re: Tide Hoops | Recruiting

Slater says Adam Miller will be back at LSU. I gotta say, McMahon has done a nice job filling that roster - much better than I initially assumed.

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If we had 2-3 less recruits coming in it's highly unlikely that we would be having such a difficult time signing guys out of the portal.

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I don't disagree and have been saying similar things with how the portal completely changes the way you think about full rosters and depth.

However, when I think about it, potential guard/wing transfers aren't passing because we have Clowney and Pringle.

It's because of Bradley, Miller and Griffen. Do you really not sign one of those guys for a chance at a top transfer player?

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Hell, I was mad as hell we didn't get Tre Mitchell. But now, he's transferring again (or at least entered the portal).

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He just committed to WVU earlier today.

Negabammer Bryant would like to point out that Nate and Company have been getting absolutely worked the past 5 months on and off the court.

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Negabammer Bryant would like to point out that Nate and Company have been getting absolutely worked the past 5 months on and off the court.

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We're in great shape. Everything is perfectly fine and we are really just having so much fun.

Yep, Bama collapsed down the stretch in part because of reported locker room issues by some insiders (and yet people wanted a majority of these players back) and being horrible statistically in 3pt%, defense, and turnovers. Yet, they still won 19 games with the country's toughest schedule and managed to snag a six-seed. They probably still would've lost but their best player going down within the first two minutes certainly put the nail in the coffin pretty early.

All of this and yet...

A consensus top 3 recruiting class is coming in that includes two very likely instant contributors in Bradley and Miller.

One of the top transfers committing and will secure a starting spot.

Still have two roster spots left (just like most programs in the conference) and the deadline for most of the remaining top transfer targets is June 1st.

I get being impatient, I get wanting more news, and there is a lot of warranted frustration recently with people in the industry that have not delivered on news or visits and potential targets, but...

there is no point in worrying or stressing at this time until we get the full shake out of who is staying in the draft and who is leaving. The concern is warranted at a certain level but it's not that time yet.

What were these locker room issues last year? Just the cliff notes

I must have missed all that.

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All of this and yet...

A consensus top 3 recruiting class is coming in that includes two very likely instant contributors in Bradley and Miller.

One of the top transfers committing and will secure a starting spot.

Still have two roster spots left (just like most programs in the conference) and the deadline for most of the remaining top transfer targets is June 1st.

I get being impatient, I get wanting more news, and there is a lot of warranted frustration recently with people in the industry that have not delivered on news or visits and potential targets, but...

there is no point in worrying or stressing at this time until we get the full shake out of who is staying in the draft and who is leaving. The concern is warranted at a certain level but it's not that time yet.

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Very well said - that's pretty much exactly how I feel. Being patient is always tough in any situation, but it's also usually the right call when all is said and done.

There are still several guys out there right now that would fill a role on this team and that pool of players is going to grow over the next two and half weeks. Fill the roster too soon and you risk putting yourself in a position where you either miss on a guy that you would have wanted more than the one you got or you have to publicly force another guy out to make room.

Probably don't want to go down that road again this year after Langston Wilson last year. If that becomes your reputation, it could be pretty damning for future recruiting if a kid is down to you and another school that does not have that reputation.

You are whatever your reputation is whether you like it or not, or whether it's even 100% true or not - especially from a national standpoint. Better to be known as a fiery, super tempo offensive coach that his players love and that gets guys to the league than it is to be known as a guy that is kind of an a-hole that will put a kid out on his arse if he thinks he can get a better replacement.

They obviously really wanted Sears and they got him. Him being from Alabama obviously played a big role in it, but I don't necessarily think Sears would've came to Alabama under any circumstances. It was a good fit for both, the staff made him a priority and recruited him well enough to convince him it was the best place him to be successful and potentially become a professional basketball player.

It seemed like they were all in on Jalen Bridges. Then we heard rumors of the staff backing off right after the visit due to it not being a great fit after all. Maybe that was a bullshite rumor or maybe there was some truth to it. He might have asked for some guarantees regarding minutes or a starting spot that the staff wasn't willing to give. That doesn't mean that they didn't want him, they just weren't willing to promise him something that Baylor may have been willing to promise. Or we could have just finished second to Baylor which shouldn't be viewed that harshly imo. Baylor is more of a known national title contender than we are.

It also seems like they wanted Jared Lucas, why else bother with hosting him on an OV if they didn't? We knew from the first day we were mentioned with him that pulling him from the West coast would be a tall task. Lucas choosing Nevada over us was a tougher pill to swallow than if he would have ended up at a P6 program, but it seems like Lucas got enough of what he wanted out there without having to move another 2,000+ further East. If he really wanted to stay out West, he was never coming here without something major and we probably didn't think he was worth what that would cost when compared to what our other options for that spot would be.

Ricky Council went to Arkansas. That sucks, but they have a ton of program momentum right now with back to back E8 appearances. Muss is the master of the portal and has the Arkansas program on an elite level right now. Like it or not, they are a tier above us right now.

Michael Jones seems to be favoring Stanford, but they can definitely offer something we can't and that's a Stanford education. Hopefully we are still in his ear and can convince him to come, but it doesn't seem likely.

I don't think we ever had any serious interest in Antoine Davis or Darrin Green. Seems like we just reached out without making a real pitch. Probably did the same with Sean Durugordon, Max Jones and Armoni Foster.

Guys like Fardaws Aimaq and Baylor Scheierman were likely only pipe dreams from the jump. Can probably put Matthew Mayer in this camp as well, even though I would really love him on this roster.

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I just tend to believe that the key to success in college basketball is to get old and stay old. There have been occasional instances of freshman/sophomore led Final Four teams, but it's far from the norm.

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I completely agree that Junior/Senior heavy teams are perhaps even more important than "NBA talent". The perfect mix of course being a couple of NBA talents added to a veteran group.

If you had to choose Primo or Petty in the NBA draft it's obviously Primo. If you were forced to only take one of them for Bama's team year before last, it's Petty all day.

Like you said though, there's no easy answer since it probably comes down more to a case by case basis.

If you don't take a very highly touted player like Griffen this year, for example, you may miss out on him perhaps being the Jones/Petty upperclassman that's key to a Final Four down the road?

To be honest, the player that may help you the least going forward is the obvious one and done that's not really going to take games over Colin Sexton style and also mean a transfer won't come to share minutes with him.