Since recruiting is a very, very popular subject here, I thought I'd look at the talent status of these 3 programs.
The most interesting is men's basketball. With Sims out, every player on the team is a Murphy recruit. Murphy has had, I believe, incredible success with identifying players who can play well at the MAC level. Murphy has done an outstanding job of building a team with GB III, Riley, Ward, Harrison, Talley, Lee, Combs, etc. in such a short period of time. Not one of these kids was a recruiting miss (high school kids are more likely to be hit or miss). Quite frankly, Austin Harper was the only one who comes to mind as a recruit who really didn't achieve at EMU. Murphy's success in evaluating talent is why we are such a deep team. This is why I don't worry about Murphy's recruiting. If a player gets a SCHOLARSHIP from Murphy the kid can play. Even backups like Ajayi has promise, even though, he is very green from a basketball experience point of view and Hughley is exactly what Murphy wanted, a one year man to provide depth up front as Riley is foul prone. This is a very, very deep team and Murphy is still going 10, 11 or even 12 deep even in MAC games (normally benches get 'short' in conference competition).
Next, is women's hoops. Verdi took over a team which had won the MAC and probably was rebuilding, more than reload (which happens with programs which are always on top). Even though he has some of Gilbert's players who can play, Verdi is bring in a lot of his players who look like they will be very successful in the MAC. I think we'll wake up one day, probably next season, and say wow, this is now a very, very good MAC basketball program. Verdi seems to be a very good judge of talent and a very strong recruiter. He is going to have a very deep team next year.
Last is FB. I think the salient point here is that whatever success CC has in the next two years will be with RE's players. As I am fond of saying, MAC FB teams don't win with freshman. If a team is depending much on frosh they aren't winning. CC's big mission is to take decent MAC-level talent and see if he can win with it. The cupboard is not bare. CC just might be able to win in 2014, but not because of his recruiting, but because the existing talent is there. CC's recruiting can't be judged until the 2015 class. CC's 2014 class should be redshirted.
We won't know until next January how good of a recruiter CC will prove to be. This year the deck was really, really stacked against him (the best recruits were committed to other programs before he got on board).
So, Murphy is winning with Murphy recruits. Verdi is winning with Gilbert and his recruits. CC will try to win next year with English's recruits.
If there is anyone besides Super and I here who follow women's basketball, a big difference is that frosh women can contribute, and frequently do contribute big as frosh.
EMU has two frosh who are the coming stars of the program and playing very well now.
I don't disagree with you about Murphy except to say the jury is out on this critical class of 2014-Nobles was a great start lets see what else develops.
Verdi is probably one of the best recruiters in ANY EMU sport that I've seen in along time, getting nationally ranked players in any sport at EMU is very difficult.
For right now I think CC is perhaps a better coach and at development than recruiting but we'll see. If he has better success with English's players it should open alot of eyes. I think that's very possible.
(01-20-2014 09:24 AM)emu79 Wrote: [ -> ]I don't disagree with you about Murphy except to say the jury is out on this critical class of 2014-Nobles was a great start lets see what else develops.
Verdi is probably one of the best recruiters in ANY EMU sport that I've seen in along time, getting nationally ranked players in any sport at EMU is very difficult.
For right now I think CC is perhaps a better coach and at development than recruiting but we'll see. If he has better success with English's players it should open alot of eyes. I think that's very possible.
'79, I think you and I are together on our comments.
I'm not too worried about Murphy's 2014 class because he has Price and Nobles. That is two. He needs at least two more which isn't too much to expect of him to get in April given his success with JUCOs, transfers, including graduate student transfers.
I do worry a little that a very strong run this year by the men or a strong run next year by the women could have our AD looking to hire their successors.
If we go 12 - 6 in the MAC and make the MAC finals, I would not be surprised to see an AD calling... Murphy has increased HIS profile by playing those ESPN2/U games vs. Kentucky, Duke, and Syracuse.
If I were an AD I'd remember the names Murphy and Verdi. I think very highly of both...
BTW, I haven't said much about CC primarily as he has a 'lower level' D-I resume, I haven't met him, heard him speak, etc.
I'm trying to find analogies for he and the OC and I keep thinking of Jerry Kill as he moved up to NIU.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Kill
I see Jerry Kill, CC, and our new OC as 'cut from the same cloth'. (e.g., D-II/III, FCS, etc.).
I see Dino Babers very, very differently even though Babers both coached at FCS schools in the same state (IL). I see Babers as a FBS AC who worked on his resume and took EIU as a launching pad for a FBS HC. I think of Babers as more like RE in coaching background than say Jerry Kill.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dino_Babers
(01-20-2014 09:37 AM)emu steve Wrote: [ -> ] (01-20-2014 09:24 AM)emu79 Wrote: [ -> ]I don't disagree with you about Murphy except to say the jury is out on this critical class of 2014-Nobles was a great start lets see what else develops.
Verdi is probably one of the best recruiters in ANY EMU sport that I've seen in along time, getting nationally ranked players in any sport at EMU is very difficult.
For right now I think CC is perhaps a better coach and at development than recruiting but we'll see. If he has better success with English's players it should open alot of eyes. I think that's very possible.
'79, I think you and I are together on our comments.
I'm not too worried about Murphy's 2014 class because he has Price and Nobles. That is two. He needs at least two more which isn't too much to expect of him to get in April given his success with JUCOs, transfers, including graduate student transfers.
I do worry a little that a very strong run this year by the men or a strong run next year by the women could have our AD looking to hire their successors.
If we go 12 - 6 in the MAC and make the MAC finals, I would not be surprised to see an AD calling... Murphy has increased HIS profile by playing those ESPN2/U games vs. Kentucky, Duke, and Syracuse.
If I were an AD I'd remember the names Murphy and Verdi. I think very highly of both...
If we have a 20 win season, and a good opening comes calling in - Murph will be gone. Maybe even that many wins won't be needed. That I do not know but with a good record, and with the references that he will have I think he will soon be at a different institution.
Murphy will eventually fly the coop but I am not worried. EMU basketball is a great job. A good coach should always be able to win here, we are literally located smack dab in the middle of a basketball talent hotbed. I'm more amazed that previous coaches were UNABLE to win here! We will be fine if we continue to hire good coaches.
Dear Bob,
Couldn't agree more. That's why I was so puzzled with Ramsey as our coach. His top assistant was from Detroit Redford, and took his team to the State finals two years in a row, but no one of any consequence ended up at Eastern. I always thought that for some reason or reasons, they (Ramsey and company) got people angry and they weren't going to send their kids to Eastern.
Maybe cuz Ramsey would scream at his players as they were coming off the court for a timeout. I could not believe how he treated his players.
(01-20-2014 01:26 PM)TimBuck2 Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe cuz Ramsey would scream at his players as they were coming off the court for a timeout. I could not believe how he treated his players.
The players definitely did not like or respond to Ramsey, that was pretty obvious. It sucks that he squandered talents like Medlock and Bowdry.
(01-20-2014 02:01 PM)Bob Wickersham Wrote: [ -> ] (01-20-2014 01:26 PM)TimBuck2 Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe cuz Ramsey would scream at his players as they were coming off the court for a timeout. I could not believe how he treated his players.
The players definitely did not like or respond to Ramsey, that was pretty obvious. It sucks that he squandered talents like Medlock and Bowdry.
Dimes ended back in D1. Dobbins could have played anywhere in the MAC. Axon was a weapon misused.
(01-20-2014 02:01 PM)Bob Wickersham Wrote: [ -> ] (01-20-2014 01:26 PM)TimBuck2 Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe cuz Ramsey would scream at his players as they were coming off the court for a timeout. I could not believe how he treated his players.
The players definitely did not like or respond to Ramsey, that was pretty obvious. It sucks that he squandered talents like Medlock and Bowdry.
Medlock and Bowdry = both were recruited basically by McDowell
(01-20-2014 02:21 PM)TimBuck2 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-20-2014 02:01 PM)Bob Wickersham Wrote: [ -> ] (01-20-2014 01:26 PM)TimBuck2 Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe cuz Ramsey would scream at his players as they were coming off the court for a timeout. I could not believe how he treated his players.
The players definitely did not like or respond to Ramsey, that was pretty obvious. It sucks that he squandered talents like Medlock and Bowdry.
Dimes ended back in D1. Dobbins could have played anywhere in the MAC. Axon was a weapon misused.
For a head coach that barely ever saw any of "his" recruits play Ramsey had surprisngly a lot of talented players. He was just a lazy coach who did not develop anyone. I think a lot of players were better coming into the program comparing when they left it 4 years later. But hey, we have a good coach now so let's not go back to this topic again.
(01-20-2014 02:01 PM)Bob Wickersham Wrote: [ -> ] (01-20-2014 01:26 PM)TimBuck2 Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe cuz Ramsey would scream at his players as they were coming off the court for a timeout. I could not believe how he treated his players.
The players definitely did not like or respond to Ramsey, that was pretty obvious. It sucks that he squandered talents like Medlock and Bowdry.
Could you imagine if Murphy had Bowdry on this team? Or even Dobbins? A low-post scorer would make this team complete.
Bowdry on this team? Sweet 16!!!
How can EMU recruit for basketball but not (apparently) for football? Seems like you'd have the same disadvantage in basketball that you have for football.
Dear NIU007,
I think Eastern recruited just fine the last two years of Ron English's tenure, it's the coaching that became suspect. If Eastern wins four or five games this fall, that would serve as proof of the fact that coaching was the weak point, not recruiting.
You are way off on your assumption that because one team isn't doing well, that automatically means the other team won't do well, whether in recruiting or performance.
(01-21-2014 04:41 PM)Ken Barna Wrote: [ -> ]Dear NIU007,
I think Eastern recruited just fine the last two years of Ron English's tenure, it's the coaching that became suspect. If Eastern wins four or five games this fall, that would serve as proof of the fact that coaching was the weak point, not recruiting.
You are way off on your assumption that because one team isn't doing well, that automatically means the other team won't do well, whether in recruiting or performance.
Ken,
Thanks for answering that question because I had been wondering that for myself for 5 years.. I thought it was was a very good question and a great answer by you...