2017 Recruiting Class Could Be The Best Yet

[hortle]

devin brooks and james milliken are the only two guys we might have landed after 2013 if we had stayed in the valley. Huff, Watson, Khyri Thomas, Ricky Kreklow, Foster, Alexander and Ballock - these are guys who, just based on their talent alone, we don't come within earshot of if we are not in the big east (minus Khyri since he was local).

[stever20]

some of the improvement though is due to McDermott coming around as a coach. He got a #78 recruiting class when they were in the Valley. last 2 classes before McDermott gets there- 198 and 154. 1st 2 classes with McDermott there- 125 and 78. I don't think it's crazy to think if there hadn't been the crazy realignment in 2013-14- that he could have kept recruiting better and better.

And if 78 is mediocre, what do you call 2016 being #84?

Also- Watson, Huff, Kreklow, Foster- all were transfers and not initial recruits.

[TBC Alum]

And if 78 is mediocre, what do you call 2016 being #84?

One scholarship to fill

[hortle]

And if 78 is mediocre, what do you call 2016 being #84?

One scholarship to fill

also recruiting class rankings are complete BS outside of the first 15 schools. What does that number even mean? For our '16 class we are bringing in a talented freshman center and point guard, and Marcus Foster. I don't care that he's a transfer - he's joining the team on the court this season, for practicality's sake he is part of the '16 class. You really think we only have the 84th best incoming class in the country? Creighton, historically, has competed for recruits against the Valley, Iowa schools, and our Red Friends down the interstate. We had P'Allen Stinnett and Andrew Bock as "highly rated" recruits - neither one of them ended their career at Creighton in a manner you would expect from the team's only 3 star recruits of the entire decade. Individual evaluation is so much more important than what a player is "rated". It depends on their grades, their exposure, their physical and skill-wise growth, the degree to which the player and his parents participate in the recruiting process. You're whitewashing our recruiting profile with your incessant use of "rankings" - when in reality the rankings only matter for the most big time schools in D-1. The kids going to those schools are the only ones getting thoroughly evaluated, week in week out. ESPN couldn't be bothered with checking out some of our commits these past couple years. I don't blame them, but to take the rankings as the Word of God is pretty ridiculous. Players from 75 down almost always have piecemeal evaluations on recruiting services websites. Sometimes these players go months without updated reports. I don't trust a ranking system that uses that level of quality of "evaluation" to rank all the recruiting classes.

Also, no, it wouldn't have been reasonable to expect Mac to "continue" to improve his recruiting "success" in the Valley, especially considering the nature of college athletics today, and where most people agree they are going to go. He tried and failed so many times to bring in a quality perimeter defender - a piece that many of the fans thought was the last of the puzzle to get out of the first weekend. Mac altered his strategy to only invest in one or two highly rated guys each cycle - because it was usually a foregone conclusion they weren't coming to CU. I never knocked him for it - its just incredibly difficult as a small Catholic institution in Omaha to bring talent from out of the woodwork. Now that he's in the Big East, it is so much easier to bring in talented players for a visit. We have a chance with every recruit we get onto campus. Before we got into the Big East, talented players never gave us the time of day

[whiteandblue77]

I would hold off on feeding the steverTroll on this, he'll battle till May 17, 2017, the final signing day of NLI's regular recruiting period.

[Omahanian]

I would hold off on feeding the steverTroll on this, he'll battle till May 17, 2017, the final signing day of NLI's regular recruiting period.

^This

[Rum_Ham]

I usually follow recruiting for Big East teams pretty closely in the offseason and have to say 2017 is shaping up to be better than recent years. The quality of this class is fueled mostly by the newcomers. Butler has three solid pledges, including top 100 forward Kyle Young, and is in position to pick up two other top 100 players in Wabissa Bede and Christian David. If Butler pulls in 3 top 100 players it would by far their best class to date, coming off an already impressive class last year.

Xavier also has 3 pledges, one top 60-ish player in Naji Marshall and two borderline top 100 guys in Jared Ridder and Elias Harden. They are heavily involved in fringe 5 star Paul Scruggs and have a legit shot at a top 15 player in Kris Wilkes. Pulling in just one of those players would easily be a top 20 class and adding both would be top 10 and probably the best class ever at Xavier on paper

Creighton already has two top 100 pledges that are great fits in their system with Mitchell Ballock and Ty-shon Alexander. Their new recruiting assistant Preston Murphy has really ramp up their recruiting game, he was the lead on Alexander and former top 50 transfer Kaleb Joseph, and is currently trying to get a commitment from top 15 player Brian Bowen (Michigan St still heavy favorite). It's safe to say none of these schools would be in the position they are in without Big East membership.

The other schools aren't really skipping a beat either. I love the class the Chris Mullin put together at St Johns, Marvin Clark and Justin Simon are two transfers that will be significant pieces going forward and Zach Brown is a legit 7 footer that is a top 25 talent as long as he stays out of trouble (watch out for the class they could put together in 2018 it could be huge). Marquette only has one three star player signed in Ike Eke and he fills a major need but we have official visits from 4 4-star players in Sep and would be surprised if we didn't land two of them (we also are very focused on two 5 star in state kids with Joey Hauser, brother Sam is on the team already, and Tyler Herro). Providence is in the final two for a top 50 guard and final four for their top target in big man Nate Watson, they only have one scholarship available after already getting a commitment from a 7 foot 4 star big man. Seton Hall has a great recruit committed with top 60 player Myles Cale and is in good shape with top 100 New York guard Isiah Washington. Nova is clearly still recruiting at a high level after picking up a top 50 wing last week and Depaul has two huge transfers already signed in Austin Grandstaff and Max Strus (beat Xavier and Butler, very good D II transfer) and already got a commitment from their top target Justin Roberts. Only team that seems down recruiting wise is Georgetown but they just lost two assistants and its still early, they have always put together solid classes. Obviously teams need to land some of these guys still but you cannot deny that the league has set themselves up for a huge influx of talent next year.

Also the ranking assigned to recruiting classes by year are not always a great indicator of how a school is recruiting. First off recruiting is cyclical, a huge class one year will usually mean a smaller class next year and thus a far lower ranking. Plus they are completely subjective and based on a small team of recruiting analysts' opinions, who have no way of seeing every player and usually bump players up if they have great showings in marquee events. I remember JaJuan Johnson was bumped up to nearly a five star a couple years ago based solely on how well he played in one tournament as just an example of how subjective it can be. Lastly they omit incoming transfers which, as stever mentioned, is an area the Big East has been dominant in. Guys like Marcus Foster, Eric Paschell, Rodney Pryor, and Rashid Gaston will all have impacts and stats similar to a mid tier 5 star high school player that benefit from more experience, yet they are not reflected at all in rankings. The Big East have several other transfers (Katin Reinhardt, Andrew Rowsey, Kethan Savage, Avery Woodson, Jevon Thomas) that will be key players next year.

If you made it through this wall of text I'll summarize by saying don't just look at yearly rankings to determine how a league is recruiting but look at all incoming talent (transfers included). Make note of the caliber of players that schools are in the mix for and the final lists that each school makes. Xavier chasing five stars this year shows they are clearly more of a destination for top players then they were in the A-10. In my opinion, the three newcomers have made great strides in recruiting while the rest of the league has continued to recruit at a similar level than they were before realignment, meaning the conference as a whole is beginning to see an overall recruiting bump as the league solidifies its identity.

[stever20]

this year does have a chance to be best class yet. Just isn't there yet...

1 thing looking at the composite- last 3 years, a top 20 class would have a final total number of 60....
A top 50 class would have a final total number of 45....

right now here's the Big East... with their current numbers....
#7 Xavier 53.94
#9 Creighton 51.25
#12 Villanova 47.94
#16 Butler 46.89(note I would argue that they already have their best class since joining already)
#30 St John's 27.60
#36 Seton Hall 25.73
#47 Providence 22.24
DePaul 19.09
Marquette 16.62

So right now have 4 top 50 classes guaranteed just about.

[Savannah Jay]

Also- Watson, Huff, Kreklow, Foster- all were transfers and not initial recruits.

Watson, Huff, and Foster will be our three best players this year, a year in which most folks (and not just Jays fans) expect the Jays to be pretty good and make the NCAAs. None would be in Omaha if not for the Big East. I am not sure why it matters that they were transfers. They are talented players that are in Omaha now because of Creighton's membership in the Big East.

I would argue that Creighton has 5 guys on our roster, right now, that are better players/prospects than anyone, not named McDermott, that we had on our team the last 5 years in the Valley (and I LOVED those guys...they just wouldn't see the floor this year). CORRECTION: The Big E, Echinique, would see the floor for us this year.

Mac infused new recruiting energy at Creighton, there is no doubt about that at all. One could argue it was trending in a positive direction. But there was going to be a "ceiling" on what kind of talent would land in Omaha if we had stayed in the Valley. That ceiling is now much higher being in the Big East. MUCH higher. To argue anything else is incredibly unenlightened.

[GumbyDamnit!]

HERE'S THE THING, STEVER...

Your comments would be accurate if not for a little inconvenience called facts.

5 recruiting cycles prior to current BE formation vs the 5 cycles since we have been together:

# of ESPN Top 100 players signed by (current) BE programs:

2008-2012 classes - 37
2013-2017* classes - 44
* not yet complete

So if the BE were to pick up even 1 or 2 more in the 2017 class, that would be a 25% UPTICK in recruiting. So yes there is undeniably a conference-wide improvement in recruiting. Thanks for playing...you'll get a copy of our home game on your way out.

The only team that has seemed to take a step back on the recruiting trails is Georgetown. And since you are a **cough, cough** fan of Georgetown, maybe you are mistaking their current struggles with the entire league. But as you now realize, you were wrong.

We 'bout done here Dog?