2021 Recruiting

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

How much of the blame in not landing these higher level guys rests with the assistants? We all seem to love Simpkins, but isn’t recruiting probably his number one responsibility? I‘ve been just as vocal about Dave and our recruiting as others, but I’m wondering myself why I seem to give the assistants a pass?

Well, I have no idea, but locally I see the guy in all the right places working his a** off. I think all he can do is really get the kid to consider us seriously, which it seems like hes been doing.

I think he's getting us in all the right conversations, I just have no idea what kind of X and O guy he would be should he land a head job.

 

[Pablo]

Maybe the Philly teams get a bump in their recruiting profile because of their membership in the Big 5, but you can't tell me Ashley Howard and Billy Lange should be outrecruiting us based on the state of either of those programs.

Or, perhaps, they are just better recruiters than Paulsen. And, it certainly can't be beneficial in recruiting when Paulsen has not earned an NCAA bid here and his name is mentioned as possibly being on a hotseat.

 

[tblack33]

How much of the blame in not landing these higher level guys rests with the assistants? We all seem to love Simpkins, but isn’t recruiting probably his number one responsibility? I‘ve been just as vocal about Dave and our recruiting as others, but I’m wondering myself why I seem to give the assistants a pass?

So I’ve got two thoughts on this. First being, head coach is responsible for everything the program does or fails to do. So even if one of his assistants is lead recruiter on a kid, Paulsen still bares the ultimate responsibility by nature of his position if we can’t land kids.

That being said, I agree with your sentiment that for as much credit as we give Duane for landing our best players, he gets to share in this hate fest for going 0fer so far for 2021. He’s an associate head coach, and if he was as good as recruiter as we all think then he has to start finding a way to get kids to commit. Maybe him and Paulsen need to get on the same page/adjust their approach or how they do a handoff of recruits from Duane to Paulsen for the final stretch.

 

[GMUgemini]

Or, perhaps, they are just better recruiters than Paulsen. And, it certainly can't be beneficial in recruiting when Paulsen has not earned an NCAA bid here and his name is mentioned as possibly being on a hotseat.

So, if we're 13th out of 14th (I'll allow we're better than Fordham) in recruiting and he's clearly not a top 3 in-game coach, how likely is it that we'll ever get to the NCAA under Paulsen? And if that's the calculation, why are we sticking with him as a head coach?

 

[sleeperpick]

So, if we're 13th out of 14th (I'll allow we're better than Fordham) in recruiting and he's clearly not a top 3 in-game coach, how likely is it that we'll ever get to the NCAA under Paulsen? And if that's the calculation, why are we sticking with him as a head coach?

Eysi and Soriano are higher ranked than any recruit paulsen has closed including AJ and they routinely have guys transfer up divisions. Their point guard from two years ago is starting at Clemson this year so I don’t even concede he’s better than neubeur

 

[mkaufman1]

How much of the blame in not landing these higher level guys rests with the assistants? We all seem to love Simpkins, but isn’t recruiting probably his number one responsibility? I‘ve been just as vocal about Dave and our recruiting as others, but I’m wondering myself why I seem to give the assistants a pass?

I agree with you, but I think it’s extremely hard to quantify what is being done wrong if anything. Reynolds came to campus several times (as did Darius), first offer to both, probably had several calls and zooms with them. Reynolds was more realistic but in the end the kid wanted to go away and also had a connection to an assistant at St Joes. Darius was always a long shot but I’m sure it was the same approach (although who knows if he wanted to play along side his brother). Same approach with Castro as they were on him early and probably had him visit etc.

it does seem however as @CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY has mentioned, the staff is always in the right places locally going after the right targets. Why they haven’t been able to reel the bigger fish? I have no idea. But they certainly have to keep trying because the league recruits really well as we have all beaten the drum on. Landing big fish is the norm for many schools even if it’s a high risk bcs transfer.

Hopefully some of these fallback guys are just tipping the iceberg of potential and are good solid players. My only concern is the one Kentucky kid because I didn’t see the same potential as when I watched Berry or Peterson, but I’m no coach.

 

[GMUgemini]

Eysi and Soriano are higher ranked than any recruit paulsen has closed including AJ and they routinely have guys transfer up divisions. Their point guard from two years ago is starting at Clemson this year so I don’t even concede he’s better than neubeur

I don't buy that about either of them.

Eysi's ESPN profile has him as a 3 star and rated 73 (not sure where Verbal Commits has him ranked a 4 star). He also apparently only had offers from Fordham and Long Beach State.
Joel Soriano is unranked on ESPN.
I'm not sure how he landed Nick Honor, but since he's no longer with the team it doesn't really matter.

Jamal Hartwell's a 3 star rated 78, so Hartwell in terms of rating is higher than Eysi's.
AJ Wilson's a 3 star rated 74 on ESPN, so Wilson is higher rated than Eysi there too.

But honestly, I think everyone in the A-10 would rather have AJ Wilson than either of those two guys on Fordham.

 

[mkaufman1]

I don't buy that about either of them.

Eysi's ESPN profile has him as a 3 star and rated 73 (not sure where Verbal Commits has him ranked a 4 star). He also apparently only had offers from Fordham and Long Beach State.
Joel Soriano is unranked on ESPN.
I'm not sure how he landed Nick Honor, but since he's no longer with the team it doesn't really matter.

Jamal Hartwell's a 3 star rated 78, so Hartwell in terms of rating is higher than Eysi's.
AJ Wilson's a 3 star rated 74 on ESPN, so Wilson is higher rated than Eysi there too.

But honestly, I think everyone in the A-10 would rather have AJ Wilson than either of those two guys on Fordham.

Im surprised Soriano wasn’t ranked higher. I saw him first hand at Fordham and I thought he was a senior. The guy is a “man” already at 6’11 230. I’m guessing but that’s probably the ballpark of what he is.

I did think Oduro did pretty well against him for what it’s worth. I’m also surprised Soriano hasn’t left yet haha.

 

[GMUgemini]

Im surprised Soriano wasn’t ranked higher. I saw him first hand at Fordham and I thought he was a senior. The guy is a “man” already at 6’11 230. I’m guessing but that’s probably the ballpark of what he is.

I did think Oduro did pretty well against him for what it’s worth. I’m also surprised Soriano hasn’t left yet haha.

Yeah, the dude is huge. If he has a good season for Fordham and Fordham still sucks, I can't imagine him sticking around. He shouldn't have any problem moving up into the P5 ranks with his size.

Eysi has been hurt a lot.

 

[FreeGunston12]

I agree with you, but I think it’s extremely hard to quantify what is being done wrong if anything. Reynolds came to campus several times (as did Darius), first offer to both, probably had several calls and zooms with them. Reynolds was more realistic but in the end the kid wanted to go away and also had a connection to an assistant at St Joes. Darius was always a long shot but I’m sure it was the same approach (although who knows if he wanted to play along side his brother). Same approach with Castro as they were on him early and probably had him visit etc.

it does seem however as @CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY has mentioned, the staff is always in the right places locally going after the right targets. Why they haven’t been able to reel the bigger fish? I have no idea. But they certainly have to keep trying because the league recruits really well as we have all beaten the drum on. Landing big fish is the norm for many schools even if it’s a high risk bcs transfer.

Hopefully some of these fallback guys are just tipping the iceberg of potential and are good solid players. My only concern is the one Kentucky kid because I didn’t see the same potential as when I watched Berry or Peterson, but I’m no coach.

This is what I'm saying. The result may not be what we want, but the process seems to have improved over the years here. Maybe Mason is just a harder sell to recruits than some of you think. Campus life is pretty boring at Mason. Fan attendance sucks. Our location is also not the advantage that some of you think - most kids want to get the hell out of Northern VA for a real college experience. All we really can sell prospects on is the basketball program - which is not in a great state.

Paulsen is who he is at this point. He's not the most charismatic guy, but he has a couple of charismatic assistants now. All they can do is get Mason in the conversation and pray a commitment follows. With Paulsen, success is going to have to come on the court first, and then the competitive type of recruiting we are all looking for may follow. To that end - he is running out of time.

 

[Walter]

This is what I'm saying. The result may not be what we want, but the process seems to have improved over the years here. Maybe Mason is just a harder sell to recruits than some of you think. Campus life is pretty boring at Mason. Fan attendance sucks. Our location is also not the advantage that some of you think - most kids want to get the hell out of Northern VA for a real college experience. All we really can sell prospects on is the basketball program - which is not in a great state.

Paulsen is who he is at this point. He's not the most charismatic guy, but he has a couple of charismatic assistants now. All they can do is get Mason in the conversation and pray a commitment follows. With Paulsen, success is going to have to come on the court first, and then the competitive type of recruiting we are all looking for may follow. To that end - he is running out of time.

I am not disagreeing with your comments, but campus life is probably much improved now than when Carlos Yates, Kenny Sanders, George Evans, Will Thomas and Ryan Pearson committed. The lack of a "real college experience" is probably an issue with spoiled suburban kids more so than basketball players.

 

[tblack33]

This is what I'm saying. The result may not be what we want, but the process seems to have improved over the years here. Maybe Mason is just a harder sell to recruits than some of you think. Campus life is pretty boring at Mason. Fan attendance sucks. Our location is also not the advantage that some of you think - most kids want to get the hell out of Northern VA for a real college experience. All we really can sell prospects on is the basketball program - which is not in a great state.

Paulsen is who he is at this point. He's not the most charismatic guy, but he has a couple of charismatic assistants now. All they can do is get Mason in the conversation and pray a commitment follows. With Paulsen, success is going to have to come on the court first, and then the competitive type of recruiting we are all looking for may follow. To that end - he is running out of time.

I don’t think that Mason is any harder of a sell than your St Joes and LaSalles and GWs of the world. Basically any school in a high cost of living urban area is going to not be a “traditional” college experience. I also agree with others that the campus life at Mason is not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be, id say it’s right about average at this point. Fan attendance sucks for about 60% of the A10 right now.

Agree that Paulsen doesn’t have the personality to sell kids, the only way he was ever gojng to be a successful recruiter was to win games and let the talent follow, unfortunately that just never happened here. Cart usually doesn’t come before the horse at this level of basketball.

 

[FreeGunston12]

I am not disagreeing with your comments, but campus life is probably much improved now than when Carlos Yates, Kenny Sanders, George Evans, Will Thomas and Ryan Pearson committed. The lack of a "real college experience" is probably an issue with spoiled suburban kids more so than basketball players.

That's fine, but the expectation of what you get out of college has changed since some of those players were here. As has the energy around the basketball program. Paulsen would also be killed on these boards for bringing in George Evans - he's too old (see Daddy H). Haven't been around long enough to know who Larranaga recruited over to get commitments from those guys pre-final four. He got Pearson afterwards, so I wouldn't call that apples-to-apples either.

And even if basketball players weren't concerned at all with getting a traditional college experience, they are going to be surrounded by students at Mason who are upset that they aren't getting one.

I don’t think that Mason is any harder of a sell than your St Joes and LaSalles and GWs of the world. Basically any school in a high cost of living urban area is going to not be a “traditional” college experience. I also agree with others that the campus life at Mason is not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be, id say it’s right about average at this point. Fan attendance sucks for about 60% of the A10 right now.

Agree that Paulsen doesn’t have the personality to sell kids, the only way he was ever gojng to be a successful recruiter was to win games and let the talent follow, unfortunately that just never happened here. Cart usually doesn’t come before the horse at this level of basketball.

Fairfax is not the same type of "urban" as those other schools. All of the detriment and very little of the benefit of being "urban". And we ranked as the 11th least happy students in the US. How much worse could campus life be?

 

[mkaufman1]

This is what I'm saying. The result may not be what we want, but the process seems to have improved over the years here. Maybe Mason is just a harder sell to recruits than some of you think. Campus life is pretty boring at Mason. Fan attendance sucks. Our location is also not the advantage that some of you think - most kids want to get the hell out of Northern VA for a real college experience. All we really can sell prospects on is the basketball program - which is not in a great state.

Paulsen is who he is at this point. He's not the most charismatic guy, but he has a couple of charismatic assistants now. All they can do is get Mason in the conversation and pray a commitment follows. With Paulsen, success is going to have to come on the court first, and then the competitive type of recruiting we are all looking for may follow. To that end - he is running out of time.

yep I’m with you here. The process has definitely improved as they have started trying to recruit kids 1.5-2 years out and connect with them before the BCS programs come in.

honestly I’m not so sure any of those things that are connected with Mason matter all that much to these recruits. Some of it could just be hard luck or like yesterday, the off chance that the assistant knows the kid since 9th grade.

All they can do is keep trying, but I do think they need to take some risks with some transfers even though we’ve seen many of them not pan out at Mason.

 

[GMUgemini]

That's fine, but the expectation of what you get out of college has changed since some of those players were here. As has the energy around the basketball program. Paulsen would also be killed on these boards for bringing in George Evans - he's too old (see Daddy H). Haven't been around long enough to know who Larranaga recruited over to get commitments from those guys pre-final four. He got Pearson afterwards, so I wouldn't call that apples-to-apples either.

And even if basketball players weren't concerned at all with getting a traditional college experience, they are going to be surrounded by students at Mason who are upset that they aren't getting one.


Fairfax is not the same type of "urban" as those other schools. All of the detriment and very little of the benefit of being "urban". And we ranked as the 11th least happy students in the US. How much worse could campus life be?

I've never been to La Salle or St. Joe's campus, but certainly Foggy Bottom is walkable and has easy access to metro, even if GW's campus is closer to "vcu" level urban and less like Georgetown.

OK, so the area around La Salle doesn't exactly look like you'd want to be spending your Saturday nights (Google Street view). The area around St. Joe's looks like Philly upper-middle class Suburbia to me (very Fairfaxy vibes to me, just with older houses).

 

[Walter]

Mercer University built its own restaurant/bar "downtown" next to campus. I know they are private, but it can be done.

 

[GreenLantern]

Marrying a Kansas alum was the best thing I ever did.

 

[GMUgemini]

Mercer University built its own restaurant/bar "downtown" next to campus. I know they are private, but it can be done.

You could probably do something like that on Campus Dr. over where all the fields are. There's nothing between them but open fields. Make it walkable, some licensed apparel stores, some bars, some restaurants...wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

[Patriot8]

why are we sticking with him as a head coach?

$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[GMU1983]

Agree the guy needs to go if we don't win this year or the next year we play!