"Recruiting Over" Criticism

[Phantom Warrior]

On both this board and another board, I have read criticism, both direct and implied, that Wojo has "recruited over" various players. That criticism is just plain silly. Maybe inane would be a more appropriate word.

That is exactly the goal with each recruiting class, and that is exactly what the goal should be - to raise the overall level of talent on the roster. In short, coaches want to recruit anyone who can help make the team MORE successful than the team the year before. If a team finished second in its conference the previous year, the goal should be to attract enough new talent to help the team win the conference the next year. If a team won the conference the previous year and made it to the Elite Eight, the goal should be to win the conference again and make even a deeper run in the Big Dance.

I can not imagine any coach saying, "This recruit is a terrific talent. He is almost certainly an upgrade at his position compared to last year. He wants to come to MU, but we're not going to take him because he might take some minutes away from someone else." That would be worse than silly; it would be ludicrous.

Coaches are paid to win, and if they don't win soon enough and/or often enough, they are out of a job. That's the financial reality. But coaches also want to win; they don't like to lose. It's in the DNA. That's one of the major reasons they became coaches and worked their way up the ranks in the first place. They want to compete.

Hell, Al recruited over players. When he recruited Rosey in the same class as Butch, the concept was they were both combo guards who could play point or 2 guard. The plan was once Lloyd graduated, they would be our starting back court. But then Al had a chance to land Boylan. Did Al say, "Sorry, Boylan might take minutes away from Rosey"? Of course not. Boylan was a former Top 100 recruit - he might have even been a Top 50 recruit - who wanted to transfer to MU and would be eligible after Lloyd graduated. At least Rosey stuck it out, and - lo and behold - ended up playing a significant role as sixth man on a National Championship team.

Crean did the same thing. It was not all that long ago that MU landed what may well be the best recruiting class ever in MU history, you know, the one with DJ, Jerel, and Wes. Of course, Crean had already recruited Dameon Mason two years earlier, the same Dameon Mason who became a starter mid-way through his freshman year and a regular starter as a sophomore. Dameon saw the proverbial writing on the wall. He wasn't going to be the starter any more, and he opted to transfer. Should Crean have said, "O.k., I'll take DJ and either Jerel or Wes, but not both because I don't want Dameon to get upset as he will almost certainly lose minutes"? Of course not. That would have been just plain stupid.

By the way, the Amigos were not just "recruited over" Mason; they were also "recruited over" Chapman, who had put in his three previous years of loyal service, only to be rewarded by having to watch Jerel and Wes in the starting line up at the beginning of the season. (Of course, when Wes was injured, JC did move into the starting line up.) But what was the reality? Crean recruited over both Dameon and Joe. Thank God he did.

So now fast forward to the present. Yup, Wojo landed a prized combo guard in Howard. Might his presence on the roster take minutes away from Traci and/or Duane? Certainly seems like it could. Howard is a Top 50 (Top 40 in some rankings) recruit who has a rep as a lights out shooter. Does anyone honestly think Wojo should have said, "No, we're not recruiting this kid because he might take minutes away from one or more of our veterans"? If so, give me a frickin' break.

Recruiting Markus was exactly what Wojo and staff should have done, and, fortunately, they were successful. Their goal is - and should be - to improve the overall level of talent on the roster.

Let's pretend that Dominick O. ends up deciding he wants to become a Warrior (which does not look likely at this point). Should Wojo not recruit him or not take him because Matt might lose minutes or not be the starting center two years down the road? Please. Only a complete fool would want Wojo to turn down a chance to take a kid with the potential of Dominck O., especially given our roster make up, and if Matt ended up disappointed or upset that he was "recruited over," tough. That's the way D-1 basketball is, and that's the way it should be.

Bottom line: all this talk and innuendo about the evils of the concept of "recruiting over" another player is nonsense.

End of rant.

[The Reptile]

It's not just a Marquette thing or a college basketball thing it's a sports thing. The NFL is gearing up for their draft. How many players who are being paid today going to lose not only their spot on the dept chart but also their job because of the draft. If a college player cannot handle this simple truth maybe they dare not go pro because it's no different.

[Nukem2]

Think most would agree you here Phantom. Though, really have not seen much talk of recruiting over guys on the various boards. More in the nature of the # of perimeter players while having only 2 interior players both of whom are true 5's.

[TheSultan]

Yeah the criticisms I have seen are not about "recruiting over" but an imbalance of perimeter players. If someone's scholarship is non-renewed, then you will see more criticism.

[Goose85]

I thought schollies were now 4 year deals, are they still just year to year?

I recall the Portland Trailblazers saying they didn't take Jordan as they already had Drexler and needed a center (Bowie). Ouch.
If you can get top talent, go ahead and get it and let the chips fall where they may.

That being said, we need a young big guy as after this season it's just Heldt.

[TheSultan]

Scholarships *can* be four year. I don't think Marquette is giving them out that way.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

I think the other thing people are not considering is that the reason we have so many guards on our current roster is because the coaches know that a few folks are leaving, just because it isn't announced publicly doesn't mean they don't know. I'd venture to guess the coaches know which guys are leaving and went out to get some guards to replace them. These coaches aren't dumb, they can plainly see they need some size, and that is why we see a lot of the recruits we are going after are bigger guys... I think people just need to relax and give things time to play out some.

[Nukem2]

I think the other thing people are not considering is that the reason we have so many guards on our current roster is because the coaches know that a few folks are leaving, just because it isn't announced publicly doesn't mean they don't know. I'd venture to guess the coaches know which guys are leaving and went out to get some guards to replace them. These coaches aren't dumb, they can plainly see they need some size, and that is why we see a lot of the recruits we are going after are bigger guys... I think people just need to relax and give things time to play out some.

Suspect most here are "relaxing". Mostly have curiosity as to what is (or, is not ) going to be happening. Obviously there is concern about the lack of depth on the interior both this upcoming season as well as beyond. But, that's a different issue.