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Recruiting In 2012 & 2013

Which Plan Do You Like?

  • Only take 3 in 2012. Bank 1 for 2013.

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • Take 3 in 2012 unless we get a "can't miss" prospect.

    Votes: 16 88.9%
  • Take 4 in 2012. We only need 1 in 2013.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    18

Goose

Hoops Moderator
Club Member
Junta Member
This is something that Golden, 'Nik and I discussed briefly at the Dark Horse on Saturday (see, these are the things you miss when you don't show up to AllBuffs events people!) so I'm curious to see what everyone thinks here. If there's any info in here that's wrong, please feel free to correct me because I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea what I'm talking about a good 90% of the time.

* First off, if you haven't seen the post that Snow made for our roster (and rep him for it), check it out. I'm going to operate on the assumption that Chen is on scholarship (taking Burks' slot). I haven't seen confirmation either way yet, but it makes the math easier on my part if we assume that. With that, we have four scholarships opening up after this season (for 2012 Recruits) and one open for 2013 Recruits.

* We have two commits right now for 2012 -- Josh Scott and Wesley Gordon.

So we have three scholarship slots available over the next two seasons. So my question is, what does this board think we should do? Should we strike while the iron is hot and take four guys this year, or should we look to keep the classes balanced and only take three this year while banking one for 2013? The pros to going for 2012 guys is that right now we've got some momentum going on the recruiting trail and are in on some pretty damn good players (Caruso, Hawkins, Hairston, etc.). But if we bank one for 2013, we could land a whale potentially. We're in on some pretty incredible players like Chris Thomas, Isaac Hamilton and Jabari Bird. Not sure if they're realistic gets yet, but you don't want to close that window of possibility.

How are you thinking? The sure thing of 2012 or the potential of 2013?
 
"Winning Now" trumps "Class Balance". I'd definitely take 4 in 2012 if we can get guys who have potential to be immediate impact players. But I wouldn't take a risk or developmental prospect when it looks like 2013 has such potential for a couple Top 50 guys. And even if it was only 1 elite prospect we could land in 2013, I'd rather have room for Jordan Scott than take a similar player in 2012 and lose out on him next year.
 
"Winning Now" trumps "Class Balance". I'd definitely take 4 in 2012 if we can get guys who have potential to be immediate impact players. But I wouldn't take a risk or developmental prospect when it looks like 2013 has such potential for a couple Top 50 guys. And even if it was only 1 elite prospect we could land in 2013, I'd rather have room for Jordan Scott than take a similar player in 2012 and lose out on him next year.

As usual, nik completely agrees with me. :nod:
 
"Winning Now" trumps "Class Balance". I'd definitely take 4 in 2012 if we can get guys who have potential to be immediate impact players. But I wouldn't take a risk or developmental prospect when it looks like 2013 has such potential for a couple Top 50 guys. And even if it was only 1 elite prospect we could land in 2013, I'd rather have room for Jordan Scott than take a similar player in 2012 and lose out on him next year.

My question is, what do you define as "immediate impact players"? Hairston & Hornbeak type players or only for Caruso & Hawkins type guys?
 
My question is, what do you define as "immediate impact players"? Hairston & Hornbeak type players or only for Caruso & Hawkins type guys?

It depends on whether the coaches see Hairston & Hornbeak at the high end of their ratings or the low. I don't know how to answer that other than a weak ass "I trust our coaches". I think that we're really high on Hairston, though.
 
It depends on whether the coaches see Hairston & Hornbeak at the high end of their ratings or the low. I don't know how to answer that other than a weak ass "I trust our coaches". I think that we're really high on Hairston, though.

So far, it's safe to say "I trust our coaches" so that's a legit answer.
 
(wishy-washy answer) I see it both ways.

1. We're not in the glorified air of the upper class of b-ball programs. If we use 4 schollies now and save one for next year hoping to get an elite prospect, chances are we'll be disappointed. Yet, I think it's possible to get 4 quality player who fit the system. We'll have some growing pains during their first year, but it will pay dividends in the following seasons.

2. I like the class balance idea. A lot. Maybe that's because we've been through some "unbalanced" classes in the very recent past. Class balance also cushions the team when you have unexpected attrition (injuries, academics, etc.). If balance is preferred, then take one more player this year leaving 2 available slots for next years recruiting cycle.



It's really hard to judge which is best. One other thing to consider -- what if (very outside chance) one of the players jumps early to the pro level? It would take a special set of circumstances, but say for instance 'Dre plays like an absolute beast next year, becomes an auto double-double machine, and finds himself projected as a #15-20 draft pick. He goes to "the league" early. Kinda shoots the balance idea out of the water and puts the staff in immediate "find somebody else" mode. Might not be likely, but what if.....?
 
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I'm a big proponent of class balance. Unless that 4th schollie in 2012 is a player that the coaches see as filling a need/will make immediate impact (Roberson in '10-'11 is a good example), I'd rather see it saved for use in 2013. Additionally, I get the feeling that the available talent in 2013 will be better than 2012.

This of course assumes that we don't fall off a cliff over the next two seasons, finding ourselves out of the loop in recruiting all-together. In which case I'll need treatment for clinical depression.
 
in my novice opinion, 2013 is a better class than 2012 - save for big men, which 2012 was a quality class for bigs...not to say that 2013 doesn't have some good ones though.

Class balance is critical for any program, but particularly ours. We don't have the luxury of being able to sign 7 quality players in one class - key word quality. Remember when RP had to sign 7 freshmen, because his dumbass couldn't fill classes right? He got some good ones, but then he got a lot of duds...and Bz kicked the majority of them out. We need to be wise and have class balance, because we're going to develop this program on teamwork, continuity of players, and senior leadership. We have to, because we're not going to sign All-American talents all the time. In order to get continuity of players and senior leadership, we need class balance.

If Andre Drummond wants to come to CU - sure, **** class balance. Based on who we're after right now, take one more. I'm hoping for a wing or low block banger - that's it.
 
Totally agree about class balance. I even talked about it on my blog (shameless plug :lol:) http://rumblinbuff.blogspot.com/2011/06/basketball-summer-preview-series-roster.html

Nice. Love that blog, RB.

Great analysis of the historical perspective of Patton's strategy and how it backfired. I'm glad you also included how Boyle did a great job of anticipating the losses by bringing in Carlon Brown for 1 year's eligibility.

The big thing facing us is that 2013 class. These things will happen despite planning. In this case, it was a mix of luck (good and bad). Our junior class was supposed to be big. However, Shannon Sharpe busted up his knee ahead of the 2009 season and had to redshirt. Shane Harris-Tunks busted up his knee ahead of the 2010 season. Both redshirted and got pushed back a class. We also had Keegan Hornbuckle transfer after getting homesick after 1 season and a coaching change. The good luck was Alec Burks being a 2-and-done lottery pick when no one expected that of him at the time he signed. What should be a 4-man 2013 class is now down to zero unless we bank scholarships that have opened up.

Based on what we have already seen from Boyle, I'm confident that he'll handle this smartly for the long-term good of our program.
 
I'm a bit on the fence about this but right now, we are a team that is still desperate for quality talent at all positions. IMO no one is a safe bet on our team from the seniors down to our two commits, although Josh Scott looks like a beast that should be able to significantly contribute by year 2. Dre is by far my favorite player on this team and currently i believe that due to his athleticism, he has the highest ceiling, but he needs to stop missing dunks. That being said, if we can get a sharp shooter to complement the two bigs we currently have committed to us i would be very pleased. If a 4th high quality prospect( top 100-150 nationally) wants to commit i take him and worry about 1 scholly the next year. With high level bball, there are changes every year and kids leave early all the time, whether its the draft even if its not advised, or they stop playing for whatever reason. Unfortunately, unless we have a monster year, i dont see Chris Thomas coming here, our best bet would be Hamilton wanting to be with his brother and Jordan Hamilton loving Denver and talking it up. Kinda long winded response there but i think if quality talent wants to come here, we cannot turn it away just to bank a scholly on the future.
 
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