three-year period that will make or break him as the NU coach.
Would an early signing of a "solid" player have helped more than a ratings star?
For now, this is still NU, and the team has holes. To not fill any of those holes in a recruiting season is concerning. But it's one year - not an ongoing trend that demonstrates a disaster.
2) "Loaded?" I'm not sure the program has a consistent second scorer. It sure doesn't have a PROVEN second scorer.
If you want to judge on recruiting ratings, then, yes, the team is stronger than past NU teams. But I think that fool's gold, especially when you compare to anyone in the B10 that matters.
I'm also not sure you can say a team is loaded if it doesn't have that completely dominant/score-every-time-you-need-it player. I love BMac, but I'm very much on the fence whether he will be that type of player in his last two years.
3) On the one hand you've said CC has proven he can recruit at NU. On the other hand, you said it's still NU so he has to get the talent to outperform expectations.
I think the reality it closer to your second statement. On the scale of the tallest midget, Collins has improved NU's recruiting. But compared to the rest of the B10, there's still work to be done. And so many want to ignore that most of the NU handicaps are still in place.
Recruiting is nowhere near a disaster. But I think it's reasonable to question (on a slow September Friday) the strategy, the talent evaluation that strategy came from and potential outcome.
Collins could adopt the safety first approach of NU football and try to make [small] incremental changes, going for the safer recruits and get a commit on board by early summer. If he in fact decided to swing for the fences, it is definitely high risk/high reward. You never get a hit if you never swing, but swinging doesn't guarantee you get a hit - you have to be willing to accept that a strike-out is a possible outcome. I'm more than comfortable with trying to recruit with the bigger boys who have great fan support and tournament resumes (Butler, for example) instead of accepting that NU will always have bottom quartile Big 10 talent.
I guess you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Fitz is getting killed on the football board for not changing. Conversely, do we kill Collins for trying something completely different and not succeeding? I don't.
Good post sec 112
I meant to infer loaded by NU's standards. The roster has length, athleticism and skill to a degree I can't remember.
I meant to infer loaded by NU's standards. The roster has length, athleticism and skill to a degree I can't remember.
You mention that the home run swing is happening in a critical point in his tenure.
Yes and no.
Yes, this is a critical point.
No because it's not THE critical point.
Even if he strikes out this year, it makes it that much easier next year.
And if the next year is a total did, only then does the year after that becomes THE year.
