quote:
I'm not talking crap here at all...but I really wonder what bruce is telling these kids in the living rooms to get them to play basketball at auburn. I'm not claiming ANYTHING bad like cheating or anythign like that, I'm just genuinely curious the sales pitch. He has done an indescribably good job recruiting at AU, a place that has extremely little basketball tradition to speak of. A crazy good job.

He has a solid record he can point to which has helped AU. He was on ESPN a bunch as a commentator as well so everyone knows him before he even steps into player's living room. Auburn's basketball facilities are very new & super nice so he can sell commitment to program. Also don't short change Chuck Person. A few kids have talked about him being the main impact on their decisions. He "coached" Kobe Bryant & has NBA championship rings which has an impact on some of these kids as well

Austin Wiley is a legacy so he has also had some good fortune. I think at end of day a mix of good luck, popularity & past of success has helped them. It's taken 2 seasons to really start landing these kids though so a lot of work went rebuilding relationships with high school & AAU programs

Also this class won't finish #1 but is definitely one of the best AU's had in some time & it's cool to see us first at something in basketball even if it's for a short period of time