Trent will make it through this year and future years. He is a quality gentleman who is an outstanding ambassador for LSU. Once you meet him you will know he is an outstanding person. As for the team, injuries have hurt us and the players are very young. Wait for next year!!!!!!
That's 15 players over 3 decades, UK has that on each team. No I kid, I see your point, but part of CTJ's mountain is to get the next level top talent to come to LSU and not just 1 player here and there. Something that he is making strides in. CTJ will be back next yr, the team will be better and start the foundation for yrs to come. If not he will be gone, and at worst will have bridged the gap that Brady created. Time does heal all wounds.
Exactly...LSU has fallen behind in recruitment of top players in the last 10 years. Kentucky will get the best of teh best due to the name. Like Duke and North Carolina. You were also reaching... Geert Hammink? Kenny Higgs? :rofl:
not really, swift, johnson, koundja, bass, davis, mitchell, rolle, randolph, obryant were all top recruits and in the last 10 yrs. lsu gets some top talent every few years, but never has a deep and talented roster like top programs. what ctj is doing is what brady did (but smarter) and what dale did. dale had to rely on dennis tracy. brady had to rely on charlie thompson and ctj has to rely on chris bass. btw, hamminck was a first round draft pick
that team was the only in ncaa history (i think) to have 3 first rd draft picks. there is a difference between a top recruit and a successful college/nba player---thomas and thornton were not on the natl recruiting radar but did well, koundja and tas were 5 star that may never sniff the nba. anyway, the recruiting problem is depth, which will come with ctj if he doesnt recruit too many bad students (spencer, minor), unstable people (johnson, rolle) or untalented (voogd, bass).
LSU doesn't have the same advantage in basketball recruiting as it does in football. We can't stay in state and have elite talent. One of two things can help LSU in recruiting. If you can gradually build a winning program, then you can attract national talent. The second option is to get a coach with a charismatic personality that can sell recruits on coming to LSU. Trent Johnson is definitely not the latter. I think he is a better coach than he has shown this year, but O'Bryant and Hamilton need to contribute significantly next year or else we have six posts players who don't really impact the game much.
But, this is where anyone who actually follows bball recruiting would tell you the trend arrow is going UP not down in recruiting by CTJ. So, in the immediately preceding years before 2007-8 when Brady was canned, who did he land outside of Anthony Randolph from OOS (who everyone knows, cared only about leaping to the NBA after one year)? Alex Farrer? Magnum Rolle? Now, who has Trent signed? Mr. Mississippi Basketball, Andre Stringer, practically Mr. Alabama, in Ralston Turner, now probably close to another Mr. Mississippi in Johnny O'Bryant; and he's also landed arguably the best players in LA at the time (Matt Derenbecker, and now, John Isaac)( you could also give him credit for Texas signee, KC Ross Miler). He's also gotten a Big 12 starter with plenty of PT in Justin Hamilton from Iowa State/Utah. Let's not forget, Aaron Dotson, a generally regarded top 75-100 player in the class of 2009 from Washington. Yes, you can say that he hasn't signed a John Wall, or Demarcus Cousins, but who has? Those All-world recruits tend to focus in on Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas and maybe a few others, where they have the best shot at the one and done. The TREND in LSU basketball recruiting is going up, after a pretty poor baseline in that 2005-2007 time period. What folks fail to see is that winning and rebuilding is not something that's done overnight, generally speaking. Well, unless you are (and folks, let this sink into your football centric minds), a school that has a 20,000+ arena that's filled with fans, $$s that are thrown at basketball, and $3+M to throw at a Coach (not even close to what Calipari is making). The issue isn't as much Trent's recruiting as it is, the time it takes to take HIS players and build a program. Go to any rebuilding efforts in LSU history and it's been consistent. It' take 3 or 4 years from the bottom to get back to the top. LSU's trick hasn't been getting there, it's been staying there. So, watch next year and the year after that. How good a class Trent signs in 2012, is still the key to his longevity at LSU. I guess I'd argue if recruiting is your beef, it's not flash in the pan recruiting that we need, it's year in and year out recruiting that really LSU has been lacking.
but even having all that (or close to it) doesnt mean it will happen. look at arkansas. wrt oos recruiting. if brady couldve locked down La like it is basically w fball, that would make the program consistent. greg monroe, dj augustin, byron mouton, chris duhon, etc. just getting half of the good players that left La wouldve stabilized the program. but you cant get enough of those guys unless you have a stable program. ctj needs to make consistent progress over the next few years then lsu will get all the guys it wants from La except for big fights over top 25 recruits.
Too many think they are ready for the NBA and find out quickly how big the mistake was to leave early. It's too bad LSU can not find the type players that seem to flock to places like Duke and are as worried about an education as they are the sport they are playing................of course their coach probably has a little to do with who they get and what they worry about.
I would generally agree with you, in terms of the importance of "locking down" LA. But, frankly, as long as you go back, LSU has not always "locked down" the borders. Even in Brown's era, many top LA kids left the state. But, Brown also was able to sign kids from TX, MS, or beyond. To me the key is LSU should have "brand recognition" in the South, Southwest and Southeast. LA talent being down these last few years, means CTJ would be dead if he only focused on LA. I don't think folks should overlook the signings in MS and AL, in addition to focusing on LA. Signing a kid like Stringer and Courtney from Jackson, has led to JOB's signing. I think realistically LSU had been out of places like Jackson MS, North LA, New Orleans, Mobile, for a while. CTJ has gotten back into places like that. Now, I know he's working on Houston, Dallas, as immediate next critical grounds. What's a little frustrating to the recruiting nuts, is also the casual fan's conflicting views on this. Some folks are dead set on "locking down LA's borders" as a recruiting strategy. Sign those players and we'd be good. Others will say, LSU should be recruiting nationally. Why aren't we signing OOS guys from TX, NY, West Coast. Brady I think was a little schizophrenic about what his strategy should be. Trent has been more committed to LA and the surrounding states. I think one thing you've pointed out is winning. While LSU is the LA "flagship" if they're not seen as a consistently winning program, some of the LA players are willing to go to Houston, Miss St, Ole Miss, Texas, Baylor or elsewhere nearby. If you don't have a perennial power, you have to recruit on something else--pure charisma or impure incentives. In the case of LSU's recent classes, it's based upon Trent's track record, building programs, turning relatively good talent into NBA talent. As you say, the winning that eventually comes from good coaching will build upon itself. Players do respect Trent's ability to teach them something, and that's worth something in the long term.
