Just seems like they’ve been more miss than hit when it comes to putting these top guys in the pros. I suspect several of their current players thought they were one and done and that ended up not being the case. Achiuwa and Wiseman were the exceptions. They would have been one and done if they had gone to Our Lady of the Lake.
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G League. I’ve never believed he’ll play in college.
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I think he’s going to skip college and go pro
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Recruits see Wiseman & Achuima going in the 1st rd and Penny is a legend. Also they have a rabid fanbase that is active online so I understand. A few guys not being one and done happens at most high level programs so unless its a long trend it doesn’t have an impact.
Its hard to consistently recruit against the programs that are putting guys in the first round
Losing Mike Miller definitely hurt them recruiting wise. Also they’ve had really bad luck with 5* guys. Trendon Watford was supposed to commit but ended up going to LSU. Wiseman was ruled ineligible. Jalen Green was going to commit but then the G-League option became a thing last minute. And they couldn’t out spend Texas for Greg Brown. I think its forced Penny to reevaluate whether the 1 and done model is even a viable option for them (its not).
I agree. We have a shot but he would have to battle Shead for PG. That would be interesting because Shead would have a year on him.
That said I think Griggs and his brother think he is ready for G league or better lol
The Memphis model is great for recruits wanting to quick-jump to the next level…but it is terrible for the conference. Hopefully Penny changes his approach and tries to build a program rather than an AAU-graduation-pitstop. We need them to be good year in and year out.
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I disagree their recruiting has gotten better overall. They have 4 top 150 guys coming in that aren’t considered one and done. Greg Brown was always a UT lean and Jalen Green was offered 500k to go the G league. If they can ever get there offense together they will be a perennial top 25 team. The program to worry about is Cincy.
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One thing Griggs said does resonate. Sampson is such a great developer of guards. Some of the smarter kids will realize that even a year under Sampson should dramatically increase their readiness for the next level. Those are the kinds of kids I would like to get.
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Agreed but recruiting is one of those things that doesn’t always make sense. Also recruiting potential one and done kids involves a lot more politics, motivations and people behind the scenes. This should be interesting test case on if the program can get him.
I think you’re right and I definitely don’t want prima donnas or drama in our program. I want kids who know they’re special but also realize a need to develop. I think Grimes is the poster child for what I’m thinking. He was super special coming out of high school but quickly realized he needed development and has been humble and a team player the entire time. I know guys like that will be hard to find, so I’m good with how Sampson is currently recruiting. This is just more of a wish list item for me.
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From all accounts Griggs is a good kid so I don’t see an issue with him. I just know they are pretty selective on who they recruit which has helped build the program to this level. I don’t expect them to chase many 5 star kids.
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One of the difficulties I see with us landing a 5-star guy is that there is significant risk to them of not playing much their freshman year (which would impact their chances of being drafted immediately after). Sampson’s defense takes time to learn, and Sampson immediately benches players who make mistakes (we’ve seen it a bunch of times this year with Roberts). It takes a special type of kid to embrace that risk over going to a team where they’ll be guaranteed playing time and opportunity.
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Maybe his brother is his “agent” !
I feel so sorry for those cheating bastards ! They have been cheating since Dana Kirk !
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Ya think!
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They had the #1 recruiting class two years ago despite losing out last minute on a 5* recruit. In what world has their recruiting improved from that? Again what I said is that the bad luck they’ve had with 5* players is making Penny reevaluate whether or not it makes sense to use the one and done model. Don’t expect them to land 5* talent going forward but instead to target 4* and 3* guys that will likely stay the 3-4 years.
From a program building standpoint I think they are recruiting better. They aren’t going after every 5 star available.
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Look the guys they have signed are nice looking players, but objectively they are worse recruits than the recruits they had two years ago. That said, personally I’ve never liked the one and done model. I’ve always thought that recruiting guys that we’ll stay 3-4 years in you’re program is more sustainable model for building a program. So I’m not saying that Memphis is going to be worse off for recruiting lower ranked players and avoiding the headache that comes with 5* talent. I’m just noting that their recruiting has in fact dipped and that I believe its intentional. I think the headaches of recruiting these 5* guys has been too much for Penny to take and he’s decided its not worth it. So they aren’t pursuing them as hard as they were. But to be fully clear when Penny took over at Memphis his intention was to be Kentucky 2.0 and land multiple 5* guys every year. So one way or another we’re seeing Memphis deviate from the original plan.