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That's an idea, mabey we should start recruiting Tulsa, Houston, and New Orleans.

We do recruit those areas. If we cannot get the local kids to come to SMU then how are we going to get kids in other cities to come to SMU?

Rock,

I think the underlying message is that a lot of high school kids want to go away to school. I know my daughter did not want to go to SMU for that very reason. She wanted to go away to go to school, and since I am so active in SMU activities her comment was "I don't want to go to college with my dad". This is why a lot of local kids don't come to SMU.

So we need to recruit those kids in other cities that want to go away to college. We are still facing the 3 wins in 2 years issue. I think coach Bennett and the other coaches are starting to recruit other areas that are not as close to Dallas and I am very optimistic about the JUCO's we have recruited this year. This year we have increased our maturity level and hopefully this will convert into more W's this year.

We will always get beat out on the kids that do not want to be too close to home. Even though their family can not watch them on Saturday. They have a different priority.

OK this BS about kids wanting to leave Dallas to get away from schools is just an excuse for getting your BUTT whipped in recruiting. A certain portion of kids have always wanted to get away and yet somehow we got Wayne Morris, Ira Terrell, Oscar Roan, Lance McIlhenney, Ricky Bolden Rod Jones, Michael Carter, Charles Waggoner, Guy Thomas, Jerryl Sasser, Quinton Ross, Damon Hancock, Willie Davis, Jeff Atkins, Craig Kennington, David Richards, Doak Walker et al. Stop grading this program on a curve-its not Dallas these kids are rejecting but rather the SMU athletic program. This program ain't going anywhere without strong recruiting in the Metroplex especially since the breakup of the SWC.

Stallion wrote:A certain portion of kids have always wanted to get away and yet somehow we got ....

Yeah, and we all know how we got a lot of them, too. Paid the ultimate price with the program gone for two years, as I recall.

We also were in the SWC, and were considered in the same breath with UT and others. Now, we're a mid-major what ever that is? We have now eroded somewhat the Pye Model but we are going to be paying a price for that model for a long time until we somehow catch a break and get a winning season or two. Until then, we are going to be looking for some gems in the rough.

Stallion wrote:OK this BS about kids wanting to leave Dallas to get away from schools is just an excuse for getting your BUTT whipped in recruiting. A certain portion of kids have always wanted to get away and yet somehow we got Wayne Morris, Ira Terrell, Oscar Roan, Lance McIlhenney, Ricky Bolden Rod Jones, Michael Carter, Charles Waggoner, Guy Thomas, Jerryl Sasser, Quinton Ross, Damon [deleted], Willie Davis, Jeff Atkins, Craig Kennington, David Richards, Doak Walker et al.

Nice list, BUT, these kids did not necessarily want to go away to college. You can not put Lance McIlhenney on the list. He was a Mustang legacy that wanted to attend SMU. He is not the type of person I was referring to.

My point is that a lot of local kids want to go away to college. I don't care if SMU was a contentor for the national championship, they are not going to go to school that close to home. So don't expect to get every local kid you offer. It just ain't gonna happen. So quit complaining about every local we don't sign.

For what it is worth, over half of our HS recruits are Metroplex kids. Although there was going to be an emphasis on recruiting locally, there was also the plan to concentrate our overall efforts in a 300 mile radius, which is basically what we did for HS recruits.