On Recruiting, I’m Willing to Wait
Much of the criticism leveled at Jeff Bzdelik this season was completely understandable. His team did lose to Stetson, Presbyterian, Winthrop and UNC Wilmington, get routed twice by both Georgia Tech and N.C. State and end up 8-24 overall and 1-15 in ACC play. And he didn’t really connect with the fanbase and give it any tangible reasons to rally around him.
But there was so much vitriol thrown his way that I, for one, thought was beyond the pale. He was ripped, for instance, for what he drives, how he dresses and for his age. Let a coach win enough games and he can get away with driving a lime green Gremlin and wearing hog-washers at age 65. Given what Bzdelik went through this season, I really considered the peripheral stuff just piling on. But that’s what you might expect from a 58-year-old slave to fashion such as myself who drives a 1996 Nissan Sentra.
Another charge I considered unfair—or at the very least premature—was that he can’t recruit the kind of players Wake Forest needs to compete in the ACC. My question for that is how in the wide, wide world of sports would anybody know? None of the players he has recruited has arrived yet, much less taken the floor.
Those dead set against him use the rankings determined by recruiting experts as further proof that he’s overmatched at his job. He has yet to land a four or five-star recruit, so obviously he’s either aiming too low or he’s not got the chops to pull in the big fish. As I’ve written before, I don’t totally discount recruiting rankings, at least not in basketball. But on the other hand, I don’t worship at the altar of Dave Telep and Bob Gibbons the way it seems others do.
My own take on recruiting is that all sports have the naturals, the players so obviously talented and skillful that it’s almost impossible to miss their promise and potential. Anybody could see last season that Jared Sullinger and Harrison Barnes and Kyrie Irving were freaks, in the good sense of the term. They weren’t just special, they were extra special, the kind of player who can make an immediate impact on any college program. The same can be said for most of the top-flight talent available, though there are obvious exceptions (see: Ty Walker).
But dig just below the upper crust and the crystal ball starts to cloud up in a hurry. Study past lists of Top 150 recruits and what becomes apparent is how hard it is to distinguish between the player ranked No. 43, for instance, and the player ranked No. 86—or No. 62 from No. 118. Jeff Teague and James Johnson were both in the 50-65 range in 2007 and both were drafted in the first round after their sophomore seasons. And both contributed immediately at Wake.
The usual pattern though is the vast majority of incoming freshmen are not going to make a huge splash. They’re going to need time to put on muscle, to learn how to play defense, to understand what it takes to be good in college basketball. Who they are becomes the issue, not what they can do on the basketball court at the present time. And if they prove to have the right mental toughness, desire and discipline to go with their ability then by their sophomore or junior year they might be a player any team in the country would like to have. And if they turn out to be more into themselves than into playing a team game well, then they’re going to wash out no matter how highly they were touted or where they ended up.
And it really pains me to see a fanbase tear down a recruit who chose to go to their school simply because he’s not ranked highly enough coming out of high school. What’s wrong with giving him, and the man who recruited him, a chance?
What the NCAA Tournament proves year after year is that if you get the right people, give them time to develop and coach them up the right way, then you can be Butler—regardless of how many stars were by their names coming out of high school. Get the wrong people, and don’t bring them along and you can be fired.
I was happy to see Chase Fischer, the 6-4 sharp-shooting guard from Ripley, West Va., named to the Parade All-America first team. I’m not really sure how much credence to put on the accomplishment, but in the very least it should take a least a little of the unfounded—or again, at least premature—criticism off Bzdelik.
It’s too bad more people aren’t patient enough to wait to see what a player can do before they determine whether he’s the right player for the program and the coach who recruited him is the right man for the job. The way I see it, there’s always time for criticism after we’ve seen if the player can, or cannot, play.
Back to the main page.
By Dan Collins on 03/29/2011 (6:32 pm)
Comments
Malcontent by definition is someone who is dissatisfied and rebellious.
Given the state of Wake Forest basketball, I’m content with being a malcontent.
We fired a reasonable coach (I’m not on the Dino is great committee), replaced him with a coach of lesser repute and promptly had the worst season in modern history. I’d have to question the sensibilities of any one who was content with that situation.
It’s really OK to be upset when things are going in the wrong direction. In fact, it is expected. If we see things goind in the wrong dierection in our professional lives, we are expected to raise the red flag and STOP the problem before it becomes larger and more costly.
The guy couldn’t win with 4 star recruits. His first incoming class has only 2 star recruits. His second recruiting class is not looking any better. The 4 star class he inherited showed no signs of development.
The program he points to as “what can be accomplished” in 4 years with his recruited talent managed to make the NIT final 4. That is a huge disappointment to any ACC school, much less one that has been in the top third of the league for most of the past decade.
The guy can’t coach at this level and it’s obvious. Unfortunately we are stuck with him for another year. By the end of next season he will have done enough damage to kill our program for at least 5 years, perhaps MUCH MUCH longer.
Malcontent? You better believe it!!!
Joey D on 04/10/2011 (3:51 pm)
MarkDeac, It’s a country expression for overalls. I’m from Franklin, and sometimes it shows.
Dan on 04/10/2011 (2:25 pm)
Dear Dan,
What are “hog washers”?
MarkDeac on 04/10/2011 (2:14 pm)
Dan,
Any truth to the rumors that Jeff Battle interviewed for an assistant position at Providence earlier this week? Losing Jeff would be a huge blow to recruiting and to the program as a whole.
Paul on 04/08/2011 (9:20 am)
Lee: I’m glad you think Mr. less than 500 is the perfect coach for WFU. If we needed to clean up and change the cluture at Wake maybe we should have hired a social worker (it certainly would have been cheaper). The situation at NCSU has more to do with their AD than anything else. It seems her reputation precedes her. No one wants to work for her. Yes they are similar situations between Wake and NCSU. It may be the only coach who wants to work for Ron Wellman is his best friend. Other coaches look at Wake and say, why should I ruin my career coaching for Wake when I have winning seasons and suddenly the AD fires me and hires a friend who is a sub par coach? The one good thing about next season is that this will be or should be a referendum not only on Bzz but his best friend Ron. It is what happens next season that will finally shed light on this hiring decision, not the words of those who object to the obvious.
Craig Carter on 04/05/2011 (1:17 pm)
Just keep ripping on the Bzzz and we’ll get the reputation that follows the NCSU program… as a bunch of malcontents.. and whiners…
Lee Jackson on 04/04/2011 (9:36 pm)
I think questioning someone’s decision on hiring a sub 500 coach is not a personal attack, especially when this coach presided over historic losses this season. As far as Skip is concerned I think one could say a few things about him:
1. He cared about this university.
2. He cared about his players.
3. He believed in the concept of a student/athlete.
4. He knew how to talk to fans, the media, and to students, and to the PLAYERS.
5. He didn’t think it was necessary to publically humiliate players.
5. He was successful at what he did.
I just find it hard to beleive that there are those out there who want to criticize Skip Prosser as a tactic and a diversion to take attention away from the decision to hire the present coach and the subsequent fact that this season was one of the worst in WFU basketball season. As my mother used to say: Shame on you!
Craig Carter on 04/03/2011 (6:34 pm)
I believe recruiting is the most important part of Bzdelik’s job right now. Gaudioand Skip brought in a bad guy and guys who had no interest in school - Woods, Stewart, Skeen. Did you read Skeen’s quotes in the Charlotte Observer? He likes VCU because he can be anonymous and the professors do not know him! Look, Bzdelik needs to clean house and replace the people with others who will get the job done. Bzdelik should be judged on whether or not the people he brings in can get the job done. This year was painful, but the personal attacks on Wellman and Bzdelik are ignorant. This is big boy sports and big money sports. I will be the first to say that the buck stops with Bzdelik. We need to give him a chance.
Tony G on 03/31/2011 (6:29 pm)
No matter what anybody thinks next season should tell whether or not Bzz stays or doesn’t stay. I thought and I continue to think that this choice for coach was wrong, however we will know next season. Overall, I don’t think Coach Bz’s recruiting efforts have been that bad, however we shall see how he can coach next season with his new recruits.
Craig Carter on 03/31/2011 (1:58 pm)
Dan,
Here is an interesting article that was on the wires Wed re high school stars and college All America achievement for the past 2 seasons:
In most years, college basketball’s All-America team is almost exclusively made up of players who were awe-inducing high-school recruits—a collection of the talented and gifted. But this season, of course, isn’t most years.
View Full Image
Associated Press
Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried
.This year’s Associated Press All-America team makes it clearer still that you don’t need a bunch of blue-chip recruits to win big right now. Seven of the 15 players who made the AP’s first, second and third teams received no better than a middling three-star ranking from the recruiting site Scout.com when they were high-school seniors. By contrast, all but one of last year’s 15 All-Americans had a four- or five-star ranking, the lone exception being Syracuse’s Wesley Johnson, a two-star.
This was something of a freak occurrence. Duke freshman Kyrie Irving, who was considered an elite recruit, suffered a toe injury that shortened his regular season. Enes Kanter—arguably the top incoming big man—was ruled ineligible by the NCAA, preventing him from starring for Kentucky.
But several hyped underclassmen also simply struggled at times this season, most notably North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes, who was named to the preseason All-America team. Meanwhile, lightly regarded recruits like Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried and Notre Dame’s Ben Hansbrough made far more of themselves than what was once thought possible.
—Darren Everson
Everybody’s All-American
Recruiting rankings of college basketball’s 2010-11 All-Americans.
Player School Honor Rating
K. Faried Morehead St. 3rd team Unrated
J. Fredette BYU 1st team 2-star
B. Hansbrough Notre Dame 2nd team 2-star
M. Brooks Providence 3rd team 2-star
J. Taylor Wisconsin 2nd team 3-star
T. Holloway Xavier 3rd team 3-star
J. Pullen Kansas St. 3rd team 3-star
J. Johnson Purdue 1st team 4-star
N. Smith Duke 1st team 4-star
K. Leonard San Diego St. 2nd team 4-star
M. Morris Kansas 2nd team 4-star
D. Williams Arizona 2nd team 4-star
J. Sullinger Ohio St. 1st team 5-star
K. Walker Connecticut 1st team 5-star
J. Hamilton Texas 3rd team 5-star
Source: Scout.com
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Jerry on 03/31/2011 (10:45 am)
Here, here on some spring football news. Can Coach Grobe match Bzzzzz’ win total of 8 this season?
Class of 1977 on 03/31/2011 (10:16 am)
Dan - Thank you for bringing some rational thought into an emotional topic for us Wake Forest supporters. “Fan” is actually an abbreviation for “fanatic”, and the Wake Forest fanatics have been more vocal in this chaotic season than ever before. I appreciate your voice of reason in the maelstrom.
Matt on 03/31/2011 (8:59 am)
Clap, Clap, Clap to this article. Anyone with rational thinking should easily agree with this article.
Wes on 03/31/2011 (12:48 am)
nice article, dan. it appears that the committee who selects the parade all-america team thinks chase fischer is very good. from all accounts, anthony fields is a solid pg recruit. and codi miller mcintyre and aaron roundtree showed out at the carolina classic last weekend. espn ranked them as two of the top 5 players at the camp. the video shown on bloggersodearis impressive. it looks like the staff is getting in early on some talented players.
wake22fan on 03/30/2011 (10:43 pm)
Obviously not every reader of “My Take On Wake” appreciates the tireless efforts of Dan Collins to provide thoughtful and accurate insight into Wake Forest Sports.
Not every reader will agree with him. But to say he is influenced by Coach Bz and Ron Wellman is a completely inaccurate statement. Without Dan loyal Wake Forest supporters would never know what’s happening behind the scenes of Wake Forest Sports.
I have seen him in action and he is not afraid to ask the tough questions. Everything he writes is fair and accurate. There is no bias. He doesn’t print rumors ... only information that can be supported by the facts.
I am proud to have been acquainted with Dan for 20 years.
DT on 03/30/2011 (10:39 pm)
Dan, we who read and post on your blog often debate the best and worst Wake recruits. You’ve seen a lot of Wake Forest basketball. You’ve even written a book (which I own) about Wake Forest basketball. Who would you say was the most pleasant surprise and the worst disappointment?
John Sanders on 03/30/2011 (8:51 pm)
Would enjoy some spring football news
Dan on 03/30/2011 (6:56 pm)
I absolutely disagree with criticism on a recruit by recruit basis because the recruiting services do miss players. But, the simple truth is that recruit rankings are a matter of probabilities. There is a chance a 4/5 star might be unsuccessful, but it’s a whole lot more likely that a 2 star might be unsuccessful. Now construct a team entirely of 2 stars, and how likely are you going to be to beat the odds?
It certainly does happen, but Jeff Bzdelik is no Brad Stevens…
Tim on 03/30/2011 (5:25 pm)
Re: Napier and Lamb
Look again, according to Rivals 150:
Napier #98
Lamb #76
There is no major college program in the country operating with less than Top 150 talent. It doesn’t happen!!!
There is a difference between winning in the Horizon or CAA then making a run in the tournament and winning in the ACC at all. Butler and VCU have some high major talent playing midmajor competition.
Do we really think either team would have even made the tournament had they played in the ACC? VCU had their hands full with Florida St on a neutral court. Butler was blown out by Duke earlier in the year. I believe either school would have a hard time with NC State or Gerogia Tech and that’s the bottom of the ACC barrel.
Joey D on 03/30/2011 (3:02 pm)
I agree with you completely Dan that we need to all wait and see how Bzdelik’s recruiting pans out. As bad as this season was, I think it is important to recruit “winning guys”, or guys who have the intangibles and willing to work hard to improve their games. I think in recent years while we may have landed the 4* and 5* recruits, some of them had attitude problems or weren’t willing to buy into the team concept. All this criticism of who Bzdelik is recruiting is somewhat unwarranted considering we haven’t even seen these guys play. I look at Uconn for example…two guys, Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb, are both freshman and are having a HUGE impact on their team’s success. When I searched both of them on ESPN, neither one of them were in the “prestigious” top 150.
In order to be successful in today’s NCAA and make deep postseason runs, it is significantly more important to recruit guys that fit into your system and are willing to buy into the team. A common theme of Wake teams in the past has been loaded talent that failed to put it together during postseason play. When you look at teams like Butler and VCU, you see guys that were unheralded out of high school but had the intangibles, worked on their games, and are putting it all together. I think the guys we have like Travis McKie, CJ Harris, Tony Chennault and others have shown displays of this hardworking attitude, and just need a chance to put it together. I think we need to see how these recruits fit into the system before we judge.
Gary on 03/30/2011 (1:39 pm)
