I agree wholeheartedly. I admire SP philosophy of wanting 4 year guys he can develop, but it seemed like JG kept a scholly in his back pocket for a potential homerun hire (immediate impact JUCO or transfer) that could, at any moment, land in his lap. I like that philosophy, even though team culture suffered at times. Let's face it, without Offutt, Bassett--we don't make those runs and JG is potentially still with us.

Outside of Jason Carter, who I consider a potential impact recruit, here is SP's potential 4 year recruits to date. Tell me how good you feel about these guys leading us on a magic carpet ride at this juncture:
James Gollon
Gavin Block
Rodney Culver
Mike Laster
Ellis Dozier
Jordan Dartis
Doug Taylor

No offense, those are a bunch of nice parts, but they need some leading actors to guide the way.

Careful.....people on this board don't like it if you don't praise EDoz and Jim Christian.

so are we just supposed to pretend that Saul didn't bring a 3 star transfer from Houston and a 4 star transfer from Michigan State to the team?

you're accusing Saul of not keeping a scholarship open for a potential magical transfer in spite of the fact that he only filled 12/13 scholarships his first two years and only filled this year by keeping Wadley, who was already out the door.

In summary- in 3 seasons Saul has recruited 2 high major transfers that have become major contributors to the team AND has left a scholarship open each year for the potential of grabbing more transfers, but in your mind he isn't doing what Groce did by grabbing Offutt and Bassett?

And let's not forget Groce's brilliant ability to attract other high major transfers like Kadeem Green! and Kenny Belton! and Alex Kellogg! Can't wait to see their jerseys hung in the rafters. To borrow from Knee- Oh baby what big time recruits! bang!

What did he do call him after 9:00. Ndour made a great decision, he had multiple Big East offers, he had two years to shine so he picked Ohio and now he is in the NBA. As a coach you have to be able to identify talent and convice players that you will put them in position to be successful. You don't sign people because they have long arms or big hands or they are a 6'8' two guard, you sign people because they can play. There is a 6'3" two guard out there being overlooked because of his height, if he has heart you sign them. For instance, there were certain coaches would not have signed DJ Cooper because of his stature, DJ proved them wrong.

I keep hearing what we did was impressive because not only did we lose Tony, but we played with a very short handed deck. I'll give us the not playing with Tony part, but the other 3 of the 4 other guys we were playing without were these guys. They weren't getting in even if they were healthy. We played 1 man short and while that was a very, very, very big deal, it certainly wasn't 4 guys short as many say. We just have a bench filled full of guys that SP doesn't want to play, even when healthy.

True or False: Phillips had 1 unused scholarship his 1st season.

True or False: Phillips had 1 unused scholarship his 2nd season.

True or False: Phillips was ready to let Wadley go last spring to open another scholarship when the reaction from the rest of the team caused him to talk Wadley into staying and using a red shirt.

Kenny reached out to Ohio after Jaaron transfered. Don't give Saul credit for that it fell in his lap, thank KK's fiancée.

True he gave Wadley the Deandre Jordan treatment and let Ryan Taylor walk

Let me just say 2 things:

1. I'm always in the bad mood the day of driving home from the MAC tournament sitting on my couch watching a game I had planned/packed/and hoped to be watching live with OHIO playing--like I just did today. I shouldn't be permitted to post.

2. I hope it works out. I 100% want to be wrong, but I've felt this way from almost day one. I'm hoping SP has the vision all great leaders have, doesn't get rattled, doesn't get distracted and sticks to the plan of executing the mission. Tony stays healthy this year, plan could've been right on course.

At the same time, if SP watched tonight's game and thinks to himself, "man, to play with these horses we've got to tweak our mindset just a bit. I got to rethink this finesse ball just a bit after watching what I just watched. Yes, we need stretch 4 & 5's so I can be like Bo and stick to my philosophy, but overall we'd just better get a little more athletic. We need some skilled and athletic wings for sure that can go to the tin, because as soon as Tony was gone to draw double teams, my outside shooters suddenly didn't have open looks. And without open looks we had guys really struggling to create shots. The wings we currently have are either spot shooters who cannot create off the dribble and the athletic wings we have can't shoot. And we have one that's neither--can't really create/can't really shoot either. If we're going to play straight man-to-man defense, I better get some guys that have the footwork to stop penetration. If I'm going to play man to man, I also better get a rim protector and some athletes that can get a rebound against scrappy teams like Akron/Kent."
I'm not smart enough of a basketball guy to know, but my layman's perspective from day one has been, we've got to be more athletic and with more athletes, be a little more diversified on the offensive end. Once again, hope I'm wrong.

I believe there will be pressure after year 4 if he doesn't make the dance next year....yes. Why wouldn't there be? O'Shea and Groce both got their teams to NCAA Tourneys before year 4 or in year 4. We aren't Northern Illinois. This is a program that should be built to never go 5 years in a row without making the big dance. I know I'm not the only one who believes this. Guess I just have better expectations for this program than some others on this board.

Can any die-hard Bobcat fan honestly sit here and say they wouldn't be disappointed in the SP era if he goes 4-5 years without one NCAA Tourney appearance? If it doesn't happen, he's definitely going to be on the hot seat. Nobody is saying fire him after year 4, but the heat will be on and he knows it. He didn't take this job to buy post-season home games for the next 8 years.

The inaction on upgrading facilities continues. That's what keeps Saul's job safe because we can't expect anything better until the Convo has a major renovation.

Of course Saul wants to make OHIO a special place...we all want that to happen. But can you honestly say he won't feel pressure if he hasn't made the Dance after 4-5 years?