Darrell Arthur National No. 4 Player

[Stallion]

let me ask ya'-if a kid is good enough to go Pro as a Freshman at SMU what harm would he have done to this vaunted Program we have been building over the last couple of decades. You waste a one year scholarship-he gives you an outstanding season-there are worse things that could happen.

[Pony Fan]

I totally agree with Stallion.

[mrydel]

I would love to be a conduit for players going early to the pros. Rebuilding is one thing, but limiting rebuilding to players that need to be "built" themselves is a recipe for a consist level of mediocre play. Just think how much nicer it would be to be worrying whether or not a player is going pro rather than worrying if we have the players to beat Rice. Basketball and Football.

[SoCal_Pony]

I guess I'm about to go against the tide, but you don't want any one year folks who come in and then go pro. We want to build a consistent winner that gets ranked top 25 every year pre-season just because. I guess a Chris Bosch would be nice, if he was the last peg needed to go all the way in one year, but you don't want a guy who checks in and then checks out after a year when you are in a building mode. Bosch was a great addition to an already loaded team. Okafor was a the last peg needed by U Conn. Anthony was the last peg needed by Syracuse. Those programs were already loaded, we aren't. Now if adding a top 5 player starts an avalanche where we get 2 or three in one year, now we're talking.

ES,

You telling me GA Tech would rather have the Rack's freshman year than Bosch's????.....or that WE would????

[LA_Mustang]

For the record, it’s Bosh.

If we get lucky enough to have a player like Arthur and he decides to leave after two years, so be it. Yes, you lose a terrific talent but what a great recruiting tool to be able to tell a recruit- look at Darrell Arthur, he came to SMU and played his way into a top NBA draft pick. You can use SMU as a springboard to the NBA. Every successful program has to deal with that. Hopefully one day we'll have that problem.

[gostangs]

East - you have lost your mind. I would take one game from anyone who is a pro prospect. We need to all get over this build it from the ground up thing ....that is a luxury we cannot afford - probably never again. Take the best guys you can get for however long you get them in whatever sport they play.

[StangEsq]

East - you have lost your mind. I would take one game from anyone who is a pro prospect. We need to all get over this build it from the ground up thing ....that is a luxury we cannot afford - probably never again. Take the best guys you can get for however long you get them in whatever sport they play.

Agreed. He could come in here tomorrow and start for us, even if he is a high school junior.

Plus, having a guy like that only attracts other top 100s who might otherwise not give SMU a serious look. If Gerald Green had come to SMU instead of OSU, we probably would've had a better shot at Eaton as well.

[EastStang]

Are you saying that you put Bosch with the current cast of characters that we have and we would go to the dance in one year or that we would even win the WAC? B-Hop didn't hasn't done that and he was a National Top 10 player. I want whatever group we need to be a Top 25 program EVERY year. Once we get to that position, then all we need is a Bosch to put us in the Final Four. I want the pre-season pollsters to cast their votes for SMU year in and year out, just like they do with Duke, UNC, UConn and Wake. We've had probably more WAC players of the year than any other team since we joined the conference, yet we've never won a championship. Last time I checked, basketball was a team sport and you need more than one strong player to get to the next level. Like I said, I want five to seven solid players year in and year out. Then a stud can shine. Without that, a stud will win player of the year and we'll be at the bottom of CUSA. CUSA will be tougher to win than the WAC.

[Hoop Fan]

East, your digging in. I don't think Hop was Top 10 nationally. Top 30 yes, maybe Top 20 in some. I want to say Rivals had him #28. Thats a great player don't get me wrong, but not a guy who has the NBA on his mind within a year of high school. Not to mention anybody who saw Hop in high school knows he is not he same player athletically for some reason.

As for CUSA, I actually think that after Louisville and company leave, the basketball league will actually be a little weaker than the WAC. Granted Memphis is probably a cut about Fresno, but Hawaii and Nevada have done more in hoops than Southern Miss, Tulane or anybody else left in CUSA. Theres no San Jose in CUSA, but Houston was pretty bad for several years running.

[StangEsq]

Are you saying that you put Bosch with the current cast of characters that we have and we would go to the dance in one year or that we would even win the WAC? B-Hop didn't hasn't done that and he was a National Top 10 player. I want whatever group we need to be a Top 25 program EVERY year. Once we get to that position, then all we need is a Bosch to put us in the Final Four. I want the pre-season pollsters to cast their votes for SMU year in and year out, just like they do with Duke, UNC, UConn and Wake. We've had probably more WAC players of the year than any other team since we joined the conference, yet we've never won a championship. Last time I checked, basketball was a team sport and you need more than one strong player to get to the next level. Like I said, I want five to seven solid players year in and year out. Then a stud can shine. Without that, a stud will win player of the year and we'll be at the bottom of CUSA. CUSA will be tougher to win than the WAC.

Guys like Bosh and Arthur are near cant-miss players. They will make immediate impacts. Hop wasn't on any national Top 10 lists. Bosh was on everyone's Top 10.

SMU needs some national exposure. Look at the 2006 national top 100 lists... we're not on the radar. Some schools are listed next to 20 players. Until we start showing up on these lists with some frequency, we will not be tourney contenders. Especially with a new coach, the easiest way to do that is to land a great recruiting class that can make an impact and provide momentum for the future and some proven credibility for Coach Tubbs right off the bat.

Arthur would be the best possible start to that process that we could hope for.

Incidentally, a basketball team more than any other sports team can be affected by one great player... and also create some real enthusiasm for fans. Imagine how much easier it would be to get people into Moody next year if you were promoting Green and Eaton as part of the package...

[EastStang]

Memphis, UCF and UAB all went to the dance last year. Add in UTEP, that's four teams. The WAC had two. Rice, USM, Tulane went to the NIT last year. I think that maybe Hawaii went last year from the WAC. We know that Tulsa will not stay down long. That leaves UH, Marshall and ECU as the lone weak teams. I don't believe that Houston will stay down much longer either.

[Hoop Fan]

Houston? Houston and Tulane might be getting off the mat now, but both have been terrible since the late 90s. UCF might be growing as program, but not a trend yet, and they didnt make the dance as part of current CUSA.

I'm just saying the new CUSA has some work to do in basketball. If its better than the WAC its not by much. I did forget about UAB who seems to be back to life finally and probably cancels out Hawaii.

[jtstang]

SMU needs some national exposure. Look at the 2006 national top 100 lists... we're not on the radar. Some schools are listed next to 20 players. Until we start showing up on these lists with some frequency, we will not be tourney contenders. Especially with a new coach, the easiest way to do that is to land a great recruiting class that can make an impact and provide momentum for the future and some proven credibility for Coach Tubbs right off the bat.

I guess the point I was trying to make above is we can do this by keeping the top DFW guys at home. Seems every year the local schools are producing national top 100s, and keeping one or two a year on the Hilltop would turn us around quickly. He needs the local coaches to make good on their show of support and to steer some of the locals here.

[EastStang]

Someone must have put other players in Houston uni's last night. They beat Louisville. Like I said earlier, CUSA will be tougher than the WAC except that we won't have the curse of travelling to Hawaii and playing Nevada at altitude.

[Hoop Fan]

I saw that, great win for Houston. Penders will win some games for UH, probably run off players and use and cheat them into a few good seasons. I don't think that proves CUSA superiority though. You also probably saw that UCF lost to Mercer last night. Ouch.