Now that our 15 minutes are over

[White Helmet]

You mean Fall the marginal prospect who wont be ready to contribute until 2008 anyway?

[Duke Blue Blood]

Stallion,

I am with you on this one. I don't think the average SMU fan is going to be that patient. Just wait until Doh fails in 2007, Mustang "faithfull" will fall of the Doh train immediately.

This guy is not the answer to all of our prayers. It takes more than a coach. Last I checked, he could not suit up.

DBB

[jtstang]

Most of all-DON'T give out anymore scholarships to lifetime benchwarmers-we have way too many as it is. Save the scholarships if you can't get a worthwghile player this late.

I know one we should get back no matter what grandpa says.

[GoRedGoBlue]

The first thing I'd do is forget about 2007 and aim toward 2008. There ain't anybody left who is going to help this program. Arthur is long gone and only guys like GRGB and MM65 who believe in the tooth fairy think we got a shot at Arthur. Now I'd still make the call to Ronnie Morgan even though his coach indicated he's looking elsewhere because quite frankly I don't think his other options are really that appetizing. The focus of my recruiting would be on Division 1A Transfers-there ain't any good JUCOs left except for the marginal JUCOs that schools are trying to sneak in the back door. SMU is going to suck next year anyway focus on 2008 with Division 1A Transfers-that is if SMU really has changed it policies. If this option is not availiable then the rebuilding job at this university just got a helluva of lot longer because the cupboard is empty in the lower classes including 2007 except for Fall. Most of all-DON'T give out anymore scholarships to lifetime benchwarmers-we have way too many as it is. Save the scholarships if you can't get a worthwghile player this late.

I believe to focus on the future as well.

[heeliconoclast]

having watched Doherty over the years as a player at Carolina and then as an assistant at Davidson and Kansas, then head coach at ND, UNC and FAU.

His strengths:
Great with the press in terms of marketing the program and keeping it in the limelight. Freaking FAU had a program on ESPN2 for lord's sake. He knows how the media works and makes himself accessible to them and press folks appreciate that.

Terrific with students in terms of generating increased interest on campus. Did this at ND and FAU and did markedly improve crowd enthusiasm and got better seating for students at UNC. He will bring lots of enthusiasm and energy to the program.

He's a Roy Williams disciple who is a fanatic about conditioning. Like Roy, Doherty will have your players in shape.

A turn-around artist. 15 months at ND and brought in studs Ryan Humphrey and Chris Thomas along with other starters/major contributors.
First 9 months at Carolina he brought in Jawad Williams, jackie Manuel, Melvin Scott, Raymond Felton, SEan May and Rashad McCants. And also made what he has termed his biggest recruiting error. He had been recruiting borderline Top 100 player but oozing potential Emeka Okafor while at ND. He started recruiting him at Carolina and almost pulled the trigger but then decided to go for a Top 10 center or two. Missed on those and Emeka went to UConn and blew up.

One year at FAU and brought in several excellent talents by FAU standards, including a highly-regarded transfer from Providence.

Creative, extremely hard-working recruiter and excellent talent evalutor. Chief recruiter at Kansas when they brought in tons of studs who also happened to be model citizens. He would do all the leg work with the recruits, get them ready to commit and then bring them to see Roy who would "put the cherry on top." Saw an interview with drew Gooden at TSN a few years back where Gooden raved about Doherty and called him "one of the all-time great recruiters."
For example, Doherty offered Raymond Felton at UNC when Felton was ranked about #50 in the class (Felton wound up Top 5). Knows how to put together a team via recruiting. You can argue about ease of recruiting at UNC but you still have to pick and choose (Talent, academics, team player issues) and the team he left Roy Williams with was one of Carolina's best ever talent-wise, bursting with athleticism and skill.

Good with donors.


Cons:
Can be brusque and speak his mind a bit much. I do think the Carolina experience taught him some diplomatic skills. Needed to Learning to take his excellent people skills in dealing with the press and put those to work consistently in normal everyday people skills. While at UNC, he definitely was not diplomatic enough at times in dealing with a few folks associated with the program but it was a messy messy situation by all accounts. His former top aide at ND and UNC Doug Wojcik (now at Tulsa) shakes his head over how complex things got at times in the vast Carolina family. Given that he only had one year of head coaching experience, he should never been hired that early in his career at UNC, one of the top jobs in the country--as Doherty has himself said he simply was not ready to deal with all facets a Top 5 program requires, and could have used a few more years of seasoning as a head coach first.

Early in his career, he was very tough in practice and would be buddy buddy with the players off the court. If you don't do that with skill, you can create confusion with the players. I think he has matured there.

Coaches break down players and build them back up. At Carolina he showed he had not developed the latter skill sufficiently. Again, I think he has gotten better at that. He has learned to curb his temper and/or have assistants get on players when they need it.

In sum, he will transform the SMU program and roster quickly. Whether he is just a turn-around artist or someone who can build a program over decades has yet to be decided. I think it was an inspired hire on SMU's part but time will tell.

[Hoop Fan]

Morris leaving is a big blow to the roster. He had a lot of potential. That leaves us with 3 scholarships still to fill. Thats alot. I think you can bank one them, but its pretty hard to bank 3 without leaving yourself a big void at some point the future. I just have a hard time believing we are going to get true jucos. The jucos we recruit are as much unknowns as high school players generally are.

The roster is not in good shape at the moment, but it is still in better shape overall than when Tubbs took over. The reason I say that is you actually have a few decent seniors in Pearson and Rack, but also a few solid juniors in Dez and Roberts and young center in Bamba. The roster is more balanced and is not positioned for the big void in experience that Tubbs faced in year two of his tenure. Bamba is the key piece by far. If he stays and develops like he should, he gives Doherty a real key piece to work with. The problem when Tubbs took over was he inherited 3 seniors and basically a big void after that in junior and sophomore classes besides Bhop.

[SMU Football Blog]

Morris leaving is a big blow to the roster. He had a lot of potential. That leaves us with 3 scholarships still to fill. Thats alot. I think you can bank one them, but its pretty hard to bank 3 without leaving yourself a big void at some point the future. I just have a hard time believing we are going to get true jucos. The jucos we recruit are as much unknowns as high school players generally are.

Hoop Fan is right.

You can't bank three or even more scholarships. Though, I would argue even a marginal juco would provide added depth.

I really think the policy changes are real and the coaches are not far away from being as flexible as they need to be as far as transfers go. Whether that translates before the end of the signing period, I have no idea.

[mrydel]

From what I see you have 4 seniors next year and attrition usually knocks out one or more. We will have plenty to give next year. We need to TRY to do something positive this next year to inspire some good recruits for the next year. I would not bank more than 1 IF we could get some JUCOs that could contribute positively next year. But that is a big IF.

Are you limited in how many you can sign in 1 year as long as you do not exceed the total allowed?

[MustangIcon]

I agree with Stallion in holding onto the scholarships if there is no one worthwhile to give them to. While I feel like we will definitely make a a substantial improvement in Doherty's first season, it won't be enough to make a post season tourney without a borderline miracle. I think we will look for guys in this class (I am thinking MD brings in a solid JUCO guy) but will ultimately end up making a big splash next recruiting season.

Hoop, I am confused by your assesment of the situation MD has entered as opposed to the situation JT entered. Castro, Simpson and Isham were seniors when Tubbs took over. Ignoring Isham for a moment I think through their first 3 seasons the Castro/Simpson tandem was much better than the Pearson/Rack combo. Then you point out how Tubbs had BHop and a big void after that in the JR and SR classes. Pearson and Rack, the same guys you said were decent seniors, were promising sophs. Then Derrick Roberts was the city of Houston's leading scorer in 5a coming in as a freshman. And there was Hopkins, a Jr. who was a legit go to guy. Of course MD has Bamba and Dez which Tubbs did not. Basically MD has Bamba, Dez and maybe Nyam whereas Tubbs had Bhop, Castro, Simpson and Isham. In my opinion I would have to say Tubbs came into a stronger roster.

[Hoop Fan]

Ronnie Morgan would be a good start. He is a tough hombre. I dont think there is any way he comes here now, but if Doherty really can repair the damage quickly, this is the place to start trying. It would immediately show that he wanted to reach out to DISD and you already have a kid willing to consider the school. I dont think Doherty can pull it off but I would love to be proven wrong.

[Stallion]

What other quality offers does he have-I really don't know-maybe Louisiana Tech-there are not a lot of reports on him so I may be way off because he did have a nice Senior Year but I've yet to see a report that says Morgan is truly overflowing with great offers. His Dad was a star at NTSU so I'm sure they want him. I've heard repeated reports that he actually 6-5 rather than 6-7 but who knows because his younger brother is much taller.

[Hoop Fan]

I agree with Stallion in holding onto the scholarships if there is no one worthwhile to give them to. While I feel like we will definitely make a a substantial improvement in Doherty's first season, it won't be enough to make a post season tourney without a borderline miracle. I think we will look for guys in this class (I am thinking MD brings in a solid JUCO guy) but will ultimately end up making a big splash next recruiting season.

Hoop, I am confused by your assesment of the situation MD has entered as opposed to the situation JT entered. Castro, Simpson and Isham were seniors when Tubbs took over. Ignoring Isham for a moment I think through their first 3 seasons the Castro/Simpson tandem was much better than the Pearson/Rack combo. Then you point out how Tubbs had BHop and a big void after that in the JR and SR classes. Pearson and Rack, the same guys you said were decent seniors, were promising sophs. Then Derrick Roberts was the city of Houston's leading scorer in 5a coming in as a freshman. And there was Hopkins, a Jr. who was a legit go to guy. Of course MD has Bamba and Dez which Tubbs did not. Basically MD has Bamba, Dez and maybe Nyam whereas Tubbs had Bhop, Castro, Simpson and Isham. In my opinion I would have to say Tubbs came into a stronger roster.

I am talking about the overall roster and balance. Yes, I stated that Tubbs inherited 3 seniors, the problem was the void after that which he could not backfill. Also, there was no promising young center on the roster when Tubbs took over. Rack was injured and out of commission too much. You have to think bigger than just one year. Tubbs did probably have a stronger team in year one than Doherty will have, but it wasn't appreciably better. If Morris would have stayed around, Doherty would have really had a better situation overall. As it is, he needs to scramble. And I do not think you want to go out next year and give 7 scholarships which is what you would be doing if you banked 3 now. Otherwise you are banking schollies in consecutive years and really creating a delay in getting competitive.

[Hoop Fan]

What other quality offers does he have-I really don't know-maybe Louisiana Tech-there are not a lot of reports on him so I may be way off because he did have a nice Senior Year but I've yet to see a report that says Morgan is truly overflowing with great offers. His Dad was a star at NTSU so I'm sure they want him.

I don't know at the moment. I think the problem for him is he does not have a natural position at the D-1 level. I just have seen him play enough to know how tough he is and a battler. I would take a chance on him for sure given the circumstances and the positive message it would send. I should stop suggesting it though, because I doubt he will consider us out of principal now.

[Stallion]

who you going to get? I don't want to bank 3 either and hope some great prospect jumps up. But according to Texas Hoops 18 out of 20 of the Texas Top 20 have committed, 27 out of the Top 30 and 35 out of the Top 40 have committed and or signed. Its that way all across the country. Some of the few remaining kids are probably academic risks and or have other options such as the NBA or other sports. We don't need a trio of Friday Night Heros that can't play at the Division 1A Level. And this program is in much worse shape than when Dement left. Essentially all there is left in 2008 is Fall.

[hoopfan]

i agree that we should forget about arthur, we don't have a snowballs chance in hell. i think that after doherty talkes to ronnie morgan, he will come around and most likely recommit. but i completely disagree with you to forget about 2007. there are a lot of players in texas especially the dallas area that we should be trying to get. Not to mention we still could have sloan and malone if they recommit.