I don't think Archie has received enough criticism for his recruiting. I like how he's recruiting inside out and has emphasized Indiana high school players; also, obviously IU needs role players and guys with good basketball instincts. But, IU has never won w/o highly ranked players, and people have always gone overboard claiming that RMK did more with less. Not ncessarily true.
IU's best teams over the last 40 years always had more highly-rated players than we've had in recent years. Consider the number of McDonald's All-Americans the best IU teams had during that period (not including players who transferred):
1981 Champions: 3 (Tolbert, Turner, Thomas)
1987 Champions: 2 (Thomas, Calloway)
1992 Final Four: 5 (Anderson, P. Graham, G. Graham, Bailey, Henderson)
Even Knight's "amazing" 1989 Big Ten Championship team had 2 (Anderson, Edwards).
After Knight, the 2002 Runner Up team had 2 (Fife, Jeffries).
IU needs more than one elite recruit on the roster at a time to experience the success we are all hoping for.
IU's best teams over the last 40 years always had more highly-rated players than we've had in recent years. Consider the number of McDonald's All-Americans the best IU teams had during that period (not including players who transferred):
1981 Champions: 3 (Tolbert, Turner, Thomas)
1987 Champions: 2 (Thomas, Calloway)
1992 Final Four: 5 (Anderson, P. Graham, G. Graham, Bailey, Henderson)
Even Knight's "amazing" 1989 Big Ten Championship team had 2 (Anderson, Edwards).
After Knight, the 2002 Runner Up team had 2 (Fife, Jeffries).
IU needs more than one elite recruit on the roster at a time to experience the success we are all hoping for.