Amazing/crazy/outrageous stat about recruiting:
In 9 seasons, not once did a Mark Fox class crack the top 30 nationally (I had put top 20 in a recent post, but it's actually worse than I thought), the highest being #32 in 2011, Fox's 2nd full class. If Crean pulls in Christian Brown, we will be #5 in the country, with more to come. We could very easily end up in the top 3, challenging for #1 if the right names fall to us. If we could somehow land Achiuwa, that would probably give us the 2 highest rated players, certainly in recent history, but probably since 1979 when we got Nique and Terry Fair, among others. Is it any wonder that Fox failed at UGA by only getting into 2 NCAAs and failing to advance in either? You gotta recruit.
Now sure, there will be teams like Tenn that will have lower rated guys who really develop and excel within a system on occasion. But it's better to have players. Crean understands this. In his 1st full class, Crean will far outpace any recruiting Fox ever did in Athens. People always excused Fox because he wasn't from our area and didn't have recruiting contacts here. He also didn't hire people on his initial staff with many recruiting contacts in the area (Pearson being the exception until Jonas came later). Fox didn't emphasize recruiting with his staff enough. Crean isn't from here either, but he hired 2 guys with enormous contacts in the area, as well as a guy with contacts in the NE and Midwest. And this initial Crean class won't have many GA players in it. They will come from elsewhere. Edwards is a huge get, which will lead to more in-staters down the road. Crean himself is really connected. Things are looking up!
Crean knows the kind of roster it takes to win in bigtime college basketball. McGarity decided it was time for us to hire a high profile coach and do what it takes to win at a high level. That's why he hired Crean. Sure, we've lost some games it would have been nice to win, and we might have won a few more games with Fox (but those who keep bringing Hagans up need to realize that Hagans was going to UK as soon as they offered). But Fox was getting the program nowhere - certainly not where we want to be. Crean has higher expectations and a greater vision for the program than Fox ever did. I don't care what the ranking were for some on our roster, if a walk-on is starting, then there is something wrong with people's evaluations. Crean clearly doesn't like the talent on his roster, and is setting about to upgrade that situation. The ceiling for our program is now much higher than it was. Interest is greater than it was. Enthusiasm is greater than it was. In the grand scheme, the season was meaningless.
Crean's fifteen game win improvement in 2011-2012 at Indiana was the largest single turnaround in the NCAA that season. Crean's guidance of the program to success from "unthinkable depths" was widely regarded as one of the most remarkable rebuilding projects in NCAA basketball history. As a result, he was named the mid-season Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, the Sporting News Big Ten Coach of the Year, and the ESPN.com National Coach of the Year.
For the 201213 season, Crean signed five highly touted recruits, much as he will be doing at UGA this season. Combined with the returning players from the previous season, Indiana spent 10 weeks ranked #1 in the country and all but two weeks in the top 5. (That ain't just luck...) The Hoosiers won their first outright Big Ten regular season title in 20 years, and garnered a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, also their first in 20 years. So, "smoke and mirrors" it was not.... And IU is 33-29 since Crean left.
In 9 seasons, not once did a Mark Fox class crack the top 30 nationally (I had put top 20 in a recent post, but it's actually worse than I thought), the highest being #32 in 2011, Fox's 2nd full class. If Crean pulls in Christian Brown, we will be #5 in the country, with more to come. We could very easily end up in the top 3, challenging for #1 if the right names fall to us. If we could somehow land Achiuwa, that would probably give us the 2 highest rated players, certainly in recent history, but probably since 1979 when we got Nique and Terry Fair, among others. Is it any wonder that Fox failed at UGA by only getting into 2 NCAAs and failing to advance in either? You gotta recruit.
Now sure, there will be teams like Tenn that will have lower rated guys who really develop and excel within a system on occasion. But it's better to have players. Crean understands this. In his 1st full class, Crean will far outpace any recruiting Fox ever did in Athens. People always excused Fox because he wasn't from our area and didn't have recruiting contacts here. He also didn't hire people on his initial staff with many recruiting contacts in the area (Pearson being the exception until Jonas came later). Fox didn't emphasize recruiting with his staff enough. Crean isn't from here either, but he hired 2 guys with enormous contacts in the area, as well as a guy with contacts in the NE and Midwest. And this initial Crean class won't have many GA players in it. They will come from elsewhere. Edwards is a huge get, which will lead to more in-staters down the road. Crean himself is really connected. Things are looking up!
Crean knows the kind of roster it takes to win in bigtime college basketball. McGarity decided it was time for us to hire a high profile coach and do what it takes to win at a high level. That's why he hired Crean. Sure, we've lost some games it would have been nice to win, and we might have won a few more games with Fox (but those who keep bringing Hagans up need to realize that Hagans was going to UK as soon as they offered). But Fox was getting the program nowhere - certainly not where we want to be. Crean has higher expectations and a greater vision for the program than Fox ever did. I don't care what the ranking were for some on our roster, if a walk-on is starting, then there is something wrong with people's evaluations. Crean clearly doesn't like the talent on his roster, and is setting about to upgrade that situation. The ceiling for our program is now much higher than it was. Interest is greater than it was. Enthusiasm is greater than it was. In the grand scheme, the season was meaningless.
Crean's fifteen game win improvement in 2011-2012 at Indiana was the largest single turnaround in the NCAA that season. Crean's guidance of the program to success from "unthinkable depths" was widely regarded as one of the most remarkable rebuilding projects in NCAA basketball history. As a result, he was named the mid-season Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, the Sporting News Big Ten Coach of the Year, and the ESPN.com National Coach of the Year.
For the 201213 season, Crean signed five highly touted recruits, much as he will be doing at UGA this season. Combined with the returning players from the previous season, Indiana spent 10 weeks ranked #1 in the country and all but two weeks in the top 5. (That ain't just luck...) The Hoosiers won their first outright Big Ten regular season title in 20 years, and garnered a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, also their first in 20 years. So, "smoke and mirrors" it was not.... And IU is 33-29 since Crean left.