Recruiting Nebraska

[hanny]

there's been a lot of moaning and groaning about all the great nebraska players going elsewhere and leading the charges all around the country to the big dance. "we must get these nebraska guys!" i hear from all parts. "look at colorado state! there's a guy at minnesota! we need them!" there was a time (maybe 7 years ago) when i heard a lot of moaning and groaning that all nebraska did was give scholarships to guys from nebraska. wes wilkinson. jason dourisseau. jake muhleisen. on down the line. did they provide the heart and motivation needed to put the team over the hump? or were they just more guys who came and went? to me, it's just a little suspect that 7 years ago, the problem was there were too many nebraska guys. now, we aren't getting enough nebraska guys. which way is it?

[UNK_LOPERS]

Good topic.  My take is that we aren't missing out on much.  Those Colorado State kids, who on that team makes us better?  I'd take Wes Eikmeier, he'd make our team better.  Does he start over Richardson?  Very doubtful, but he does play significant minutes.  Jesse Car?  The Smith brothers?  I just don't see it.  I know all these Nebraska kids playing for Colorado State is a feel good story, but let's be real, Colorado State isn't making the NCAA Tourney and only one of those kids would play significant minutes on this team.  We recruited Eikmeier and he decided to go to Iowa State.  I should note that almost every BCS NCAA Tourney team has a staring shooting time better than Eikmeier anyway. 

Antoine Young?  Yes, he could help us.  We recruited him as well.  If I remember correctly, he was pretty much a Creighton shoe-in to Creighton when Doc took over.  Would he start over Jeter?  Spencer?  Probably not.  I'm sure we could have worked him in somewhere.  I would imagine that Young, Spencer, and Richardson would all start if this fantasy scenerio came true.  So yes, this is a kid we missed out on for sure. 

Josh Jones?  Doesn't make us better. 

Elliott Eliason and Matt Hill are kids we should have sealed up.  Not difference makers by any means, but you have to nab big kids like these. 

Mike Gesell is the one who got away in my opinion.  The one we should be really beating ourselves up over. 

[UNK_LOPERS]

Yeah, all these kids make for a nice "what if", but every single one of these kids is a moot point if we go out and recruit talented kids.  Just saying. 

Nobody on the list I just point out is that good.  If those types of player is your goal, then you have low expectations. 

[hanny]

it's like the UNK football coach said. if they think they're going to win the big ten recruiting the same guys i do, they've got another thing coming. obviously it's different in football where they're being recruited to walk on. but if we think guys who are carrying colorado state to 4-4 in the mountain west are going to get it done in the big ten, it's time to wake up.

[UNK_LOPERS]

Agree completely.  I sometimes think casual basketball fans just look at stats of these local kids and fuss about why we aren't scooping them up.  I've heard many arguements about how some kid from out of state got recruited by Nebraska but the local kid with better stats didn't.  Some of those players we recruit from basketball oriented cities, or power high schools, or prep schools have multiple D1 recruits.  These Nebraska kids are lucky to play against 1 or 2 D1 recruits every year.  How many D1 kids do you think Brandon Richardson played with or played against out in L.A.?  Or Toney McCray down in the Houston area?  Richardson and McCray are just average power conference players, too.  Imagine if Richardson played for Omaha North and McCray played for Kearney High.  Kids would have put up unreal numbers.  

I'm not anti-Nebraska kids at all.  Like I said, it's a shame that we didn't scoop up Young or Gesell and I would have probably taken Eliason and Eikmeier as well.  That still doesn't get you in the NCAA Tourney.  

That said, Omaha Central has a couple of big boy league players coming out of it in the next couple of years.  It would be wise to recruit them hard.  Agau may be able to punch his ticket anywhere we have to stay on him.  Maybe some of those other kids might fall in our lap.  That is a very talented team and they are only going to get better next year.  Finally, some real talent around the state.  

Depending on what goes down in our program in the next couple of weeks, Jalen Bradley....you may want to give him a hard look.  I don't think he could be an all-around Big 10 players or anything like some people....but he does one thing very, very well and that's shoot.  It's never a bad thing to have a sharp shooter sitting on the end of your bench as the 8th guy in the rotation.  I'd burn a scholarship on a guy who could do that.  Shades of Cary Cochran right there.   

[RedSnapper]

As a casual Husker bb fan with only a general view - but one that spans many decades - I'd say it is a little of both. 

Not enough Nebraska players in that this state produces a few really good players every decade, and they almost never seem to go to Lincoln. 

Too many in that The Nebraska program seems mostly unable to attract the kind of talent they need to be competitive in the B1G (or Big 12) from outside Nebraska, and as a result, has to rely on second-tier players from in state, who don't have any other major offers.

That's my general impression, anyway.  Its a big problem, but it is a chicken and egg problem.  The state has never really gotten behind the men's program, but with rare exceptions in the 1960s and 1990s didn't really give fans a reason to do so.  I still firmly believe that the right coach who can build the right staff and recruit the right players enough needed to get things started could set the program into uncharted territory for years to come.  If winners at nebraska can fill the stands for Gymnastics (as they did in my day) and for Women's Volleyball, then I believe they would do the same for Men's Hoops, if they had a team that was a threat to win every time out.

[no1huskafan]

Antoine is probably the one who could have played here and made a difference on the W-L column. I have made my opinion known on my trust issues with Richardson and the fact that he hardly ever plays aggressively. I like taking these in state kids, but we need to infuse the squad with out of state athletes. We tend to produce solid players, but not the type who win big time games.

[Capn Krunch]

As a casual Husker bb fan with only a general view - but one that spans many decades - I'd say it is a little of both. 

Not enough Nebraska players in that this state produces a few really good players every decade, and they almost never seem to go to Lincoln. 

Too many in that The Nebraska program seems mostly unable to attract the kind of talent they need to be competitive in the B1G (or Big 12) from outside Nebraska, and as a result, has to rely on second-tier players from in state, who don't have any other major offers.

That's my general impression, anyway.  Its a big problem, but it is a chicken and egg problem.  The state has never really gotten behind the men's program, but with rare exceptions in the 1960s and 1990s didn't really give fans a reason to do so.  I still firmly believe that the right coach who can build the right staff and recruit the right players enough needed to get things started could set the program into uncharted territory for years to come.  If winners at nebraska can fill the stands for Gymnastics (as they did in my day) and for Women's Volleyball, then I believe they would do the same for Men's Hoops, if they had a team that was a threat to win every time out.

What happens when the coach who makes us a contender gets an offer to be the next Kansas or Arizona coach? Nobody will stay at NU for the long haul.

[UNK_LOPERS]

As a casual Husker bb fan with only a general view - but one that spans many decades - I'd say it is a little of both. 

Not enough Nebraska players in that this state produces a few really good players every decade, and they almost never seem to go to Lincoln. 

Too many in that The Nebraska program seems mostly unable to attract the kind of talent they need to be competitive in the B1G (or Big 12) from outside Nebraska, and as a result, has to rely on second-tier players from in state, who don't have any other major offers.

That's my general impression, anyway.  Its a big problem, but it is a chicken and egg problem.  The state has never really gotten behind the men's program, but with rare exceptions in the 1960s and 1990s didn't really give fans a reason to do so.  I still firmly believe that the right coach who can build the right staff and recruit the right players enough needed to get things started could set the program into uncharted territory for years to come.  If winners at nebraska can fill the stands for Gymnastics (as they did in my day) and for Women's Volleyball, then I believe they would do the same for Men's Hoops, if they had a team that was a threat to win every time out.

What happens when the coach who makes us a contender gets an offer to be the next Kansas or Arizona coach? Nobody will stay at NU for the long haul.

Then you thank God we had a coach who finally got it done here and you try to build off the momentum. 

[RedSnapper]

As a casual Husker bb fan with only a general view - but one that spans many decades - I'd say it is a little of both. 

Not enough Nebraska players in that this state produces a few really good players every decade, and they almost never seem to go to Lincoln. 

Too many in that The Nebraska program seems mostly unable to attract the kind of talent they need to be competitive in the B1G (or Big 12) from outside Nebraska, and as a result, has to rely on second-tier players from in state, who don't have any other major offers.

That's my general impression, anyway.  Its a big problem, but it is a chicken and egg problem.  The state has never really gotten behind the men's program, but with rare exceptions in the 1960s and 1990s didn't really give fans a reason to do so.  I still firmly believe that the right coach who can build the right staff and recruit the right players enough needed to get things started could set the program into uncharted territory for years to come.  If winners at nebraska can fill the stands for Gymnastics (as they did in my day) and for Women's Volleyball, then I believe they would do the same for Men's Hoops, if they had a team that was a threat to win every time out.

What happens when the coach who makes us a contender gets an offer to be the next Kansas or Arizona coach? Nobody will stay at NU for the long haul.

Then you thank God we had a coach who finally got it done here and you try to build off the momentum. 

If Nebraska is in the neighborhood financially, and the coach has really flipped the culture here, I would not assume he just bolts.  If NU has the facilities, and the coach has built the support, there is no fundamental reason Nebraska can't be as good a job as Arizona.  There are maybe 5 jobs in the country Nebraska will never be able to compete with - at least not in my lifetime.  Places like Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA ...   Beyond that, I believe this place can be built into as desirable a job as any. 

[wilber24]

It can be done, will take plenty of time, struggle etc. But I truley believe it can be done!