re: Tide Hoops | Recruiting

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Our boosters are trying to be cheap with basketball and Oats didn’t wanna say that at that golf tournament. Council didn’t seem to have a problem with Arkansas roster being stacked.

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Maybe a feature role isn’t more important than a championship to a guy like Council with no NBA upside. Arkansas is preseason #1. I highly doubt we’re cheaping out on NIL to the extent you think we are. There’s no evidence to suggest we are except pure speculation. If Oats was truly frustrated and ready to leave I doubt he would pull any punches, you’re overreacting.

I think you are overreacting a bit. It's frustrating to see rival programs we want to see crash and burn sign good players, but it's not like we've got a bunch of bums set to be on the roster next year or anything. The talent level on our roster is as high as it has been since the early-mid 00s. I am definitely anxious about not being able to fill these last two scholarships, but I think it's as much about minutes uncertainty as it is NIL. Like I said, Arkansas is literally the only program in the country who is signing a big portal class on top of a bunch of 5* high school kids.

And Brandon Miller was down to us, Kansas, and the G-League/NBL, so I can guarantee you there will be at least one player on our roster next year who is making a frick ton of NIL money. He didn't come play here for free when he had multiple 6 figure options on the table.

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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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well said. patience is a virtue. id say the fact we didnt get lucas or bridges does sting but it should also very much be viewed as a positive to get as close to signing them as we did despite the conditions they wanted. higher level guys clearly want to come here. the portal should get alot more interesting in the future so well see but even if we strike out then theres clearly tons of talent and potential to stay excited for.

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Arkansas is preseason #1

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Doubt this will be true.

You are overreacting a good bit brother. Yes, we have some unknowns but everybody else in the SEC does as well.

I believe in all our players and all of them have work to do but I truly believe Gurley & Miles will be much improved.

People really have no idea about what Mark Sears can do but they will find out this season.

The ONLY reason he played at a smaller school was because of his height.

Arkansas better not underperform...

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Doubt this will be true.

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he just reminds me of one of those guys that never fully puts it together for some reason.

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I'm hopeful it goes the other way. Every few years we have a guy who goes from a role player to a real problem for other teams. Herb was the most recent. But I remember when Chuck Davis became a force late in his career. Ernest Shelton was another one. I'm sure there are some others I'm forgetting but it's a good possibility that Miles will take the next step. It could also help him that we have had all this roster turnover. His buddies are mostly all gone. Time to get to work.

Yeah I’d have UNC personally, Arky top 3-5 fasho tho like Chad said

Yeah. Him and Chuck both need to hit the weights hard this summer.

I wasn't particularly impressed with the physical level of last seasons team. Keon seemed to be in the best shape. But Shack was kinda heavy I thought. Miles was not strong. I don't really count the freshmen too much. The season before I thought Herb and Petty were in really great shape. JQ I think is usually in good shape. Covid may have had something to do with that group being in good shape. I think our staff handled that year really well.

But we definitely need to see some strength gains from Miles, Gurley, and Chuck. Not really sure about any of the other guys bc we haven't seen them or they've been hurt.

Did anything ever become of the football guys who were supposed to practice with basketball? I don't think anything ever materialized with that. McKinstry and Arnold, iirc.