One thing that should be mentioned, it takes a unique kid to play in Sampson’s system.
Most kids do NOT want to be coached hard.
They say they do but those are just words.
Do their actions say otherwise?
Most would be NO!!
Most kids do NOT want to bring the type of defensive intensity Sampson demands out of his kids.
Many say they are but are they willing to put in the work? NO!
Most kids aren’t willing to practice rebounding the way that Sampson and his staff demand.
If you’ve ever watched one of their practices you’ll see why it takes a special kind of kid. Especially defensively and rebounding.
Sampson does NOT give a rats … about recruiting list stars and guys that think about themselves (their stats, their playing time, their draft potential etc) above the team.
In doing so this automatically eliminates 98% of the kids that Sampson may have an interest in.
So kids may see the accomplishments of the program and may even have an interest but when they TRULY see what it’s going to take to play for Sampson and his system many of them don’t want to go that route because this isn’t a “dip your toes in a little bit” program. You’re ALL IN or you’re not being looked at to potentially come here.
Coach is real good at weeding the kids out who are and aren’t.
Another thing that you can see by the kids who do come here because they want to be coached HARD is there’s a good track record of countless kids who get better from the time they arrive on campus and when they leave.
That’s why when it comes to player evaluation Coach has proven that he knows what he’s looking for and who he’s willing to commit to and invest his time in.
That’s why a lot of so called 5 star and 4 star players aren’t even looked at by Coach and his staff (as well as a lot of these kids in the portal).
I think he would like to sign three great high school kids per year. We only got Grimes because Brooks left a year earlier than he should. We took Chaney last year after Hinton did the same. This year we are forced to take a transfer because of Mills leaving abruptly. If we hadn’t lost three players unexpectedly we really wouldn’t have many transfers. Grimes this year is expected.
Since players leaving is a constant, what you’re saying is that we will probably always be in the market for transfers and will most likely sign transfers every year.
Therefore, Sampson is the type of coach that will sign transfers every year.
What he meant is we aren’t going to center our recruiting around it. The focal point of our recruiting remains our high school class. We use the transfer portal to plug holes (i.e Grimes to replace Armoni and Chaney to replace Fabian)
How Sampson recruiting in the past may not be the way he recruits moving forward. The new transfer rules give Sampson access to a portal with hundreds of players at the collegiate level that might fit the culture. He admitted this much recently in an interview. While I fully expect him to continue recruiting high school and junior college players, the transfer portal will change the way Sampson recruits moving forward, I have no doubt.
Memphis has really loaded up every year Penny has been there. Every year, he loses at least one kid to eligibility, still has far and away the best talent in the conference and finishes middle of the pack. I see no reason next year will be any different, at least until proven otherwise.
