Josh Cunningham - PF - Morgan Park HS - Chicago, IL - BRADLEY

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 11:51:28 PM

Quote from: fordham96 on April 28, 2014, 09:47:38 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 09:31:50 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 09:20:10 PM

Baldi isn't wrong on this one.  If we don't land Cunningham and Thomas, our recruiting sucks this year.  It's the staff's to own.  I'm not a fan of Baldi.  I've been critical of him.  He's not wrong in this instance.

The problem isn't that he chose Bradley over us, the problem is the staff's late push to land someone. If they were recruiting kids early like they should have maybe we land a quality 3. Instead, we make a late push for a kid whose been a Bradley lean all along.

First off the late push was not necessarily the choice of SJU.  Remember the vibes they were getting before probably were there was no chance and then things changed.  You can't just assume that because he visited late and because there was late news that SJU only decided to push now.  There are dozens of other factors.  And Indiana pushed on him earlier with at least 3 schollies open and they are in Big Ten country.  So what?

The point is we have needs, even if Sampson stayed. It may be true that there was a change which lead to the staff getting involved but that doesn't change the fact that they didn't appear to be interested in filling our needs all year. So if he didn't appear to change his mind then what? then who? The staff may have the answers to that and we will have to just wait and see but it doesn't appear the staff believed this was an important year and I disagree with that position. 

We may lose 6 kids next year. It would be nice to have at least one quality returning player to play with the young 15' class. I felt that the 14' class was just as important as the 15' class.

Those players need to be Felix Balamou and Chris Jones. Lavin to show the fan base that he can teach. This is his system. IDK if Lavin thinks next season is important or not, but it's clear he hasn't been working hard enough enough.

If that's due to health, it would make some sense. In his first season, Lavin it felt like toured every single USA state. Now, he jumps at the 25th hour and hopes for a lottery ticket. Much like Mahoney, landed top talent early on, and then when they regressed under him, it stopped.

If we are pinning our hopes on Balamou and Jones, we are in trouble.  I hope one of them surprises us of course, but they are far off from offering us an answer for the 3 and 4 spots.   Not even close, and I don't care how great of a teacher Lavin is. 

Quote from: Poison on April 29, 2014, 12:07:29 AM

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 11:51:28 PM

Quote from: fordham96 on April 28, 2014, 09:47:38 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 09:31:50 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 09:20:10 PM

Baldi isn't wrong on this one.  If we don't land Cunningham and Thomas, our recruiting sucks this year.  It's the staff's to own.  I'm not a fan of Baldi.  I've been critical of him.  He's not wrong in this instance.

The problem isn't that he chose Bradley over us, the problem is the staff's late push to land someone. If they were recruiting kids early like they should have maybe we land a quality 3. Instead, we make a late push for a kid whose been a Bradley lean all along.

First off the late push was not necessarily the choice of SJU.  Remember the vibes they were getting before probably were there was no chance and then things changed.  You can't just assume that because he visited late and because there was late news that SJU only decided to push now.  There are dozens of other factors.  And Indiana pushed on him earlier with at least 3 schollies open and they are in Big Ten country.  So what?

The point is we have needs, even if Sampson stayed. It may be true that there was a change which lead to the staff getting involved but that doesn't change the fact that they didn't appear to be interested in filling our needs all year. So if he didn't appear to change his mind then what? then who? The staff may have the answers to that and we will have to just wait and see but it doesn't appear the staff believed this was an important year and I disagree with that position. 

We may lose 6 kids next year. It would be nice to have at least one quality returning player to play with the young 15' class. I felt that the 14' class was just as important as the 15' class.

Those players need to be Felix Balamou and Chris Jones. Lavin to show the fan base that he can teach. This is his system. IDK if Lavin thinks next season is important or not, but it's clear he hasn't been working hard enough enough.

If that's due to health, it would make some sense. In his first season, Lavin it felt like toured every single USA state. Now, he jumps at the 25th hour and hopes for a lottery ticket. Much like Mahoney, landed top talent early on, and then when they regressed under him, it stopped.

If we are pinning our hopes on Balamou and Jones, we are in trouble.  I hope one of them surprises us of course, but they are far off from offering us an answer for the 3 and 4 spots.   Not even close, and I don't care how great of a teacher Lavin is. 

And the difference between a good program, and one like ours, trying to be relevant again. IDK what to expect from Jones or Balamou, but neither have been given a chance to get into a groove.

I'm not saying playing time will raise their games, just that they get an incomplete. Lavin has a responsibility to build the program with solid 4 year guys who mix in with the kids who think think they belong in the league. That way, when they bolt, the program doesn't completely collapse like it did under Jarvis.

Lavin was the guy who hyped up Christopher Jones. He saw something he liked. It's his job to get a kid like that ready for 14-15 season. I don't think it's realistic to expect every project to become a star, but let's start with one player. Just one. In 5 years, that's more than reasonable.

Bloody Hell. This program is about as good asa 9 foot hooker at a dwarf convention. 

I have to agree with Baldi's on this one.  Choosing Bradley over the Big East and a likely starting SF spot at msg is embarrassing.  Would be an epic fail imo.   Bradley plays in a league with IUPUI and Alabama State.  Not good at all if this happens.  This is ehst happens when Lavin is late to the table and pushes recruiting back from the summer until March to make a push. 

I really wanted this kid, but the MVC isn't nearly as bad as you say. Was better before we poached Creighton, of course, but Wichita is still there and the conference games are usually competitive.

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 08:28:24 PM

I have to agree with Baldi's on this one.  Choosing Bradley over the Big East and a likely starting SF spot at msg is embarrassing.  Would be an epic fail imo.   Bradley plays in a league with IUPUI and Alabama State.  Not good at all if this happens.  This is ehst happens when Lavin is late to the table and pushes recruiting back from the summer until March to make a push. 

I really wanted this kid, but the MVC isn't nearly as bad as you say. Was better before we poached Creighton, of course, but Wichita is still there and the conference games are usually competitive.

When we have an empty front court and lose kids to the mvc, we are in trouble.  We can offer unlimited playing time at the 3 and 4 spots.  Like I said, if Lavin doesn't land this kid and loses to Bradley it's an epic failure.  All the other teams in our conference were done recruiting their needs a long time ago.  We are scrambling and it's pathetic.  I'll wait to see what happens later today.  But when we can't land a single top 100 player with several positions to fill and we only have one big who's two years away, I can't help but be less than enthusiastic.

Man you guys are totally blowing this out of proportion in my opinion. He chose a solid mid-major program where he likely gets to be the face of the program and see multiple ncaa. They have also been on him a long time and it's close to home. He is borderline top 100 not some top 25 kid that chose Bradley over duke.

I would have loved to land him, but this isn't the end of the world. I do agree that Lavin screwed the pooch on this years recruiting and we need depth but please climb off the ledge over Cunningham.

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 09:31:50 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 09:20:10 PM

Baldi isn't wrong on this one.  If we don't land Cunningham and Thomas, our recruiting sucks this year.  It's the staff's to own.  I'm not a fan of Baldi.  I've been critical of him.  He's not wrong in this instance.

The problem isn't that he chose Bradley over us, the problem is the staff's late push to land someone. If they were recruiting kids early like they should have maybe we land a quality 3. Instead, we make a late push for a kid whose been a Bradley lean all along.

First off the late push was not necessarily the choice of SJU.  Remember the vibes they were getting before probably were there was no chance and then things changed.  You can't just assume that because he visited late and because there was late news that SJU only decided to push now.  There are dozens of other factors.  And Indiana pushed on him earlier with at least 3 schollies open and they are in Big Ten country.  So what?

We were not involved with this kid at all until VERY late.

Quote from: fordham96 on April 28, 2014, 09:47:38 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 09:31:50 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 09:20:10 PM

Baldi isn't wrong on this one.  If we don't land Cunningham and Thomas, our recruiting sucks this year.  It's the staff's to own.  I'm not a fan of Baldi.  I've been critical of him.  He's not wrong in this instance.

The problem isn't that he chose Bradley over us, the problem is the staff's late push to land someone. If they were recruiting kids early like they should have maybe we land a quality 3. Instead, we make a late push for a kid whose been a Bradley lean all along.

First off the late push was not necessarily the choice of SJU.  Remember the vibes they were getting before probably were there was no chance and then things changed.  You can't just assume that because he visited late and because there was late news that SJU only decided to push now.  There are dozens of other factors.  And Indiana pushed on him earlier with at least 3 schollies open and they are in Big Ten country.  So what?

We were not involved with this kid at all until VERY late.

First off I don’t know who you mean by WE because you were not involved at all.

But if you are referring to the SJU staff with the term “WE” you are 100% false.

Man you guys are totally blowing this out of proportion in my opinion. He chose a solid mid-major program where he likely gets to be the face of the program and see multiple ncaa. They have also been on him a long time and it's close to home. He is borderline top 100 not some top 25 kid that chose Bradley over duke.

I would have loved to land him, but this isn't the end of the world. I do agree that Lavin screwed the pooch on this years recruiting and we need depth but please climb off the ledge over Cunningham.

Gman, what's not blown out of proportion is that we have no frontcourt.  No capable forwards on the roster.  It's a huge problem.  Cunningham is no savior, but we have nothing.  I'm still baffled by the incompetence of our staff has shown to address gaping holes in our front court.  Losing a kid to Bradley when we have unlimited PT to offer is a stick in the eye and pretty Normesque.  This is not just about Cunningham.  It's about us scrambling for bodies which is an absurdity for a Big East team. 

Quote from: pmg911 on April 29, 2014, 08:46:58 AM

Quote from: fordham96 on April 28, 2014, 09:47:38 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 09:31:50 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 09:20:10 PM

Baldi isn't wrong on this one.  If we don't land Cunningham and Thomas, our recruiting sucks this year.  It's the staff's to own.  I'm not a fan of Baldi.  I've been critical of him.  He's not wrong in this instance.

The problem isn't that he chose Bradley over us, the problem is the staff's late push to land someone. If they were recruiting kids early like they should have maybe we land a quality 3. Instead, we make a late push for a kid whose been a Bradley lean all along.

First off the late push was not necessarily the choice of SJU.  Remember the vibes they were getting before probably were there was no chance and then things changed.  You can't just assume that because he visited late and because there was late news that SJU only decided to push now.  There are dozens of other factors.  And Indiana pushed on him earlier with at least 3 schollies open and they are in Big Ten country.  So what?

We were not involved with this kid at all until VERY late.

First off I don’t know who you mean by WE because you were not involved at all.

But if you are referring to the SJU staff with the term “WE” you are 100% false.

You are correct - St. John's was the program recruiting this player.

And I am 100% correct about they got involved late.

Quote from: pmg911 on April 29, 2014, 08:46:58 AM

Quote from: fordham96 on April 28, 2014, 09:47:38 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 09:31:50 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 09:20:10 PM

Baldi isn't wrong on this one.  If we don't land Cunningham and Thomas, our recruiting sucks this year.  It's the staff's to own.  I'm not a fan of Baldi.  I've been critical of him.  He's not wrong in this instance.

The problem isn't that he chose Bradley over us, the problem is the staff's late push to land someone. If they were recruiting kids early like they should have maybe we land a quality 3. Instead, we make a late push for a kid whose been a Bradley lean all along.

First off the late push was not necessarily the choice of SJU.  Remember the vibes they were getting before probably were there was no chance and then things changed.  You can't just assume that because he visited late and because there was late news that SJU only decided to push now.  There are dozens of other factors.  And Indiana pushed on him earlier with at least 3 schollies open and they are in Big Ten country.  So what?

We were not involved with this kid at all until VERY late.

First off I don’t know who you mean by WE because you were not involved at all.

But if you are referring to the SJU staff with the term “WE” you are 100% false.

The first post in this thread, from May 5, 2013, mentions that we offered.  I assume that there was contact even before that.

He effectively cut us from his list two months ago, then added us back in a couple weeks back.   If the staff knew mid-season that Jakarr was strongly considering declaring for the draft, they should have given this kid way more attention months ago.  Just like Abu, Chukwu, Terrell and Whitehead, we got seriously involved too late.  It is a very troublesome trend.  We will need at least 5 2015 commitments, including several immediate impact guys.  Not easy for a staff that hasn't really hustled on the trail for 2 years

Quote from: fordham96 on April 29, 2014, 08:49:15 AM

Quote from: pmg911 on April 29, 2014, 08:46:58 AM

Quote from: fordham96 on April 28, 2014, 09:47:38 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 09:31:50 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 09:20:10 PM

Baldi isn't wrong on this one.  If we don't land Cunningham and Thomas, our recruiting sucks this year.  It's the staff's to own.  I'm not a fan of Baldi.  I've been critical of him.  He's not wrong in this instance.

The problem isn't that he chose Bradley over us, the problem is the staff's late push to land someone. If they were recruiting kids early like they should have maybe we land a quality 3. Instead, we make a late push for a kid whose been a Bradley lean all along.

First off the late push was not necessarily the choice of SJU.  Remember the vibes they were getting before probably were there was no chance and then things changed.  You can't just assume that because he visited late and because there was late news that SJU only decided to push now.  There are dozens of other factors.  And Indiana pushed on him earlier with at least 3 schollies open and they are in Big Ten country.  So what?

We were not involved with this kid at all until VERY late.

First off I don’t know who you mean by WE because you were not involved at all.

But if you are referring to the SJU staff with the term “WE” you are 100% false.

The first post in this thread, from May 5, 2013, mentions that we offered.  I assume that there was contact even before that.

any player can claim they have an offer from any school and since the schools are not permitted to say anything, we can never know what is really going on

Let's be honest here.  Cunningham isn't a one and done player who'd put us over the top.  His loss can be made up if Lavin and crew bring us that kind of player next year.

Thomas is more of a "must" get.  With the solid backcourt we have already and with Obekpa and Jones and Thomas, we should be okay enough to at least make the dance.   With no Thomas, we'll probably have an instant replay of this past season except we won't be disappointed because...unlike last year... we'll know in advance that the team will suck.

Quote from: gman on April 29, 2014, 08:42:27 AM

Man you guys are totally blowing this out of proportion in my opinion. He chose a solid mid-major program where he likely gets to be the face of the program and see multiple ncaa. They have also been on him a long time and it's close to home. He is borderline top 100 not some top 25 kid that chose Bradley over duke.

I would have loved to land him, but this isn't the end of the world. I do agree that Lavin screwed the pooch on this years recruiting and we need depth but please climb off the ledge over Cunningham.

Gman, what's not blown out of proportion is that we have no frontcourt.  No capable forwards on the roster.  It's a huge problem.  Cunningham is no savior, but we have nothing.  I'm still baffled by the incompetence of our staff has shown to address gaping holes in our front court.  Losing a kid to Bradley when we have unlimited PT to offer is a stick in the eye and pretty Normesque.  This is not just about Cunningham.  It's about us scrambling for bodies which is an absurdity for a Big East team.

I agree with the first half of your statement but disagree with the second half, but that's ok we have different opinions.

Quote from: simplyred on April 29, 2014, 09:04:21 AM

Quote from: fordham96 on April 29, 2014, 08:49:15 AM

Quote from: pmg911 on April 29, 2014, 08:46:58 AM

Quote from: fordham96 on April 28, 2014, 09:47:38 PM

Quote from: SJUFAN on April 28, 2014, 09:31:50 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on April 28, 2014, 09:20:10 PM

Baldi isn't wrong on this one.  If we don't land Cunningham and Thomas, our recruiting sucks this year.  It's the staff's to own.  I'm not a fan of Baldi.  I've been critical of him.  He's not wrong in this instance.

The problem isn't that he chose Bradley over us, the problem is the staff's late push to land someone. If they were recruiting kids early like they should have maybe we land a quality 3. Instead, we make a late push for a kid whose been a Bradley lean all along.

First off the late push was not necessarily the choice of SJU.  Remember the vibes they were getting before probably were there was no chance and then things changed.  You can't just assume that because he visited late and because there was late news that SJU only decided to push now.  There are dozens of other factors.  And Indiana pushed on him earlier with at least 3 schollies open and they are in Big Ten country.  So what?

We were not involved with this kid at all until VERY late.

First off I don’t know who you mean by WE because you were not involved at all.

But if you are referring to the SJU staff with the term “WE” you are 100% false.

The first post in this thread, from May 5, 2013, mentions that we offered.  I assume that there was contact even before that.

any player can claim they have an offer from any school and since the schools are not permitted to say anything, we can never know what is really going on

True (I guess), but why would this kid choose us to falsely claim an offer unless we were at least seriously pursuing him.  If he said UK offered when they had not, I might understand.

Quote from: gman on April 29, 2014, 08:42:27 AM

Man you guys are totally blowing this out of proportion in my opinion. He chose a solid mid-major program where he likely gets to be the face of the program and see multiple ncaa. They have also been on him a long time and it's close to home. He is borderline top 100 not some top 25 kid that chose Bradley over duke.

I would have loved to land him, but this isn't the end of the world. I do agree that Lavin screwed the pooch on this years recruiting and we need depth but please climb off the ledge over Cunningham.

Gman, what's not blown out of proportion is that we have no frontcourt.  No capable forwards on the roster.  It's a huge problem.  Cunningham is no savior, but we have nothing.  I'm still baffled by the incompetence of our staff has shown to address gaping holes in our front court.  Losing a kid to Bradley when we have unlimited PT to offer is a stick in the eye and pretty Normesque.  This is not just about Cunningham.  It's about us scrambling for bodies which is an absurdity for a Big East team. 

So it's an epic failure if this kid goes to Bradley who has been on him for how long and his mother went there plus being local and most likely the face of the program? Maybe the kid looks at those options and much rather go that route because they are important to him. To say Lavin failed because he couldn't get this kid is a complete joke.

This incident alone isn't a failure. The loss of Cunnungham , makes signing Thompson mandatory. Another thing Cunningham would have offered is our SF position would  have been solidified for the future.. Next year Lavin is going to have many key positions to fill . Bradley doesn't make sense to me , but maybe he wants to stay local and be a big fish in a small pond.

As I hinted at yesterday, not getting this kid might be a blessing in disguise (yes I realize that I am "that guy" making the "dodged a bullet" post, and that the staff clearly wanted him).  Also, his high school is heavily recruited by Bradley and he has a relative who goes to school there.

Kool Aid epidemic here