Eastside_J Wrote:Don,
1) Yes Cronin came from a mid-major as a HC. So did Huggins.

2) Show me a scrap of evidence that Williamson is a mid-major recruit and I promise to provide evidence to the contrary. Lets see who wins ;-)

I think I put those recruits as mid major because of the schools that showed an interest. I seen Mc Neese State and others listed. I don't think Duke had them on their list. Don

Williamson has Marquette, Purdue and Oklahoma also Charlotte and X (not going to argue the A-10 mid-major thing).

Marquette and OKLA have done a fair job of finding athletic talent the last several years, I think.

Enquirer: "Williamson said he chose UC over Purdue, Marquette, Maryland, Miami and Oklahoma"

I've found out one thing! Posting on here is a lot better in the daytime than at night. Too many drunks on here at night. Don

Eastside,

It does not seem to be a fair fight. Don's gun doesn't seem to have any
ammunition.

I long for the day when Bearcat fans can be happy again, instead of all the fear and gloom. I remember many saying at the beginning of the year that we would win anywhere from 0- 16 games. Some way everything will work itself out. Hopefully for the better.

As soon as Huggs was removed, Mick was considered a likely candidate to be the next coach, so don't act like he had no chance. As somebody already said, Williamson would've been recruited to UC regardless of who was coaching.

Honestly, the person who probably got the best deal out of all this and got their "dream" fulfilled was AK. Just last year he got turned down from UL-Monroe! Now he's got a head coaching job in the SEC in his home state. Had he not gotten the chance to be interim coach of UC, he'd likely be at least 4-5 years away from getting a job of that caliber--especially if he would've gotten the UL-Monroe job.

Don, one point I dont agree with you on is Williamson being a MM player. Believe me, he is no MM. Hes going to step in right away and be UCs 2nd best player. But he was going to UC anyways no matter who the coach was.

Bob Huggins = Walsh, then Akron. Hardly meccas of college basketball before he got there.

1st Recruit - Anthony Buford, transfer from...Akron.

Coach Cronin has had less experience than Huggs did as a HC, but Cronin has had more experience at the high DI level than Huggs did.

It's an apples to oranges comparison anyway. Coach C. doesn't have to sell the program like Huggs did - the hard part (establishing the program) has been done, thanks to Huggs.

Why don't we just remember the great times Huggs gave us, wish him well, and focus on the task at hand which in my mind is still UC basketball. Huggs was here for a long time and it wasn't going to last forever. I'm never going to forget the shoddy way he was treated on exit, but I'm not going to extrapolate my anger into a hatchet job on the new coach. If Mick fails, what does that say about Huggins as a mentor? Maybe you feel like Huggs can't groom assistants into head coaches, Don? I'll take Cronin over almost anyone mentioned for this job. Think on that one for awhile, my friend. BearcatCarl

BearcatCarl Wrote:Bob Huggins = Walsh, then Akron. Hardly meccas of college basketball before he got there.

1st Recruit - Anthony Buford, transfer from...Akron.

Coach Cronin has had less experience than Huggs did as a HC, but Cronin has had more experience at the high DI level than Huggs did.

It's an apples to oranges comparison anyway. Coach C. doesn't have to sell the program like Huggs did - the hard part (establishing the program) has been done, thanks to Huggs.

Why don't we just remember the great times Huggs gave us, wish him well, and focus on the task at hand which in my mind is still UC basketball. Huggs was here for a long time and it wasn't going to last forever. I'm never going to forget the shoddy way he was treated on exit, but I'm not going to extrapolate my anger into a hatchet job on the new coach. If Mick fails, what does that say about Huggins as a mentor? Maybe you feel like Huggs can't groom assistants into head coaches, Don? I'll take Cronin over almost anyone mentioned for this job. Think on that one for awhile, my friend. BearcatCarl

I don't pay much attention to assistants as a rule. They could be anything from a great bench coach to a friend the coach picked up to run the copy machine. I figure Huggins gave Mick a job because he was a local pint size little guy and the son of a coach. Huggins probably felt sorry for him. Your name isn't really Carl is it? I don't think I have known a guy named Carl that had an IQ of over 95 in my lifetime. If you do have an IQ over 95 you know I'm just kidding. Don

Don, if Huggs just picked assistants b/c he felt sorry for them, he is not much of a coach. I think there was a little more to it. I would expect a comment like that from someone with an IQ of 95. Just kidding.

bcatwilly Wrote:One question for all of the Huggins fanatics, why were there so many "almost" recruits with him? What about this legendary coach could possibly have kept those great recruits away?

Maybe it was his choice of recruiting coordinators. ;-)

bcatwilly Wrote:Other than Downey (one of his best recruits by far in a long time IMO), I don't consider anything that he did last year recruiting wise to be of ANY higher caliber than what Mick can easily accomplish.

Did and can are two different things though.

I've never said Mick won't be able to recruit here, so don't lump me into a catagory with those folks, but it's still yet to be determined. Sure he got great guys to come and play for Huggins and Pitino, but that doesn't automatically mean he can get great players to come and play for him.

Hopefully he can, but it cracks me up when you hear things like "Mick's a great recruiter. He's been burning up the phone lines since he's been here". Every coach at every school in the country "burns up the phone lines" after recruits. He isn't doing anything different than anyone else would have. We'd be talking right now about AK, Karl Hobbs, or whoever else that could have been named coach burning up the phone lines looking for players. It's not something Mick just came up with.

That being said, I think Mick has the program and the personality to be a wonderful recruiter. I'm just saying he still has to prove it. It can't just be assumed.

jarr Wrote:Don, one point I dont agree with you on is Williamson being a MM player. Believe me, he is no MM. Hes going to step in right away and be UCs 2nd best player. But he was going to UC anyways no matter who the coach was.

I think you know this but usually for JC guys going to a major D1 program it's a big step up. For some it's even harder because if they didn't have a good JC coach they have picked up some bad habits. Huggins almost always got more out of a JC guy his second year than he did his first. Mick is going to have his hands full next year because instead of trying to work one or two guys into his system he has to do everybody. There may not be enough hours in the day for him to do what he wants. Then you add in everybody is going to be watching his every move he's got to feel a little pressure. One last thing Jarr. If you don't agree with me don't put it on here. I want people to think I am your hero. Don

Quote:Your name isn't really Carl is it? I don't think I have known a guy named Carl that had an IQ of over 95 in my lifetime. If you do have an IQ over 95 you know I'm just kidding.

95 isn't a good IQ? I thought that was a solid "A" grade. ;-)

Because of his reputation, perpetuated by the media, Bob Huggins was the easiest high profile coach in America to negatively recruit against, I'm positive. I believe that's why he missed out on alot of his recruiting targets and had to settle for the guys nobody else would take a chance on like Hicks (tweener) and Maxiell (tweener) and Logan (fat and slow reputation)........and many others.........and he had to go after kids with questionable character like Whaley, Art Long, and Keith Gregor. Okay, just kidding about Gregor, just wanted to see if you were paying attention lmfao .

That is my take on Bob Huggins and recruiting.