re: "Reggie Perry was close to signing with Arkansas, at one point they thought they had him."

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Possibly but I like how the Mike haters never recognize the good that Mike did here.

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A bit anecdotal don't you think? The vast majority of people unhappy with Mike were very respectful of the separation and stated many times their gratefulness for recovering the program out of the rut it was in even if he did fall short of the bigger expectations. Myself included and I was one of the first ones off the Mike train.

His tenure wasn't the most successful but it was very, very necessary. It really seemed like the program couldn't get out of Nolan's shadow after his departure and that added to the allure of Mike and his return to old and familiar philosophies. Now that we've given that chapter of basketball more than its fair shake, it feels like everyone has accepted that it's finally time to just focus on being good rather than trying to recreate what used to be.

If nothing else, we should thank Mike for being the catalyst for the catharsis we severely needed to be able to move forward as a program.