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I was wondering what if Jans had never gone to that bar and played grab a$$. What would this years team look like? One of his three recruits is still on the current team and plays very little. The other two were Jalone Friday and Jamir Andrews. Friday is at Abilene Christian now and being red shirted. Andrews is at Albany and averages 7 minutes a game and 3.3 ppg. However, he is shooting 91% from the line. Jans would have had two scholarships left to give. Wiggins was on his radar too so lets assume that washes out. Who knows what the other would have been but based on the three that were locked in, I think we are better off with Huger's recruits (Lillard, Ali, and Alcegaire) at least in the current year. One other thing that is hard to predict; Would Dickerson and Austin have stayed or would supposedly a number of others transferred. My guess Dickerson and Austin stay and maybe Denny transfers; Parker stays for his last year, and the rest do not really matter either way.

More than 1 would have left had Jans still been the coach, and probably for the better. He was gonna push people out the door like good coaches do. This year would have been a rebuilding year regardless. It's the next two years that are really a mess at this point. What Jans did with Holmes was pretty incredible, however, the level he had Gomez contributing at toward the end of last season was the AMAZING part.

In defense of Huger, I will say this. I think he challenged these Orr guys a couple weeks ago, and got the worst case scenario from it. Either way, what he did to salvage this season, late in the recruiting period is the reason to be optimistic. I'm confident he will be recruiting at a much higher level than we have seen in years. It's just going to take some time.

Given the time line of our recruiting I think Lillard was a coup. I'm hopeful that he can get one more solid recruits in this year. And I'm perfectly OK with some of these guys leaving, but I'm not all in with true running them off. I can wait it out if need be, even though it's clear that a lot of these guys will never help us win.

Let's be honest. Dickerson had academic problems. Jans treated the players like crap and there would have been more than one defection.

I had an interesting chat with our tanked shooter last night. He said he's shooting the same way he has, it feels the same, but the result is bad. Even film analysis is not helping and they are defending him stronger than they ever have before. Also, really, he's a sophomore. On a similar note, he has to wait until his senior year to find out if the NCAA grants him a redshirt for his freshman year.

Clearly we need a stronger PG, and some strength in the paint. Maybe Fox and Denny can still improve for next year and Wiggins and Worrell bulk up and we're just one or two players away from a good team.

I hope they can still turn this around before the season is over. Perhaps Huger can change some starters.

HoopsFan

HoopsFan wrote:Let's be honest. Dickerson had academic problems. Jans treated the players like crap and there would have been more than one defection.
HoopsFan

Don't disagree. My original post indicated Denny as the one I could see leaving of the supposed group ready to transfer. I could not see Parker sitting out a year and then going somewhere for his senior year. He could go down to Division II or lower but for a guy from Detroit I don't think that would fit his background. And like I said, the rest did not matter. For the record Worrell, Pep, and Maybelen never were rumored to leave. So besides Denny it would have been Gomez (highly doubtful he would find another scholly) and Tisdale.

I think Dickerson was gonna be gone no matter what. From what I've heard, he could've played in the Saint Francis game in the postseason, but decided to fake an injury or an illness or just didn't want to play. Whatever he said or did, I think Jans had written him off and was going to tell him his services were no longer needed. I have no idea if Austin would've stayed, and I'm not sure if it would've made much of a difference one way or the other. Let's face it, no matter who was coaching this team, we were gonna struggle this year no matter what. The start to the MAC season was a pleasant surprise, but as one of our many former coaches says, 'water finds it's level.'

guest44 wrote:In defense of Huger, I will say this. I think he challenged these Orr guys a couple weeks ago, and got the worst case scenario from it.

This is the story of the year. Three coaches, three coaching styles in three seasons. The first coach was known to not challenge players to be their best and thus player development suffered. And frankly the program needed a 2001 Urban Meyer-esque culture change. I'm more than willing to give Huger a mulligan this year as culture changes can be multi-year efforts.
I hate saying "maybe next year", but this is going to take some time. As long as I'm not saying the same again in the coming years, I'm OK.

MAC basketball takes 1 elite player to turn a team around. i think we have some studs on this roster. I don't know if any of them want to be elite.

MarkL wrote:

guest44 wrote:In defense of Huger, I will say this. I think he challenged these Orr guys a couple weeks ago, and got the worst case scenario from it.

This is the story of the year. Three coaches, three coaching styles in three seasons.
I hate saying "maybe next year", but this is going to take some time. As long as I'm not saying the same again in the coming years, I'm OK.

You are right. At this point, and for sometime now, the interest level is at an all time low. Things need to change.