I think Duke and specifically Syracuse has missed on more recruits in the last 3 years than I can recall.....BJ Johnson, transferred out, Robeson was not playing much for a lot of this past season and they just didn't develop the kids as much would think, based on their reputation. Sanders would assuredly play at any of the schools that didn't offer, but as has been mentioned here, Sanders is electric, but for some "old timers", his showmanship type antics are going to turn people off at times.
As far as the expectations are concerned, we've seen absurd expectations placed on local recruits out of Phila (Rysheed Jordan) and NYC (Whitehead) and neither has the athletic ability of Sanders. What all 3 kids have are skill sets that eventually need to be matched with hoops intelligence and playing in game situations that are not in an up and down setting.
RU doesn't have a chance to be choosy, Sanders immediately improves RU on both ends of the floor, but I don't think this is a scenario where expectations are the issue. Sanders will have a chance to learn on the job and play through mistakes that an elite program would probably not want to see. I compare him to the kid Payton that was a lottery pick of the Orlando Magic last year, that went to Louisiana Lafayette.....yep, Lafayette.....a kid who played a ton of minutes at a mid-major, played through mistakes at a level where the spotlight isn't on him or the program and gets to the basket like nobody's business.
Sanders is not being asked to elevate the program or lead, RU is far from that aspect. It needs a personality injection and reason to watch games. I am leaning towards not knowing what or whether these antics or showboat items are a sticking point, RU needs to get players that can get RU on a path of a winning season and you can't get there without athletes.
Whether Eddie hits a homerun on every targeted recruit of not, isn't my concern....he promised that RU lacked athletes to compete and he's targeted length, strength or kids that have in most instances, raised the upside physically. Sanders is a complete blur athletically and raises the tempo on what kids should be able to score in transition, as they also are a little stronger than what we are used to seeing out of freshman or JUCO's in years past.
Sanders is likely a jump shot away from being extremely dangerous, but having him at RU for 3 or 4 years isn't a bad problem to have. if he's "too good" too soon, he's bound to leave for the next level, so take the expectations with a grain of salt, they are always higher than they should be. Ideally, he's not better than advertised, because RU needs him here longer than him being here for a just a short period of time.
