2019-20 Games of Interest

[ABC]

There are seven million people in the Houston metro area. Kansas has less then 3 million

[Shockm]

Houston to Dallas 3.5 hours
Wichita to Dallas 5.5 hours
This is really insignificant.

Recruiting distance in general is way less significant than it used to be a few years ago.

Sorry. You are wrong and it’s not even close. Houston U. Is still easier to recruit to than Wichita Kansas and you’re dumb for arguing it.

[Topshock]

NM

[ABC]

Not following you Jonesy

[Topshock]

Sorry. You are wrong and it’s not even close. Houston U. Is still easier to recruit to than Wichita Kansas and you’re dumb for arguing it.

As always that depends on the kid. WSU has done pretty well in Houston. I personally think Wichita has several recruiting advantages over Houston. Guess that is dumb.
.
Really don't know how you're not banned with all the name calling you like to do. Are you 12?

[N Crestway]

I think WSU had some recruiting advantages over Houston in the Houston metro as long as it was not in the same conference as Houston.

[im4wsu]

Houston to Dallas 3.5 hours
Wichita to Dallas 5.5 hours
This is really insignificant.

Recruiting distance in general is way less significant than it used to be a few years ago.

Distance is one factor. Staying home where you’re comfortable is another.

[Dan]

Yeah, he should have choked a kid, thrown a chair, talked about accepting rape, sworn like a sailor ...yeah, THEN he would have fit in at Indiana....

He did wrong...got his punishment...moved on...

Don’t forget taking a dump in his hand and holding it out to the players showing them how they are playing, classic.

[Dan]

Distance is one factor. Staying home where you’re comfortable is another.

there’s no magic formula for recruiting . Proximity to home is only one factor. Some kids wanna be close to home, some just want to go where they can play at the highest level. Kids also develop relationships with the recruiters. Personal ties factor in, facilities, fan support, and on and on.

[pinstripers]

some kids just wanna watch halftime shows every night

[Teddy Graham]

I’ll just add the Houston was a dumpster fire when Sampson took over. It took him a few years to get better players and a system in place. He’s got them in a much better place now and is brining in better recruits than 3G. The only thing he doesn’t have is a fan base like WSU.

To be fair, he walked into a "dumpster fire" that had winning seasons the prior two years, finished right in the middle of the AAC both years, and gave him two upperclassmen that were top-100 HS recruits and he added one to those his first year. That situation actually sounds a lot like the Indiana situation where the prior year they finished 5th in the conference and he was handed a soon-to-be NBA player and one other former top 100 HS recruit - both of whom were upperclassmen. Please don't take this as a "Kelvin is a bad coach" - I don't want to hurt any Couger fans' feelings and that is now what I think. He is a heck of a coach and he took OU to new heights. But for a bit of perspective, I think those top-100 HS recruits just mentioned are more than Marshall has had in his entire career. I don't think that disparity is mostly due to the name on the jersey and not the name of the coach.

Wait, what am I talking about "new heights." OU was playing for a natty about 5 years before Sampson took over, right? Again, I am not "downgrading" Sampson, just pointing out that it's not like he resurrected a program or took it to places it hasn't been VERY recently.

[Teddy Graham]

Mama did your google search miss the attached link? Those telephone contacts which are no longer violations due to NCAA change in rules appear to be similar to what Bill Self and other coaches did regards Shocker recruitment of FVV.

So the rules that Sampson broke and got him sent packing have subsequently been changed and what he did then would not now be considered a violation. Do I understand that correct? I would never try to speak for Mama, but I doubt she is looking at her Google search again, but rather wondering what that has to do with the price of tea in China. He broke the rules, and most people break rules because they think it gives them an advantage over their competitors who are not breaking them.

[Shockm]

Well if you research the major teams in Texas (Houston, SMU, Baylor, Texas, TCU, and Texas A&M), they all have substantially larger numbers of Texans on scholarship than WSU has Kansans on scholarship. Baylor has the least with 4, and Houston has 5. TCU has 6, Texas A&M, 7, Texas 7, and SMU 7.

Wichita State has 2 Texans and 0 Kansans. The numbers of talented basketball players in Texas is so much greater in Texas than Kansas and while I’m sure that some Texans wish to not remain close to home to play basketball and there are obviously multiple reasons that an athlete chooses a university, the numbers appear obvious that it helps to recruit Texans to schools in Texas and Texas coaches have advantages.

[Teddy Graham]

Using Head to Head comparison is cherry picking? In what sport universe do you function?

Wow. You said you thought Sampson was a better coach than Marshall and cited Sampson beating Marshall head-to-head 4 out of 5 times. I noticed you didn't respond to my note about Dana Altman beating Marshall 3 of the first 4 times they played. Altman has had great success the past few years at Power 5 Oregon, but if you think Altman's record over his first 21 years compares favorably at all to Marshall's 21 years you are nuts. I saw where Jim Les beat Marshall 3 out of the first 4 times to when he was at Bradley. Does that give any indication that Jim Les is a better coach than Marshall?


I think it is cherry picking because for both of these coaches that time frame represents a relatively small sliver of their accomplishments as coaches. I also think it is cherry picking because all programs, even ones with the consistency of both of these coaches, have relative ups and downs. 2 of those games were during WSU's first AAC season and Marshall was at a relative disadvantage recruiting wise with a lot of the players he had. I love the players and they were good, but that is just a fact. Every player on Houston that played in the games you mentioned was recruited by Sampson and knew they would get to play UCONN, Memphis, Cincy, et al every year and not Bradley, Drake, and MO state. It is just easier to sell the AAC and a coach is more likely to get more highly decorated recruits. Someone earlier said some nonsense about WSU's NCAA success being skewed by FVV, Cle, and Ron. One of the MANY things that makes Marshall a great coach is his ability to spot talent where others don't. Cle and Ron are perfect examples of that.

One last thing...I just noticed that the two (yeah two, although I think one is hurt) former top-100 players on Houston are transfers from quite a ways away that grew up near Houston: one is from The Woodlands, which is part of Houston, and one is from New Orleans which is in the state next door. This reminds me a bit of Teddy Allen trying to get closer to NE. Just Houston's size and location is an advantage recruiting wise. Similarly, about the only (or at least one of very few) consensus top-100 player Marshall was Conner Frankamp. What did he do? He transferred to play closer to home. Not all players do that, but Houston is a massive city and Sampson is going to continue to get VERY high-quality transfers due to this. Marshall doesn't have that luxury.

[Teddy Graham]

There are times here where logic does not work...both of these men are exceptional coaches, but it is wrong and myopic to downgrade Sampson's success as some do.

I honestly thought you were being sarcastic until I read a later post. First - I did not downgrade Sampson. He is a very good coach - very good. He just hasn't done as much with what he has like 3G has. If head to head success over a 2 year period (especially the first 2 or 3 years in a tougher conf while playing kids recruited to play in a different conference) indicates one coach is better than another, then Jim Les is a better coach than Gregg Marshall since Les beat him 3 out of the first 4 times they played. If that is the logic you are referencing, please put the pipe down.