No recruitment speculation here, friends, so you may want to skip this post…just some nostalgia that might lead to an insight or two.
I was a HS kid in the LA area in the early-mid 1960s…practice player on my HS team…only time I got to start was when the coach rewarded those of us who out-worked the guys ahead of us during practices.
I loved hoops. I followed the Lakers of that era, admiring Jerry West but wishing I could be Elgin Baylor. I also followed a local college team that was starting history’s most extensive rampage through NCAA men’s basketball at that time.
My late father, who coached HS baseball and football at Fluvanna HS in the 1930s, wasn’t as much of a hoops guy as I was (though he put up a backboard and rim in our backyard for me, and broke his ankle doing it—that’s parenting!). However, I remember discussing UCLA’s success with him more than once. Of course, the times were different then (no one-&-done; freshman didn’t even get to play; etc.), but he observed that Coach Wooden really only needed to get two top recruits each year and UCLA would have a continuous supply of great players and teams. Eight-guy rotation of the top players at FR-SO-JR-SR…
I remember this in the UVA context, because I think Coach Bennett only needs to land about two (tu?) top UVA-type recruits each year. They’re the guys who love hoops, like to work on their craft, are connected with their parents, take the longer view, don’t get in fights on the Corner or smoke pot at frat parties, appreciate the importance of quality education, are ambitious, and (of course) have skills.
Over TB’s tenure at UVA, we’ve had the priviledge of seeing a lot of those guys. My father, a double-hoo, would be very proud of them.
This is exactly what we are seeing now. I will say in the same vein that TB gets excited at a top 10 or whatever that he is close to getting. And why would he not be
Agree outside of the frat parties piece. These guys are college students not nuns. They have plenty of fun but know when it’s okay and when they need to reel it in.
I agree about most UVA players (men’s and women’s) having fun but knowing when-where to draw the line. I think of Jocelyn Willoughby as a great example (not the only one!). But I was remembering a male player who apparently didn’t heed the “reel it in” message.
I think moving forward we will we will be involved with quite a few top 50 players, like this year but only two or three per year will recognize that UVA is a fit for them. That’s all we need and probably all the schollies we’ll have. Although, I can see patience and buy-in becoming more difficult with the new transfer rules. I hope we never, choose the route Duke And Kentucky have. Of course, there are quotes where Coach K stated the same.
According to the IU board Kaufman is announcing at 6PM Friday…on a local radio show. Pretty sure your not going on local radio to say it’s off to UVA or UNC.
Purdue makes much more sense than Indiana imo. He can stay close to home while playing for a top 10-15 coach with a reasonable fan base (at least relative to IU). Less pressure and better development while still close to family.
If that’s true then definitely stick a fork in this one lol. What an odd recruitment if he ends up going to IU. Also feel like this ends differently if Covid doesn’t happen
I am not going to sit here and say we didn’t want him. We obviously want him. But it would have been weird to take a power forward in 2021. We already have Murphy who is very good and McKoy who is much better than he showed last year and will get more time to show himself with a year of development and no Braxton/Mamadi ahead of him. We also have Kadin who can maybe play the 4 in big line ups and Jabri who can play the 4 in small ball line ups. Of course I think Tony wants as many tweeners as we can get on the roster in the age of positionless basketball but a more guard oriented 4 like Caleb Houstan makes sense (although tbd where he ends up). Kaufman did say he wanted to look at rosters and maybe he did and saw the above which also played a role in his decision.
I like the 2022 options for tweeners A LOT. Also the free market will have some other prospects, maybe even another trey murphy, waiting for us to pluck.
