The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

All I know is that I would HATE being a college basketball coach, especially at the mid-major level, because of recruiting.

(11-19-2018 09:59 AM)Slinkin Street Flash Wrote:  

(11-19-2018 09:40 AM)fallsdog Wrote:  Kent State signs fallsdog in early signing period.

"He has average vision with below average athleticism", said Senderoff. "It boiled down to the fact that we had one scholarship left. Lets just hope he never gets fouled in the act of shooting because he couldn't hit a bulls ars with a banjo."

Wasn't that also the press release for Antonio Givens? "Yeah, he averaged 3.5 ppg as a sophomore in JC, with 46% Free throw shooting, but he is 6'8", 260, and we only have 4 forwards so far, so yeah, he's better than nothing"

All of which points back to this ... a lost trio of good recruits (ADR, DP, JW) ... exposes the KSU recruits that still need work.

Think about this ... what would 2016 KSU look like if JHall was out for the season and ADR/DP (in their first year at Kent) had to play in his place?

Those guys (ADR/DP) looked a lot different last year, particularly late in the season, than they did in 2016-2017 after a year of development. And they were playing the positions they were recruited for.

Duling is struggling just as much, while having no set position, and no true skill to hang his hat on, yet.
Again, it's not his fault, he's still a quality recruit. But Kent has to find a place where he fits, and Duling has to help himself by finding a true skill that keeps him on the floor.

Good point, Cleveland.

You know, it’s interesting. To us, these are athletes we show up to watch 2-3 times a week for two hours for three or four years. It’s easy to forget the other 160 hours a week. Who are those athletes then? The answer is they are college kids going through their formative years. Learning new things, experiencing independence for the first time ever. We root for a young man in a jersey every few days. But then we go home, back to our lives and forget about them until the next game. It’s hard to do, but do you ever stop and think these kids have played a sport all their lives simply because they were good at it? For some, college brings new interests, ideas, philisophies. Just speaking generally here but I wonder how many student-athletes out there play because they are good at their sport. They might not necessarily love it.

I only say this because I, too have sometimes wondered why highly touted prospects seem to either plateau or regress when they get on campus. There’s a lot to it, I think.

(11-19-2018 02:05 PM)JimJoyce Wrote:  You know, it’s interesting. To us, these are athletes we show up to watch 2-3 times a week for two hours for three or four years. It’s easy to forget the other 160 hours a week. Who are those athletes then? The answer is they are college kids going through their formative years. Learning new things, experiencing independence for the first time ever. We root for a young man in a jersey every few days. But then we go home, back to our lives and forget about them until the next game. It’s hard to do, but do you ever stop and think these kids have played a sport all their lives simply because they were good at it? For some, college brings new interests, ideas, philisophies. Just speaking generally here but I wonder how many student-athletes out there play because they are good at their sport. They might not necessarily love it.

I only say this because I, too have sometimes wondered why highly touted prospects seem to either plateau or regress when they get on campus. There’s a lot to it, I think.

Having been at a small college for many years I've seen things from this perspective - you make several excellent points - I remember last year there was a nice article on Duling - apparently part of the attraction of KSU for him was the excellent school of fashion and design.

One more thought on Duling. Avery was one of he higher ranked HS recruits we've had in a while. His first year he was definitely worse than Duling's freshman year. He really didn't look ready for D1 ball. Then I think most of us were disappointed with the start of his sophomore season. Remember at one point the PG situation got so bad Sendy tried starting Dez Ridenour. By the time MAC play came around it actually looked like he might've dropped out of the rotation playing 5 minutes in the first MAC game and 2 in the 4th. While he finished the season better I think most of us had legit reason to be concerned that he wasn't a starting caliber PG after two years. While their games and physical abilites aren't similar, hopefully Avery can be some inspiration to him.

Good point, anti-zip. I recall not thinking much of Avery for a while. I can recall some players at various schools who really didn't gel until their senior season.

Yes - when my expectations for freshmen get too high, I look back to players who won the 'MAC Player of the Year' and see what they did their freshmen years -
Antonio Campbell, 10 mpg, 3 ppg
Isaiah Johnson, 13 mpg, 4 ppg
Mitchell Watt, 4 ppg
Justin Greene, 9 mpg, 2 ppg
So players coming in at a high level are rare, you have to expect they'll take time to develop. Just because they're not All-MAC as sophomores, doesn't mean they're flops

(11-20-2018 11:24 AM)Slinkin Street Flash Wrote:  Yes - when my expectations for freshmen get too high, I look back to players who won the 'MAC Player of the Year' and see what they did their freshmen years -
Antonio Campbell, 10 mpg, 3 ppg
Isaiah Johnson, 13 mpg, 4 ppg
Mitchell Watt, 4 ppg
Justin Greene, 9 mpg, 2 ppg
So players coming in at a high level are rare, you have to expect they'll take time to develop. Just because they're not All-MAC as sophomores, doesn't mean they're flops

I also think of players who came in with a big splash as freshmen and the either left the MAC or were injured and never lived up to what they did early in their career. The kid from Akron Noah R messed up his knee and was never the same for example.