I don’t post a ton but I’ve been here for a long time. I don’t know where the Mizzou entitlement is coming from. This is how it’s always been. We don’t get the “big” recruits. We have before obviously but it’s not common. The comedy of getting mad about not landing a 7’2” kid with ball skills that’s ranked 34th is too much. For him to be that tall and only be 34th in the class means he’s a project. A kid that is a project and is this wishy-washy, see 8 teams he’s “choosing” between, isn’t going to stay if he doesn’t see the court or his guardian doesn’t think he’s being used correctly. I’ve seen how this board reacts to 4 stars transferring.
Grady Dick and Walsh were the only freshman worth a damn in this range last year (2022 class). Seriously, go look at 25-50 and tell me your favorite freshman. We’re over reacting.
We aren’t going to compete with the big boys recruiting if you don’t put players in to the Pros and don’t do anything in the tournament. It’s as simple as that. In KC I’m watching the two other local programs whoop our ass in recruitment but they both make sense. kU is who they are. F*cking sucks but it is what it is. kSU has Baylor’s top recruiter and he’s going to be able to recruit here early because he already has the connections. Recruiting starts early as we all know. We have to do it differently. Gates is too far removed from his FSU recruit connections. Not a big deal. He needs to get guys that want to fit his system. And that’s ok. A lot of great coaches have done better recruiting their guys than the top guys. Look at Jay Wright for proof (and before I get murdered, I’m not saying Gates is Jay Wright.)
Most importantly gates needs to win consistently if he’s going to get guys. 1 year of getting 24 year olds to win isn’t going to impress freshmen. He needs Shaw to get better each year. He needs at least 2 of the recruits from this year to stick and at least one of the 3 mentioned to get some all conference shine and play minutes in the nba. Until you develop pros it’s hard to convince kids with NBA aspirations to come to your school. We aren’t losing kids to Wake Forest or NC State. We’re losing them to programs that consistently put out NBA players.
If that doesn’t work then we need to be dawgs in the transfer market, and on paper we were pretty good there this year.
As I said, we need to find guys that want to play in a unique system and buy in. I’d much rather get guys that want to be here. Obviously I’d love them to be top 150 guys. Some of you will read this and just assume that’s the same crap players Cuonzo or Kim got. I don’t think you’re right. The players here last year bought in and won. We had a trash class, on paper, and went to the tourney and won a game. That’s better than Cuonzo did with a top 10 recruiting class (I know there’s a certain NBA player that didn’t play but still). It’s the best this program has done since Mike Anderson. I don’t count Frank Haith taking a team that went to an elite 8 the prior year and returned everything to a 30 win season as an accomplishment.
I’d love to see what gates system looks like with power 5 players and this year will be a decent barometer. Let’s chill out a little bit. My guess is Todd Golden will be the bozo he is and we’ll see John Bol back on the market before signing day that is, checks notes, 5 months out.
Grady Dick and Walsh were the only freshman worth a damn in this range last year (2022 class). Seriously, go look at 25-50 and tell me your favorite freshman. We’re over reacting.
We aren’t going to compete with the big boys recruiting if you don’t put players in to the Pros and don’t do anything in the tournament. It’s as simple as that. In KC I’m watching the two other local programs whoop our ass in recruitment but they both make sense. kU is who they are. F*cking sucks but it is what it is. kSU has Baylor’s top recruiter and he’s going to be able to recruit here early because he already has the connections. Recruiting starts early as we all know. We have to do it differently. Gates is too far removed from his FSU recruit connections. Not a big deal. He needs to get guys that want to fit his system. And that’s ok. A lot of great coaches have done better recruiting their guys than the top guys. Look at Jay Wright for proof (and before I get murdered, I’m not saying Gates is Jay Wright.)
Most importantly gates needs to win consistently if he’s going to get guys. 1 year of getting 24 year olds to win isn’t going to impress freshmen. He needs Shaw to get better each year. He needs at least 2 of the recruits from this year to stick and at least one of the 3 mentioned to get some all conference shine and play minutes in the nba. Until you develop pros it’s hard to convince kids with NBA aspirations to come to your school. We aren’t losing kids to Wake Forest or NC State. We’re losing them to programs that consistently put out NBA players.
If that doesn’t work then we need to be dawgs in the transfer market, and on paper we were pretty good there this year.
As I said, we need to find guys that want to play in a unique system and buy in. I’d much rather get guys that want to be here. Obviously I’d love them to be top 150 guys. Some of you will read this and just assume that’s the same crap players Cuonzo or Kim got. I don’t think you’re right. The players here last year bought in and won. We had a trash class, on paper, and went to the tourney and won a game. That’s better than Cuonzo did with a top 10 recruiting class (I know there’s a certain NBA player that didn’t play but still). It’s the best this program has done since Mike Anderson. I don’t count Frank Haith taking a team that went to an elite 8 the prior year and returned everything to a 30 win season as an accomplishment.
I’d love to see what gates system looks like with power 5 players and this year will be a decent barometer. Let’s chill out a little bit. My guess is Todd Golden will be the bozo he is and we’ll see John Bol back on the market before signing day that is, checks notes, 5 months out.
