Not Good (Dawgs Recruiting)

My major concerns:

1) We can't close the deal

Coming in second or third for a recruit is like being one digit off for each number on the lotto. Bunch of woulda, coulda, shoulda. There are no moral victories in recruiting. We either get the players or we don't.

2) We can't build a tradition

We get an elite player once every so often. This is the fourth recruiting class for Fox, and other than KCP, we have 3-stars or guys who aren't ranked. We're not making the big splash in recruiting that builds serious momentum. Like Calipari or not, he recruits big-time players, he wins with them, and he generally gets his pick of the next class of top-rated high school seniors. Momentum in recruiting leads to success and sustained success builds tradition.

3) Hard to Win

Georgia came in 11th out of 12 SEC teams this past season. The team below us, South Carolina, fired their coach after the season. Managing through transition is hard for any basketball team, and I think that South Carolina will end up last again next year. But that's the entire point. Georgia fired the last guy a few years ago and we all hoped that the Dawgs would make a major step forward. I particularly wanted to see us bring in some great recruits. But it didn't happen.

So when we didn't sign top players, our hope for being competitive was that the last coach's recruits would stick around. That didn't happen either.

The 2011/2012 season showed that we didn't have the horses to compete. What now?

We'll be better this coming season. No doubt. But we have so far to go. We don't have a legitimate low post scorer. With Tony Parker Georgia would have been one of the top three or four teams in the conference, in my opinion. Without him, we can still get there, but it will be a lot harder to win. My best guess is that we will move toward the middle of the SEC this year, maybe even be sixth out of the fourteen teams, but that's as optimistic as I can be today. We could very well end up in the bottom third again.

4) No Fan Base

It was good to see fans hopeful that Georgia would sign a big-time recruit. Parker's presence would have filled the stands right off the bat. We had a lot of fans ready today for some good news. After we were strung along for weeks and weeks, and then for what seemed like forever during the press conference, Tony Parker chose UCLA, going clear across the country instead of staying to play for the state school. Our fan base was deflated. "We didn't really care anyway," our fans groused. After a while, even the guys who like hoops will decide that our program isn't getting anywhere.

5) No Elite Recruiters

How did we miss out on all of the top big men in the state? Here's how. UGA doesn't have ties to the best players. When Felton was let go, UGA opted to give the basketball program reins to a guy from out west. Fox might be a great hire, but I would submit that the jury is still out.

I question his understanding of recruiting. His first major move was to bring in out-of-state assistant coaches. That's not the way the game is played, folks. To recruit with the best, you have to have the right staff. Nothing against Fox, Palmore and others, but they're being out-recruited by Memphis, Georgia Tech, UCLA, Alabama, Auburn, Virginia and Maryland.

Wrap-up: Missing on Tony Parker was a big deal. Here's hoping Tevin Glass is eligible and that he will consider coming to UGA.