I thought it was odd that someone was asking if we would ever close the deal on a top 30 kid when we had done it in the 2009 class. And the 2007 class. Was Bennett top-30? Cause he wouldmake it 3 out of 5 classes in which we had closed the deal on a top-30 kid.
I get that's always "what have you done lately," but that phrasing seemed a bit odd to me.
No Huggins layoff/Cincy connection, no Walker
No D. Hill package deal, no Beasley
No D. Hill DCA connection(which is painfully and obviously slipping away), no Judge. It would be FANTASTIC to have Graham revive that pipeline, I have my doubts, I hope Dalonte proves my ass wrong.
We can't work the package deal anymore, it's illegal. Without that no longer available resource, this staff has not landed 1 upper echelon 4 star(Rivals Top 75). Why is the Top 75 barrier important? Since 2005(as far back as the database will let you look at the recruits) every national title winner has had at least 4 players on their roster ranked in the Top 75. You're welcome to conduct a more exhaustive study on all the Final 4 teams during the same time frame. My money says the only 2 teams that don't fit that criteria are Butler and George Mason.
Not every individual player lives up to his particular ranking, but when you gather a collective pool of highly touted talent, the odds are good the majority of those players will produce, which in turn increases the odds your program will be highly successful on a consistent basis.