HJS {l Wrote}:I think it is pretty clear at this point that Don sans Joe Jones is Skinner sans Cooley, O'Shea and Cohen. He has absolutely no ability to close on any of his top targets. Strangely, in spite of this undeniable truth, he casts a very small net. Under Don (with Graham, Waheed and whoever has replaced the demoted Kampmann), we will never (repeat NEVER) land anything but mid-major/Ivy league talent. As schools like Butler, Gonzaga, Wichita and VCU have recently shown, you can win with mid-major talent. However, you (a) need the right coach, (b) need the right schedule and (c) have very little margin for error. For the school, the best thing would either be to have Don win big (20+ like Skinner did his 4th year) or stagnate with a similar record as last year (which would lead to Don's ouster). The worst thing for the program would be for a middling season that puts Don on the hot seat when he needs to go out and recruit 7 new players.
While I have continuously questioned Don's recruiting the past year a half, I have never killed an actual recruit (more questioned Don not pursuing big men). All that said, Justin Johnson is not an ACC player. He is has limited athletic ability and is pretty. While that would be OK if he was 6'9"/6'10", at 6'6" he will be a 3... and will simply not be able to defend other wings in the ACC. At this point, Don should cut bait on the early signing period and hope that he can find something this winter.
To what extent do you think the unbalance of our classes affects the ability to close? If I were Uhl -- or anyone else -- I would look at the roster and say, "Where would my playing time come from Freshman year with everyone returning in 2014?" It will take a confidcent, patient and extremely good player to break into the current lineup. And let's be honest, Uhl is probably not such a sure thing that he could predict -- or be told -- that he would have 15-20 minutes a game right out of the gate. Guys understandably want to play immediately. And they want to be stars. It's hard to look at our roster -- and the Don's style of play -- and see the star opportunity (although Olivier certainly demonstrates that it can be done).
The question is, how does Donahue achieve re-balance the mess he inherited? Maybe with a couple of transfers in 2014 that can be ready to play in 2015 so he doesn't have another huge incoming class that creates a new 4-year cycle? It's not an easy situation. But I guess that's why he gets paid the big bucks.
Without question, a solid season this year with a trip to the tourney and continued success and accolades for Olivier and Ryan (and for Reggie for that matter!) will help. Great players will see this as a viable place to advance their careers.
Wouldn't hurt if Conte Forum developed a pulse..........watching the students leave the FSU and Army games in the 2nd half doesn't give me much hope that we've turned the corner on antipathy........
