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'14 Recruits

HawaiiBUFF

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"At this point, it looks like the CU coaches will pursue any big man that they can, so long as he's a true high-major talent." - Rivals

I am actually a little upset and confused by this quote. I don't need to tell anyone that we have come a long way since the last days of Bzdelik and the arrival of Tad Boyle in terms of recruiting. Also we have won the Pac-12 Tourney, made the NIT and Big Dance twice in the last three years. I am perplexed by the fact that we still seem to have a hard time landing "top-tier" talent. Obviously I am happy with everyone that we have signed as they are all players we would have never gotten just 5 years ago. But why are we having a difficult time getting top talent? Maybe that is a bad question to ask because of names such as: Jonhson, Scott, Dinwiddie, Fletcher, Hopkins, Gordon, Thomas and Collier. Not to forget recruits that have blossomed: Roberson, Booker and potentially Jenkins. I am just asking the question is why do we have to pursue "any big man they can"?
 
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Let's rephrase that key part of the statement:

"so long as he's one of the only 10-15 (or less) 6'8"+ kids in the country with the athletic ability and basketball skills to complement their size allowing them to be successful players in a top conference"
 
Let's rephrase that key part of the statement:

"so long as he's one of the only 10-15 (or less) 6'8"+ kids in the country with the athletic ability and basketball skills to complement their size allowing them to be successful players in a top conference"

Well ****, why didn't they just say that in the first place?!?
 
Well guys I am sorry. I didn't mean to post a thread that people would disapprove of. I simply mean, we are in desperate need of a high-quality big for '14 and I hope we can land one that we want because Boyle's in love. It sounds like we wont take someone just because of their height, but lets say we don't get someone Tad loves. What then?
 
Well guys I am sorry. I didn't mean to post a thread that people would disapprove of. I simply mean, we are in desperate need of a high-quality big for '14 and I hope we can land one that we want because Boyle's in love. It sounds like we wont take someone just because of their height, but lets say we don't get someone Tad loves. What then?

Take the best available player. Or we could just bank it. We only have one 'ship for '15.
 
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Well guys I am sorry. I didn't mean to post a thread that people would disapprove of. I simply mean, we are in desperate need of a high-quality big for '14 and I hope we can land one that we want because Boyle's in love. It sounds like we wont take someone just because of their height, but lets say we don't get someone Tad loves. What then?
It's a zero sum game. We go back to being thin at the big man position, or pray for a JUCO/graduate transfer.
 
"At this point, it looks like the CU coaches will pursue any big man that they can, so long as he's a true high-major talent." - Rivals

I am actually a little upset and confused by this quote. I don't need to tell anyone that we have come a long way since the last days of Bzdelik and the arrival of Tad Boyle in terms of recruiting. Also we have won the Pac-12 Tourney, made the NIT and Big Dance twice in the last three years. I am perplexed by the fact that we still seem to have a hard time landing "top-tier" talent. Obviously I am happy with everyone that we have signed as they are all players we would have never gotten just 5 years ago. But why are we having a difficult time getting top talent? Maybe that is a bad question to ask because of names such as: Jonhson, Scott, Dinwiddie, Fletcher, Hopkins, Gordon, Thomas and Collier. Not to forget recruits that have blossomed: Roberson, Booker and potentially Jenkins. I am just asking the question is why do we have to pursue "any big man they can"?

In the same article, Will talked about how there are only a handful of these talents coming out of the western region every year.

Taking a look at the Rivals Top 20 Centers for 2013, only 3 came from the Mountain or Pacific time zones + Texas. #7 signed with TCU, #10 with Harvard and #12 with UC Irvine. Given where they signed, it's questionable how elite they actually were.

Turning to the Rivals Top 30 Power Forwards for 2013, there are more options but still not a ton of guys from this same recruiting geography - 9. The competition is fierce. #1 signed with Kentucky, #2 with Arizona, #8 with Kentucky, #11 with UNLV, #12 with LSU, #14 with BYU, #18 with Oregon, #23 with Baylor, and #29 with Michigan State.

It's tough to land an impact big. In 2012, we did land Josh Scott, the Rivals #16 Center to go along with Xavier Johnson, the Rivals #15 Small Forward.

Interestingly, Colorado killed it in 2013 for other positions. From the Rivals Top 30 Small Forwards, Tad landed #26 Tre'Shaun Fletcher and #28 Dustin Thomas from among the 8 players on the list from our region (none ranked higher than #17). On the Rivals Top 40 Shooting Guards, Tad signed #30 Jaron Hopkins, one of 16 prospects from our region.

In short, what I believe Will is saying is that Tad would rather play a little more small ball with elite talent than to try to recruit for a supposed need in order to force a big onto the court. He'd love a great big, but he's not going to sacrifice talent level for size.
 
Boyle can only target the players that have an interest in the program. There's very few centers that are available each year that are on par with the other recruits that CU is pulling in. If Colorado can't get those players or a good transfer, it's better to play smaller

I do think to be an elite team in college basketball, you need a very good to great center.
 
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