Update on top 100 b-ball recruit Aaron Dotson

[RushStPony]

His update on LSU's rivals site has him coming to visit SMU on October 24th. He has already visited LSU and will visit Louisville the week before our visit. Doherty had an in-home with him recently as did Trent Johnson (LSU), Pitino, and Romar (Washington). Still not sure of our chances, but it can't be a bad sign that he is coming to visit...

[abezontar]

provided he doesn't commit at Louisville the weekend prior

[RushStPony]

provided he doesn't commit at Louisville the weekend prior

I suppose it is possible. He didn't commit at LSU, though, which is a good sign....

[PoconoPony]

Kids like this have been coached to take all of their visits. Even if a kid knows where he is going to commit; most will look at it as a free trip with nothing to lose and maybe a few freebies will come floating in. At least Coach Doh can now show the kids a great campus , training facility and maybe even impress them by meeting and watching the Mavs.

[MustangLaxer]

mavs will be off site by then.

[PonyDoh]

Kids like this have been coached to take all of their visits. Even if a kid knows where he is going to commit; most will look at it as a free trip with nothing to lose and maybe a few freebies will come floating in. At least Coach Doh can now show the kids a great campus , training facility and maybe even impress them by meeting and watching the Mavs.

Most don't take all their visits. I'd say it's 50/50 that he shows. If he does, though, we have the last visit advantage. It'll be important to hook him up w/McCoy, provided Paul likes SMU. He can answer any pacific NW concerns, discuss why he chose SMU over similar offers that Dotson has

[ponydawg]

This is taken from an interview in August, at the time we were not in his top 5.

"HSH: What’s going to be the difference-maker when you have to make a decision?
AD: Immediate playing time and how I fit in with the coaches and players."


http://www.highschoolhoop.com/?p=372

[PoconoPony]

Kids like this have been coached to take all of their visits. Even if a kid knows where he is going to commit; most will look at it as a free trip with nothing to lose and maybe a few freebies will come floating in. At least Coach Doh can now show the kids a great campus , training facility and maybe even impress them by meeting and watching the Mavs.

Most don't take all their visits. I'd say it's 50/50 that he shows. If he does, though, we have the last visit advantage. It'll be important to hook him up w/McCoy, provided Paul likes SMU. He can answer any pacific NW concerns, discuss why he chose SMU over similar offers that Dotson has

I will disagree and it may be based on semantics. Many kids will be offered the opportunity to visit and hedge or not make any affirmative committment as to whether or not they will exercise the invite. They just sit on it with coaches throwing out dates; however, my experience is that if a kid actually makes the oral committment to a coach that most will show. Obviously, you get the whole gamit from kids looking for as many free trips as they can get to those kids who do their homework, focus and narrow their choices to just a few schools. In this case, I think it is a positive sign that Coach Doh is starting to break through and get the interest of the level of kids needed for a top level team. SMU has never had a great basketball tradition and C-USA is just starting to get some respect making his job very challenging. Like you, I hope the kid has the integrity to show up. I am very confident that he will be impressed with SMU and Doh where ever he goes.

I have also spoken with kids like this that end up not going to a particular school then turn around and encourage or direct other quality kids to attend that school because of the positive recruiting experience they had with that school and coach. I also think it is positive that other top recruits become aware that top recruits are now considering a school.

[50's PONY]

What do you mean "SMU has never had a great basketball tradition?"

[PoconoPony]

Identify for me a true SMU tradition. We had Krebs...etc. in the late 50s for several years; a formitable team for 2 years in the mid 60s, jump to Koncack and Ira in the 80s. Where is the consistent program and teams that expected to be in the NCAA tournament every year??? We simply have not had a basketball tradition at that level.

[max the wonder dog]

SWC regular season champions (tied or outright) 13 times, 2nd only to Ark and Tx with 22 championships each.

not UCLA, but not Colorado School of Mines either

[Charleston Pony]

Blasphemy Pocono! Don't tell me you have forgotten the Doc Hayes era. Didn't Doc's teams win or share something like 8 titles in his 20 year tenure? That's when I started following SMU hoops and of course I was a student when his assistant Bob Prewitt took over. We had pretty good tradition for a 20-25 year period when we were very competitive and had a tendency to pack Moody. I remember having to arrive early if you wanted to "stand" in the courtside bleachers as a student.

Maybe it's just been so long that we've forgotten the "good old days"

[PoconoPony]

[quote="Charleston Pony"]Blasphemy Pocono! Don't tell me you have forgotten the Doc Hayes era. Didn't Doc's teams win or share something like 8 titles in his 20 year tenure? That's when I started following SMU hoops and of course I was a student when his assistant Bob Prewitt took over. We had pretty good tradition for a 20-25 year period when we were very competitive and had a tendency to pack Moody. I remember having to arrive early if you wanted to "stand" in the courtside bleachers as a student.

Maybe it's just been so long that we've forgotten the "good old days"[/quote

The Doc Hayes era teams were very credible and included the Krebs, Hightower teams (argueably the best ever SMU team) and mid 60s teams of Holman, Jones, Beasley and Beggart that I mentioned. I concede they were excellent teams in the context of the SWC. The Hayes tradition was the start of an excellent tradition; however, it pretty much stalled out with only a few periodic success after that with only Ira's and Koncack's teams being truly competitive/elite teams since Hayes. Hayes retired in 67' as I recall. Unfortunately, most of his successor Prewitt's teams were very average at best and the program did not maintain it's excellence. I agree we had the chance at that time to build a tradition like Duke, Georgetown....etc.; however, in my opinion a consistent program and tradition never further materialized or was sustained. We are talking more than 40 years ago. Certainly today's recruits and those of the last 20 years have no sense that SMU even had a semblance of a basketball tradition with very few playing in the NBA to give SMU association recognition. Also realize that the SWC had very little emphasis on basketball until the late 70s when the conference finally started to understand and respond to the importance of basketball as it was being played in the mid-west and north-east and mid-atlantic regions and UCLA. There are many reasons for this in the south and southwest which is another discussion in its self. This is not a knock; however, SWC teams were not very competitive on the national level until the late 80s. Unfortunately, SMU has not had the success and consistency, in my opinion, to be characterized as having a real or true basketball tradition. Hence, one of the elements that Coach Doh cannot readily use or sell as a recruiting point.

[50's PONY]

OK so now tell us who Hightower was?

[LA_Mustang]

The Doc Hayes era teams were very credible and included the Krebs, Hightower teams (argueably the best ever SMU team)

Wasn't Hightower an All-American football player in the 50s?? What does he have to do with b-ball?

btw, I only know that because I googled it. 50s you would know much better than me. I think SMU definitely has a strong tradition in basketball.....of course, not to the level of UCLA or Kentucky....but we certainly have history. Also, wasn't Krebs on the cover of SI once.....I would call that tradition.