Mike Anderson Is A Program Builder

Glad to read about his program building reputation but the lack of recruiting ability continues to make me nervous. We don't need 5 stars but we will need regular 4 stars mixed in. Hope we can get Cuffe Jr. who is a borderline top 50 4 star kid and get Davis who appears underrated. I'd be quite happy with that. Cuffe Jr. is the key though...if we don't get him I just don't see where all our star power is coming from.
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=391413]Glad to read about his program building reputation but the lack of recruiting ability continues to make me nervous. We don't need 5 stars but we will need regular 4 stars mixed in. Hope we can get Cuffe Jr. who is a borderline top 50 4 star kid and get Davis who appears underrated. I'd be quite happy with that. Cuffe Jr. is the key though...if we don't get him I just don't see where all our star power is coming from.[/quote]

Why do you insist on bringing up false information on lack of recruiting?? He did a good job in short time last year. I for one am very happy with what he is bringing in this year as are others on the site. It’s a good mix and it’s guys he envisions fitting into his system. And let’s see what he’s got for 2021. Let it happen before you bash it. Come on.
 
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Spent a long time perusing the Hogville board looking for more insight on CMA. What I gathered from a bunch of posters:

-CMA is a decent coach but could not get them to the next level (almost seems like our Lavin perspective)
-CMA seemed to get very comfortable at Arkansas due to his connection with Nolan and perhaps felt he was untouchable
-Lots of accusations that his assistants at Arkansas never recruited much
-Ark fans think CMA surrounded himself with very good assistants here at SJ and they notice the big effort recruiting
-They say that he seems to do better with lower ranked players who know their role and don't try to go outside of it
-By in large their fans wanted him to change assistants (kind of like us with Mullin) because things were too stale
-They feel CMA may have a chip on his shoulder attitude now after being fired and wanting to prove Arkansas wrong by succeeding here
-They predicted we would go from bottom of Big East in academics to the top because character is very important to him when recruiting kids...nice to hear and we've seen evidence already IMO
-Some Ark fans think 40 min of hell is too gimicky to go far in NCAA's and may not do well these days with all the tic tac fouls
-They seem to be rooting for him to do well here
-I laughed when they would complain he can't get big men and their posters were laughing at us when we complained about it since they experienced the same apparently

All in all I do think he was as good a hire as we could've gotten realistically and you all know my 1 big concern with him, however he seems to be a great fit for our university and I hope we overachieve again next season.
 
I look forward to seeing CMA at SJU for years to come.
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=391601]Spent a long time perusing the Hogville board looking for more insight on CMA. What I gathered from a bunch of posters:

-CMA is a decent coach but could not get them to the next level (almost seems like our Lavin perspective)
-CMA seemed to get very comfortable at Arkansas due to his connection with Nolan and perhaps felt he was untouchable
-Lots of accusations that his assistants at Arkansas never recruited much
-Ark fans think CMA surrounded himself with very good assistants here at SJ and they notice the big effort recruiting
-They say that he seems to do better with lower ranked players who know their role and don't try to go outside of it
-By in large their fans wanted him to change assistants (kind of like us with Mullin) because things were too stale
-They feel CMA may have a chip on his shoulder attitude now after being fired and wanting to prove Arkansas wrong by succeeding here
-They predicted we would go from bottom of Big East in academics to the top because character is very important to him when recruiting kids...nice to hear and we've seen evidence already IMO
-Some Ark fans think 40 min of hell is too gimicky to go far in NCAA's and may not do well these days with all the tic tac fouls
-They seem to be rooting for him to do well here
-I laughed when they would complain he can't get big men and their posters were laughing at us when we complained about it since they experienced the same apparently

All in all I do think he was as good a hire as we could've gotten realistically and you all know my 1 big concern with him, however he seems to be a great fit for our university and I hope we overachieve again next season.[/quote] One thing for sure is CMA has a fire in his belly to prove his firing was a mistake. Furthermore if he succeeds in elevating our program he won’t leave for greener pastures,IMO.
 
I dont know much about recruiting but having 0 commits for 2021.... is that ok cause its still early? Is it concerning that at this point we have no commits? If someone could answer that i would appreciate it.
 
Duke of Earlington Wrote: I dont know much about recruiting but having 0 commits for 2021.... is that ok cause its still early? Is it concerning that at this point we have no commits? If someone could answer that i would appreciate it.

Duke I am no recruiting expert either but I do not see any cause for concern here. It is July 1, 2020. Hardly anyone commits to a college before there Senior year starts. Last year at this time we did not have any of our 2020 commits in place. FYI Alexander committed in late August, Wusu at the end of September and Moore and Cole around then too. None of them actually signed with SJU until November. Our 2021 signings will most likely happen sometime between September and March. Additionally with the Pandemic changing what is normal it likely will delay these decisions even more than usual.

The most important thing from my perspective is that Mike Anderson and Staff seem to be working very hard to develop relationships with recruits and players who can impact the future success of the program. I am confident that they will not strike out on all their efforts and will be able to build something worthwhile here.
 
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[quote="ghostzapper" post=391650]Duke of Earlington Wrote: I dont know much about recruiting but having 0 commits for 2021.... is that ok cause its still early? Is it concerning that at this point we have no commits? If someone could answer that i would appreciate it.

Duke I am no recruiting expert either but I do not see any cause for concern here. It is July 1, 2020. Hardly anyone commits to a college before there Senior year starts. Last year at this time we did not have any of our 2020 commits in place. FYI Alexander signed in late August and the other three happened in November. Our 2021 signings will most likely happen sometime between September and March. Additionally with the Pandemic changing what is normal it likely will delay these decisions even more than usual.

The most important thing from my perspective is that Mike Anderson and Staff seem to be working very hard to develop relationships with recruits and players who can impact the future success of the program. I am confident that they will not strike out on all their efforts and will be able to build something worthwhile here.[/quote]

I believe only 3 teams in the conference has commitments from the '21 class.
 
Mike Anderson recruited 2 of the best NYC players and 2 of the best JUCOs last year.

You know what that sounds like?

A typical Louie Carnesecca class.

So I'm good bro.
 
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[quote="Mike Zaun" post=391601]Spent a long time perusing the Hogville board looking for more insight on CMA. What I gathered from a bunch of posters:

-CMA is a decent coach but could not get them to the next level (almost seems like our Lavin perspective)
-CMA seemed to get very comfortable at Arkansas due to his connection with Nolan and perhaps felt he was untouchable
-Lots of accusations that his assistants at Arkansas never recruited much
-Ark fans think CMA surrounded himself with very good assistants here at SJ and they notice the big effort recruiting
-They say that he seems to do better with lower ranked players who know their role and don't try to go outside of it
-By in large their fans wanted him to change assistants (kind of like us with Mullin) because things were too stale
-They feel CMA may have a chip on his shoulder attitude now after being fired and wanting to prove Arkansas wrong by succeeding here
-They predicted we would go from bottom of Big East in academics to the top because character is very important to him when recruiting kids...nice to hear and we've seen evidence already IMO
-Some Ark fans think 40 min of hell is too gimicky to go far in NCAA's and may not do well these days with all the tic tac fouls
-They seem to be rooting for him to do well here
-I laughed when they would complain he can't get big men and their posters were laughing at us when we complained about it since they experienced the same apparently

All in all I do think he was as good a hire as we could've gotten realistically and you all know my 1 big concern with him, however he seems to be a great fit for our university and I hope we overachieve again next season.[/quote]

See my thing is, I don't want to get 4 stars just for the sake of getting 4 stars. You've got to have the right guys for the system, and CMA clearly has a type he goes after. That is the ones who are unselfish and willing to put in the work and be a quality team player. You can't just assume every player is a fit. You have to wonder if CMA would have even pursued a player like Ponds, who despite being one of our best players of all time, clearly didn't always want to put in the work, and seemed to have an eye on the next level. Remember his junior season when he'd clearly focus on getting assists, to the detriment of the team?
 
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14 of the Top 50 247 Recruits have committed for next year. I'm willing to say 15 since Kuminga is likely going pro.
 
If CMA can keep pulling rabbits out of his hat assuming Posh and Cole pan out, Champ keeps trending up, etc. then that's awesome, but my thought is that eventually 4's will play like 4's and 3's will play like 3's. It seems to be the exception that programs full of 3's do better or as good as programs full of 4's and 5's. We don't need all 4's though...get regular 3's and some stud JUCO's which is this staff's specialty going back to Arkansas...and then get 1 or 2 legit top 100 4 star guys to lead. I still think we will need 1 or 2 every so often if we are to really make noise.

I definitely notice the difference in terms of character from Lavin/Mullin to CMA players. It's pretty stark. We all love D'Lo now and his fam but we also remember the issues. Sir Dom, Obekpa, Jordan...even with Mullin you had Keita, Steere, Wilson (for a second), etc. CMA comes in and we get Rutherford, Champ, Caraher, etc. And you see the confidence built in Williams, Roberts, Earlington. These guys play the right way and they aren't show boaters. They aren't sore losers...they won't swing at Notre Dame in the handshake line after getting killed. They won't smoke a joint before March Madness. CMA isn't just a coach, he's a great mentor for our players. Him, his wife, and his son all seem like very down to earth, hard working, give their shirt off their back type people.
 
I was probably as skeptical of CMA's hire as anyone on the board, and I'm not saying that he's definitely the long term answer. Time will tell on that one. But based on his career track record, and based on everything that he's done(on and off the court) from the day that he was hired, and based on based on his character and ethics, I believe that he deserves and has earned the benefit of the doubt. At least for near future. There has only been one other coach since Lou who has instilled the kind of confidence in me as CMA. Granted I was wrong on that one, but I believe we're in very good hands right now and am willing to wait this out for a while.
 
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Room 112 has it right. Coach Anderson clearly knows (1) what kind of players he wants for his approach to the game (both in character and basketball attributes); and (2) how to develop players once he gets them. The results speak for themselves - especially compared to what the SJU results have been for the past forever years. (BTW comparing Anderson to Lavin is laughable - they're about as polar opposite as you can get in basically every way).

When the program starts to have consistent success - which I think it will - then it will become easier to recruit players that are more highly ranked coming out of HS who are ALSO system fits. But I have no criticism of a man with a plan who would rather have a player that fits over a more highly ranked player who doesn't fit or who is a character concern.

I do think that Anderson's system may leave SJU out of the running for many blue-chippers. They're going to want to go places where they get close to 40 minutes of run and can showcase their offensive talent. But that's fine - I disagree with those who think Anderson's system can't win - only because, well, it actually has won, forever.

I'll worry about whether we can get to the Final 4 once we are making the NCAAs every year. It's cute that some people seem to think it's a catastrophe that we might not go from being a perennial 9th place BE finisher to "Nova level" in a year or two. Must be some overlap between our fans and Mets/Jets fans...
 
[quote="Monte" post=391665] There has only been one other coach since Lou who has instilled the kind of confidence in me as CMA.[/quote]

Frankly I have not been happy with any of the hires since LC.

1) When Mahoney was hired he was hired over big name elite level coaches. I'm not kidding when I heard he was hired tears came to my eyes and I was a young guy. I just knew in my gut (wasn't so big back then) it was a bad move. But I had no idea it was the beginning of decades of pain at the scale we've seen.
2) I knew Fran was a problem when we played him when he was at Manhattan and he had a winnable game vs us but he chose to showcase himself on ESPN during halftime rather than focus upon winning the game. We won the game and lost by making him our next coach.
3) Jarvis: was not impressed by this hire at all for similar reasons. I thought he was more focused upon himself than being a head coach. The fact that he was the best coach for us since LC is really sad.
4) Roberts: seemed like a great guy with no successful coaching record. Not a great hire but a compromise in the wake of the Jarvis fiasco so we settled.
5) Lavin: I was really against this hire again for similar reasons to Fran and Jarvis and I thought a lot of the support was for his slick hair and reputation as a great recruiter. But also because I knew some back story from UCLA fans and felt like it would end badly for us. I ended up liking him more though over time and I think he is a good broadcaster.
6) I was in favor of the Mullin hire. But for what it was in dealing with where we were.

CMA is a real head coach who has a real staff and a real vision. It is the first time since LC that I felt 100% confident it was the right move. The fact that our admin got to this hire after trying to royally screw us with more bad choices, is Divine intervention.
 
[quote="lawmanfan" post=391666]Room 112 has it right. Coach Anderson clearly knows (1) what kind of players he wants for his approach to the game (both in character and basketball attributes); and (2) how to develop players once he gets them. The results speak for themselves - especially compared to what the SJU results have been for the past forever years. (BTW comparing Anderson to Lavin is laughable - they're about as polar opposite as you can get in basically every way).

When the program starts to have consistent success - which I think it will - then it will become easier to recruit players that are more highly ranked coming out of HS who are ALSO system fits. But I have no criticism of a man with a plan who would rather have a player that fits over a more highly ranked player who doesn't fit or who is a character concern.

I do think that Anderson's system may leave SJU out of the running for many blue-chippers. They're going to want to go places where they get close to 40 minutes of run and can showcase their offensive talent. But that's fine - I disagree with those who think Anderson's system can't win - only because, well, it actually has won, forever.

I'll worry about whether we can get to the Final 4 once we are making the NCAAs every year. It's cute that some people seem to think it's a catastrophe that we might not go from being a perennial 9th place BE finisher to "Nova level" in a year or two. Must be some overlap between our fans and Mets/Jets fans...[/quote]

Right, you make some great points as well, and I think this is something people are going to have to understand live with during the CMA era. There may be many top ranked recruits who have no interest in our program, because it might not necessarily be the best place to showcase their skills for the next level.
 
[quote="Paul Massell" post=391671][quote="Monte" post=391665] There has only been one other coach since Lou who has instilled the kind of confidence in me as CMA.[/quote]

Frankly I have not been happy with any of the hires since LC.

1) When Mahoney was hired he was hired over big name elite level coaches. I'm not kidding when I heard he was hired tears came to my eyes and I was a young guy. I just knew in my gut (wasn't so big back then) it was a bad move. But I had no idea it was the beginning of decades of pain at the scale we've seen.
2) I knew Fran was a problem when we played him when he was at Manhattan and he had a winnable game vs us but he chose to showcase himself on ESPN during halftime rather than focus upon winning the game. We won the game and lost by making him our next coach.
3) Jarvis: was not impressed by this hire at all for similar reasons. I thought he was more focused upon himself than being a head coach. The fact that he was the best coach for us since LC is really sad.
4) Roberts: seemed like a great guy with no successful coaching record. Not a great hire but a compromise in the wake of the Jarvis fiasco so we settled.
5) Lavin: I was really against this hire again for similar reasons to Fran and Jarvis and I thought a lot of the support was for his slick hair and reputation as a great recruiter. But also because I knew some back story from UCLA fans and felt like it would end badly for us. I ended up liking him more though over time and I think he is a good broadcaster.
6) I was in favor of the Mullin hire. But for what it was in dealing with where we were.

CMA is a real head coach who has a real staff and a real vision. It is the first time since LC that I felt 100% confident it was the right move. The fact that our admin got to this hire after trying to royally screw us with more bad choices, is Divine intervention.[/quote]

Fran is the only one where I both liked the hire, and had a consistent comfort level with while he was here. There were periods where I thought each coach (except Norm) might be the answer, but the only one who I felt consistently confident in was Fran. Of course, until his antics started. Didn't like the Mahoney, Roberts and Lavin hires. Was so-so about the Jarvis, Mullin and CMA hires.
 
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[quote="usguard" post=391684]He obviously knew he had no interest in SJ , just wasted our time[/quote]

Go out and enjoy the fresh air.
 
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