We held the lead on
SF Paul Porter, but then UConn came and swooped him up.
Code:
2018 Recruiting Rankings
# Team Conference Best Player Rtg 5* 4* 3* 2* 1*
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151. Long Island Northeast SG Morton Eckstein *** 0 0 1 1 0
175. Bryant University Northeast PG Augusto Lorenzo *** 0 0 2 0 0
189. Wagner Northeast SF Gavriil Korolev *** 0 0 1 1 1
196. Robert Morris Northeast PF Larry Brown *** 0 0 1 1 0
197. Fairleigh Dickinson Northeast SF Jonathan Negron *** 0 0 1 1 3
226. Sacred Heart Northeast SG James Gordon ** 0 0 0 2 3
237. St. Francis-PA Northeast SG Denny Dunaway ** 0 0 0 2 2
261. Quinnipiac Northeast SG Jody Martin ** 0 0 0 2 1
310. Central Connecticut State Northeast SG Adolph Longoria * 0 0 0 0 3
312. St. Francis-NY Northeast SF John Johnson * 0 0 0 0 2
316. Mount St. Mary's Northeast C Stephen Mong * 0 0 0 0 3
324. Monmouth Northeast PF Tom Rivera * 0 0 0 0 3
I'll take the #2 ranked class in the Northeast. We're proving ourselves to be a very consistent program in recruiting.
I feel as though I've grown as a coach again. Not that I've improved in recruiting, but my offensive understanding of the game continues to improve rapidly, and I've become a little bit better scout and defense coach too, scouting moreso than defense.
Other big news:
John Burdick comes to me and says he feels he deserves a raise after all he's taught me about running an offense and all the success we've had. I agree, and grant his request. Cortez and Malcolm are still fine with the money they're making, although I worry schools will pursue them.
And then the biggest and best news.
Schwarzy comes by and says
they're finally going to improve the facilities around here. About damned time. The board's opinion of me overall hasn't changed any, but they recognize we're nowhere near as good as we were last season without
Joaquin Bravo, so they've lowered their expectations to simply winning the Northeast. This I think we can still do.
In addition, they're again raising more funds for the basketball budget. What was once one of the worst jobs in the country is now becoming a pretty good one
with three straight years of budget increases and finally a facilities upgrade. $18,930 comes down the pipeline, which by itself covers John's raise with a little left over.
For the first time ever, a job offer comes my way. And not just one, but three.
Holy Cross
Prestige: 23
Budget: $207,500
Facilities: 36 (4th/8)
League: Patriot
Recruiting Class: #326
Expectation: .500 Conference Record
Lipscomb
Prestige: 22
Budget: $255,000
Facilities: 16 (8th/11)
League: Atlantic Sun
Recruiting Class: #278
Expectation: .500 Conference Record
Florida Gulf Coast
Prestige: 26
Budget: $265,000
Facilities: 9 (9th/11)
League: Atlantic Sun
Recruiting Class: #335
Expectation: Avoid last place
And just for comparison...
Bryant
Prestige: 23
Budget: $226,430
Facilities: 0 - 12th/12 (but with upgrade coming)
League: Northeast
Recruiting Class: #175
Expectation: Win Conference
The breakdown after visits and conversations with all schools:
Holy Cross
Going from our facilities to theirs was like going from a shack to a beautiful home. Really nice for that level of basketball and the Crusaders are very much a mid-tier team in the Patriot League.
I'd be hitting the ground running on the recruiting trail with four seniors on the roster Junior
PG Floyd Farmer is the best non-senior, but after his class, the talent level drops drastically. I'd be staying in the New England area, going to Worcester, Massachusetts. I've had a bit of success recruiting in that state, so I think I could make headway pretty quickly, but we'd be in for a couple rough years.
Last winning season was 2014, when they made the NIT. 20, 19, 20, 20 wins the first four years I started coaching, with one NCAA and one NIT bid. Then they fell off the radar and are in need of restoring their former glory. The budget's what I worked with last year at Bryant and I'd be staying at a private school.
On the other hand, it's a religious private university, which I, being non-Christian, am not wholly comfortable with. Plus, if I'm going to change jobs, I want to move somewhere warmer than here.
Finally, the Patriot League is the same prestige conference as the Northeast, so it'd be a lateral move at best.
Lipscomb
The Bison impressed me with the budget they were willing to offer. They also have some intriguing underclass talent, most notably sophomore
SF Kevin Wells. It's a lot better all-around situation in terms of finances and talent than what Holy Cross offered.
Lipscomb's also in Nashville, which I loved when I was there for a national marketing competition years ago. It's the only city in Tennessee that didn't want to make me slit my throat. On the other hand, I'd also be in the same city as Vanderbilt, and all my old elitist academic jealousies and hurts would spring up. It also has a religious affiliation.
They haven't had a single winning season. That's so damned tempting to me, and honestly, if it wasn't for the religious affiliation and the Vanderbilt thing, I'd probably be telling everyone the news right now. But those are two things I just can't get past.
Florida Gulf Coast
I love the lowered expectations I would have here. Takes a lot of the stress out of it. The hugest budget to work with out of the four schools and the most prestigious, which is also nice. Junior
SG Thad Lindholm is the clear-cut star of the squad. Two seniors, though, so not much room to make my imprint right away. The overall talent level is simply awful, to be quite frank about it.
Fort Myers... I'd be on the water in a warm weather state. I don't like the Red Sox and hate the Twins, so spring training wouldn't be a huge draw for me. But water and warmth are. Basketball and baseball are the two big sports here; there's no football, so I could become a very big deal very soon.
The Eagles have had one winning season, two years ago when they went 16-15. No postseason to speak of, so there's a real chance to build myself a legacy here. Also a public school. But would I be willing to fight through some bad seasons and could I survive until I'd built the program up?
Bryant
The administration has been supportive financially far beyond what I ever expected. On the other hand, I hate the cold and I hate living in a small town, even if I've become something of a local hero. While the administration has been supportive, it also, I get the feeling, would be fine with finding someone else after one bad season or two.
The talent I've assembled on this roster easily beats any of the three schools. But there's a huge class of five juniors I'll have to replace soon and I've had a couple weak recruiting classes the last two years relative to what I brought in before them.
Ultimately, it's down to either staying put at Bryant, or going to Florida Gulf Coast.
If I do stay at Bryant, it'd only be for one more season. Once Rasmussen and Chong graduate, not even Rey's senior year could induce me to stay.
Then again, going to FGCU would allow me to move up to a better conference, as the Atlantic Sun is considered 2 prestige. It's been dominated by Jacksonville, clearly the best team in the league year in and year out. Kennesaw State is a rising power, in fact finished third in the NIT last year, but their head coach just took the gig at Kent State.
Very tough choice. Take the job at FGCU and build there like I did here at Bryant, or go one more year in Smithfield and see what other opportunities come up, if any.