Burke: "It came down to Cincinnati and Michigan"

[JasonS]

Trey said on the Dan Patrick show today that it came down to Michigan and Cincinnati in the recruiting process but that, in the end, he felt like Michigan was a better fit. It makes you wonder what might have happened if Cash had never hurt his knee and redshirted. Would Burke have chosen UC knowing that he would be the man at the point come his 2nd year? We will never know but I have a feeling that PT was a big choice in his decision to go to Michigan.

 

[TheLongHaul]

I think most thought he was committing to UC then out of nowhere picked Michigan. Well not out of nowhere, but most thought UC was the leader.

 

[UCBearcats]

Trey said on the Dan Patrick show today that it came down to Michigan and Cincinnati in the recruiting process but that, in the end, he felt like Michigan was a better fit. It makes you wonder what might have happened if Cash had never hurt his knee and redshirted. Would Burke have chosen UC knowing that he would be the man at the point come his 2nd year? We will never know but I have a feeling that PT was a big choice in his decision to go to Michigan.

A lot of factors there, would Trey Burke be as good as he is right now if he played at UC? Beiline is an offensive guru and Burke is surrounded by a very talented roster. Without a dynamic offense, Tim Hardaway Jr next to him and the help of some athletic and talented bigs does Trey Burke still become Trey Burke?

I'm happy we had Cash and sad to see his career end.

 

[JasonS]

A lot of factors there, would Trey Burke be as good as he is right now if he played at UC? Beiline is an offensive guru and Burke is surrounded by a very talented roster. Without a dynamic offense, Tim Hardaway Jr next to him and the help of some athletic and talented bigs does Trey Burke still become Trey Burke?

I'm happy we had Cash and sad to see his career end.

I am definitely not complaining about having Cash. I just wonder what Cash's career might have been (and it has been damn good anyway) had he had a healthy left knee. As a result, he would have been a senior last year and maybe we would have had Trey Burke this year. Maybe not. Just interesting sometimes to think about what ifs. What if Cash doesn't get hurt this year? What if Cash stayed healthy his whole career?

 

[bearcat18]

Burke grew up on Big 10 country and his father said that was a big deciding factor. UC was his only real big time offer until Michigan came in late in the process.

 

[Bearcat04]

I think the deciding factor was playing time. He got 36 minutes a game last year. He wasn't going to get that here with Cash, Dixon, Parker, Kilpatrick, and two incoming freshmen in the backcourt. Michigan had immediate playing time available.

 

[Cataclysmo]

Kemba Walker, Chane Behanen, Chris Obekpa, Oj Mayo....

 

[JasonS]

Kemba Walker, Chane Behanen, Chris Obekpa, Oj Mayo....

Please explain to me how OJ Mayo fits in to this list.

Jermaine Lawrence, Yancy Gates

 

[Cataclysmo]

Please explain to me how OJ Mayo fits in to this list.

Jermaine Lawrence, Yancy Gates

Greg Doyel (CBS Sportsline)

Ask a college coach if he's trying to recruit Class of 2007 superstar O.J. Mayo, and more than likely he'll tell you no. O.J. Mayo, most coaches seem to believe, wants to play for Cincinnati. So do two of his teammates at North College Hill (Ohio) High, Bill Walker and Keenan Ellis.

Mayo is the No. 1 player in the Class of 2007. Walker might be No. 2. Ellis is generally considered among the top 25. They have said publicly that they want to attend college together, and privately college coaches will tell you they want to attend Cincinnati.

One problem ...

Thanks to the hard-ball tactics of Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher, Bearcats coach Bob Huggins has just two years left on his contract. Apparently, Mayo, Walker and Ellis are hesitant to commit to Cincinnati because, while they want to play for the Bearcats, what they really want is to play for Huggins.

Here's some advice for Mayo, Walker, Ellis and whoever it is that advises that trio: Announce your commitments to Cincinnati now, but make it clear that you'll follow through on those commitments -- which are non-binding -- only if Huggins will be the coach in 2007-08 and beyond.

Let me tell you something. Whichever school signs Mayo, Walker and Ellis will instantly become a 2008 Final Four favorite. With that as a carrot, Cincinnati's biggest boosters would put all kinds of heat on Zimpher to give Huggins an extension.

And if Zimpher still doesn't get the picture? Let her go down in history as the one person who killed Cincinnati basketball.

 

[JasonS]

Greg Doyel (CBS Sportsline)

Ask a college coach if he's trying to recruit Class of 2007 superstar O.J. Mayo, and more than likely he'll tell you no. O.J. Mayo, most coaches seem to believe, wants to play for Cincinnati. So do two of his teammates at North College Hill (Ohio) High, Bill Walker and Keenan Ellis.

Mayo is the No. 1 player in the Class of 2007. Walker might be No. 2. Ellis is generally considered among the top 25. They have said publicly that they want to attend college together, and privately college coaches will tell you they want to attend Cincinnati.

One problem ...

Thanks to the hard-ball tactics of Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher, Bearcats coach Bob Huggins has just two years left on his contract. Apparently, Mayo, Walker and Ellis are hesitant to commit to Cincinnati because, while they want to play for the Bearcats, what they really want is to play for Huggins.

Here's some advice for Mayo, Walker, Ellis and whoever it is that advises that trio: Announce your commitments to Cincinnati now, but make it clear that you'll follow through on those commitments -- which are non-binding -- only if Huggins will be the coach in 2007-08 and beyond.

Let me tell you something. Whichever school signs Mayo, Walker and Ellis will instantly become a 2008 Final Four favorite. With that as a carrot, Cincinnati's biggest boosters would put all kinds of heat on Zimpher to give Huggins an extension.

And if Zimpher still doesn't get the picture? Let her go down in history as the one person who killed Cincinnati basketball.

So why are you putting this against Mick? The other three are recruits Mick missed out on. This is one that didn't come here because of Huggins.

 

[#BearcatNation]

I'm fine with this thread, because I think it's interesting and I had no idea he was considering us. That said, get the frick over past recruits we didn't get. Yeah, we're all well aware we could've had Mayo, Beasely, Walker, and Downey on the same team. GET OVER IT! Huggins is gone and is never coming back. Geez, do you still text that girl that dumped you back in 2005?

 

[mplebanon]

None of those guys had the impact that all the hypesters predicted.

 

[Cataclysmo]

Im actually very pro-Cronin and wasn't much of a fan in the Huggins days. In fact, i became a fan the year Cronin had a losing record. I was just talking about recruits we missed out on, i don't see how that's a shot at Mick...

 

[Scheids21]

Never start a thread like this because it will turn into a mess of people playing the what-if game.

 

[Cataclysmo]

I'm fine with this thread, because I think it's interesting and I had no idea he was considering us. That said, get the frick over past recruits we didn't get. Yeah, we're all well aware we could've had Mayo, Beasely, Walker, and Downey on the same team. GET OVER IT! Huggins is gone and is never coming back. Geez, do you still text that girl that dumped you back in 2005?

Woah, calm down a little here.. My post was ironically just a sarcastic response, as in "yeah, but we couldve had all these guys too, thats the nature of recruiting." Never once did i say, "If Huggs stayed then we would have had the dream team. I said it once and i'll say it again, im very pro Mick, no need to come down so hard.

 

[#BearcatNation]

Woah, calm down a little here.. My post was ironically just a sarcastic response, as in "yeah, but we couldve had all these guys too, thats the nature of recruiting." Never once did i say, "If Huggs stayed then we would have had the dream team. I said it once and i'll say it again, im very pro Mick, no need to come down so hard.

I wasn't trying to attack you or anything. I just think a lot of our fans are too hind sighted and think back to Huggins "glory days" (that really weren't all that glory-filled IMO) instead of just thinking about where we are now. This whole "what if" game just doesn't do anything for me. I know you aren't reminiscing about the old Bearcats; I really just read it as more of a "look how good we could've been!"

 

[JasonS]

Never start a thread like this because it will turn into a mess of people playing the what-if game.

I hesitated before starting it but I did find it interesting that he mentioned that on National radio. The fact that he was not asked specifically about it was even more surprising to me. Dan actually asked about OSU knowing he grew up in Columbus and he said that they didn't really recruit him. He then added that it was down to Cincinnati and Michigan.

People need to be big boys and girls and deal with the fact that you don't land every recruit. Ya feel me?

 

[Gotcha23]

Greg Doyel (CBS Sportsline)

Ask a college coach if he's trying to recruit Class of 2007 superstar O.J. Mayo, and more than likely he'll tell you no. O.J. Mayo, most coaches seem to believe, wants to play for Cincinnati. So do two of his teammates at North College Hill (Ohio) High, Bill Walker and Keenan Ellis.

Mayo is the No. 1 player in the Class of 2007. Walker might be No. 2. Ellis is generally considered among the top 25. They have said publicly that they want to attend college together, and privately college coaches will tell you they want to attend Cincinnati.

One problem ...

Thanks to the hard-ball tactics of Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher, Bearcats coach Bob Huggins has just two years left on his contract. Apparently, Mayo, Walker and Ellis are hesitant to commit to Cincinnati because, while they want to play for the Bearcats, what they really want is to play for Huggins.

Here's some advice for Mayo, Walker, Ellis and whoever it is that advises that trio: Announce your commitments to Cincinnati now, but make it clear that you'll follow through on those commitments -- which are non-binding -- only if Huggins will be the coach in 2007-08 and beyond.

Let me tell you something. Whichever school signs Mayo, Walker and Ellis will instantly become a 2008 Final Four favorite. With that as a carrot, Cincinnati's biggest boosters would put all kinds of heat on Zimpher to give Huggins an extension.

And if Zimpher still doesn't get the picture? Let her go down in history as the one person who killed Cincinnati basketball.

You just made me sad. I honestly read this and felt discouraged because of one reason..WE COULD HAVE BEEN AN ELITE PROGRAM.

Back to Burke..I do not remember hearing we were in on him. I don't want to bash Mick but I get the feeling he can't exactly close. Would have been great to see Cash and Burke though WOW! Still feel fortunate to have had Cash at UC.

 

[TheLongHaul]

I'm not in the camp that thinks that Huggins would have automatically gotten Mayo and Beasley (btw what ever happened to Ellis?). Keep in mind when Huggins got canned and didn't have a coaching job he could do whatever he wanted with recruits. He didn't have restrictions in place on him. Also, from what I had heard, in the end Huggins did not want Mayo because of the shady stuff going on with his recruitment. So good chance even if Huggins was still at UC he wouldn't have taken Mayo.

As for making it an elite program, what did Mayo do to make USC elite? Walker though a very good player couldn't even take KSU to the NCAA tournament his freshman year. I doubt those two would have suddenly made UC elite. Very good for a year, maybe. But only one year.

As for playing the what if game? Who cares, it's kind of fun. Wasn't an all time great, like Alcindor or someone like him, down to UC and UCLA and chose UCLA? For some reason I remember thinking this.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

What it does say about Mick is that he is a great evaluator of talent. He may have missed on Burke b/c of PT. He did get Cash, the #12 rated pg in the class.

I am hoping the signing of Lawrence gets Mick some momentum in the recruiting game, definitely doesn't hurt our NY pipeline.