Willard's job was seemingly on the line, so he did what a desperate man would do, he got the kid he needed that he thought would turn it around. I won't give him credit for Whitehead.
However I will give him credit for Carrington and Desi. Lav dropped the ball on Carrington. I remember Chiles recruiting him aggressively at one point and we had strong momentum then it just stopped. Clearly, he would have been a great get. He wouldn't have played as much as he did for us last year, but Lavin could have made it work.
Overall, I would say Seton Hall getting it done with a soph class of local kids basically reflects how bad Lavin was recruiting the last 2 years.