When you think about this year's frosh class, none of them were really expected to be key contributors so Chargois' early production was a pleasant surprise. If they all stay, you hope the rest of that class is productive as JRs and Srs but are all likely to be recruited over for starters
mustangxc wrote:What we had this year is largely due to sanctions. Add a couple transfers to this team and we are still on the bubble.
Recruiting might have just a tad bit to do with it was well.
Sanctions have kept us from adding potentially 2 additional upperclassmen to the roster so it all comes down to the sanctions. Every school misses with some recruits. Sanctions reduce the margin for error.
We were a bubble team at full strength. Losing Chargois to illness at Tulane cost us that game and then Jarrey going down made us an NIT team immediately (and yes I know we beat Wichita at Wichita). Losing both Jarrey and Shake (and BenE at half strength and Akoy a shadow of himself) make us about a .500 team.
The ONLY way this team could have been OFF the bubble (and a potential top 3 in the AAC) was if Akoy came in at 100% from day one and everyone else stayed healthy. I don't think Akoy ever even got to 50%. And even at 100% he was a serviceable (starting) big man.
Next year, to be anywhere near close to what we've come to expect, we need Shake plus Jarrey at 100% and Mike to be as advertised. Unless that happens, or we get a high 4 star to come over, we will be an NIT type team.
But the following year with Maxey possibly, I'm optimistic we can get back.
So much, for me, comes down to if Shake comes back and we can get a rock star transfer in (and Chargois and Douglas take a big step forward and Mike is the real deal). All that happens, and we are right back in it. If not, it will be an NIT type year.
mustangxc wrote:What we had this year is largely due to sanctions. Add a couple transfers to this team and we are still on the bubble.
Recruiting might have just a tad bit to do with it was well.
Sanctions have kept us from adding potentially 2 additional upperclassmen to the roster so it all comes down to the sanctions. Every school misses with some recruits. Sanctions reduce the margin for error.
SMU missed on an entire class last year that transferred and this year’s class was not stellar by any means. Also even if we has a couple of transfers does not mean they would have been any good as we have seen misses in that area too. The recruiting has hurt worse than the sanctions imo. But neither has helped. We will see how well we recruited once Shake leaves whenever that is.
ojaipony wrote:We were a bubble team at full strength. Losing Chargois to illness at Tulane cost us that game and then Jarrey going down made us an NIT team immediately (and yes I know we beat Wichita at Wichita). Losing both Jarrey and Shake (and BenE at half strength and Akoy a shadow of himself) make us about a .500 team.
The ONLY way this team could have been OFF the bubble (and a potential top 3 in the AAC) was if Akoy came in at 100% from day one and everyone else stayed healthy. I don't think Akoy ever even got to 50%. And even at 100% he was a serviceable (starting) big man.
Next year, to be anywhere near close to what we've come to expect, we need Shake plus Jarrey at 100% and Mike to be as advertised. Unless that happens, or we get a high 4 star to come over, we will be an NIT type team.
But the following year with Maxey possibly, I'm optimistic we can get back.
So much, for me, comes down to if Shake comes back and we can get a rock star transfer in (and Chargois and Douglas take a big step forward and Mike is the real deal). All that happens, and we are right back in it. If not, it will be an NIT type year.
"Bubble team" may be a bit misleading. We were consistently projected as a tournament team until we lost Shake and Jarrey; not an amazing seed by any means, but we were better than last 4 in. We even stayed on the bubble for some (outside looking in) until we'd lost 3-4 bad ones without those two starters. I think our fanbase is underestimating the quality of our OOC wins this year compared to our last few seasons.
I don't know what that means for next year given all our changes, but I hate to see SMU fans minimize what we accomplished before Shake and Jarrey went down.
Prideful Pony wrote:"Bubble team" may be a bit misleading. We were consistently projected as a tournament team until we lost Shake and Jarrey; not an amazing seed by any means, but we were better than last 4 in. We even stayed on the bubble for some (outside looking in) until we'd lost 3-4 bad ones without those two starters. I think our fanbase is underestimating the quality of our OOC wins this year compared to our last few seasons.
I don't know what that means for next year given all our changes, but I hate to see SMU fans minimize what we accomplished before Shake and Jarrey went down.
Agreed. We had the makings of a pretty darn good team before losing 3 guys for the season. Even Ray may have contributed a few minutes in the post...especially after Chargois got sick and then hurt his ankle
And..... I doubt the Penny thing happens this season. Tubby just got there and has a sizeable buyout. As for LB: He ain’t getting any younger but if you can hire him as a gym/practice coach, bech coach and program cheerleader you have something. Just keep him away from admin things.... and recruiting.