For those who argue that our '13 and '14 success was built upon getting great, "plan A" players, yes to great, but no to plan A. Trey Burke was our third option/offer at PG, behind Kevin Pangos from his class and Yogi Ferrell from the class behind. Tim Hardaway, Jr. was behind Trey Ziegler and Casey Prather on the wing pecking order. Nik Stauskas wasn't offered as a skilled wing player until Denzel Valentine opted for MSU. Glenn Robinson III wasn't offered until after Jevohnte Hawkins from Flint was pursued and given time to commit. Even Mitch McGary was a back burner recruit until Matt Costello committed to MSU.
The point is not that front line talent isn't important--it is. It is not always clear though who will turn to be front line talent. To be sure, some of the guys we missed on above--Panos, Ferrell, Prather and Valentine--turned out to be very good--but I wouldn't trade any of the "plan Bs" we got for the guys we missed on. While you have a better chance, of course, of striking gold with top 30 players, this staff has been good enough in developing and identifying talent that getting kids further down the top 100 or even beyond is very likely to yield good results.
For next year, after Battle, Langford and Winston, we're on at least 6 other guards who are, or will be, 4 stars on 1 or more of the major services (Goodin, Bruce Brown, Ramsey, Cumberland, Aiken and Huerter. Get 2 of those 9 (or comparable players who emerge in the spring/summer) and I like our chances going forward.
The point is not that front line talent isn't important--it is. It is not always clear though who will turn to be front line talent. To be sure, some of the guys we missed on above--Panos, Ferrell, Prather and Valentine--turned out to be very good--but I wouldn't trade any of the "plan Bs" we got for the guys we missed on. While you have a better chance, of course, of striking gold with top 30 players, this staff has been good enough in developing and identifying talent that getting kids further down the top 100 or even beyond is very likely to yield good results.
For next year, after Battle, Langford and Winston, we're on at least 6 other guards who are, or will be, 4 stars on 1 or more of the major services (Goodin, Bruce Brown, Ramsey, Cumberland, Aiken and Huerter. Get 2 of those 9 (or comparable players who emerge in the spring/summer) and I like our chances going forward.
