I Think We Could Be Recruiting Better Thread

stjohnnie75 said:
This is not a knock on you but if Edey played at St. John’s you would say he was better than Wilt Chamberlain 😂
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If he’s producing I like him. Of course I’d like him at sju. All of us are biased towards sju, that’s a given. None of that was my point. I was arguing the comment that “Soriano on his best day isn’t as good as Edey on his worst” which is preposterous. Soriano was on Eddy’s level this year and should have been a clear first team All Big East guy. I think he’s more skilled. I think it’s a knock on Soriano, because Edey while effective, is not a very good athlete and I don’t find him to be an amazing bball player. I think Soriano still has great improvement ahead of him and we haven’t come close to seeing his best days.
 
So after decades of failure, scandals, changing coaches like underwear, poor facilities, complete irrelevance within the college basketball community, never mind a coach who has not had a presence on the national college scene since 2017, and managing all the non-recurring necessities of starting up a new program, most of you thought players would be flocking here in a month?
That would that have been nice, but totally, completely and utterly realistic, IMO.
Not excuses, reality.
Pitino is a proven great coach but most of the portal players who went elsewhere were 14 to 17 years old when he got fired from Louisville, went into basketball limbo, and resurfaced three years ago at Iona, not exactly a household name.
A more appropriate thread title might be “Desperate Unrealistic Fan Expectations a Month Into The Job”!:rolleyes:;)
 
mattc said:
I think if we can get Demary and Dunlap we’ll all start feeling a lot better about things. Hopefully we can close on them.
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They'd be nice additions.

But we're involved with only one real difference maker - Mackenzie - and he looks like a longshot.
 
logen said:
Pitino is a proven great coach but most of the portal players who went elsewhere were 14 to 17 years old when he got fired from Louisville, went into basketball limbo, and resurfaced three years ago at Iona, not exactly a household name.
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Just curious but with Pitino being at a mid-major the last few years wouldn’t he have tried recruiting some of the mid-major kids that are in the portal?

Don’t agree that Pitino isn’t a household name especially with HS/AAU coaches and many handlers.
 
I think Pitino has landed a solid base so far. I'm not overly concerned that these players are not highly rated because Coach has a track record of getting players to deliver over and above their "paper" ratings. With that said, I would love to land Demary, Dunlop, Thomasson, Battle, and/or Taylor Jr. For those of us that have been around a while, we have always been rumored to be involved with a mystery international recruit. As someone else posted, the PF (Mantzoukas) from Pitino's former Greek team would be a great fit next to Joel. Let's hope! In Rick we trust.
 
kranmars said:
If that’s the case, he could have been from NYS. It is one of the largest producers of dairy in the US after all.
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Never knew that. But my knowledge of cattle starts and ends with Lonesome Dove. They drove cattle from Texas to Montana.
I also am a big fan of Wagyu but that comes mostly from Japan. I believe there is also an American Wagyu from Something River but it is not as good.
 
Reading this board gives me a headache sometimes LOL

I really don't know what people were realistically expecting. At this point in the game, there aren't a lot of uncommitted recruits remaining and most of the ones that are left probably aren't going to turn away from the schools that have been recruiting them hard for 2 or 3 years to come running to a school that just started showing interest, unless that interest is coming from a blue blood.

The only way we were going to load up with high level players this year was if we had poached somebody like Calipari, who probably would have had some of his recruits follow him, but that was not and is not, ever going to happen.

Most of the top portal guys are looking for 1 of 4 things.

1. They want to go somewhere were they can win immediately
2. They want to go somewhere where they'll be "the man"
3. They're looking for the highest NIL payout
4. Some combination of the above

Pitino notwithstanding. If you're Chris Ledlum, are you going to want to join a rebuilding SJU team who not only has been irrelevant for the past 20 years but has to replace practically the entire roster? Or would you rather go to a place like Tennessee, whose coach never misses the tournament and went to the Sweet 16 this year?

I get that on the surface, a lot of the players who've joined us thus far may seem underwhelming, but they are also the foundation towards building this program and I have no doubt in my mind that these guys will play their asses off for Pitino and he will put them in position to have a successful season.

The truth is, and has been for some time now. That regardless of who the coach is, this program is going to have to find ways to win with the players that we can get now, before we start to get the players that the fanbase wants. This is how programs are built. Everybody looks at teams like Gonzaga and Xavier and their long-term success but those programs were not getting 4 and 5 star players until they were winning. They were able to win with guys they identified that fit what they wanted to do and once they were successful, were able to attract a higher quality of player. I am confident that will happen here as well, but we need to be patient and let it play out.

We don't even have a full roster yet, let alone played a single game and people are already wigging out. I get it, it's habitual for SJU fans to be antsy about pretty much everything SJU related but please, please, please relax. We're finally in good hands.
 
Like Everyone I wish we had landed some of the bigger names so far but I have Rick Pitino as my coach so things are changing. We all thought we killed the portal last year with Jones and Curbelo but the portal actually killed us. I have faith that Pitino knows players he likes and can assemble a team. We also know more players will be available over the summer. Coach has been on the job for a month and he is as good as anyone at Roster Construction and Player development. I am confident we will enjoy this season.
 
Footwork21 said:
Reading this board gives me a headache sometimes LOL

I really don't know what people were realistically expecting. At this point in the game, there aren't a lot of uncommitted recruits remaining and most of the ones that are left probably aren't going to turn away from the schools that have been recruiting them hard for 2 or 3 years to come running to a school that just started showing interest, unless that interest is coming from a blue blood.

The only way we were going to load up with high level players this year was if we had poached somebody like Calipari, who probably would have had some of his recruits follow him, but that was not and is not, ever going to happen.

Most of the top portal guys are looking for 1 of 4 things.

1. They want to go somewhere were they can win immediately
2. They want to go somewhere where they'll be "the man"
3. They're looking for the highest NIL payout
4. Some combination of the above

Pitino notwithstanding. If you're Chris Ledlum, are you going to want to join a rebuilding SJU team who not only has been irrelevant for the past 20 years but has to replace practically the entire roster? Or would you rather go to a place like Tennessee, whose coach never misses the tournament and went to the Sweet 16 this year?

I get that on the surface, a lot of the players who've joined us thus far may seem underwhelming, but they are also the foundation towards building this program and I have no doubt in my mind that these guys will play their asses off for Pitino and he will put them in position to have a successful season.

The truth is, and has been for some time now. That regardless of who the coach is, this program is going to have to find ways to win with the players that we can get now, before we start to get the players that the fanbase wants. This is how programs are built. Everybody looks at teams like Gonzaga and Xavier and their long-term success but those programs were not getting 4 and 5 star players until they were winning. They were able to win with guys they identified that fit what they wanted to do and once they were successful, were able to attract a higher quality of player. I am confident that will happen here as well, but we need to be patient and let it play out.

We don't even have a full roster yet, let alone played a single game and people are already wigging out. I get it, it's habitual for SJU fans to be antsy about pretty much everything SJU related but please, please, please relax. We're finally in good hands.
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Great post!
 
I would’ve thought we would’ve gotten more impact transfers from high majors. I’m confused about the dialogue by some insiders on the board about saving NIL for next year. Does it mean we don’t have the NIL commitments now? I would’ve presumed we would’ve used it now on one year guys that won’t cost us next year and hit the ground running. Still time for that.

I do think we’re going to be competitive for too high schoolers. But, with the instant transfer rule and extra year of covid eligibility, successful teams are relying less on freshman and developing them for 2-3 years, and instead going after successful transfers right away. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get less guys than anticipated, but hit the portal harder next year. I also think these campus visits by high school seniors are important since even if they don’t choose us, they could next year
 
Honestly, I have been thinking more about it and one big reason this start for Pitino has felt kinda off is because we retained barely anyone important. Previous players/previously committed recruits. I feel like almost everyone would be feeling better if Storr and Gardner were on the roster for example. Two talented 4 star guys would be huge. So I am sad about that.

When we hired Pitino I assumed the allure of playing for Pitino would keep Storr and Gardner around. Oh well.
 
stjohnnie75 said:
Just curious but with Pitino being at a mid-major the last few years wouldn’t he have tried recruiting some of the mid-major kids that are in the portal?

Don’t agree that Pitino isn’t a household name especially with HS/AAU coaches and many handlers.
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I don’t know; do you? And isn’t the problem with all you guys that he is only getting mid-majors?
And I guess kids have no input into where they are going to school! Steered like robots by HS/AAU coaches and handlers. Why even have the players do visits then, do their advisors come along with them? Yes, advisors do just that, advise, but anyone who doesn’t make those decisions for themselves, with serious family input, are fools IMO.
Look, you guys can knock Pitino all you want, obviously you should if that is your opinion, but I think what I think and I think you are all living in la la land as far as your expectations a month into his signing. Never mind waiting to see what his team will look like comprised of players the vast majority of posters on this board have little to no real knowledge of. I have no idea of success or failure record wise next year but I damn well know I will be watching a team I can watch for 40 minutes and 35 games. And that is my expectation. Others may disagree.
 
The only reasonable thing I can say about this thread is that when we criticize in game coaching decisions, we are sometimes right after the fact but likely every single one of us would know way less about coaching a game at this level than our very worst coaches over the past 30 years.

When we think about recruiting, we are all way over our heads to know what it's like to try to go after a top player. One thing I'm certain of is that Pitino has done this as well as anyone over his career. IT's a very dirty business, and now the money that was under the table is now on the table. The limitations he has right now is that he doesn't have a bundle of NIL cash basically because no one, NO ONE (not even you know who) has immediately committed huge $$ to NIL. I know that there is a big donor stepping up, but there are other things in the works, including Pitino working that end too.

The truth is at this moment, Pitino doesn't have the NIL available to him to compete well at the top rung of portal players.
 
The “basketball” that this program was attempting to play was not working. Something had to change and thankfully change is here. I often felt that the previous staff was rolling the ball out on the court and saying have at it boys. The team was disorganized ( to be polite), “chaos” was encouraged. Poor shooting, turnovers and bad defense have become our trademark.

Now we have a Coach who is implementing a culture change. He wants HIS team to play a certain way. HIS way. Anyone not fully onboard is no longer here. That’s what change means. Maybe it’s not going to be as ”easy” getting players as originally thought or hoped. However, it HAD to happen. We have been treading water for over 30 years. I’d gladly trade a so so first year for the massive improvement that IS coming. Pitino is a real Coach who has succeeded everywhere he’s gone. I’m riding with him.
 
otis said:
Pitino’s results on the court will be greater than the sum of his players talents.

Coach Anderson’s results on the court were less than the sum of his players talents.
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Recruiting misses were Anderson's biggest downfall. He never had a complete team at St Johns. When the guard play was good, the interior play was bad and when Soriano shored up the middle, the guard play was abysmal.
 
Beasts of the East said:
The only reasonable thing I can say about this thread is that when we criticize in game coaching decisions, we are sometimes right after the fact but likely every single one of us would know way less about coaching a game at this level than our very worst coaches over the past 30 years.

When we think about recruiting, we are all way over our heads to know what it's like to try to go after a top player. One thing I'm certain of is that Pitino has done this as well as anyone over his career. IT's a very dirty business, and now the money that was under the table is now on the table. The limitations he has right now is that he doesn't have a bundle of NIL cash basically because no one, NO ONE (not even you know who) has immediately committed huge $$ to NIL. I know that there is a big donor stepping up, but there are other things in the works, including Pitino working that end too.

The truth is at this moment, Pitino doesn't have the NIL available to him to compete well at the top rung of portal players.
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Repole has the money. Maybe the plan is to save it and spend on the upcoming class.
 
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