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]

Originally Posted by cincyguy13

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]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

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]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

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]

Originally Posted by #BearcatNation

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]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

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]

Originally Posted by Robert

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]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

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.