Success at the local level

Ray Morgan" post=410138 said:
If 2 things converge in a major college program, you are likely to have a good season. First is recruiting 4* players out of high school, and second is having upperclassman lead the way.

Pikiell is killing it on the recruiting trail, especially considering it's Rutgers. His top 3 scorers were all 4* players in high school. Five of the 8 players getting over 10 minutes are 4* recruits. Posters may be sick of hearing this, and i understand why. To be at the top of a big time conference, you need 4* recruits. Not all 4*, but 3 or 4 of your top 7 is about right.

It helps that Pikiell is a good coach. He turned around a bottom feeding program at Stony Brook. One thing I never expected was Stony Brook in the NCAA. Now Pikiell is turning around Rutgers. It must be that Calhoun pedigree.

https://scarletknights.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/jacob-young/8697
 
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I wouldnt go that far. In the last 5-7 years whos produced more NBA players, the Big East or the Big 10? Them by far. Two of our top Big East Players from this past year in Myles Powell and Markus Howard didnt even get drafted.
 
No conference plays a tougher brand of ball than the Big East. Other conferences might turnout more pros but nowhere near as tough ! That is the essence of Big East basketball since its inception and thus its long standing appeal. Look at former top teams of Big East that left for $greener pastures like Syracuse who have lost that edge.
 
Fred Solomon" post=410272 said:
No conference plays a tougher brand of ball than the Big East. Other conferences might turnout more pros but nowhere near as tough ! That is the essence of Big East basketball since its inception and thus its long standing appeal. Look at former top teams of Big East that left for $greener pastures like Syracuse who have lost that edge.

Wisdom of Solomon

 
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So many great coaches in the big east as well. But Id prob say we are 3rd or 4th in conferences. Our great coaches here like Mack and Holtmann left for the ACC and Big 10 respectively. The Big East is a great conference no doubt with great coaches but not what it used to be.
 
Its been a few months since I started this topic. I thought it would be a good time to revisit it. At the time Rutgers was undefeated 6-0 and coming off successive wins against Syracuse, Maryland and Illinois.  We on the other hand were 6-4 and 1-3 in the conference. Rutgers then lost 6 of their next 7 games but rallied from there and ultimately was one of nine Big Ten teams that made the dance. In the tournament they played two tight competitive games, winning one against Clemson and losing the other one against Houston.

There is no doubt that Rutgers had a very good year and Steve Pikiell has done a terrific job there. That all said, I think the year that St. John's had was comparable to the year Rutgers had. The Scarlet Knights finished 16-12 and were 10 and 10 in conference. We finished 16-11 and were 10 and 9 in the conference. Rutgers probably had more signature wins than we did, but we finished the year much stronger than they did. While it was true they made the Big Dance and we didn't, that might have as much to do with erroneous perceived views about relative conference strength than the relative merits of the two teams.

The bottom line for me is the needle moved significantly since December 20th. Mike Anderson's team was clearly on the upswing since then. The way his first two St. John's teams improved over the course of the season is a great trend and hopefully will continue to serve us well over the course of his tenure.

It is always good for local teams in the NYC area to be relevant. Here is hoping that in the future St. John's is once again the clear elite local program, but teams like Rutgers, Hofstra, Iona, Fordham, Columbia etc., etc. etc...... are all thriving too.
 
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I think that Rutgers and St. John's had very similar seasons.  And as Rutgers was rewarded by making the tournament, and getting a decent seed, I think St. John's and Seton Hall should have been similarly treated.
 
“The kids that I have coached against or friends that have coached them in AAU or high school have told me that some of the higher level kids are wary of playing in CMAs system and how a defensive focused system will showcase their offensve skills. They are also wary of the lack of talent hes really sent to the NBA. They like him as. aperson but those are some of the questions thathave been raised.”

Well this should all be fake news by now, and has probably been fodder for coaches recruiting against us.  We finished the Big East season with the highest scoring offense in the league.  Placed a Rookie of the year, Defensive POY, coach of year, all rookie teamer, first team all big East player, and the leagues highest scorer.  

We put up plenty of solid numbers on offense and players are all allowed to run, shoot and score.  
 
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Local kids Champ and Posh, Earlington, DAWusu and Dunn will hopefully open eyes to more local kids to follow.

This past year we had some great local t.v. coverage from Bruce Beck, and Mike Vacarro of the Post sang our praises more than a few times. That felt good.

CMA is a good leader for either locals or non-locals.

Rutgers did a nice job building up to this year and Willard has definitely done a nice job at Seton Hall. I'd like to see us go after the Jersey kids harder, Jersey has some great high D-1 talent and we should be in the mix more than we are for those kids. We used to be.

NJ schools poach NYC kids, let's turn the tables. Let's hold our own with Seton Hall and Rutgers, across the tri-state region.
 
BrookJersey Redmen post=427532 said:
NJ schools poach NYC kids, let's turn the tables. Let's hold our own with Seton Hall and Rutgers, across the tri-state region.
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I'm trying to think of assistants who work both sides of the river really well and I can't think of many. Kimani probably comes to mind first. 
 
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