NU Misses Again - Evans to Vanderbilt
- Thread starter Max_Power
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Until this recruiting cycle is over, I've decided to look at the near-misses on high profile players as an extension of the Pound The Rock mantra. Collins is trying to land some very strong players, and it's hard to see progress until one of those decisions goes our way. There will be plenty of time to settle later in the cycle if we miss on all of our top targets, but for now we sit and wait.
Given the strength of the recruiting classes during Collins' tenure, I am confident that our '17 class will be just fine when all is said and done.
from reading through his twitter feed it looks like his sister is going to Tennessee State for Volleyball so maybe he wanted to stay close to her? It says she just committed as well so maybe his twin?
I like this POV. This is how we have to look at it. We are in with some very strong recruits.
I also suspect that if we sign nobody this fall but have a good year that we can snag a Bryant McIntosh-type player and get a 5th year transfer during the spring.
On the other hand, if we sign nobody this fall and wind up with 2 guys in the spring who are what I like to call "Carmody-style crapshoots" then it would be time for consternation.
I wouldnt panic entirely unless we come to the fall of 2017 and we're still not recruiting well and our current frosh crop and Law, Pardon, et al. have not developed as hoped. The next recruiting class is more crucial, in my opinion. They're all very important, but next year's class is make or break.
This is a more reasonable direction. And honestly, saying NU isn't going to get these guys isn't an out-on-the-limb prediction. It's NU for god sakes. Most of the same traits still apply unfortunately.
I wish we could get a more accurate idea of where NU and many of these schools truly stand on the radar of these players. And this goes beyond an NU issue. These cute little Photoshop lists are pretty screwy throughout basketball. Evans is a good example.
Two weeks ago, Evans said he had ten schools on his final list. So in less than two weeks, he gave strong consideration and went through a thoughtful process to eliminate nine schools? I don't buy that. I think the reality is that he had a certain list that was much shorter and many of the final ten schools were never a sincere consideration.
I don't mean this as a shot at Evans specifically. I think we're seeing similar tendencies all over the place.
Goodwin is another example. He posted his list with seven schools. On the same day, he said he was taking official visits Illinois and Missouri with no plans for the other schools. I think I'm generous when I say I'm guessing there are three schools AT BEST that will be given true consideration besides Illinois and Missouri. Why post the other two?
Ejike Obinna's list on July 24 had something ridiculous like 30 schools on it. Four days later he was down to six schools.
I'd be curious to find out why the kids are going in this direction. I assume it's a way for them to gain just a little more control of their recruiting, and I don't blame them for that at all. I just wish it could be more accurate for my selfish, cheap-fan purposes.
I'd be interested to get four or five true recruiting experts in a room and ask them if things have changed in the last couple years. In the past 3-5 years, I swear lists were usually much shorter by the end of summer camps.
Such is life in the world of business with high school kids.
9 times out of 10, when NU is a finalist it is often to have 1 academic school in the list, probably as a concession to their parents......
a) Get either Flagg, Goodwin or Eastern and combine them with me, and it's a good class. In the improbable event that the Cats get two of them, it's off the charts for NU.
b) Does anybody really think there is no plan B? Take it for what it's worth, but our own beloved Louie reported that NU is "the team to beat" for 6-9, 200 Tomas Murphy.
c) EDIT: I know everybody keeps blowing off Eastern, but I just saw an 8/6 post from a state recruiting site that said Northwestern, MSU and Michigan "look to be his choices." Michigan already recruited a point guard.
b) Does anybody really think there is no plan B? Take it for what it's worth, but our own beloved Louie reported that NU is "the team to beat" for 6-9, 200 Tomas Murphy.
c) EDIT: I know everybody keeps blowing off Eastern, but I just saw an 8/6 post from a state recruiting site that said Northwestern, MSU and Michigan "look to be his choices." Michigan already recruited a point guard.
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I'm sure there is a Plan B. I just hope and pray for Plan A which by definition is better than Plan B.....
Pushing the panic button because a kid NU offered three weeks ago picked another school has its merits. Especially when less than 20 percent of the '17 class has made a decision. I just don't see the merit.
Say what you want about Collins but so far he's delivered on the recruiting front. No doubt he's going for a higher caliber of talent this year.
The current roster is loaded and young. If NU doesn't land one of the prime targets, recruiting would be helped immensely if the team would then beat a handful of opponents that it isn't supposed to beat. That would pretty much solve everything.
What does McIntosh-type player mean? If the future NU all-time assist leader is available during the spring period, I'd take him...
NU would be at a significant disadvantage without two signees in October.
Funny how the whole recruiting thing works. NU would be in deep doo-doo if BMac hadn't decommitted from Indiana State. He wasn't on anyone's radar yet is going to be one of the top Big 10 points his senior year. Go figure.
Mac committed in the fall. Looking back, NU started recruiting him in late July and secured the commit in early September.
The OP seemed to indicate that a Mac-type player would be available to NU in the spring. Experience says that's not typically the case.
McIntosh-type of player is a 3-star-rated player with good offers (Purdue, for example) and a very talented guy who didn't get offers from OSU, MSU, Mich (like Eastern and Goodwin have, for example).
If it happened once... somebody might come available in the spring due to a coaching change or something.
What do you mean "if it happened once..."
For reference, Mac signed in the early period.
Here is the chronology:
7/8/13 Decommit from ISU
July 2013: Offers from Florida State, Auburn, Davidson, Memphis, Dayton, Creighton, Iowa, Xavier, West Virginia, and Vandy
7/11/13 and 8/10/13: Unofficial visits to NU
9/9/13: Collins visits BMac at home
9/9/13: Commits to NU over above plus Marquette and Purdue
11/13/13: Signs LOI
Pretty amazing that a brand new coach could land him against that competition.
Should we be reading more into that wink than we should, E-Cat?
At your own peril........
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