Zuckerkorn

Lol. I knew someone would say this, and it may end up being true. The feeling at the time of the Garcia recruitment was that CAM had done a great job of locking up the state. But I feel that alone will not get us back to being national contenders - we need to bring in top players from all corners. But that has yet to happen. As for Kauffman, missing was particularly discouraging because he chose our rival over us. I don't know if he's "great" or not, but sometimes I feel in-state players can be overhyped on IU message boards.

The Garcia recruiting failure was the most disappointing of the CAM era for me. It was the first time I felt we had gone 100% out for a recruit and lost out. It also confirmed my growing doubts about the ability to successfully recruit highly ranked out of state players (sadly, nothing has removed that doubt for me).

That scheduling could be a huge factor. The incoming administration continues to insist on a lockdown (100 days??). If that comes to pass, or ends up truncating the conference season it could reward the lucky ones and handicap others. COVID outbreaks could do similarly - look how if messed up the football season. I waited until yesterday to subscribe to a streaming service so I could get ESPN, BTN, etc. I'm taking the "enjoy it while you can" approcah realizing it could all go on hiatus in the blink of an eye.

Do we know the status of him, or did I miss something? Anyway, I'll say it: On top of the world, Ma!

TL:DR - Recruiting has been a mixed bag, probably not what most expect. You have to find a way to win and recruit effectively enough to be successful. IMO, it's just trying to be optimistic. I think we have to accept that 2021 was a "whiff" and move on. The fact that this season doesn't "count" for eligibility is certainly a unique twist. Rationalizing it away, saying that our current freshmen are getting a mulligan and that makes them freshmen next year (and hence 2021 recruiting is moot) makes little sense to me. Every school will have an extra class of 2nd year "freshmen" next year so we gain nothing other than to not have a depleted roster. We will, theoretically, "get older" and more experienced, but so will everyone else. The locking down the state thing is a valid point. Not only has that "dominance" waned, I have to wonder just how accurate it is in fact. It could be argued that TJD is really the only "difference maker" recruit thus far in the CAM era. Romeo was very good with a load of potential, but no where near being a star (yes, much due to injury) and playing 90% of a single season did little to move the program forward. Rob has been a study in unfulfilled promise - rather disappointing, IMO. We all expected that in his third season Phin would be a much more significant and consistent contributor - and that just hasn't come to pass (again, injuries played a big part). Then there's Hunter, who we all are desperately pulling for, but injuries again. The other half of recruiting, that is out of state players, has been a total failure when it comes to 5-star type players. Unless I'm mistaken, not a single one. I struggle to come up with the name of an out of state player that HAS been a major contributor. Maybe Hunter will get there. Maybe one of the young guys, like Geronimo, will get there, but there is zero certainty about that. Thus far, beyond TJD & Romeo, our recruiting success has hinged on hope. Hope that players will outperform their rankings, or prove they were under rated. Armaan shows signs of being a player in that mold. But my goodness, the other teams in the B10 aren't sitting around flat-footed, they're out there winning recruiting battles and bringing in better players. Without incredible coaching, that is not a recipe for climbing to the top of the standings. Getting the best players isn't the only route to building a winning program. It can help, a lot, but it's not essential. The job of the head coach is to win games, ensure the players achieve academic goals, and run his program within the rules of the NCAA and the school that employs him. Obviously, the second two responsibilities are important, but if you don't win, you're not succeeding. There comes a time when a coach must be judged on his W's and L's, when that time comes for CAM and what the criteria is are not up to the fans, but it will come sooner or later.

That concern is building with me too. I don't believe Lander will be a OAD for multiple reasons. Also, I think Duncombe is going to be a very solid contributor. After that, it feels like a couple of years ago when we were seemingly counting our chickens with KBJ, only to be left holding the (empty) bag.

I hate the thought of being in a position where that avenue is our only hope.

As a kid I was a Bob Netolicky fan, but from a talent standpoint Roger Brown and Big Mac are hard to beat.

Pretty much my feelings about pro sports (and amateur to a lesser extent). While we love watching our favorite teams/games, the bottom line is that they are playing a game. A GAME. Remember when RMK used to make fun of reporters saying we all learned to write in grade school but most of us went on to more important things? Same applies to athletes. Grossly overpaid (or lavished with attention and praise) due to their ability to play a game - and half of that ability is genetic roulette. I appreciate their effort and dedication to the game, but much of that effort is for personal gain and improvement which is good, but they aren't Gods or necessarily better people just because of their achievements and abilities. I enjoy watching (some of them), but I stopped viewing them as hero's a number of years ago. I don't know if I even have as much as a passing interest in the NBA anymore, perhaps my only interest is in the careers of ex-IU players. I suspect my feelings about the NFL are soon to be the same.

Confucius say: "Man not complete until married.....then he's finished"

Ha! I think it is mucus I heard of it here: National Lampoon "Gymnasty"

At least one "pure shooter" is a must, IMO. I don't give a tinker's damn where they're from - Evansville, Indy, Ft. Wayne, S. Bend, or Boogerglob Yugoslavia. We need some strong outside threats. I am not comfortable in relying on player development for that skill.

At this point, I'm not going to worry about it or even give it much thought. But, a whiff on our top 3 targets would be deeply concerning. Our out of state recruiting hasn't been particularly impressive so we'd be hoping for the old "rabbit out of the hat" routine. For a while I've thought about the situation under Crean around 2015 or so (I just don't remember the particular seasons), where we were having mediocre recruiting success and everyone was pointing to 2017 (?) as a loaded year in-state. Time came and went and we came away with empty nets. That was the beginning of the end in some ways for CTC. It's so early at this point. I trust we've made and maintained contact with the players we like. The emphasis in the near term needs to be with the current team and season - as stated, it will be instrumental in future recruiting.

I know nothing more than what I read on message boards, and this kid may not measure up to the staff's standards, but man we could really use a little "pepper pot" like this kid. It's great to get the blue chipper, but a kid like this (if he pans out) could be a fan favorite, sparkplug.

Agreed. I think it's interesting how he alludes to beginning to believe that maybe the NBA could be in his future, rather than indicating that that goal is his highest priority and that choosing a college isn't just about finding the coach that can get him there.

I looked over the UI board this morning and I thought I saw where Underwood has extended 55 offers to 2020 players. CAM may not be stingy with offers, but he's not passing them out like candy either.

As I recall San Antonio got it all going in a unique way. They were bad and drafted a star (David Robinson), then a short while later he had a season ending injury and they pulled off a coup by tanking (or were just that bad without him), got lucky and parlayed that into getting Duncan. Bang. Two stars. I can't think of many, if any, times a truly small market team traded for a superstar (let alone two). I do give props to SAS for continuing to be contenders (or nearly so), well after DR and TD were done. Seinfields line about "rooting for laundry" was about MLB, but IMO applies to the NBA. But, hey what do I know? The league is profitable for the owners, the players make obscene amounts of money, and there's plenty of people to watch the games and fork over big dollars to attend games. I'm just not one of them.

Haven't cared for the NBA for years now. I guess I'm just not a fan of the league, but am (was) a fan of a team. Today's NBA is about forming a few loaded teams and hyping (pimping) the heck out of them. Small market teams may occasionally draft or acquire a highly talented guy, but it's only inevitable that he will not be there for long. For those that like the NBA, that's fine and good for them. I see it more as a few Globetrotter teams and a bunch of Washington Generals teams (only the Generals DO get to win games when they don't really count).