Isaih Moore - Pearl River CC- 6’10 PF - ST. JOHN'S (Signed)

WTF is happening? These are nowhere near the best players available. Holy shit.

Take a deep breath and trust the process. He will win 20 or more games within his first two seasons as HC. You heard it here first.

How about letting the guy coach and see what he can do before you declare he can't win with the talent he's getting.  CMA knows how to find kids that fit his system and he'll get the most of them, he's done it everywhere he's been.  All those stars and everything look nice when looking at it on paper, but you have to make it work and one thing CMA knows how to do is make his rosters work.

Here's a couple of CMA's recent starting lineups and where the guys were ranked out of high school.

2016-2017 Starting Lineup
Jaylen Barford - Unranked/2-star out of high school (JUCO)
Daryl Macon - Unranked/2-star out of high school (JUCO)
Dusty Hannahs - Unranked/2-star out of high school (7 PPG TTU Transfer)
Dustin Thomas - 3-Star on Rivals, Unranked on other sites, (4 PPG Transfer)
Moses Kingsley - 4-Star on all ranking sites

Finished 26-10, Made it to SEC Championship Game, 8-Seed in NCAA Tournament.

2017-2018 Starting Lineup
Jaylen Barford - Unranked/2-star out of high school (JUCO)
Daryl Macon - Unranked/2-star out of high school (JUCO)
Anton Beard - 4-star ESPN, 3-Star 247/Rivals out of high school
Dustin Thomas - 3 Star on Rivals, Unranked on other sites, (4 PPG CU Transfer)
Daniel Gafford - 4-star on all ranking sites

Finished 23-12 Record, Made it to SEC Semi-Finals, 7-Seed in NCAA Tournament

And I can go back as far as his Mizzou elite 8 team which will look pretty similar as well.  I'm going to take it, that if can do that in the Big 12 and SEC that are stacked with hall of fame coaches and known cheaters, he'll manage against the powerhouses of Creighton, DePaul, Providence, and Butler.   

Awesome post.

Ok but Anderson has implemented this recruiting approach with success and I’m defining success as never having a losing season. So generally speaking, no reason to believe it can’t be successful now.

My issue isn’t that you question the talent level being brought in, it’s the notion that he can’t win in the BE with the level of talent he’s bringing in. History shows us that he will win, regardless of the rankings of the recruits he bring in. Two separate issues.

So I think there are layers to this.

I think his previous winning shows he's a competent coach, he can motivate a team, and his style of play can be successful.

However the landscape in college basketball has changed a lot over the past decade and there are things about his past recruiting and geographical history that are concerning.

Just as it's fair to be optimistic about his coaching it's equally fair to be concerned about recruiting.

If you look at what every other school is bringing back and bringing in we are in a distant last. While I think Coach Anderson will be able to coach up guys the gap is still too great to think we will be able to compete to be a top 5 team in conference.

Even this year it's uphill. I think we can be competitive and steal some games and have a strong out of conference record to be in the hunt but next year what happens? Year after that? What happens if we fall short this year? Do you expect it to get better next year without Heron and potentially LJ?

These are honest questions. This isn't having lack of support or not rooting for the team to do well. It's just alarming.

How about letting the guy coach and see what he can do before you declare he can't win with the talent he's getting.  CMA knows how to find kids that fit his system and he'll get the most of them, he's done it everywhere he's been.  All those stars and everything look nice when looking at it on paper, but you have to make it work and one thing CMA knows how to do is make his rosters work.

Here's a couple of CMA's recent starting lineups and where the guys were ranked out of high school.

2016-2017 Starting Lineup
Jaylen Barford - Unranked/2-star out of high school (JUCO)
Daryl Macon - Unranked/2-star out of high school (JUCO)
Dusty Hannahs - Unranked/2-star out of high school (7 PPG TTU Transfer)
Dustin Thomas - 3-Star on Rivals, Unranked on other sites, (4 PPG Transfer)
Moses Kingsley - 4-Star on all ranking sites

Finished 26-10, Made it to SEC Championship Game, 8-Seed in NCAA Tournament.

2017-2018 Starting Lineup
Jaylen Barford - Unranked/2-star out of high school (JUCO)
Daryl Macon - Unranked/2-star out of high school (JUCO)
Anton Beard - 4-star ESPN, 3-Star 247/Rivals out of high school
Dustin Thomas - 3 Star on Rivals, Unranked on other sites, (4 PPG CU Transfer)
Daniel Gafford - 4-star on all ranking sites

Finished 23-12 Record, Made it to SEC Semi-Finals, 7-Seed in NCAA Tournament

And I can go back as far as his Mizzou elite 8 team which will look pretty similar as well.  I'm going to take it, that if can do that in the Big 12 and SEC that are stacked with hall of fame coaches and known cheaters, he'll manage against the powerhouses of Creighton, DePaul, Providence, and Butler.   

OK I'll bite....

Jaylen Barford was a 6'4 PG who was a 4 star with offers from Bama, Xavier, Auburn, Cincy, Texas Tech, Mizzou,

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2016/jaylen-barford-1466

Daryl Macon was good out of high school. He was 3 star guy with offers from Mississippi, Miss St, Memphis.

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2016/daryl-macon-1901

So lets stop with the narrative they were 2 star unranked guys. These guys were significantly better than any JUCO we've been involved with so far.

So I think there are layers to this.

I think his previous winning shows he's a competent coach, he can motivate a team, and his style of play can be successful.

However the landscape in college basketball has changed a lot over the past decade and there are things about his past recruiting and geographical history that are concerning.

Just as it's fair to be optimistic about his coaching it's equally fair to be concerned about recruiting.

If you look at what every other school is bringing back and bringing in we are in a distant last. While I think Coach Anderson will be able to coach up guys the gap is still too great to think we will be able to compete to be a top 5 team in conference.

Even this year it's uphill. I think we can be competitive and steal some games and have a strong out of conference record to be in the hunt but next year what happens? Year after that? What happens if we fall short this year? Do you expect it to get better next year without Heron and potentially LJ?

These are honest questions. This isn't having lack of support or not rooting for the team to do well. It's just alarming.

Where are you guys getting this from?  I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm genuinely curious... Because there's absolutely no facts to support the claims that his recruiting has been an issue in the past.  As I posted earlier his last 2 classes were both top 25 classes, he's always got his fair share of 4-star recruits, and he'll land a 5-star every now and then, he's consistently landed top JUCO players and they've performed at a high level, and he's consistently landed under the radar guys that outplay their rankings.  It's impossible to play in multiple high major conferences and NEVER have a losing.

At Arkansas, it just didn't work out, it wasn't because he was a bad recruiter or anything like that.  He had the 3rd best winning percentage in the conference among the active coaches... And keep in mind this is during a time where several SEC coaches were getting busted in the FBI probe and cheating, and he still was beating those teams.  At Arkansas the standards are very high, if you ain't competing for National Championships your gone, they don't care who you are, they fired the one coach that won us a National Championship, so that should tell you right there all you need to know.  If CMA had been coaching at any other school outside of Kentucky in the SEC he'd still be employed there. 

OK I'll bite....

Jaylen Barford was a 6'4 PG who was a 4 star with offers from Bama, Xavier, Auburn, Cincy, Texas Tech, Mizzou,

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2016/jaylen-barford-1466

Daryl Macon was good out of high school. He was 3 star guy with offers from Mississippi, Miss St, Memphis.

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2016/daryl-macon-1901

So lets stop with the narrative they were 2 star unranked guys. These guys were significantly better than any JUCO we've been involved with so far.

Those were their rankings coming out of JUCO that you posted.  I clearly posted "Out of High School"  Both were unranked players coming out of high school. Daryl Macon was 5'9 in high school until about his junior year with 0 high major offers, played at Parkview High School in Little Rock, about 45 minutes from my hometown, I followed his recruitment closely, he DID NOT have any of those offers you posted on Rivals coming out of high school.  Once Arkansas offered him after his first JUCO season, then those other offers came in that you're seeing on Rivals.

And not sure how much you keep up with JUCO rankings.... but jucorecruiting.com posted an article about Vince Cole, said he's a top 10-15 JUCO player, that's about the same ranking as Macon and Barford on that site. 

So I think there are layers to this.

I think his previous winning shows he's a competent coach, he can motivate a team, and his style of play can be successful.

However the landscape in college basketball has changed a lot over the past decade and there are things about his past recruiting and geographical history that are concerning.

Just as it's fair to be optimistic about his coaching it's equally fair to be concerned about recruiting.

If you look at what every other school is bringing back and bringing in we are in a distant last. While I think Coach Anderson will be able to coach up guys the gap is still too great to think we will be able to compete to be a top 5 team in conference.

Even this year it's uphill. I think we can be competitive and steal some games and have a strong out of conference record to be in the hunt but next year what happens? Year after that? What happens if we fall short this year? Do you expect it to get better next year without Heron and potentially LJ?

These are honest questions. This isn't having lack of support or not rooting for the team to do well. It's just alarming.

You need to have some guys on your team that aren’t expecting to be treated like they’re special.

How can you be so sure McGriff, Champagnie, Dunn, Sears and Rutherford won’t work well with the current players and compliment their abilities?

Just because a player isn’t here to score doesn’t mean we don’t need him on our team. These guys can get after it. I think once you get a look at it, you’ll agree, you’ll like this new trying harder style more than last year’s “Ahh, #$%^ it” style.

Where are you guys getting this from?  I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm genuinely curious... Because there's absolutely no facts to support the claims that his recruiting has been an issue in the past.  As I posted earlier his last 2 classes were both top 25 classes, he's always got his fair share of 4-star recruits, and he'll land a 5-star every now and then, he's consistently landed top JUCO players and they've performed at a high level, and he's consistently landed under the radar guys that outplay their rankings.  It's impossible to play in multiple high major conferences and NEVER have a losing.

At Arkansas, it just didn't work out, it wasn't because he was a bad recruiter or anything like that.  He had the 3rd best winning percentage in the conference among the active coaches... And keep in mind this is during a time where several SEC coaches were getting busted in the FBI probe and cheating, and he still was beating those teams.  At Arkansas the standards are very high, if you ain't competing for National Championships your gone, they don't care who you are, they fired the one coach that won us a National Championship, so that should tell you right there all you need to know.  If CMA had been coaching at any other school outside of Kentucky in the SEC he'd still be employed there. 

Which of the following don't belong in the group?

A) Alabama
B) Missouri
C) Arkansas
D) New York

His entire network of his 20 year coaching career is based in the south. I think he's landed 1 recruit east of the Mississippi before coming to St. John's (Kim English).

I have no issue with coaching up guys and think there are teams in the Big East who do that and do that well (Seton Hall, Providence, Butler, Xavier, Creighton) but they are all getting better players in year after year.

We saw with Mullin that the Big East is no place to learn on the job. Macon is building some pipelines up in NYC and we're taking some chum to hopefully land a shark soon. Cost of doing business in grassroots. I'm not sure why we didn't add Andy Borman on staff and we would have got some really good guys off the rip. Not hiring him we're can pretty much assure ourselves we're not getting any guys from the Rens arguably top 2 program in NY.

These miscues cost Norm Roberts his job. Cost Lavin his job. Cost Mullin his job. NY is tough.

You need to have some guys on your team that aren’t expecting to be treated like they’re special.

How can you be so sure McGriff, Champagnie, Dunn, Sears and Rutherford won’t work well with the current players and compliment their abilities?

Just because a player isn’t here to score doesn’t mean we don’t need him on our team. These guys can get after it. I think once you get a look at it, you’ll agree, you’ll like this new trying harder style more than last year’s “Ahh, #$%^ it” style.

Outside of Dunn. I'm not sure any of the players we brought in are better than existing players.

Outside of Mustapha and LJ is there anyone returning you're extremely confident in giving extended minutes to?

What is our path to scoring to 75 points a game?

Those were their rankings coming out of JUCO that you posted.  I clearly posted "Out of High School"  Both were unranked players coming out of high school. Daryl Macon was 5'9 in high school until about his junior year with 0 high major offers, played at Parkview High School in Little Rock, about 45 minutes from my hometown, I followed his recruitment closely, he DID NOT have any of those offers you posted on Rivals coming out of high school.  Once Arkansas offered him after his first JUCO season, then those other offers came in that you're seeing on Rivals.

And not sure how much you keep up with JUCO rankings.... but jucorecruiting.com posted an article about Vince Cole, said he's a top 10-15 JUCO player, that's about the same ranking as Macon and Barford on that site. 

I'll confirm with Eric Bossi of Rivals tomorrow. I'll also ask Evan Daniels as well as Corey Evans + Justin Young who are all more south guys.

Outside of Dunn. I'm not sure any of the players we brought in are better than existing players.

Outside of Mustapha and LJ is there anyone returning you're extremely confident in giving extended minutes to?

What is our path to scoring to 75 points a game?

Take better shots, play to our strengths and create extra possessions.

About 50 from LJ, MH, Dunn and Williams. About 25 from the rest.

I'll confirm with Eric Bossi of Rivals tomorrow. I'll also ask Evan Daniels as well as Corey Evans + Justin Young who are all more south guys.

You probably should have done that before posting if you aren't sure.  Because Daryl Macon's story is well known in Arkansas, he went from the 5'9 kid shooting 3's in high school at Parkview to a JUCO star, and finally got that Arkansas offer he dreamed of.

Also, no need for the name dropping, you can just simply use google.  There's articles and videos out there.

Edit: After 15 seconds of just simply googling "Daryl Macon 2014 recruiting"

This is one of the first articles of coming up.  It's from Richard Davenport one of the longest and most respected writers in Arkansas, who covered Macon's recruitment.

https://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2014/apr/22/macon-taking-steps-be-hog/

Notice how the article mentions no offers, just interest.  He didn't even have an Arkansas offer out of high school, and they had been watching him since he was in the 9th grade.

Arkansas and Mississippi State were the two schools showing him the most interest. Xavier, Minnesota and Marquette also showed interest.

Macon will play for former Little Rock Parkview and Ole Miss guard Jason Flanigan, who’s the son of Patriots head coach Al Flanigan.

“I'm going to leave in July and I plan on working out until I leave,” Macon said. “I was going to play AAU, but the juco coaches don't want me to get hurt.”

In order to get colleges to notice him, Macon put in countless hours of work on his game.

“It took awhile, but it did develop,” Macon said. ”It took a lot of early mornings and a lot of late nights. I just kept faith in myself and knew that I could do it and it happened. I can say that I surprised a lot of people. Nobody ever thought I would get this good, but all I had to do was keep faith in myself and it happened.”

And let you guys know something about Arkansas, every coach is going to get fired at Arkansas
[…]
For example, Nolan Richardson […] the moment he stopped making final fours, people in Arkansas turned on him, they fired and ran him out of town. 

Well that's not exactly what happened, is it. Richardson made the FF in 95 and in 96 the Sweet 16. In the six years after that he

made the NIT
lost in the NCAA 2nd round
lost in the NCAA 2nd round
lost in the NCAA 1st round
lost in the NCAAA 1st round

During the next season when he was 13-14 he accused the university of racism - "Richardson has said racial discrimination included Broyles’ not extending his contract and not offering him a raise"; he also compared himself to a slave at a time when he was making a million dollars a year: “I did not come over on that ship, so I expect to be treated a little bit different,”  - and then publicly "dared Broyles to fire him during a postgame news conference because, "If they go ahead and pay me my money, they can take this job tomorrow."" Which Broyles promptly did.

https://www.goupstate.com/news/20040526/richardson-says-racial-remarks-sparked-firing
https://www.si.com/vault/2003/02/24/8097444/hog-fight-the-feud-between-arkansas-and-former-coach-nolan-richardson-is-personaland-racial
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/13814160/former-arkansas-coach-nolan-richardson-years-anger-softened

It's fair to criticize but at least have your facts straight if you're going to do so.

Keep the facts straight, thanks for the advice, you're like Diogenes, nearly.

Well that's not exactly what happened, is it. Richardson made the FF in 95 and in 96 the Sweet 16. In the six years after that he

made the NIT
lost in the NCAA 2nd round
lost in the NCAA 2nd round
lost in the NCAA 1st round
lost in the NCAAA 1st round

During the next season when he was 13-14 he accused the university of racism - "Richardson has said racial discrimination included Broyles’ not extending his contract and not offering him a raise"; he also compared himself to a slave at a time when he was making a million dollars a year: “I did not come over on that ship, so I expect to be treated a little bit different,”  - and then publicly "dared Broyles to fire him during a postgame news conference because, "If they go ahead and pay me my money, they can take this job tomorrow."" Which Broyles promptly did.

https://www.goupstate.com/news/20040526/richardson-says-racial-remarks-sparked-firing
https://www.si.com/vault/2003/02/24/8097444/hog-fight-the-feud-between-arkansas-and-former-coach-nolan-richardson-is-personaland-racial
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/13814160/former-arkansas-coach-nolan-richardson-years-anger-softened

Keep the facts straight, thanks for the advice, you're like Diogenes, nearly.

I'm not even going to engage in a back and forth with you, this is my one and only reply to you because you are nothing but a troll, and I honestly don't care about any of the stuff you talk about.

But for others, I would encourage them to watch the 40 minutes of hell documentary, read Nolan's book, and watch the many of interviews that discusses Nolan's time at Arkansas, these are on youtube.  Nolan dealt with racism on a daily basis, including death threats and people killing his animals on his ranch. This information has been confirmed from interviews with former players, coaches, and media members. 

And Foad this is my last ever response to you.  Have a good one.

This is actually kinda funny how 2 guys New York, who probably can't name 3 cities in Arkansas without google and probably didn't know the names of 3 Razorback basketball players until CMA was hired here, are trying to tell me the history of Arkansas and Arkansas basketball.  I lived in Arkansas all my life and I currently live 2 miles from the university, but you guys are trying to tell me the history... 

You probably should have done that before posting if you aren't sure.  Because Daryl Macon's story is well known in Arkansas, he went from the 5'9 kid shooting 3's in high school at Parkview to a JUCO star, and finally got that Arkansas offer he dreamed of.

Also, no need for the name dropping, you can just simply use google.  There's articles and videos out there.

Edit: After 15 seconds of just simply googling "Daryl Macon 2014 recruiting"

This is one of the first articles of coming up.  It's from Richard Davenport one of the longest and most respected writers in Arkansas, who covered Macon's recruitment.

https://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2014/apr/22/macon-taking-steps-be-hog/

Notice how the article mentions no offers, just interest.  He didn't even have an Arkansas offer out of high school, and they had been watching him since he was in the 9th grade.

Arkansas and Mississippi State were the two schools showing him the most interest. Xavier, Minnesota and Marquette also showed interest.

Macon will play for former Little Rock Parkview and Ole Miss guard Jason Flanigan, who’s the son of Patriots head coach Al Flanigan.

“I'm going to leave in July and I plan on working out until I leave,” Macon said. “I was going to play AAU, but the juco coaches don't want me to get hurt.”

In order to get colleges to notice him, Macon put in countless hours of work on his game.

“It took awhile, but it did develop,” Macon said. ”It took a lot of early mornings and a lot of late nights. I just kept faith in myself and knew that I could do it and it happened. I can say that I surprised a lot of people. Nobody ever thought I would get this good, but all I had to do was keep faith in myself and it happened.”

Confirmed with Bossi both guys were 3 stars out of high school. Barford jumped up to 4 star in Juco. He also added that Anderson will win with these guys.

Confirmed with Bossi both guys were 3 stars out of high school. Barford jumped up to 4 star in Juco. He also added that Anderson will win with these guys.

I found absolutely nothing on Macon being ranked anywhere outta high school. 

Barford's compilation ranking was #454 nationally (#330 per 247 Sports, which technically made him a 3-star according to their rankings).  I doubt #454 would garner a 3-star on any recruiting site.

As, Making Plays said, you could've simply looked for the information on your own.  But I've long known the deal.

I'm not even going to engage in a back and forth with you, this is my one and only reply to you because you are nothing but a troll, and I honestly don't care about any of the stuff you talk about.

But for others, I would encourage them to watch the 40 minutes of hell documentary, read Nolan's book, and watch the many of interviews that discusses Nolan's time at Arkansas, these are on youtube.  Nolan dealt with racism on a daily basis, including death threats and people killing his animals on his ranch. This information has been confirmed from interviews with former players, coaches, and media members. 

And Foad this is my last ever response to you.  Have a good one.

So to recap.

You said that Richardson was run out of town "the moment he stopped making final fours." Whereas he was fired six years after making a final four and only after calling his AD a racist, comparing himself to a slave and daring the AD to fire him. Which facts show you to be something of a bald faced liar. And my punishment for that is going to be that you're never ever ever going to speak to me again. Fine by me, I didn't make you look like a buffoon to lure you into conversation, I did it to delight my myriad fans. Hashtag mission accomplished.

I found absolutely nothing on Macon being ranked anywhere outta high school. 

Barfield's compilation ranking was #454 nationally (#330 per 247 Sports, which technically made him a 3-star according to their rankings).  I doubt #454 would garner a 3-star on any recruiting site.

As, Making Plays said, you could've simply looked for the information on your own.  But I've long known the deal.

Well considering that Rivals saw multiple database updates and Scout archives have been wiped and didn't carry over to 247 Sports you wouldn't be able to google it. So I went direct to the source. What's the issue here? What deal do you know of?!?!

Well considering that Rivals saw multiple database updates and Scout archives have been wiped and didn't carry over to 247 Sports you wouldn't be able to google it. So I went direct to the source. What's the issue here? What deal do you know of?!?!

Frankly, I don't care who you asked.  The information is still out there.  Rivals still has rankings from players from nearly 15 years ago.  Sure, the Scout archives has been wiped but 247 Sports took over for Scout.  You can still get a ranking evaluation from several years ago on 247 Sports, but whatever. 

Bradford overall ranking screams 2-star or less based on his compilation.  And, I couldn't find anything on Macon from high school.  Period! 

This is the best I could do, and I took nothing from it as it seemed arbitrary (and, it is only a 2-star ranking): http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/daryl-macon