I know with the portal being so prevalent these days, would y'all be OK with Gates building up his roster the traditional way? We took 5 high school players and would've taken a 6th but he chose Kentucky. So that would have given us a total of 9 freshmen and sophomores next season. I'm not sure going portalling every year for 3-4 pieces is the best route to go.
Maybe identify a couple Tamar Bates types at guard and forward who has a couple years left and won't break the bank. Let them grow with the youngsters and shoot for 25-26 as the year to make a legit tourney run and build continuity within the roster at the same time. I know we all want that quick fix, but sometimes that quick fix doesn't work (See 2023-2024 Missouri Tigers).
Secondly, talked to a couple AAU coaches this weekend and they were just how difficult it is to get kids into schools. But what I found really interesting was they told me these high majors are now placing kids into smaller schools. Similar to how schools used to send kids to specific Jucos. How it was explained to me made it seem like it's being done at all the different levels of basketball.
Maybe identify a couple Tamar Bates types at guard and forward who has a couple years left and won't break the bank. Let them grow with the youngsters and shoot for 25-26 as the year to make a legit tourney run and build continuity within the roster at the same time. I know we all want that quick fix, but sometimes that quick fix doesn't work (See 2023-2024 Missouri Tigers).
Secondly, talked to a couple AAU coaches this weekend and they were just how difficult it is to get kids into schools. But what I found really interesting was they told me these high majors are now placing kids into smaller schools. Similar to how schools used to send kids to specific Jucos. How it was explained to me made it seem like it's being done at all the different levels of basketball.
