for those who say that we cant recruit top players to the a-10, i was just looking at the rivals250 for 2008 and there are six a-10 players on that list and only two are xavier players. in addition players from schools like pepperdine, florida atlantic, etc. have guys listed there. this means no excuses when it comes to recruiting. maybe santa will bring us an unsigned talent for christmas or at least by the summer. merry christmas everyone.
[QUOTE=ninerfan55;279049]for those who say that we cant recruit top players to the a-10, i was just looking at the rivals250 for 2008 and there are six a-10 players on that list and only two are xavier players. in addition players from schools like pepperdine, florida atlantic, etc. have guys listed there. this means no excuses when it comes to recruiting. maybe santa will bring us an unsigned talent for christmas or at least by the summer. merry christmas everyone.[/QUOTE]
IMO it is easier to recruit for the A10 in the Northeast where kids are familiar with the league, the teams and it’s history. When we moved to the A10 our resources to recruit that area were limited. It is also difficult to sell southern kids on a northern league, not saying it can’t be done, just that it is a challenge. It is made even worse by the fact that we are recruiting against the ACC with teams that every kid knows.
IMO it is easier to recruit for the A10 in the Northeast where kids are familiar with the league, the teams and it's history. When we moved to the A10 our resources to recruit that area were limited. It is also difficult to sell southern kids on a northern league, not saying it can't be done, just that it is a challenge. It is made even worse by the fact that we are recruiting against the ACC with teams that every kid knows.
I agree that location of our school with respect to where the markets for the other schools is probably the toughest part about recruting the a10. However, I wondered how long it would take to hear the old “middle of the ACC” excuse in this thread.
Didn’t we lose two kids to UNC Wilmington for 2008? Xavier beat out offers from Michigan, Michigan State, and Kentucky, for Kenny Frease, not ACC, but thats better than VaTech and Clemson. Mark Lyons (XU) had an offer from Clemson as well, but is going to Xavier. Southern Illinois has 2 top 150 kids, as mentioned FAU, Pepperdine have guys.
There are major conferences outside of the ACC across the nation, somehow Xavier/Dayton/UMass/FAU/SIU manage to bring in that talent, we don’t.
[QUOTE=ninerID;279070]I agree that location of our school with respect to where the markets for the other schools is probably the toughest part about recruting the a10. However, I wondered how long it would take to hear the old “middle of the ACC” excuse in this thread.
Didn’t we lose two kids to UNC Wilmington for 2008? Xavier beat out offers from Michigan, Michigan State, and Kentucky, for Kenny Frease, not ACC, but thats better than VaTech and Clemson. Mark Lyons (XU) had an offer from Clemson as well, but is going to Xavier. Southern Illinois has 2 top 150 kids, as mentioned FAU, Pepperdine have guys.
There are major conferences outside of the ACC across the nation, somehow Xavier/Dayton/UMass/FAU/SIU manage to bring in that talent, we don’t.[/QUOTE]
Not using the ACC as an excuse, just pointing out that Chapel Hill and Duke as well as lower level teams like Clemson and even UNCW are better known here than Xavier or St. Joe’s. We should still be able to land quality talent no doubt. Our geographic location combined with a conference that is not geographically logical for us creates quite the recruiting nightmare.
[QUOTE=NinerWupAss;279073]Our geographic location combined with a conference that is not geographically logical for us creates quite the recruiting nightmare.[/QUOTE]
Hey Run, can you find a Conference USA of old map with the same scale and put it up next to the A10 map? That conference was just as spread out if not moreso (I think Marquette was even further than St. Louis from us). That should at least make it clear that distance isn’t the problem. St. Louis probably has the biggest gripe now, since they are clearly the outlier in the A10.
Maybe cultural similarities were better though, there were more similarly southern teams
in Conference USA, whatever difference that makes. Familiarity with Cinci, Memphis, and Louis. is probably the main difference, because the rest of the teams in the conference were probably equally unknown back then (maybe Depaul and Marquette were a little better?). The A10 has a chance to be the clearly best conference outside of the big 6 if it drops the teams that have little reason being in the conference (LaSalle, St. Bon, and maybe Fordham, and Duquesne if they don’t build on this year’s success). Would be interesting to see what the league could do with regards to recruiting, TV, exposure and in the tournaments without these dead weights constantly pulling teams down (rpi-wise and t.v. contract-wise). What were they thinking when they let Fordham and Lasalle in to the conference despite having little recent success? At least St. Bonnies have been in the conference for a long time and have a fairly supportive fan base.
I agree that location of our school with respect to where the markets for the other schools is probably the toughest part about recruting the a10. However, I wondered how long it would take to hear the old "middle of the ACC" excuse in this thread.There are major conferences outside of the ACC across the nation, somehow Xavier/Dayton/UMass/FAU/SIU manage to bring in that talent, we don’t.
well its a give and take…bring a recruit down here last month when the northeast is getting hammered with snow and Charlotte is nothing but sunshine and 65 degrees I would think that is inticing? Growing up outside philly I know there are a load of solid prospects in philly and you can even through in the greater NYC area. Many of them commit to the Big East (pitt, cuse, gtown, etc). Although SJU did hit it big with west and nelson (both in NBA).
That move to the A-10 hurt us recruiting wise. I think we are just starting to get over that hangover (ie. the young guys we have this season).
the difference between the a10 and its schools location and cusa is the fact that we are at the bottom of the map. Its not taht they are farther away… but if you concider that there is giong to be more draw the further north you go because you are surrounded by these schools, rather than being located here at the bottom of the line, then its an understandable complaint.
And just becuase I’ve heard a lot of people on the board say they wish we would go back to CUSA - I want to state that im willing to bet a recruit knows xavie, st joes, umass, and temple before they would know tulsa, houstin, tulane, etc. The only ones if they are from here they likely ever heard of was memphis because they’re so highly ranked year to year, and ECU bc its local. But who actually wants to play ecu? RPI KILLERS
[QUOTE=yea yea;279086]well its a give and take…bring a recruit down here last month when the northeast is getting hammered with snow and Charlotte is nothing but sunshine and 65 degrees I would think that is inticing? Growing up outside philly I know there are a load of solid prospects in philly and you can even through in the greater NYC area. Many of them commit to the Big East (pitt, cuse, gtown, etc). Although SJU did hit it big with west and nelson (both in NBA).
That move to the A-10 hurt us recruiting wise. I think we are just starting to get over that hangover (ie. the young guys we have this season).[/QUOTE]
Let’s see, Phil Jones, Charles Dewhurst, and Michael Gerrity were all recruited during that so-called hangover. Keep beating that dead horse… 
BTW, still looking for a map of the original Conference USA that stretched from the east coast states of Florida and North Carolina all the way west to Texas, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
Original Conference USA (hoops version ca. 1996):
1 Charlotte (North Carolina)
2 Cincinnati (Ohio)
3 DePaul (llinois)
4 Houston (Texas)
5 Louisville (Kentucky)
6 Marquette (Wisconsin)
7 Memphis (Tennessee)
8 Saint Louis (Missouri)
9 South Florida (Florida)
10 Southern Miss (Mississippi)
11 Tulane (Louisiana)
12 UAB (Alabama)
im willing to bet a recruit knows xavier, st joes, umass, and temple before they would know tulsa, houston, tulane, etc.
Houston has some basketball history (Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler).
But I understood what you’re saying - were Memphis players intimidated last season when they gazed upon the uniforms of 2nd place UCF?
We could do very well recruiting wise in the northeast if we had the right connections to the region, but IMO we really don’t.
With are arena, practice facility, 20k + student body, southern weather, NBA team in town, etc., we have a ton of attractions that no other school in the A-10 has. We should be milking these to the fullest. The problem is the Northeast is a very difficult place to recruit, there are so many HS and AAU coaches with so much influence over the process, it is tough to get in the door. Once you do though, the relationship, if kept in good standing, will be well worth it.
We could do very well recruiting wise in the northeast if we had the right connections to the region, but IMO we really don't.With are arena, practice facility, 20k + student body, southern weather, NBA team in town, etc., we have a ton of attractions that no other school in the A-10 has. We should be milking these to the fullest. The problem is the Northeast is a very difficult place to recruit, there are so many HS and AAU coaches with so much influence over the process, it is tough to get in the door. Once you do though, the relationship, if kept in good standing, will be well worth it.
Cheeks knows No. Virginia and Moxley knows the northeast coming from Maryland. It’s the right direction at least. I wouldn’t mind a pipeline to National Christian Academy in Maryland in addition to local pipelines. And pick up an Eddie Basden or Phil Jones (New Yorkers) along the way.
Finally found a so-so map of C-USA with the then-14 conference schools prior to the A-10/Big East/Mountain West “raid”.
Thanks for posting that Run.
I still am confused as to why people continue to bitch about the geography of the A10, but completely ignore how effed up the geography was in CUSA! At least the A10 has settled on a region of the country. CUSA was all over the place.
FWIW, this is where the 39 2008 A-10 recruits listed on CSTV.com come from (Northeastern states in bold):
Connecticut = 2
Georgia = 1
Illinois = 2
Kansas = 1
Maryland = 1
Massachusetts = 3
Michigan = 4
Missouri = 1
New Jersey = 4
New York = 2
North Carolina = 1
Ohio = 3
Ontario = 2
Oregon = 1
Pennsyvlania = 5
Quebec = 1
West Virginia = 1
Wisconsin = 1
Australia = 1
Chad (Africa) = 2 (by way of prep school in Virginia)
TOTAL = 39
Using the traditional definition of the northeastern United States as defined by the U.S Census Bureau – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania – those 9 states account for 16 of the recruits, or 41%. Even if we make Maryland a “honorary” member of the Northeast, that only adds one more. Hmmm…
[QUOTE=casstommy;279100]I still am confused as to why people continue to bitch about the geography of the A10, but completely ignore how effed up the geography was in CUSA![/QUOTE]
Maybe they were not GEOGRAPHY MAJORS. 
On`a more serious note… I agree with you. It’s always confused me too. We ALL should be glad the A10 came a knocking. It’s our best option for now.
Nobody ever said it’s impossible to recruit talent in the A10. It’s just harder to do, compared to the old days in the CUSA. Period.
[QUOTE=gotLutz;279123]Nobody ever said it’s impossible to recruit talent in the A10. It’s just harder to do, compared to the old days in the CUSA. Period.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. It’s more difficult without teams who don’t have big name recognition. However, we have shown the ability as of late to overcome that. It’s shown on the court this season (atleast during the home games).
[QUOTE=gotLutz;279123]Nobody ever said it’s impossible to recruit talent in the A10. It’s just harder to do, compared to the old days in the CUSA. Period.[/QUOTE]
I’m looking at the Rivals 2008 Top 150 and I see the following schools listed for signed recruits:
Fordham
Massachusetts
Saint Louis
Xavier
Hmmm…
I'm looking at the Rivals 2008 Top 150 and I see the following schools listed for signed recruits:Fordham
Massachusetts
Saint Louis
XavierHmmm…
Most of those schools have been in the A10 for more than 2 years. It takes some time to adjust. We’ll be on that list soon.