What Montez Mathis Would Mean To Rutgers
- Thread starter ABRU00
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The problem is that this "if" has never played out here.
I totally agree that landing Carey and Mathis would be program changing but every year we hear the same narrative and every year these kids seem to go elsewhere.
I have faith that this staff can land a high level recruit but the problem is they need to land 3-4 for them to truly be able to contend in this conference.
Mathis and doucoure would be one hell of a step in the right direction...
We haven't been in this position unless you want to put Mack and Jack on this level or dahntay jones who had some talent but not enough around him to win. We are in the head to head recruiting like never before and Steve is going to get every ounce of talent out of anyone who comes here. We are on the precipice of finally turning this shit around. And that will be with Mathis or someone else. There's no reason it shouldn't be Mathis but at the moment we are just starting the proof of concept. but if he thinks just a little about the present and near future, Rutgers is a great choice and just as good if not better than Uconn or any other school he's looking at. Uconn is not Duke or Kentucky
Ollie lucked into a ship with Calhoun 5 star talents and faded since. If Pike stepped into that situation he would have crushed it.
Pike stepped into a complete dumpster fire and made massive improvements in one year.
Terrible comparison
The two coaches definitely inherited vastly different situations. But your description of Kevin Ollie isn't completely accurate.
First, Ollie was an assistant at UCONN for two years so he actually recruited some of those kids he won the Natty with.
He inherited an APR mess & a post season ban & guided the program out of that. The next season he guided UCONN to a title -- as a No. 7 seed.
Do you know the previous time a No. 7 seed made it to the Final Four?
19 freaking 85
Last season they had a bunch of injuries still won half their conference games and 16 games overall.
They won 25 games the season before and were eliminated in the NCAA tournament by the number one seed in their region.
The season before that they won 20 games.
Would Pike have done better? Maybe and maybe not, we'll never know. But Ollie deserves more credit than you are giving him.
Reading the UConn boards, they are less than thrilled with Kevin Ollie....calling him out for not putting in the work in recruiting and how they need to bring Glenn Miller back in some capacity....they are doing the usual things fans do, sweat out recruits and call out Mathis for making a decision between two schools as not easy...
They would have an epic meltdown if Mathis picks RU, which would be more enjoyable than landing the recruit himself...
Common sense is they have 2 guards as juniors ahead of Mathis, but kids don't make proper decisions on depth charts and wind up transferring at some point if it doesn't work out. But RU will find itself a gem here in Mathis or someone smart enough to see what's being built here will join up and play elite competition in an elite league.
They would have an epic meltdown if Mathis picks RU, which would be more enjoyable than landing the recruit himself...
Common sense is they have 2 guards as juniors ahead of Mathis, but kids don't make proper decisions on depth charts and wind up transferring at some point if it doesn't work out. But RU will find itself a gem here in Mathis or someone smart enough to see what's being built here will join up and play elite competition in an elite league.
If Montez came to RU he would play a much tougher schedule than if he was in the AAC. That league is not as good as it use to be. He would be better off facing the tougher challenges by coming to RU. Our coaches are all excellent and Pikiell, Brandon Knight and Karl Hobbs all were guards on D-1 teams and can prepare players for a future in pro basketball. U Conn really struggled last year and have lost a lot of players to transfer over the last year. Many don't seem to be too happy with Kevin Ollie right now at U Conn. I think RU would be the more secure place for him at this time. He would be welcomed as someone very special at RU.
BRM/Scangg
I'm not comparing the 2 as coaches
The poster stated that Ollie won with Calhoun's kids
I stated the improved product of last year was done with EJ's kids.
That's factual.
Your statement that Coach P would have crushed it at UConn is an opinion.
A guy who can win the National Championship can coach
That happens to be my opinion.
Trashing him as a coach is silly----also an opinion.
We can evaluate the RU Hoops Program after 4 years. When the coach has a few years of his own recruits.
Hopefully we all like what we see.
I'm not comparing the 2 as coaches
The poster stated that Ollie won with Calhoun's kids
I stated the improved product of last year was done with EJ's kids.
That's factual.
Your statement that Coach P would have crushed it at UConn is an opinion.
A guy who can win the National Championship can coach
That happens to be my opinion.
Trashing him as a coach is silly----also an opinion.
We can evaluate the RU Hoops Program after 4 years. When the coach has a few years of his own recruits.
Hopefully we all like what we see.
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while the improved product of last year was largely done with EJ's kids - that was kind of preordained - - since
Pikiell was announced as the next coach at Rutgers on March 19, 2016 - when, vast majority of the key prospects were already pledged to schools
.... do have to give Pikiell credit for pulling in C.J. Gettys - who became a large piece of making it possible for others to excel!
the other essential piece of any assessment of Pikiell's competence and capabilities would be his prior track record as a coach specifically his 11 years as Head Coach at Stony Brook beginning with a hideously weak situation and building to a program that had 22+ wins the last 5 years - demonstrating an ability to build & sustain a program.
Kevin Ollie is not a fool ... and is definitely not stupid - but right now it is fair to say he is going through a period where his ability to rebuild & sustain a team will be tested
I give more credit to Napier. I'm exaggerating Ollie downfall to fit the narrative that gets Mathis to pick us ;) . We'll see where UConn goes from here but I expect their program to be less dominate than the past. Their best days are behind them
Factual yes, but not comparable in any aspect really. Eddie deserves big props for recruiting Sanders and even credit for Freeman and Nigel. But EJ lost control of Sanders in Yr1 so it's hard to see Corey playing the more disciplined game we saw developing last season under Pikiell. Landing grad transfer CJ Gettys was a very key get for RU, doubt we win 10 games without the big fella. Pikiell undoubtedly coached the max out of RU talent on defense and rebounding, day & night compared to Eddie. Let's face it, overall RU's talent last season was mid major-ish. Ollie inherited a team loaded with talent and Napier dominated in the post season for their NC.
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I keep seeing 'Ollie inherited a team loaded....'
He was part of the staff for two years before he was named head coach. He helped bring some of that taken to UCONN. That should not be ignored or glossed over.
Some people act like he was the equivalent of Barry Switzer showing up in Dallas and winning with Jimmy Johnson's team.
He was part of the staff for two years before he was named head coach. He helped bring some of that taken to UCONN. That should not be ignored or glossed over.
Some people act like he was the equivalent of Barry Switzer showing up in Dallas and winning with Jimmy Johnson's team.
Fair point, question is would Ollie bring in those recruits at another school, let's say a solid but not great program, maybe like Temple.
Important question here: if Ollie can sell Yukon as a soon-to-be Big East program vs. AAC I worry we may be the bridesmaid with Mathis.
You don't have to sell conference when you recruit UCONN, you sell UCONN, you sell championships, you show all the pictures of the players who have played at Uconn and going on to the NBA.
In the short run but in the long run you gotta win and beat good teams that people are willing to watch you beat.
If UCONN is stuck in the AAC I don't think that is gonna happen. Kids have very short memories...five years ago is an eternity to them.
Agree, AAC is an albatross around the neck for even a traditional power with a history like Yukon.
Time will tell if past performance in the Big East is a guarantee of future results in the AAC.
If recruits have short memories, that hardly helps Rutgers.I agree about winning and beating good teams.
