There is still plenty of talent out here i.e. Lawrence, McCollough, Severe, etc. but none of them want any part of us. I would send teams of researchers to find out why. It's not like we get a decent amount of good NYC players and just miss a few...literally none of the major top 25 talent in NYC wants to come here. Harkless was in the 40's. My question is when can we finally bag a Lawrence or McCollough? We can't keep losing the best in our backyard.
You really need researchers to tell you that we haven't been winning, therefore...?
It is especially easy for locals to view us as irrelevant because they are here and are reminded of the losses from local sports coverage. Look at the s hools listed by the top 25 kids. They all have the same 7-8 programs, with maybe a local program listed. They seldom go to the local schools unless they are one of the elite schools. EVERY top kid lists Kentucky, whether they've been contacted or not.
Not every recruit cares if they go to the most winningest program...exhibit A is Jermaine Lawrence. Even in a terrible year we finished about the same as them. They are only going to get worse next year losing Wright who is probably their best player, then Kilpatrick will be gone after that.
So unless Lawrence is a 1 and done he will be on a bad Cincy team his soph year. I would argue that our roster is more stacked than Cincy's for next year assuming everyone is back and we would have been ready to win now when he came here. He joins Cincy when they are falling. From Sweet 16 last year, to ranked #14, to falling apart, barely making the tourney unranked and losing 1st round to Creighton. Now they lose a huge piece in Wright. We have the more talented squad and we should do better than them next year. Look at Aquille Carr...he was a beast of a recruit and he committed to Seton Hall before everything went downhill for him. Great local players DO stay loyal sometimes.