I'm struggling here.
On the one hand, I'd like to wait until it's official before posting further thoughts about Dwayne Polee's recruitment. Then again, from all unofficial indications, it looks like Polee has in fact made his decision, and it's St. John's.
So, I will give 10 unofficial comments.
1. Hats off to Lavin if he won the recruiting battle fair and square.
The process worked. Mark Fox did his best to get in a sleeper recruit, and we lost out. Lavin has taken teams to the highest levels while he was a head coach at UCLA. Dwayne Polee likely saw Lavin's credentials and the opportunity to play in New York, and a young coach like Fox and a college town like Athens couldn't compare.
2. If, however, it took a package deal to secure Polee's commitment, then Georgia was never the place, and St. John's won't be.
We may not like this life principle, but it's true nonetheless. Sooner or later, stuff has a way of coming back on us.
3. If UGA had an open slot on the staff due to Mark Pope's resignation, and we never offered the position to Polee, Sr., then I have new respect for Coach Mark Fox.
4. I hope that Polee, Sr.'s resignation this week at USC was just coincidental.
5. If Polee, Sr. ends up somehow as part of the coaching staff at St. John's, I would not be surprised.
6. I'd love to see Georgia bring in top-ranked recruits, but Georgia should never sacrifice principle to do so.
7. Some things are more important than winning.
8. Georgia will be truly successful when both the means and the end of recruiting are lined up.
9. It can be done.
10. It will be.
4 comments:
On the subject of Polee Sr, see the quoted portion of the linked article below. Unless Sr is going to be one of the 3 bench assistants, the idea of a double deal is not possible. Basically, if we were wanting to replace Pope with Polee Sr, it'd have meant we couldn't get Polee Jr.
http://web.sny.tv/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100505&content_id=9823572&oid=2&vkey=21
Per NCAA rules, with Hicks' addition to the St. John's staff, the school could not add any players from Rice or the New York Gauchos for two years, meaning no Kadeem Jack or Jermaine Sanders.
...
"If [Hicks] goes there [to St. John's], I can't go there anyway," Jack said after the Jordan Brand Regional Game April 17 at Madison Square Garden.
Good catch, Mr. Sanchez. I should probably edit my post, then, since I don't want it to unfairly characterize the situation.
Appreciate your contributions to the Blog.
DM
From what I had read this kid was someone that could help UGA right away. However I really think that the seeds Fox is sowing this year will really pay off next year as the team takes off. Once he shows that he can win at UGA then I think we will get a big time recruit or two for next year. With most everyone back and in the second year under Fox I expect us to be just as good at home and around .500 on the road next year. That will be good enough for an NCAA invite and show that he has the team headed in the right direction. Not signing Polee sucks but at the same time may open up a scholarship next year for an even better player.
I am not sure that package deals aren't possible - it seems to me that Andy Landers a recruit's mom as a coach. It also seemed like it didn't work out that well in the end, so I am glad we did not do it.
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