Recruiting
- Thread starter Racpack
- Start date
PessimisticallyHopefulPragmatist you are one of the best posters on this board. A great fan who is objective and wants us to get better.
There is no reason we can’t be a consistent top ten team. We have done it only once when Nick and Anthony won and we finished 9th. We are in the 2nd or 3rd best state for recruiting, have a top notch practice facility, Jersey Mike’s Arena is packed with raving fans, administrative support is there, we are in the Big Ten Conference. and we have the SKWC with a healthy bank account
So why don’t we do better? I don’t know. I do know that when suggestions are offered a number of posters get defensive and criticize those suggesting ways to improve. I believe a true fan is not blindly loyal. If they are, it will be hard to improve.
Every program has things go wrong. The good ones examine their problems and improve on the mistakes. In the last year or 2, we failed to hire a heavyweight coach, saw Ashnault leave for another program, saw Leonardis quit as head of the SKWC, saw a former top 5 recruit transfer, watched a former national champ win a title at Michigan, next year’s current recruiting lacks a top 200 kid, and we have a history of top recruits not meeting expectations.
Yes, there are probably good reasons for why things go wrong. My question is what are we doing to improve.
I love this program as most of us do. We just can’t put our head in the sand if we want to get better.
Pessimistically, keep posting and suggesting. Bill has posted that you are a true Rutgers fan and I believe him.
There is no reason we can’t be a consistent top ten team. We have done it only once when Nick and Anthony won and we finished 9th. We are in the 2nd or 3rd best state for recruiting, have a top notch practice facility, Jersey Mike’s Arena is packed with raving fans, administrative support is there, we are in the Big Ten Conference. and we have the SKWC with a healthy bank account
So why don’t we do better? I don’t know. I do know that when suggestions are offered a number of posters get defensive and criticize those suggesting ways to improve. I believe a true fan is not blindly loyal. If they are, it will be hard to improve.
Every program has things go wrong. The good ones examine their problems and improve on the mistakes. In the last year or 2, we failed to hire a heavyweight coach, saw Ashnault leave for another program, saw Leonardis quit as head of the SKWC, saw a former top 5 recruit transfer, watched a former national champ win a title at Michigan, next year’s current recruiting lacks a top 200 kid, and we have a history of top recruits not meeting expectations.
Yes, there are probably good reasons for why things go wrong. My question is what are we doing to improve.
I love this program as most of us do. We just can’t put our head in the sand if we want to get better.
Pessimistically, keep posting and suggesting. Bill has posted that you are a true Rutgers fan and I believe him.
There has also been many positives:
We continued our string with Multiple All Americans.
Took a R16 graduate and he achieved All American Status at RU
Seabass improvement on international scene under Jeff Buxton
It is ok to want more (We all do).
We continued our string with Multiple All Americans.
Took a R16 graduate and he achieved All American Status at RU
Seabass improvement on international scene under Jeff Buxton
It is ok to want more (We all do).
i'm not a frequent poster so take what about to post with a grain of salt. i'm not a ru grad,and barely made it out of belleville h.s. i am a n'j resident who supports his state u................i believe rutgers u has a image problem. we have had so much bad press over the years with scandals and such, that student athletes and their families view us in a bad light. not to mention our lack of tradition as far as athletics are concerned...........i mean we have a huge hole to climb out of to change the perception of this univ.. a school the citizens of n.j can give two shits about.. we are not a college state. we compete against pro sports as far as interest is concerned........the birth place is not going to cut it any more. how this image problem is solved i haven't a clue.....please forgive me for punctuation i must have been absent for that lesson.
See? This is the extent of his ability to respond with anything coherent. And SCNJ approves by emoticon. Neither of those two can offer anything meaningful. Just giggle, wave their pom-poms, or lie on the floor while kicking their feet and screaming mommy, you don't love me anymore.
What suggestions? Show me the substantive or specific suggestions. The below post is just a bunch of broad generalizations to review and change, and implications that Rutgers isn't doing anything and is littered with issues. Moreover, there's absolutely no acknowledgement of our successes and changes, and that the claimed issues, like top recruits not meeting expectations, occur everywhere.
In the last 6 NCAA tourneys, we've had 13 AAs, 2 national champs, and multiple AAs each year. That's a problem and disappointing 🧐🧐? I get we all want more AAs, team trophies, and numerous elite recruits each year, but stop pretending that we're failing when we just started devoting resources to wrestling and being a top tier program the last 10 years. Many schools have a giant head start and tradition. I'll recycle an earlier post from Jan 2021...
Here's a quick comparison:
In 11 seasons at Hofstra, Tom Ryan had 11 AAs and never had a finalist (3 of those AAs came in yr 11). In his 1st 4 years at tOSU, he had 3 national champs and 15 AAs, and since then in 14 seasons has gone on to win a team title, 7 top 3 team finishes at NCAAs, had 12 individual NCAA champs and 53 AAs. In 11 seasons here, Goodale had 8 AAs, and in his 12th season, he had 2 national champs for a total of 10 AAs. [add 5 more AAs to make it 15] Did Ryan suddenly start recruiting better when he got to tOSU? If that doesn't tell you that brand, support, history, and overcoming those club and HS coach and parent biases, then I don't know what will.
Pessimistically's Post:
"Yours is a fair post. Honesty comes hard when mixed with personal relationships, loyalty, and emotion. I've never called for Goodale to be replaced. I"d like him to be a smarter manager. There may be a big opportunity there now to utilize Buxton better. Beyond that, things have to change and without change, there will be little if any further improvement. It's not just a money issue, but that was a good excuse until we learned there isn't a big money problem. There's lots of evidence of systemic problems if someone wants to do an honest analysis, followed by an action plan to address opportunities for improvement."
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I'm one to admit when I'm wrong. You can write in sentences, assuming you didn't need help. Is this any indication that we might actually be able to have a constructive dialog? I will give you the benefit of the doubt and respond to your post in two or more postings beginning this evening.
Penn State had a guy rape kids in a shower for over a decade. Doesn't seem to have bothered them much. The lack of tradition I agree, wrestling got off the chopping block 15 yrs. ago with 3.4 scholarships and full funding of the program just 6 or 7 yrs. ago. There's still a lot of catching up to do but it's come a long way. The question remains has Goodale brought Rutgers as far as he can or does, he have more in the tank?
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"...bothered them much" Do you mean in their capacity to attract athletes? Otherwise, I suspect they were more than bothered.
About whether or not Goodale has reached his highest level of incompetence, I don't know but do believe his approach has significantly stagnated. I look at it more as a matter of what gets done rather than who does it to the extent that the person doing it can.
Well, my post certainly went in a direction I never thought it would.
There are at least three things here to address. First, I will acknowledge that my opinions are based only on what I read and see. When I've asked questions, I've been told I don't have a right to know or don't deserve an answer. Despite that, it isn't terribly difficult to recognize an inference of problems. That's why I ask questions, and that's why I point out my observations. I always hope that my comments will start a constructive discussion.
I have made suggestions, even if on a higher process level. Implementing anything requires a more robust examination of the program and identifying issues and actions to improve, but that also requires participation from people close to the program. I am not close in terms of participation or geography. However, I could lead the task of process improvement, or once could when I was closer geographically.
I will not outline anything in detail when I can't even get past the point where the need is understood. Why would I spend the time to do that when the premise isn't accepted? A great deal of time goes into such work.
"and implications that Rutgers isn't doing anything and is littered with issues" In the absence of any indication that Rutgers is doing something and refusal to discuss it, well, of course.
"absolutely no acknowledgement of our successes" (sic). There is plenty of that, and more than enough people do it when it happens. If you are speaking about me specifically, it goes deeper into who I am. I'm willing to expand on that should anyone want to know.
As for top recruits not succeeding at other colleges, who cares? I don't. I suspect you do because it gives you comfort when it happens at Rutgers. Programs like Penn State, Okie State, Iowa, and ... routinely attract those top wrestlers and inject them into very competitive environments. They can better afford to lose some. Rutgers must make good on the relatively few it gets. There should never be any comfort in knowing you have good company in failure.
Part 2 tomorrow.
A really odd response. Not sure how he came to that question.
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Shocker another Delbarton kid goes Ivy/Princeton. We will probably get a random Delbarton kid every once in while but 98% of them won’t come to RU regardless of the coach, recent successes, etc.
Hope someone like Olivieri or White kicks his butt in a couple years. I already don't like him. Did I ever mention I can't stand Princeton? Go RU!
MatScouts reports that Jack Zaleski of Middletown South committed to Rutgers. Anyone have details or info on him?
Not sure if true but I can tell you for a fact that he’s one of the hardest working wrestlers you’ll ever come across. Absolute mad man in the practice room.
Middletown South wrestled Brick Memorial in the sectional finals last year. Zaleski had to face Talmadge who is now a 2x state champ. Zaleski had him cradled at one point but Talmadge was able to break free and ended up winning 2-1 or something. If I remember correctly, Zaleski hit a reversal a split second after the 3rd period ended or he would have had it.
Point is he can hang with anyone in the state. I’m not sure if he’ll beat Santaniello, but I do think he can beat Stanich and Vasquez if he’s in their weight classes. Not sure how those weights will shake out for states, but I think Zaleski is a top 5 senior in the state.
Point is he can hang with anyone in the state. I’m not sure if he’ll beat Santaniello, but I do think he can beat Stanich and Vasquez if he’s in their weight classes. Not sure how those weights will shake out for states, but I think Zaleski is a top 5 senior in the state.
Looks strong, has two years to develop further, still growing and may settle in at 165?
koleszar said:
Well, my post certainly went in a direction I never thought it would.
Well, my post certainly went in a direction I never thought it would.
How have I misunderstood your post?
This is the second time you've called me out. I really don't want to get into it with you and try to avoid conversing with you. Nothing I say is going to help your reading comprehension.
Definitely seems like a solid pickup if he continues to develop and helps build quality depth, but hopefully we can start landing some more nationally ranked guys again to keep pace with the B1G.
