(04-23-2017 10:48 AM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(04-23-2017 08:51 AM)ThunderDan49 Wrote:  

(04-23-2017 12:15 AM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(04-21-2017 02:09 AM)Clarity Wrote:  Things have changed with our massive success and I'm sure the Big West would love CSUB if they can find a partner. CSUB is on the up and up the Big West is on the decline. I'm not sure if CSUB would even want to join the Big West though.

Although the WAC is still striving to build conference stability; by adding more programs to fill the regional gaps. The quality of WAC basketball is benefiting from having schools in multiple talent rich States.

I was looking at the Big West rosters, their teams gets over 50% of it players from just one state; California. And, they get a little less than 30% of their players from the rest of the USA. The rest, approximately 20%, come from overseas.

On the other hand, the WAC gets only 11% of its' players from California, approximately 65% come from the rest of the USA, and about 24% come from overseas. Like California, the WAC also draws about 10-12% for its' players from the states of Texas and Illinois.

Some of that may have to do with the fact that when you grow up in California, it is preached to you just how good the California schools are. The other part of that may be part of the fact that California isn't really a basketball hotbed, where places like Illinois and Texas are.

I think California has a lot of basketball talent. However, it is well scouted and evaluated. A lot of programs around the country recruit California. If eight BWC mid-major programs are living almost solely on one States' recruits, the level of talent starts to degrades after a lot of P5 programs plucked away most of the 5, 4, and 3-star players.

Cal State Bakersfield has built up their program by leaving the their State to find players. And recruiting other talent rich States and less scouted regions to find good players. Bakersfield is fortunate to have a head coaches who has strong recruiting ties in other regions other than just the West Coast.

And, maybe NMSU weakness of being located in a State which has minimal talent, also becomes a strength because it forces NMSU to hire coaches who can recruit other regions of the country. California is to the west. And, Texas is to the east. And, if NMSU can hired a coach who has ties to another region or two as well, NMSU has recruiting pipelines spanning the country and possibly even outside the US borders; like our last 10 years.

I'm just speaking as someone who grew up in California. I was indoctrinated when in high school that California public schools are so much more superior as compared to other schools, despite how impacted every single one of them is. I think that there is decent talent in California, but not nearly as loaded with talent that is in states like Illinois, Texas, or even other states in the South.