Questions About Recruits for Fall 2011

[WuDrWu]

I realize I am splitting hairs here.

I think the last 20 years has shown that it is an extremely delicate balancing act to be successful over any length of time, especially here.

I have no problem going after the best players to help us win, whether they be 9 or 27 or have 1 year of eligibility or 4.

That being said, we have 9 upperclassmen out of 13. 1 of the 4 underclassmen has proven he can play D1 ball. Continuity breeds success. If you don't think the writing is on the wall for the year after next, you're kidding yourself.

IMO, we are going to have to do our best David Blaine to beat the odds and not have a serious downturn. Superior FRESHMAN in the 2011 class are crucial to the continued growth and success of our program.

[ShockTalk]

Superior FRESHMAN in the 2011 class are crucial to the continued growth and success of our program.

:good: :yes: :wsu_posters:

[shockerfan]

I realize I am splitting hairs here.

I think the last 20 years has shown that it is an extremely delicate balancing act to be successful over any length of time, especially here.

I have no problem going after the best players to help us win, whether they be 9 or 27 or have 1 year of eligibility or 4.

That being said, we have 9 upperclassmen out of 13. 1 of the 4 underclassmen has proven he can play D1 ball. Continuity breeds success. If you don't think the writing is on the wall for the year after next, you're kidding yourself.

IMO, we are going to have to do our best David Blaine to beat the odds and not have a serious downturn. Superior FRESHMAN in the 2011 class are crucial to the continued growth and success of our program.

I agree. Just not sure how many quality freshmen from 2011 are "seriously" considering WSU and have us as their favorite. It's definately concerning. However, there are times that this staff kind of pulls a quality player out of their hat that surprises us. I'm still clinging on to that hope!

[vbird53]

I realize I am splitting hairs here.

I think the last 20 years has shown that it is an extremely delicate balancing act to be successful over any length of time, especially here.

I have no problem going after the best players to help us win, whether they be 9 or 27 or have 1 year of eligibility or 4.

That being said, we have 9 upperclassmen out of 13. 1 of the 4 underclassmen has proven he can play D1 ball. Continuity breeds success. If you don't think the writing is on the wall for the year after next, you're kidding yourself.

IMO, we are going to have to do our best David Blaine to beat the odds and not have a serious downturn. Superior FRESHMAN in the 2011 class are crucial to the continued growth and success of our program.

I agree. Just not sure how many quality freshmen from 2011 are "seriously" considering WSU and have us as their favorite. It's definately concerning. However, there are times that this staff kind of pulls a quality player out of their hat that surprises us. I'm still clinging on to that hope!

Traditional 4 year college players are becoming a rarity. It's just a fact that you're not going to have many players sign an LOI in the fall, stick with that commitment, and graduate on time. There are too many variables.

If you can get two-three freshman to sign every year and fill in the holes with transfers and jucos, more power to you. There just aren't many programs that have that luxury.

There are only a handful of programs across the nation that even have the same coach that was there to start the year 2000.

(This isn't to say that we shouldn't try. Signing freshman should be, and I believe is, a priority for our coaching staff).

[WSUwatcher]

Balance

Ricky, one way to look at it is that with 13 scholarships, a perfectly balanced distribution of classes is three per year with one class having a fourth guy.

Currently WSU has four seniors, five juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen (4-5-2-2) looking ahead to next year. That would suggest that to even things out they'll probably want to have at least one juco junior (possibly even two, given how raw Orukpe is likely to be), and the rest freshmen (or possibly one JC junior and one JC soph plus two freshmen). They may aim for something like 5-3-2-3 in 2011-12, or 5-3-3-2 or even 5-4-2-2, anticipating that when the time comes to expand any given two-man class they can use the JC route to cherry-pick a good addition. And of course there's always the possibility that the overstuffed five man junior class could be affected by a year-long injury (or an unexpected departure, although the latter seems pretty unlikely at this point). Such uncertainty is one of the things that ensures coaches earn their keep.

As it is, Wessel gives them one committed freshman that the staff seems pretty excited to have, and Marshall has long since proven, both at WSU and before, that he can recruit. So as usual, I think we can safely assume that he and his guys are way ahead of us in addressing this. They get paid lots of money to do so, and they spend lots of time on it and know more about how to do it than any dozen of us combined.

Thus, it's way too early to worry about this, especially when you consider that there are only enough minutes in any given year for 8-9, at most 10, guys to make significant contributions game in and game out. Plus, although Hamilton and Richardson may not get to prove their abilities all that much until next year, the flip side is that by then they'll have two years in the system already. Unless the staff just missed on them -- and there's no reason to believe that at this point -- those two should be plenty ready by the time they really need to step up.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Re: Balance

Ricky, one way to look at it is that with 13 scholarships, a perfectly balanced distribution of classes is three per year with one class having a fourth guy.

Currently WSU has four seniors, five juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen (4-5-2-2) looking ahead to next year. That would suggest that to even things out they'll probably want to have at least one juco junior (possibly even two, given how raw Orukpe is likely to be), and the rest freshmen (or possibly one JC junior and one JC soph plus two freshmen). They may aim for something like 5-3-2-3 in 2011-12, or 5-3-3-2 or even 5-4-2-2, anticipating that when the time comes to expand any given two-man class they can use the JC route to cherry-pick a good addition. And of course there's always the possibility that the overstuffed five man junior class could be affected by a year-long injury (or an unexpected departure, although the latter seems pretty unlikely at this point). Such uncertainty is one of the things that ensures coaches earn their keep.

As it is, Wessel gives them one committed freshman that the staff seems pretty excited to have, and Marshall has long since proven, both at WSU and before, that he can recruit. So as usual, I think we can safely assume that he and his guys are way ahead of us in addressing this. They get paid lots of money to do so, and they spend lots of time on it and know more about how to do it than any dozen of us combined.

Thus, it's way too early to worry about this, especially when you consider that there are only enough minutes in any given year for 8-9, at most 10, guys to make significant contributions game in and game out. Plus, although Hamilton and Richardson may not get to prove their abilities all that much until next year, the flip side is that by then they'll have two years in the system already. Unless the staff just missed on them -- and there's no reason to believe that at this point -- those two should be plenty ready by the time they really need to step up.

Yes, your comments are quite interesting. They cause me to believe that the coaches have quite a balancing act to achieve. Injuries, transfers, inelgibilities, long term prison sentences, ineffective recruits, withdrawals and a whole host of other occurences may cause the delicate balance to become quite unbalanced.

I worry a little about Jerome. He is quite athletic, but I have reservations about his scoring ability. His range might go out to 10-12 foot max.

[Ricardo del Rio]

I hope I have an accurate chart here. If not, let me know and I will make the change.

Notice that I have listed Durley under two categories. I probably could have done the same for others.

[SubGod22]

What kind of range do you want Hamilton to have? Even if it does end up being 10-12 feet he could be effective. Not everybody has to hit 3s. Especially if you're as strong and athletic around the basket as he is.

I have no idea what his range is or will be, but I'm not worried about what he'll bring to the table. His energy and hustle alone will be worth it.

[SubGod22]

I hope I have an accurate chart here. If not, let me know and I will make the change.

Notice that I have listed Durley under two categories. I probably could have done the same for others.

Smith only has two years of eligibility you have him with 3. Also, Richardson and Hamilton have 4 and you show them with 3.

[wufan]

Ellis is a PF not a SF, but thanks for the graphic!

[Ricardo del Rio]

nm

[ShockTalk]

RDR: You still didn't change that "Smith only has two years of eligibility you have him with 3. Also, Richardson and Hamilton have 4 and you show them with 3".

[Ricardo del Rio]

RDR: You still didn't change that "Smith only has two years of eligibility you have him with 3. Also, Richardson and Hamilton have 4 and you show them with 3".

Lol. I am having problems with Photo Bucket.

[Ricardo del Rio]

This may be easier on the eyes. (Sorry for my foul ups.)

This chart removes some clutter and errors. I disregarded the current season because it is not relevant to the current discussion.

[WstateU]

RDR: You still didn't change that "Smith only has two years of eligibility you have him with 3. Also, Richardson and Hamilton have 4 and you show them with 3".

Lol. I am having problems with Photo Bucket.