Except for the top of the top, these guys either show glimpses of their talent just enough to jump to the NBA, or eventually develop by their junior or senior year. As much as it pains me to see it, seems to make much more sense to have your roster mainly comprised of free agents who played for another team for a year or two, got stronger and experienced, and then sign them up? I really miss the old days where you got familiar with folks and saw what they became from freshman to senior year. I certainly can't fault the kids for capitalizing on what's best for them and their families, i just miss the purity of college basketball!
What's the point in recruiting freshman anymore
- Thread starter HoosierinNebraska
- Start date
To develop and build around. What if IU didn’t recruit TJD? Yogi Ferrell? Or PU Edey and Braden Smith.
You waiting and the. Trying to get them back from the portal? You absolutely have to recruit high school kids still.
I think you just have to recruit everyone, and fill your roster with the best combination of talent and experience that you can. And be very selective for guys that fit your program.
You shouldn't ignore the portal, you shouldn't ignore HS players.
IF...big fat IF...you had to choose one pool to recruit from, I think recruiting proven college players from the portal is, without question, the better route. But that's a faulty approach. You don't have to zero in and focus on anything in particular.
The goal should be to ALWAYS be talented and experienced. There is more than one way, recruiting wise, to achieve those things.
You shouldn't ignore the portal, you shouldn't ignore HS players.
IF...big fat IF...you had to choose one pool to recruit from, I think recruiting proven college players from the portal is, without question, the better route. But that's a faulty approach. You don't have to zero in and focus on anything in particular.
The goal should be to ALWAYS be talented and experienced. There is more than one way, recruiting wise, to achieve those things.
as we all know, there is a big difference in size and maturity when comparing a freshman to a junior/senior. TJD and Yogi were 5 star guys. In today's game, when building a roster, you're likely to have a player contribute more if they are a proven portal player compared to a 4 star freshman. Again, i'd rather have it like it used to be and i see the benefit/need to adapt.
I will wait and see if this plan works. I still tho k your core comes from recruiting high school kids
You only recruit high schoolers that you know are worthwhile investments. You can win championships with the portal only.
You focus on the best of the best for HS recruiting and then fill in the rest with the portal.
Gone are the days of recruiting HS projects that may be helpful as upperclassmen.
Gone are the days of recruiting HS projects that may be helpful as upperclassmen.
You still have to recruit high school kids and I don't think anyone disagrees with that. But you don't need 4-6 man recruiting classes anymore especially if 2-3 of them are 3-4 year development type players. You can upgrade your roster every year in the portal with proven, experience players. TJD and Yogi type HS kids are good enough to contribute and produce from day 1 and thus will always be a need.
Correct and every program is different. There are programs (IU included) who have the means to go out and land the best available free agents every year. There's some that don't. There's not a right or wrong approach. There are plenty of big spending franchises in the professional ranks who dominate their sport just as there are plenty of small market teams who thrive on drafting and development who also excel.
Plenty of teams in college basketball have built their foundation on transfers and portal players. And have had great success. We're only in year two of full blown college free agency. It's entirely too early to say it can't or won't work.
I think the NIL and portal thing will be revised soon to help curtail the current madness. Those schools, like IU, who have adopted their entire recruiting strategies to “all in” on NIL payments and portal transfers could potentially find themselves suddenly handcuffed by new restrictions. Meanwhile, coaches like Painter may be whistling Dixie for having maintained relationships with HS coaches and the more traditional way of going about this business. A hybrid tactic would be safer, but that is easier said than done.
The college recruiting scene is currently a real mess, seemingly along with a lot of other societal aspects of life. History may one day blame it all on Covid, or perhaps the vaccine, infiltrating the inner recesses of brain matter, as it relates to rational thinking.
That’s not what he posted. He said you can win championships with the portal only. That’s not true because not team has won a title with only portal kids
I hope for your sake it does or else you wouldn't have anything else left to talk about on here.
Right and we're two years into college free agency. But it's not going to be long until you start seeing teams whose top 7-8 guys all started their collegiate career elsewhere. Hell it's already happening now. Five of Alabama's top 6 guys were portal players, they were in the F4. NC State's top 7 players all started their career's at different schools. They too were in the F4.
There's no right or wrong way to build a program these days. The portal is now an extension of recruiting whether or not you agree with it.
Really? I hate PU with a passion but respect how they are building the program.
You can respect the hell out of it, doesn't mean it's the only way to build a program.
How would you prefer to see Iu build? Buying kids from all over the country or recruiting program kids from Indiana as your core?
What’s sad/ironic is that the teams that are best able to poach players are the ones that could also recruit and retain hs recruits.
While conversely those that rely on recruiting HS players will just have then poached.
The rich will get richer, and have their pick of literally any player, high school or collegiate to pry away with $$
While conversely those that rely on recruiting HS players will just have then poached.
The rich will get richer, and have their pick of literally any player, high school or collegiate to pry away with $$
You hit it on the head.
I suppose it comes down to what/who you want to be concurrent with where you want to go “success” wise.
Gone are the days and gone is this level of competition that most of us have enjoyed for so long.
Bastardized? Adulterated? Pimped?
Choose whichever obviousness tastes best and sit back.
Watch it burn.
Teams like PU (if they stay their course) will be in the MAC in under 5 years. So at least there’s that benefit.
Like everyone says — new reality — deal with it.
Or not. Pickle ball, Cornhole and Ax throwing leagues are not without their merits.
I suppose it comes down to what/who you want to be concurrent with where you want to go “success” wise.
Gone are the days and gone is this level of competition that most of us have enjoyed for so long.
Bastardized? Adulterated? Pimped?
Choose whichever obviousness tastes best and sit back.
Watch it burn.
Teams like PU (if they stay their course) will be in the MAC in under 5 years. So at least there’s that benefit.
Like everyone says — new reality — deal with it.
Or not. Pickle ball, Cornhole and Ax throwing leagues are not without their merits.
At some point, the NIL/portal madness will have a market correction...and maybe a sizable one. Those schools who have maintained the art of recruiting and developing freshman talent will have a leg up. Thats one reason to continue to recruit them.
RJ davis is returning to UNC for his 5th year. Key is paying to keep your kids.
No way an IU should lose a kid to the portal. Like if MR or MM wanted to enter because of $$$. IU should be able to match anyone
I don’t care where our kids come from as long as they are good enough to compete for championships. You think UConn fans care that their guards were from El Paso, Atlanta, and Baltimore?
You’d have to be stupid to confine yourself to one geographic region in this day and age as a coach. If you are going to rely almost exclusively on Indiana kids like Purdue has, better make sure you get an elite player from Toronto or Houston to bridge the talent.
Exactly, I think most fans of IU and PU honestly love that the two programs historically built the programs from inside the state. Yes they would go out an grab guys nationally but they always recruited Indiana first.
Also UConn doesn’t have the in state talent or fans that IU/PU does
lol. You act as if IU has just abandoned the state. Haralson and Mullins are two of the staffs most coveted players. Archie made it a mission to recruit inside/out, his teams sucked and were chalked full of Indiana kids. There’s a large section of the country that has not only caught, but passed Indiana in terms of high school talent. The game has evolved since Bobby Knight coached here last.
Those days are mostly gone. I believe IU’s team will mostly be made through the portal. Only recruit players you know will play year 1 on campus, that would include 5*’s and high 4’s. It’s the new NIL world of college basketball. At least as far as IU goes.
Yep, which was my point exactly. IU can get or retain anyone. If we want to have 4 year players we can keep them. There are only a small handful of teams that can say this.
IU has a substantial NIL budget. They will be able to fill most of their needs through the portal. The only HS players I’d recruit are those that are likely to play year 1. Don’t waste you time on players that won’t. They’ll likely leave via the portal if they’re getting no time.
IU shouldn’t be wasting time recruiting most HS kids. It’s the new NIL world of college basketball. And with the $ IU has available, IU is in prime position to purchase very good teams moving forward.
Last edited:
I’ll tell you this. Sophomores are just plain better than freshmen. I think most folks on here would agree that they expect much more from Mack, Rice, and Kanaan then they do Tucker. And Tucker is a five star McDonald’s all American.
I can’t speak for other fans and their programs, but sadly, IU fans have zero patience and will not tolerate any down years, or rebuilding years. As a result, letting promising young talent grow and mature into the game is now a thing of the past here at IU. So get used to the portal kombat.
This all just started, NIL and the portal. It will be this way moving forward.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
One issue I have is how much love does a player have for his team and university if he is just, "bought"? It is kind of like the Hessian soldiers in the Revolutionary war. A bunch of farmers with muskets defeated them because they were just paid soldiers. I am half german by the way so I can comment on the fallacy of the Hessian soldier.
"IU fans have zero patience".....Is it Opposite Day already? My, how the time flies.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
You could make the argument that to get a freshman is not advantageous to your program today. Just let the mid majors coach up the freshman or sophomore and then they are ready to make it up to the big leagues. I would absolutely hate to be a mid major coach today who is investing so much time and energy to young players and then have them leave. Now there are guys who are in major conferences who move down to the mid major. I get that, but are they malcontents, lazy or uninterested in getting better?
Where we are now is a bidding war each year. I predict players will start to sign 1, 2, even 3 year contracts.
