2016-2017 Season

[jacobkdoyle]

It comes down to this for me: Control what you can control. If we start racking up conference titles regularly, I'd bet on us landing more Clark, Evans, and Cumberland's.

Conference affiliation matters obviously, but like I said earlier, it's much worse for Tulsa, ECU, Tulane, etc. At least we still have a chance with some 4* guys. Those schools would need a miracle.

 

[UCBearcats]

Good choice...

I agree, I wouldn't want to let the biased opinions of Mick's good buddy Chad the get in the way of the facts.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

It comes down to this for me: Control what you can control. If we start racking up conference titles regularly, I'd bet on us landing more Clark, Evans, and Cumberland's.

winning helps but the point is we are operating at a disadvantage. And yes I don't like it anymore then anyone else.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

It comes down to this for me: Control what you can control. If we start racking up conference titles regularly, I'd bet on us landing more Clark, Evans, and Cumberland's.

Conference affiliation matters obviously, but like I said earlier, it's much worse for Tulsa, ECU, Tulane, etc. At least we still have a chance with some 4* guys. Those schools would need a miracle.

Jake beating UCONN will not be a walk in the park. Just curious. Who is the better program us or them?

 

[Chad Brendel]

It comes down to this for me: Control what you can control. If we start racking up conference titles regularly, I'd bet on us landing more Clark, Evans, and Cumberland's.

Landing guys like Evans and Clark is exactly what they have to do. Late risers that didn't have a host of P5 type programs beating at the door until late in the process. Guys like Keith Williams that had a great summer and raised his stock at the end. They are fighting battles they can win in the situation that has presented itself. Just a lot more emphasis needed on evaluation and figuring out who will be good fits...

 

[Chad Brendel]

I agree, I wouldn't want to let the biased opinions of Mick's good buddy Chad the get in the way of the facts.

So you do want to get smacked around???

 

[jacobkdoyle]

winning helps but the point is we are operating at a disadvantage. And yes I don't like it anymore then anyone else.

We are operating at an advantage in at least 3/4 of our games. I guess it's a matter of perspective. I look at our schedule and whole-heartedly believe that we have every chance to win 25+ games. That's a good place to start.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Landing guys like Evans and Clark is exactly what they have to do. Late risers that didn't have a host of P5 type programs beating at the door until late in the process. Guys like Keith Williams that had a great summer and raised his stock at the end. They are fighting battles they can win in the situation that has presented itself. Just a lot more emphasis needed on evaluation and figuring out who will be good fits...

chad I always laugh when guys compare recruiting to UC as if it was 12 years ago. The landscape of college athletics has changed considerably since the good old days. While many think Mick a bad recruiter he is a very good recruiter. Finding these diamonds in the rough is much tougher then identifying 5 stars. Doing that and continually winning 20 games and make the dance is a nice accomplishment. We all want more but I hate to say it our situation took a hit when we did not land in a P5. Fact is we could do a lot worse then mick and making the dance every year.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

We are operating at an advantage in at least 3/4 of our games. I guess it's a matter of perspective. I look at our schedule and whole-heartedly believe that we have every chance to win 25+ games. That's a good place to start.

Jake we are very close to that level. Not there but close.

 

[Chad Brendel]

Love that you brought up Butler before they got a golden ticket. Let's look at the core of those two Final 4 teams.

Matt Howard 2 star
Ronald Nored 3 star
Shelvin Mack 3 star
Gordon Hayward 2 star on Scout 3 star on Rivals

They didn't land a 4 star until 2012. Want to guess what happened around that time?

Want me to make it worse with a look at Wichita State???

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Love that you brought up Butler before they got a golden ticket. Let's look at the core of those two Final 4 teams.

Matt Howard 2 star
Ronald Nored 3 star
Shelvin Mack 3 star
Gordon Hayward 2 star on Scout 3 star on Rivals

They didn't land a 4 star until 2012. Want to guess what happened around that time?

Want me to make it worse with a look at Wichita State???

wow! Thanks for that snap shot Chad.

 

[GarradJ21]

So you do want to get smacked around???

Chad it's obvious when someone is far away from a program and speculates from the couch. You have first hand and many of us have our feet wet being in a smaller city might know college basketball players or players on the current roster. Know how media works, how awesome it is to have Drake performing at your midnight madness (UK) vs having fans stream your game on ESPN3 (Bearcats). Even ESPNU is limited now. Basic packages don't even allow for ESPNU. Yes, there's success at programs like Butler and VCU, but you know what they do or did,they got to the tournament and made things happen. Just like we are doing, getting to the tournament, unfortunately we haven't caught our break yet. One of these years it's going to break. One of these years we are going to be in an elite 8. We are getting solid players and working them the best possible.

This year, we stay healthy, it's going to be one heck of the year. We just need to start out right against R.I.

 

[Chad Brendel]

Dating back to 2009, Wichita State has landed no consensus 4 star with Fred VanVleet in 2012 and Markis McDuffie in 2015 being a mix of high 3 star and back end 4 star status. Rob Baker was a no star unknown and turned into a star. The rest of the roster since then has been 2 and middling 3 star recruits.

Tell me more about how these teams are bringing in highly rated kids? I'm listening...

 

[waterhead]

It would likely open a few more doors, and allow to sneak in on a few higher rated kids. Problem would still exist though when it came to decision time. I can tell you for a fact Troy would have very likely picked Virginia Tech if UC was in the AAC when his decision was made. There were at least 4 kids in just the 2017 cycle that they wanted and were told not to bother because of mainly the conference situation. Literally call back if you get in the Big 12. Just part of what UC has to deal with in the current landscape...

Ok thank you. I can admit to being wrong when I am. My apologies to Waite as well.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Guys we have people who come on here daily that our true fans of the program. They believe we should be capable of the same level of success we had years ago now. Times and circumstances have changed. Power 5 conferences were formed for a reason. Anyone care to take a guess why? We are a good program that operates very well under the circumstances. The coach delivers a winning program that makes the dance annually. Under the conditions he forced to operate under it is a very nice accomplishment. Am I happy that we have been left out of the big boy table. Heck no!! But we have. Fact is this may be as good as it gets until we land in a better conference. You can argue if Mick played uptempo or was a bit more free with how he allows the kids to operate or developed his talent better but in the end we are still at a disadvantage.

 

[GarradJ21]

Guys we have people who come on here daily that our true fans of the program. They believe we should be capable of the same level of success we had years ago now. Times and circumstances have changed. Power 5 conferences were formed for a reason. Anyone care to take a guess why? We are a good program that operates very well under the circumstances. The coach delivers a winning program that makes the dance annually. Under the conditions he forced to operate under it is a very nice accomplishment. Am I happy that we have been left out of the big boy table. Heck no!! But we have. Fact is this may be as good as it gets until we land in a better conference. You can argue if Mick played uptempo or was a bit more free with how he allows the kids to operate or developed his talent better but in the end we are still at a disadvantage.

Exactly, and I like how we have a good coach that actually is happy here. No one is considering UC a dream job, besides UC fans. No one! We get someone else in here, enjoy the stepping-stone and the success the football program is having now.

 

[Chad Brendel]

Ok thank you. I can admit to being wrong when I am. My apologies to Waite as well.

No worries. Just something I deal with on a regular basis when following this stuff. I'd love for it to be different, but UC is at a point where the question "can we even get in" has to be asked on a lot of the more talented kids out there. Recruiting has changed a ton in just the 7 or so years I have been heavily involved with coverage. A whole lot of money is thrown around both above and below the surface and having the AAC flag flying high hurts in a lot of ways.

That said, it is on the staff to figure out how to make it work and for the most part they have. The door has opened for more transfer options and Mick and company seem to be finding a better understanding of the level of player that is available to them when building the roster. That part is on them even if the disadvantage exists...

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Landing guys like Evans and Clark is exactly what they have to do. Late risers that didn't have a host of P5 type programs beating at the door until late in the process. Guys like Keith Williams that had a great summer and raised his stock at the end. They are fighting battles they can win in the situation that has presented itself. Just a lot more emphasis needed on evaluation and figuring out who will be good fits...

The transfer market has also been very helpful to us here recently.

 

[JasonS]

Someone mentioned getting breaks and I think that is huge when it comes to the NCAA tourney. Look, you can win more in the regular season and get a better seed which will help you get more breaks, but ultimately, you have no control over the matchups in the tourney. I look back to that team that lost to UCONN who ultimately won the National Title. That team was playing damn good basketball and I think had an outside shot to make a final four or at least an elite 8. You want to talk about a bad break? UC and UCONN were the first teams from the same conference in history to meet in the NCAA tourney BEFORE the sweet 16. I think UC had a run in them until they had to play another Big East team so early. UC also always seems to play the highest possible seed in every round. It is what it is. At some point you have to beat those teams, but not all tourney runs are created equal. UC could use a season where they get a top 4 seed and get some favorable matchups to make a run. Hoping it is this year.

 

[waterhead]

No worries. Just something I deal with on a regular basis when following this stuff. I'd love for it to be different, but UC is at a point where the question "can we even get in" has to be asked on a lot of the more talented kids out there. Recruiting has changed a ton in just the 7 or so years I have been heavily involved with coverage. A whole lot of money is thrown around both above and below the surface and having the AAC flag flying high hurts in a lot of ways.

That said, it is on the staff to figure out how to make it work and for the most part they have. The door has opened for more transfer options and Mick and company seem to be finding a better understanding of the level of player that is available to them when building the roster. That part is on them even if the disadvantage exists...

Obviously I can't really speak to any of this as an insider so I respect your opinion. I do still have questions though...lol!