I will say it again and am waiting for someone to refute it with names, outside of a couple, Jamal Mashburn, Antoine Walker and Tony Delk come to mind quickly, Pitino was not a five star recruiter type coach. If he is following that same philosophy now, and not overpaying, I get it. Portal mania has made every guy who averages double figures a “difference maker” to some fans just watching highlight videos and reading stats.
SJU Portal Targets
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So if this guy comes and gets limited minutes..
Well he deserved it. He was the epitome of "Lateral"
Storm Tracker
Well-known member
Dingle seemed to figure it out last 4 weeks of season. he was really playing well. i hope he returns
There’s “top talent” and then there’s top talent that is worth the money. Two different things. I don’t think we need to get into bidding wars over players that aren’t going to be absolutely dominant, period. I think the art of player evaluation still exists in this portal period and there is a TON of value to be had if looking in the right places.
I really like Scott the North Texas kid and am excited to see how we build this. Need to realize that our coach/staff is fantastic at player eval and coaching and that’s their forte.
I really like Scott the North Texas kid and am excited to see how we build this. Need to realize that our coach/staff is fantastic at player eval and coaching and that’s their forte.
Agree. Maybe his early season injury got him down.
The return
He always had his fair share of five star guys
Just breezing through wikipedia:
2004: Sebastian Telfair, although he did not attend
2005: Amir Johnson
2006: Earl Clark
2008: Semardo Samuels
2009: Peyton Siva
2011: Wayne Blackshear, Chane Behanan
2016: VJ King
2017: Brian Bowen
2013: two five-star guys, Terry Rozier and Chris Jones
2014: one five star guy, Shaqquan Aaron
2015: one five star guy, Ray Spalding. another top 40 guy named Donovan Mitchell
Logen, agree that was definitely the case with his Louisville teams and some of his Kentucky teams. But that 1995-1996 National Championship team had five guys who went in the first round of the NBA draft - Delk, Walker, Derek Anderson, Ron Mercer and Walter McCarty (was surprised McCarty went at #19 but of course that was my Knicks whose draft acumen was pretty horrendous back then). Now you can argue these guys became first round picks just because of their success at Kentucky, don't recall if they were all top 50 recruits out of high school.
Silly Donovan
Well-known member
Dave's pod partner with some thoughts. Don't doubt he's sourced, which is why I'm sharing.
That’s why I believe Ricks time here will be short lived. I don’t see how any stand up guy who has a love for the sport can last in this environment. Bidding wars? Obviously the kids heart is in the wrong place and that which is most important to Coach P is all but lost. Unfortunately to survive in this environment one has to lower one’s standards and not be true to them self so it’s just a matter of time when Coach says….”I’ve had enough”.
This discussion was a few pages back but my two cents (not that anyone wants them): brea seems way overrated. A lot of guys would look good playing with Daron Holmes (the best offensive big man in the game last year imo); didn’t strike me as a top portal guy at all. Timberlake also had all the big guns after him last year. Please bring this back when he’s an all American..
Disappointed we werent more in on roach. But also there’s still a lot of time to go. I don’t think any of the other guys we’ve been connected to were so good that it’s a killer to miss out on them. Even a guy like cliff has his warts, so I’m not too concerned at this point.
Regarding the position that some are taking (like frank and others on twitter), I guess I get it, and they have a point, but some folks were saying the same thing last year and pitino put together a top 25 team (kenpom) in less time with nothing to build on but Soriano (and frankly he wasn’t a great fit for pitino).
I hate to say “trust pitino,” but I think we should. He’s not infallible, but until proven otherwise I’m humble enough to know he’s forgotten more about bball than me (or anyone else critiquing him) has known. Not saying we shouldn’t second guesss and critique since that’s the whole point of a board like this. But there are so many unknowns in the portal; we don’t know who’s entering, we don’t know how players are progressing in practice, don’t know their nil demands and our available funds, etc. Trust me I’m following everything like a fanatic, but just not getting too upset about any particular move with pitino at the helm. I think part of it is that pitino wants some dogs (in the best way possible) that will fit his style—and he’s in the best position to know who will do that and I think he’ll get those guys.
Disappointed we werent more in on roach. But also there’s still a lot of time to go. I don’t think any of the other guys we’ve been connected to were so good that it’s a killer to miss out on them. Even a guy like cliff has his warts, so I’m not too concerned at this point.
Regarding the position that some are taking (like frank and others on twitter), I guess I get it, and they have a point, but some folks were saying the same thing last year and pitino put together a top 25 team (kenpom) in less time with nothing to build on but Soriano (and frankly he wasn’t a great fit for pitino).
I hate to say “trust pitino,” but I think we should. He’s not infallible, but until proven otherwise I’m humble enough to know he’s forgotten more about bball than me (or anyone else critiquing him) has known. Not saying we shouldn’t second guesss and critique since that’s the whole point of a board like this. But there are so many unknowns in the portal; we don’t know who’s entering, we don’t know how players are progressing in practice, don’t know their nil demands and our available funds, etc. Trust me I’m following everything like a fanatic, but just not getting too upset about any particular move with pitino at the helm. I think part of it is that pitino wants some dogs (in the best way possible) that will fit his style—and he’s in the best position to know who will do that and I think he’ll get those guys.
ChiTown Red
Well-known member
Hide the team managers!
He averaged 7 top 100 guys at Louisville and he lived in that 25-45 range. Compared to Cal and K he was not bringing in crazy talent, but he was compared to almost everyone else.
Moose
Well-known member
An aviator?
I have balsa wood model plane
Yeah, exactly. Not trying to nitpick logen's words, but I don't think its fair to say he wasn't a five star recruiting coach. There was always a couple on each roster, and a lot of them actually panned out + played big roles.
Should be same approach here. Find guys that are good fits. Don’t need to field an all-star team. But still need to land 1-2 difference makers. That last point seems to be where we’re struggling IMO this portal season (so far).
Yup, and hopefully in 2025-2026, we're trying to retain them instead of searching for them.
SJU14
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