Jack, you're right. We have a lot of talent this year. We had talent last year as well. Everyone is blaming KJ. The truth is, Cronin is the coaching equivalent of KJ. This guy had found his niche coaching Murray St. He came in, used the previous coach's recruits, did well, and then did a Brian Kelly and left the tank on empty when he bolted for his dream job. Billy Kennedy had nothing when he took over Murray St. and he had to replace 12 players in his first season and they went 16-14. Under Cronin, we've made a habit of losing important games, losing lots of big home games, losing to X, and losing to teams like Harvard, St. Joe, Creighton, when it counts in March. The pattern never changes for this coach....just like it hasn't changed for KJ. And thus, it's not changing for our program.
I agree with you that we should be excited by the talent. Our only hope is that the talent can overcome the coach. I feel sorry for KJ though. He's one of our few Cincinnati recruits and it would have been nice to see him flourish. Like Shaq and many others before him, KJ came in here 4 years and never got better. I still have hope though that this team will change the program's fortunes. They're definitely a lot more fun and pleasing to the eye.