2018 General Recruiting

[BearcatRip]

Funny story on Bazley. I saw him in the neighborhood by my house, standing next to a car with his friend. It looked like he was locked out or something. I stopped and rolled down my window and said, " you need help??" Then said, "nevermind, you ain't going to UC" and pretended to drive off. Him and his buddy started laughing. I ended up giving them a ride since they were locked out of their coaches house and of the car as well since the keys were inside. Long story short, in the conversation I had, he wasn't too interested in UC, but said it was cool they were having a good season. I was surprised to hear he decommitted because he absolutely loved Thad from everything he told me.

 

[GarradJ21]

I really can't wait to hear when we find some serious considerations for 2018.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Agree with this. If they don't want to come here, what can you do. If they have zero interest, you might as well move on. Kind of like kennard

Go tell this to Coach Fickell lol.

 

[Robert]

Go tell this to Coach Fickell lol.

Honestly, Fickell's recruiting of local players might put a little pressure on Cronin. That said, there are a lot more football recruits in the Cincy area than basketball recruits.

I like the direction we have been going in with Clark, Evans, Cumberland, and now Williams. But to compete for a national championship, we need a class or two where we land multiple players at that level, and maybe a top-50 guy or two as well. Simply put, Cronin HAS to step it up.

It doesn't have all be all one-and-done guys like Calipari, but to use a recent example, let's look at the 2016 championship-winning Villanova team.

Here are the top rated recruits in each class leading up to their championship season (using 247 rankings):

2012

Daniel Ochefu #49 ****
Ryan Arcidiacono #57 ****

2013

Kris Jenkins #76 ****
Josh Hart #80 ****

2014

Phil Booth #74 ****
Mikal Bridges #80 ****

2015

Jalen Brunson #22 *****

Now guess who their top 7 leading scorers were?

Mick has a great system and I have no doubt we will continue making the tournament on an annual basis. But we need more top-end talent to take the program to the next level.

 

[Robert]

I should also mention that during that same time span our only top-80 rated player (or top 100 for that matter) was Jermaine Lawrence.

 

[#BearcatNation]

Go tell this to Coach Fickell lol.

Uh....what? Nobody knew whether or not the local football kids had any interest in UC because Tuberville wasn't even reaching out. Fickell started the process by actually contacting these kids. Like Fickell, and unlike Tubs, Mick reaches out as well. Not a very good comparison at all IMO.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Uh....what? Nobody knew whether or not the local football kids had any interest in UC because Tuberville wasn't even reaching out. Fickell started the process by actually contacting these kids. Like Fickell, and unlike Tubs, Mick reaches out as well. Not a very good comparison at all IMO.

I was just saying that to that particular post bc Fickell flat out said if guys don't have interest initially, he doesn't stop recruiting them. That's all.

 

[#BearcatNation]

I was just saying that to that particular post bc Fickell flat out said if guys don't have interest initially, he doesn't stop recruiting them. That's all.

I don't think Mick stops initially either. Have no idea what the proper time to throw the towel in on a guy is, but I doubt Mick is just giving up immediately.

 

[waterhead]

Honestly, Fickell's recruiting of local players might put a little pressure on Cronin. That said, there are a lot more football recruits in the Cincy area than basketball recruits.

I like the direction we have been going in with Clark, Evans, Cumberland, and now Williams. But to compete for a national championship, we need a class or two where we land multiple players at that level, and maybe a top-50 guy or two as well. Simply put, Cronin HAS to step it up.

It doesn't have all be all one-and-done guys like Calipari, but to use a recent example, let's look at the 2016 championship-winning Villanova team.

Here are the top rated recruits in each class leading up to their championship season (using 247 rankings):

2012

Daniel Ochefu #49 ****
Ryan Arcidiacono #57 ****

2013

Kris Jenkins #76 ****
Josh Hart #80 ****

2014

Phil Booth #74 ****
Mikal Bridges #80 ****

2015

Jalen Brunson #22 *****

Now guess who their top 7 leading scorers were?

Mick has a great system and I have no doubt we will continue making the tournament on an annual basis. But we need more top-end talent to take the program to the next level.

I definitely think recruits ranked between 25-100 are the sweet spot. The one and doners are nice but they won't come around often and Mick tends to like multiple year program guys anyway.

The problem is...25-100 is the sweet spot for most of the non blue bloods. It's a competitive market that we just have to do better in. Hopefully recent success, new arena, and already having some legit talent to play along side will make a difference for the 2018 class. I would like to see a couple recruits in this sweet spot if we can and maybe one more in the top 150 or so (or a legit under the radar 3 star kind of guy for the last one). It's time for a highly ranked class to come our way.

 

[waterhead]

I was just saying that to that particular post bc Fickell flat out said if guys don't have interest initially, he doesn't stop recruiting them. That's all.

I would think landing 4 star recruits would potentially be a little harder in football because that is the machine that is driving power conference affiliation. If our football coach can do it...I would like to see our basketball coach do it as well. There may be more football talent out there but we should be able to land more of our high talent local basketball guys. Guys like Cumberland.

I actually don't care where they come from if we can get them but one would think long term local relationships and program exposure would be a little easier to reel in.

 

[cincyguy13]

I was just saying that to that particular post bc Fickell flat out said if guys don't have interest initially, he doesn't stop recruiting them. That's all.

I also don't want him wasting time on these guys. We all want the great prospects, I'm sure mick wants them more than we do, but if they aren't interested there really isn't anything to do. All he can do is try to win enough to make uc a destination for these guys. Like UC in the 90s and somewhat what gonzaga has done.

 

[cincyguy13]

I do think he has to do better if we want to compete for final fours. I know we aren't going to get 1 and done type guys but I don't know why we can't get the guys X is getting. At least 1-2 top 100 guys a year

 

[waterhead]

I do think he has to do better if we want to compete for final fours. I know we aren't going to get 1 and done type guys but I don't know why we can't get the guys X is getting. At least 1-2 top 100 guys a year

In the past I think we can all agree there has been a little too much focus on athleticism instead of BB skills. Guys like SK and Cumberland were not recruited for their defensive ability but they just know how to play. What they may have lacked in on ball defense they made up for with basketball instincts. I think it's nice to have one athletic wing and big on the floor so we can guard the paint and put the wing on the best perimeter player for the opposing team (ala Evans). Outside of that I think we should focus on basketball skills and instincts.

We have been limited somewhat in who we can land as a recruit because they may not have "fit our system" in the past. We didn't get great basketball players in guys like KJ, Justin Jackson, Rubles or Bishop etc. They were liabilities on offense for the most part.

We need a scoring big, another talented wing, and a PG for the future. I think we probably did very well to lock down a guy like Williams on the wing because he can seemingly do both. So let's get another guy like Cumberland or SK on the wing (a pure BB guy). We aren't likely to see a chubby PG so I am not too concerned with defense at PG. We have our athletic bigs in place.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I also don't want him wasting time on these guys. We all want the great prospects, I'm sure mick wants them more than we do, but if they aren't interested there really isn't anything to do. All he can do is try to win enough to make uc a destination for these guys. Like UC in the 90s and somewhat what gonzaga has done.

Football classes are way bigger, and Fickell "wastes his time". We will get 3 players max in the 2018 class for basketball. Coach Cronin has to sell it. I was promised the arena would give a bump in recruiting. Let's see it.

 

[GarradJ21]

I just really want the question to come up about Hunter and Bazley and hear what Cronin says. An article on Hunter said WVU OSU Mich Butler and X are recruiting him the hardest. I just don't get how you have that mix and no UC?

I'm cool with whom ever we get as long as we have some highly recruited talent. This is the class we need it. I know we all keep stressing the same stuff, playtime, arena, and great program, well we really need to see it and we don't need any projects.

 

[JackBauer151]

Football classes are way bigger, and Fickell "wastes his time". We will get 3 players max in the 2018 class for basketball. Coach Cronin has to sell it. I was promised the arena would give a bump in recruiting. Let's see it.

What does this have to do with landing "Ohio" kids? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the Fickell comparison. I want the three best kids we can get in 2018 and DGAF where they come from. Basketball is much more about the shoe company that sponsors your AAU team more than where you are from. Kids are transferring left and right from high schools and prep schools and aau teams. Simple fact is a kid who plays for an Under Armour AAU team from Arizona is much more likely than a Cincinnati kid who plays for Nike to come to UC. That dynamic is different from football. If you dont recruit nationally in basketball you probably are gonna fall on some hard times like Ohio State.

 

[cincyguy13]

What does this have to do with landing "Ohio" kids? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the Fickell comparison. I want the three best kids we can get in 2018 and DGAF where they come from. Basketball is much more about the shoe company that sponsors your AAU team more than where you are from. Kids are transferring left and right from high schools and prep schools and aau teams. Simple fact is a kid who plays for an Under Armour AAU team from Arizona is much more likely than a Cincinnati kid who plays for Nike to come to UC. That dynamic is different from football. If you dont recruit nationally in basketball you probably are gonna fall on some hard times like Ohio State.

Agree, football and bball are totally different

 

[jacobkdoyle]

What does this have to do with landing "Ohio" kids? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the Fickell comparison. I want the three best kids we can get in 2018 and DGAF where they come from. Basketball is much more about the shoe company that sponsors your AAU team more than where you are from. Kids are transferring left and right from high schools and prep schools and aau teams. Simple fact is a kid who plays for an Under Armour AAU team from Arizona is much more likely than a Cincinnati kid who plays for Nike to come to UC. That dynamic is different from football. If you dont recruit nationally in basketball you probably are gonna fall on some hard times like Ohio State.

This has nothing to do with anything I have said.

My comment had only to do with when you "give up" on a recruit who isn't interested initially.

 

[mdchick]

What does this have to do with landing "Ohio" kids? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the Fickell comparison. I want the three best kids we can get in 2018 and DGAF where they come from. Basketball is much more about the shoe company that sponsors your AAU team more than where you are from. Kids are transferring left and right from high schools and prep schools and aau teams. Simple fact is a kid who plays for an Under Armour AAU team from Arizona is much more likely than a Cincinnati kid who plays for Nike to come to UC. That dynamic is different from football. If you dont recruit nationally in basketball you probably are gonna fall on some hard times like Ohio State.

100% agree

 

[JackBauer151]

This has nothing to do with anything I have said.

My comment had only to do with when you "give up" on a recruit who isn't interested initially.

My apologies I was only able to glance over a couple prior posts so I must have misunderstood. However I would point out again comparing Fickell to Mick is really apples to oranges because of the different dynamics of football and basketball. Bigger classes, more positions, larger coaching staffs, lack of an early signing day (which i think i read is about to change) and other factors lend itself to football to not take no for an answer. If you don't get your guy there is more than likely somebody else available with their skill set you can get to balance the loss. In basketball if you put all your eggs into one basket and lose it can dramatically alter your team if you have to take on a "project" instead. You just wont pay the price in football that you would in basketball. I want recruiting to continue the momentum it has seen. Clark, Evans, Washington, Cumberland all in back to back to back classes has been a vast improvement over the likes of Guyn, Thomas, Sanders, Mbodj, and Nyarsuk. Add in Keith Williams and Cane Broom and I think next year's squad is the most talented we've seen around here since what 2002? The arrow is pointing up. I think that one March run is what is missing. The arena should help too but I think that one run that shows that Cincinnati can play for a national championship is the final piece. I think it's what Xavier has that UC doesnt. They go deep. They play in a top conference for basketball. They have top notch facilities. They get top 50 kids. Make that run and I think UC wont have to back off because they will be able to win over that top 50 kid consistently. Right now it seems they dont think they can do that and just try to go out and find another Gary or Jacob.