I think the first class we can start to get critical with is the 2012 class. They will have quite a bit of time to establish connections by then. That said, I think we will have a good class in 2011, we have tons of PT to offer.
[quote=“Powerbait, post:20, topic:23623”][quote=“9erken, post:19, topic:23623”]I guess a number of posters expected Major to bring several recruits with him from Ohio St., and the assistants from their colleges. That rarely seems to work when coaches are coming from big programs going to smaller programs, but it will often work in reverse (going small to big).
This first class is not going to be Major’s make-or-break class in my view. That will come over the next 2 or 3 years. If he can show progress on the court with the current players and progress in recruiting in the next 2 to 3 years, he will probably end up getting retained. The current players should give him a shot at showcasing the program, as long as he is able to smoothly transition from the older coaches (not always easy coming after someone that wasn’t a strong disciplinarian).
Jerrell Lewis is often thrown out as the waste of a scholarship, but he never really got a chance to do much. The short leash he was on was mystifying to me (not knowing what was going on in practices of course). There must have been some bad blood there somewhere.[/quote]
Lutz doghouse was one of the more frustrating things about his tenure.[/quote]
That and his baffling player in-game rotations
[quote=“9erken, post:19, topic:23623”]I guess a number of posters expected Major to bring several recruits with him from Ohio St., and the assistants from their colleges. That rarely seems to work when coaches are coming from big
Jerrell Lewis is often thrown out as the waste of a scholarship, but he never really got a chance to do much. The short leash he was on was mystifying to me (not knowing what was going on in practices of course). There must have been some bad blood there somewhere.[/quote]
It’s been stated before…of course this came from the coaching staff/insiders on the Jerrell Lewis situation. He did NOT compete in practice. No drive, no will to win. His dad got involved and demanded playing time, therefore he did end up in the doghouse. Staff told him what it would take. He did not do what they asked.
[quote=“survivor45, post:15, topic:23623”]Jamelle aka ‘Bigfoot’, aka ‘Sasquatch’ Barrett was the kid I was thinking of. I probably shouldn’t have said anything - I know when I saw that he was ‘90% sure that he would pick U of S’, I did think to myself that that was a little too embarrassing to bring up on the board. Oops. Forget I said anything.
Run - I’d bet money that Jerrell Williams was once a 4 star. I remember my “Wow - La Salle is battling with Marquette for a 4-star” turned into “WOW! La Salle beat out Marquette for a 4-star!” (It kinda helped that La Salle had also signed Jerrell’s identical twin to a schollie). I’d also bet money that Ge’Lawn Guyn was a Top 150 kid when Lutz got a verbal from him - but I know recruiting rankings are constantly changing and I have no idea where Guyn is ranked at the moment. I have no way to prove it except for the recollections of my own faulty, alcohol-soaked memory.
I’m pretty sure that Lindsey (the La Salle pg) was among the best commits to the A10 at one time. It was something like Aaric (also to La Salle), Braswell, Vinson, a couple players I’m forgetting and then the La Salle pg. I want to say that he was a Top 20 pg when La Salle got him but I simply don’t remember for sure.
Dr. G’s recruiting stands out. He can do a better job than I could ever do at landing high profile recruits at La Salle (which is also why he gets paid more than I do). Chris Mack’s recruiting stands out, too (as well as all of his predecessors at Xavier). Unlike his Philly neighbor Dr. G, Fran Dunphy knows how to win with his modestly rated recruits. Dunphy has a rare ability to know that Dionte Christmas is actually a 4 or a 5 star talent (which is the reason why he gets paid more than the fools at rivals or scout that graded Dionte Christmas as a two star recruit).
I hope than Coach Major will likewise soon be recognized as a brilliant recruiter, too. But I just don’t know enough about him yet to give him praise or not.
To the original point of the thread, it’s obvious that Lefty prefers the ‘shotgun’ approach over the ‘rifle’ approach to recruiting. I really don’t care - just as long as whatever weapon you use gets the job done. It’s too early to stand up and applaud Major for ‘getting the job done’ in July when the man got hired in April. Let’s wait and see if his shotgun approach works, first.[/quote]
Let’s not act like La Salle hasn’t had talent, hell, they had a player of the year in Lionel Simmons in the late 80’s/early 90’s. They recently had a conference player of the year in 2005 (Steven Smith). Before that they had Rasual Butler, who’s been an NBA regular. La Salle benefits by not only being a Big 5 school rich in basketball tradition, but also being surrounded by a huge talent base. St. Joes, La Salle, and Temple have all recruited pretty well in the Pennsylvania area. If Fordham could recruit their area half as good as the Philly teams do, they’d be a power in the A-10.
Not arguing that Dr. G has recruited poorly, just that he isn’t landing 4- and 5-star players. Murray is the exception. BTW, if we’re going to go back to pre-Atlantic 10 La Salle a la L-Train, then might as well throw in the fact the Explorers are the only A-10 team that can claim an NCAA championship (1954), NIT title (1952) and three national POYs (Tom Gola, 1954; Michael Brooks, 1980; and Simmons, 1990)!
As concerns Fordham, the problem with DW wasn’t recruiting, as evidenced by the likes of Bryant Dunston (2005 A-10 ROY), Marcus Stout, Jio Fontan, and Chris Gaston. Just couldn’t coach!