This Is Why I'm Not Nervous....

[Ciepierball]

Like all of you, losing Jeriah Horne to Nebraska was a crushing blow.  I had high hopes that we would get him.  Previous recruits didn't bother me so much, because I didn't think we stood a great chance, or I thought we could do better.  But this one was perfect.  But even with this loss, I wanted to say why I'm not nervous.  I think I have a different perspective, because I've seen first hand how these guys can recruit, because I've been on the phone and in the room with them.  These are my reasons..

I know first hand what their recruiting abilities are...Because of coaching the Illinois Stars for two years, I was exposed to a great number of coaches recruiting my players.  First, Coach Sellers was at Creighton, who was very "in it" with Aaron Jordan.  While Sellers was not the main recruiter on Aaron, it was a team effort, and was definitely involved.  He was proactive, knowledgeable, and definitely conveyed a great message when calling.  Second, Coach Leitao was very involved in recruiting KJ Santos last year when at Tulsa.  He is so professional, articulate, knows how to grasp your attention, and isn't full of BS at all.  Lastly, Coach Carter was one of the top three assistants I have ever worked with in terms of recruitment.  He was ridiculously proactive, knew how to grab the kid's attention, but also had an amazing relationship with families and their coaches.  He recruited Kj Santos, Aaron Jordan, Christian Romine, and Karl Harris, and all of those kids would admit that he was one of their favorite assistants, if not the favorite.  Obviously their skills didn't stay with them at their own schools....they came here now at DePaul.  I know they are more aggressive now, I know their mailings have drastically changed, and I know their methodology of who and where they are recruiting changed.  So when people are like "still crappy assistants".....I will say no, and I know this for a fact.  I think Purnell and Wainwright drove the DePaul name so far into the ground, and it's just a bigger hurdle now than before.  They need to win some to get those big names...and once they show they can walk the walk, they will be able to gain some recruits.

The true core has another year after next...I'm with all of you that Billy Jr. and Tommie Hamilton Jr. are both underachievers thus far, however I think they've been coached by sub-par coaches for the last two years.  Those two, along with Wood, are the most talented on the team.  While I think Stimage and Henry will be keys for this year, if properly motivated, those other three can really blow up, and will be around for another year to improve by senior year.

I think they have something special with Gazi...An assistant coach of a team that one of my players plays on contacted me, as he was at an even that Erten was playing in, and he said: "DePaul got themselves a total stud!"  Since then I've been gaining intel from various coaches, and they all say the kid, at worst, will be a stud shooter and defender in the Big East....and his ceiling is a POY type of kid.  The guy that was watching was like "I'm not sure he can play the point, but he's a great ballhandler, and the kid can jump.  Just jumped over a center for a slam!"  I think this kid will be the real deal....I really do.  And we need a kid like this to break free.

A year to prove they can coach...Right now the coaches are going in there saying what they have done elsewhere, or way in the past, and don't have a track record at DePaul that they can show and say: "Look at what I've done HERE".  With one season at DePaul, with the current talent of the team, I think if they win 16 games or more, they really have a good story to recruits on the improvement, and add in the new stadium, it's a great selling point.

I love the 2017 class...I think the local 2016 class sucks.  No difference makers, no clear-cut stars, and no kids that I see underranked that a team like DePaul can get and totally flourish.  2017 has those kids....lots of them.  And not just here, but also in Wisconsin, as well as Michigan, two spots that Carter and Leitao have a huge presence.  I really think the 2017 class should be a 5-recruit class.

[gochicago]

Ciep, I don't doubt what you say is true, but I'm still concerned that this staff has only landed one player for the 2016 class.  I can't help
But think this staff will get people "interested" in the program but will still not be able to land top talent.   Sooner or later we need to land a class that is at least in the top 40.

[VUWildcat2103]

Not convinced by anything that was said because I need proof and not just a perspective from one person.

It is easy to blame the outgoing staff, but wait... they retained the only staff member from both of the prior head coaches. They knew the situation they walked into and offering excuses is weakness to me. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade; you don't blame the lemon farmer.

They have missed on multiple recruits thus far and the saddest thing is, we are not talking top 100 talent kids.

[lake county fan]

I am alway nervous with DePaul I hope Gazi can provide some help I think Wood will be a key

[OldSchoolDemon]

I certainly appreciate your points Ciep and yes, on paper there always seems to be a reason for optimism, but every year we as a board have these similar discussions in some shape or form and it always comes back to the mantra of "just wait and see". You know what, I'm sick and damn tired of playing the wait and see game. These coaches may have walked into a shittake storm, but you know what, it's their job to fix it and part of that solution is recruiting. This program can't afford to continue to hand out scholarships to kids with the hope that they can eventually contribute. We're buried in last place and whether people want to believe it we're the absolute 100% last place team in the BE this year as well...one of the main reasons is because we lack the overall talent that others have in place and continue to put in place. While the others grab targets A and B, we grab targets D, E, F and G.

I know the last two regimes did nothing to help here, but the 2016 class still has 3 scholarships available and we can't afford reaches or projects. An argument can be made that the 2015 class with 5 scholarships does not have kids who are going to raise our profile. Now, maybe lightning strikes with Gazi or with Cain, but until I see otherwise we have role players and role players finish in last place. What we're seeing from the 2015 and 2016 classes is NINE scholarship players through 2017/18. Is that CORE going to lead this program into the NCAAs? Well, there are three left in this 2016 class to help in that matter. I'm concerned