Rate B1G Hoops job re: Recruiting

[SwirlinLingerie]

Patrick, go please yourself. I'm not saying Northwestern is an elite job, but I think it's odd that they haven't had an iota of success (meaning making the NCAA tournament).

Don't you find it shocking that since the 90s they've been able to make a Rose Bowl, a Citrus, a couple Alamos, an Outback Bowl, but yet they haven't been able to make one NCAA tournament in a sport that relies far less on resources, facilities, fan support, number of elite athletes, etc? Particularly since it is located in a basketball rich area?

Do you realize Gonzaga in Spokane, Washington has now been to 14 consecutive NCAA tournaments? Or how about Vanderbilt, who just won the SEC tournament title? There are all kinds of examples out there over the years.

And I'm not talking about dominating the Big Ten. I'm talking about getting into the NCAA tournament. Once.

In the modern era, I think Northwestern would be a far more attractive school from which to recruit for basketball compared to football.

 

[PatrickAdamovicz]

Fair point Swirlin. It is quite shocking, almost unbelievable that they have never been to the NCAA tournament, however, I don't see anyway, shape or form that they can get there on any kind of consistent basis.

The only reason they have had recent success by Northwestern standards is because of the unique system the Carmody uses. If they play your normal style basketball in the Big Ten they would get run off the floor in most cases.

And there is talk of Carmody not coming back or Northwestern maybe looking to go in another direction?. That would be a huge blow to the Wildcats. They need a unique offense and junk defense to compete in this league.

 

[JHHawk]

NW has had it best attendance season in Carmody's 12 years this season...average attendance= 5943. Sorry, NW is not bigtime in facilities or fanbase,so it is not just the admission requirements that keep them down.

Illinois gets enough Chicagoland top 100 recruits to succeed. Two years ago Brandon Paul was Mr. BB.,and Meyers Leonard from Robbins was a top 30 recruit. Last year they got 4 Chicagoland kids...rated #45,57,58,92 in the top 100. That is plenty good to succeed. Did they miss on Anthony Davis #1,and Blackshear #23? yes. But they can point to Iowa missing on Barnes,Paige,Uthoff ect....do Iowa recruits connect with Iowa bb? Not really...top recruits from any state go to Duke,UNC,KU or UCONN,not just illinois.

My rating:

MSU
OSU
IU
Mich
Ill
Wis
PU
Iowa
Minny
PSU
NW
Neb

MSU has tremendous bb facilities,a great coach,tradition,and local talent.
Same with OSU.
IU is getting there.

 

[hogeye]

You are correct but that's not necessarily my point: would Izzo have the same success if blue chip recruits weren't literally a stone's throw away? ... That's a pretty rich pool of talent to draw on and a great selling point if Moms and Pops want to come see you play; a huge inherent advantage.

Advantage? Sure. Huge advantage? No, I think that's taking it to the extreme, especially in today's culture of Internet communication and ease of travel.

There are only so many roster spots at big name schools for top recruits. Kansas has earned that reputation to be one of the coveted names that kids want to play for. For every kid that wants to stay closer to home there are 5 kids behind him willing to go to Lawrence, get me a map where the hell is that, Kansas and play.

I wouldn't put Mizzou in the discussion. They've never even made it to a Final Four. They haven't built what Kansas and MSU has in terms of historical success. Whether he could succeed at Kansas versus Mizzou is a completely different discussion.

 

[Section136]

Absolutely on Illinois: should be able to recruit top players from the metro areas of Chicago, St. Louis, even Louisville, Nashville and Memphis. Granted, stiff competition in Louisville, Nasvhille and Memphis.

And there isnt stiff competition in Chicago? All these posts claiming that the Illinois program is a "sleeping giant" because of the opportunity to recruit Chicago are ignorant at best.

 

[ssckelley]

Illinois could be a giant if they brought in the right guy, a cheater. The AAU scene in Chicago is dirty and they need a coach who can handle it. IMO, I think it would be a big mistake. Just get a good system coach who has his own connections. You can be a good coach anywhere and the kids will come to your program. Chicago has so much basketball talent that you can be a coach at Illinois, not play dirty, and still pick up a decent recruit once in a while. Illinois could make a run at Buzz Williams, who knows how to play the AAU coaches game, but all he would do is use it as leverage to get more money out of Marquette.

Here is how I would rate them:

1. Indiana - The state of Indiana is the Hoosier State. The kids that grow up in Indiana still dream that they grow up to play at Indiana. Indiana will always have the pick of the litter and there is plenty of good basketball players to pick from.

2. Michigan - Without Izzo at Michigan State there would not be any question where the top place to go. Any coach here does not have to go far to recruit.

3. Ohio State - A ton of talent in this state and tOSU gets the pick of the litter both in football and basketball.

4. Michigan State - With Izzo they get the cream of the crop, without they play second string to Michigan and tOSU.

5. Illinois - Even getting the "B level" kids out of Chicago is still awfully good. Look at the recruiting classes Weber has had over the past couple of years, there is no reason why fell so hard this year. Weber lost the team plain and simple. But anyone that comes here to coach should always get talent out of Chicago.

6. Minnesota - What else is there to do in the winter? Unless you are into ice fishing you are playing basketball. No other D1 school to compete with they should always be competitive.

7. Penn State - It is a joke they are this bad in basketball with this much talent in the state of Pennsylvania. Bring in a coach that has an up tempo system and they could attract better talent. Otherwise they play 2nd string to Pitt.

8. Wisconsin - Madison is not far from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, or Chicago. Bo Ryan is a good system coach who can get what he needs from these areas, even if they are not the blue chips.

9. Purdue - A good basketball tradition really helps Purdue. Plus they are not far from Chicago and are in the state of Indiana. Even if all you are getting is "B level" recruits from either of these places you will get a pretty good team.

10. Nebraska - You are the only option for big time basketball in the state and not far from Kansas City. The move to the Big Ten should help but football always reigns as king. With the nice new facilities this school may be the sleeper. Look at what Creighton has accomplished with Nebraska being so bad.

11. Iowa - Yes there has been future NBA players picked out of this state but will that pipeline continue? Iowa competes against Iowa State, UNI, and even North Carolina and Wisconsin for instate talent. This is truly one of the toughest places to recruit as the top kids do not grow up dreaming of being a Hawk. Hopefully the new facilities and the new up tempo system Fran has implemented will give Iowa that edge again.

12. Northwestern - Only if they improved the facilities this school would have a lot to sell. High academic standards hurt this school with poor basketball tradition, fan base, and facilities. Did I mention the facilities?

 

[ThunderHawk]

It's really amazing that with Chicago so proximate that Illanoy sucks at major sports on such a regular basis. I'd say that considering the above, Illanoy does the worst job recruiting in the Big Ten.

 

[tanman]

I wouldn't mind recruiting some of the players NW goes after!! They kick our but year after year seems like!

 

[Section136]

It's really amazing that with Chicago so proximate that Illanoy sucks at major sports on such a regular basis. I'd say that considering the above, Illanoy does the worst job recruiting in the Big Ten.

You are wrong Thunder.

Distances from Chicago to respective college towns:

Notre Dame- 96 miles
Purdue- 123 miles
Wisconsin- 145 miles
Illinois- 154 miles
Marquette- 182 miles
Iowa- 222 miles
Michigan State- 222 miles
Indiana- 231 miles
Michigan 241 miles

Why again does Illinois have the inside track to all the Chicago talent?

 

[ColumbusHawk]

You are wrong Thunder.

Distances from Chicago to respective college towns:

Notre Dame- 96 miles
Purdue- 123 miles
Wisconsin- 145 miles
Illinois- 154 miles
Marquette- 182 miles
Iowa- 222 miles
Michigan State- 222 miles
Indiana- 231 miles
Michigan 241 miles

Why again does Illinois have the inside track to all the Chicago talent?

I don't know where you are getting your distances. It is only 90 miles between downtown Milwaukee to downtown Chicago.

Your other distances are pretty close but a little off. Champaign-Urbana is actually a little closer to Chicago than Madison. But not by much.

 

[Section136]

I don't know where you are getting your distances. It is only 90 miles between downtown Milwaukee to downtown Chicago.

Your other distances are pretty close but a little off. Champaign-Urbana is actually a little closer to Chicago than Madison. But not by much.

Yeah I used mapquest and it listed like 3 routes to take for each city. I just picked the shortest route in mileage for each city I entered.

And I was thinking Marquette and put in Marquette, Wisconsin. Im an idiot.

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Yeah I used mapquest and it listed like 3 routes to take for each city. I just picked the shortest route in mileage for each city I entered.

And I was thinking Marquette and put in Marquette, Wisconsin. Im an idiot.

Honest mistake.

 

[DodgerHawki]

This is why Illinois is such a good job...

NW has had it best attendance season in Carmody's 12 years this season...average attendance= 5943. Sorry, NW is not bigtime in facilities or fanbase,so it is not just the admission requirements that keep them down.

Illinois gets enough Chicagoland top 100 recruits to succeed. Two years ago Brandon Paul was Mr. BB.,and Meyers Leonard from Robbins was a top 30 recruit. Last year they got 4 Chicagoland kids...rated #45,57,58,92 in the top 100. That is plenty good to succeed. Did they miss on Anthony Davis #1,and Blackshear #23? yes. But they can point to Iowa missing on Barnes,Paige,Uthoff ect....do Iowa recruits connect with Iowa bb? Not really...top recruits from any state go to Duke,UNC,KU or UCONN,not just illinois.

My rating:

MSU
OSU
IU
Mich
Ill
Wis
PU
Iowa
Minny
PSU
NW
Neb

MSU has tremendous bb facilities,a great coach,tradition,and local talent.
Same with OSU.
IU is getting there.

even if the Illini coach doesn't get EVERY great recruit out of Chicago. If you're the coach at Illinois, you can miss out on an Anthony Davis and still have 4-star talent that is available in-state. If Fran doesn't get a Marcus Paige, there aren't 3-4 other 4-star kids in the state in a class still available. As you pointed out, Illini got 4 Top-100 kids from Chicago last year. We are rejoicing in Hawkeye-land this year with getting two Top-100 guys.

Not sure I'd put Iowa in front of Minnesota with recruiting. Twin Cities seems to turn out more quality players than Iowa, but I could be wrong on that.