Chris McCullough, PF (Syracuse Commit)

 I don't get the package deal of "New York players". Why don't they want to play for the NYC team instead of the Canadian team 300 miles up there? It's like Chicago players saying they want to play in the most remote part of Illinois.
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Hey if we can get him then great but if not then I won`t be sweating no recruit. Maybe he`s scared to represent his hometown city, it takes a true New Yorker to represent NYC.
If we don`t get the local talent then we go nationwide baby.
Philly, Chicago, Michigan, Houston, Cali. Lets go get Jordan and Martin (Philly and Louisiana) in 2013. It`s really no big deal to me.

I could understand with Norm coaching here why the local talent left, but with Lavin and staff they`ll develope into nba talent. So no excuse to leave now.

But to each their own, let them go where they want and we`ll still be one of the top teams in years to come, believe that. 
 
IMO if I'm a 5 star top 10 recruit from NYC/LI/Westchester I want to bring the flagship NYC program back to prominence. I understand he has better teams that want him like Cuse, but he should know that he can be the REASON NYC college hoops comes back. It goes back to the LeBron decision: would you rather be the main reason a team is brought to prominence and commended as a legend, or have it the easy way and be just another great recruit at a school in the boonies of Cuse which is closer to Canada than NYC? Unfortunately, most players today prefer the latter. Hometowns don't seem to matter as much as in the past. It has become much more individualistic and egotistical in recruiting. I'd rather be the man in my hometown city instead of just another great Cuse player.
 
IMO if I'm a 5 star top 10 recruit from NYC/LI/Westchester I want to bring the flagship NYC program back to prominence. I understand he has better teams that want him like Cuse, but he should know that he can be the REASON NYC college hoops comes back. It goes back to the LeBron decision: would you rather be the main reason a team is brought to prominence and commended as a legend, or have it the easy way and be just another great recruit at a school in the boonies of Cuse which is closer to Canada than NYC? Unfortunately, most players today prefer the latter. Hometowns don't seem to matter as much as in the past. It has become much more individualistic and egotistical in recruiting. I'd rather be the man in my hometown city instead of just another great Cuse player.
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How many times in a 17-year-old's life have we been good or exciting? Unless he has parents who are a St. John's fan, it's tough to find kids who dream of putting St. John's back on the map. I'm thankful every day we have a master salesman as our coach, but getting local kids to view us years in advance as their dream school is going to be at least a five-year process of continued success. can we do it? No doubt, but I think we'll have non-local kids dominating the roster for a while.
 
 For how much people on this site talk the team up this year, you would think my point is more agreeable. If I'm Lavin, I'm telling this kid:

"Listen, we have a great shot of being ranked and making the tourney this year as it is. With you on the team, we might even be top 3 in the Big East. You put us over the top. Our program is back, and having a hometown stud like you will prolong our success and bring SJ back to the top. I understand Cuse is a fantastic program, but they are losing their NYC exposure in the ACC, and we can guarantee you more playing time here as a main contributor, not just a piece of the puzzle at that logjam of great talent at Cuse. You can be a legend here right on your home turf at MSG, or you can go to Cuse and be just another high level recruit. It's up to you kid."

SJ is clearly on the way up back to the top half of the Big East. I just really hope he can see that. I hope his family pushes him to stay home instead of travel 6 hours north almost to Canada just to see him play. I agree we are not in a "must get" recruiting situation, but he is a legit 5 star recruit...the kind that might even make us a top 10 nationally ranked team if the other recruits produce as expected.
 
  You can be a legend here right on your home turf at MSG, or you can go to Cuse and be just another high level recruit. It's up to you kid.".
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Maybe he does want to be "the man" incase he fails. It`s ashame, he should chereish and accept that challenge but maybe he doesn`t have the heart. He needs other players around him that are as talented as him. True superstars like MJ even though he had Pippen want to be the man, they thrive in that situation.
Then you have guys like Lebron who was afraid to fail in the Mecca so he went with Wade and Bosh. lol
 
 I'm probably the most negative guy on the board and even I'm saying we could be a top 10 or top 15 ranked team if he comes here. If Whitehead came with him, oh man. Can you imagine? There would be no excuse to not talk about us as one of the top Big East teams talent wise.
 
 http://johnnyjungle.com/recruiting/2014-forward-chris-mccullough-of-salisbury-on-st-johns-its-my-dream-school/

Interesting to see what he said last year about SJ. He called us his "dream school", "my #1 choice", and talked about how "NYC makes a big difference", and really loved the staff here. I hope something didn't make him change his mind to go to Cuse.
 
 I stand by my "must get" recruit comment.

Sometimes a kid just wants to go to a particular school no matter who is after him and how many offers he has. I truly believe that is the case with Whitehead. I think he's going to Cuse no matter what. And I think when him and McCullough team up in tourneys, he's in his ear heavy about Cuse.

But make no mistakes about it.

1. It's way early.
2. McCullough is higher ranked than Whitehead, is a better player, is at a better school and will get more exposure. Eventually I think you'll see Chris kind of distancing himself from IW in my opinion. Especially if his player ranking keeps climbing.
3. Lavin and staff will be locked onto Chris as the year plays out. Who is the last Brewster player to commit to Cuse? I'm not asking facetiously but let's not under estimate Lav and the staff's relationship with Brewster. Especially if Jakarr has a breakout one and done year.
 
 I stand by my "must get" recruit comment.

Sometimes a kid just wants to go to a particular school no matter who is after him and how many offers he has. I truly believe that is the case with Whitehead. I think he's going to Cuse no matter what. And I think when him and McCullough team up in tourneys, he's in his ear heavy about Cuse.

But make no mistakes about it.

1. It's way early.
2. McCullough is higher ranked than Whitehead, is a better player, is at a better school and will get more exposure. Eventually I think you'll see Chris kind of distancing himself from IW in my opinion. Especially if his player ranking keeps climbing.
3. Lavin and staff will be locked onto Chris as the year plays out. Who is the last Brewster player to commit to Cuse? I'm not asking facetiously but let's not under estimate Lav and the staff's relationship with Brewster. Especially if Jakarr has a breakout one and done year.
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CJ Fair was from Brewster.
 
 I stand by my "must get" recruit comment.

Sometimes a kid just wants to go to a particular school no matter who is after him and how many offers he has. I truly believe that is the case with Whitehead. I think he's going to Cuse no matter what. And I think when him and McCullough team up in tourneys, he's in his ear heavy about Cuse.

But make no mistakes about it.

1. It's way early.
2. McCullough is higher ranked than Whitehead, is a better player, is at a better school and will get more exposure. Eventually I think you'll see Chris kind of distancing himself from IW in my opinion. Especially if his player ranking keeps climbing.
3. Lavin and staff will be locked onto Chris as the year plays out. Who is the last Brewster player to commit to Cuse? I'm not asking facetiously but let's not under estimate Lav and the staff's relationship with Brewster. Especially if Jakarr has a breakout one and done year.
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CJ Fair was from Brewster.
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Thanks.
 
 I think he's going to Cuse no matter what. And I think when him and McCullough team up in tourneys, he's in his ear heavy about Cuse.
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Well Chris should be his own man, and do what he wants. Don`t be a follower Chris.

The bright lights in NYC is where you should be balling and you know it. You`re from the city chris, you know where you should go, it`s the only place to be at. Tell me what`s there to do in Syracuse? Think about it real hard and remember be your own man
 
 It never made much sense to me to go to Cuse. It's ridiculously far upstate. When I visited Marist I thought Poughkeepsie was way up there only to hear locals yelling at me that it was "downstate". If downstate is 2 hours north of the city, I don't want to know how far upstate is! I visited my friend in a suburb only about 60 miles from Cuse, and it's just such a strange area. You don't even get the sense you are in NY. More like PA. The entire upstate area is depressed, broken down, and there is nothing of real significance except the baseball HOF and Niagara Falls. His family would have to travel to practically the Canadian border to watch him. As I've said before, I realize Cuse has an amazing hoops tradition, but I think we are really starting to close the gap getting our own good recruits consistently. If both teams are loaded with talent, isn't location the next important thing? Stay home and represent your city. You can't represent NYC in Canada.
 
 Yes upstate NY is very depressed, might as well be PA or some other depressing midwestern state. I never understood the Syracuse allure. However that school invested heavily in their sports programs early on and this made them what they are today. I have done the drive between Hoboken and Toronto many times (in laws are from there) and always drive through Syracuse and upstate NY and wonder why the hell anybody would want to go to school up there. But it is what it is. What makes it even harder for SJU to recruit against Syracuse is that there are so many Syracuse alumni and students from the NY Metro area that they can all say to McCullough and other NYC players that there's a ton of NYC presence up there to make him feel at home.
 
 I don't care what they say...300 miles north of your metro area is far from home. I wouldn't go to Maryland and consider it close to home. That's about the same distance from me as Cuse is. There's a totally different attitude, culture, and pace up there. They just lost basically all their proven talent in Waiters and Melo (or at least most of it), so it's not like they are lightyears ahead of us talent wise.
 
They're ranked #9 in the country. Until Boeheim retires, which will probably be soon, they are an elite basketball school. Get over it.
 
They're ranked #9 in the country. Until Boeheim retires, which will probably be soon, they are an elite basketball school. Get over it.
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Yes, but the day Boeheim retires will be glorious and Lavin will be there to mop up some of that talent that Cuse cherry picks. Boeheim is a 1000 win coach and we can't argue with that. They'll land theirs, but we are finally landing ours. Nice to be getting back to a competitive level again.
 
 Yes upstate NY is very depressed, might as well be PA or some other depressing midwestern state. I never understood the Syracuse allure. However that school invested heavily in their sports programs early on and this made them what they are today. I have done the drive between Hoboken and Toronto many times (in laws are from there) and always drive through Syracuse and upstate NY and wonder why the hell anybody would want to go to school up there. But it is what it is. What makes it even harder for SJU to recruit against Syracuse is that there are so many Syracuse alumni and students from the NY Metro area that they can all say to McCullough and other NYC players that there's a ton of NYC presence up there to make him feel at home.
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And what exactly is wrong with PA?
 
 It never made much sense to me to go to Cuse. It's ridiculously far upstate. When I visited Marist I thought Poughkeepsie was way up there only to hear locals yelling at me that it was "downstate". If downstate is 2 hours north of the city, I don't want to know how far upstate is! I visited my friend in a suburb only about 60 miles from Cuse, and it's just such a strange area. You don't even get the sense you are in NY. More like PA. The entire upstate area is depressed, broken down, and there is nothing of real significance except the baseball HOF and Niagara Falls. His family would have to travel to practically the Canadian border to watch him. As I've said before, I realize Cuse has an amazing hoops tradition, but I think we are really starting to close the gap getting our own good recruits consistently. If both teams are loaded with talent, isn't location the next important thing? Stay home and represent your city. You can't represent NYC in Canada.
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One of the best arenas in the country.
Rabid fan base.
32,000 plus fans at a game.
Hall of fame coach.
25 plus years that they are a top 25 program.
10 plus years that they are a top 15 program.
Nothing else to do but support Syracuse basketball.

And we wonder why would a recruit wish to go to Syracuse?
 
 I said I understand they are very successful, but at the same time his hometown team is finally getting studs like never before. We are now in the thick of things where we can actually hang with or even beat Cuse any given game. My point is we are now a lot closer in talent level...the gap is closing rapidly between talent Cuse gets and talent we get. It's in the same ballpark. He can choose to be a main part of bringing back his home team and make it easy on his family, or he can go to Cuse which obviously is another great option.

I never said anything was wrong with PA...just not my cup of tea. Philly is very violent and ghetto, and everything else is basically farmland. Yawn. I guess Pitt is nice, but that's about it.
 
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