In a shocking turn of events...we didn't get Bey.
Awesome job, Kevin!
Guesses about what a 2018 class might look like
- Thread starter gary2
- Start date
Awesome job, Kevin!
Are you sure your not from the class of 85?
Class of 2018 is extremely disappointing. I do like Golden but he can't be the focal point of a recruiting class that has so much riding on it. He is a good player but if he is your priority recruit then the class is not good enough especially considering where this roster is today.
I certainly don’t see an impact guy with the final scholarship. Best guess now is it goes to a grad transfer then put to use for the class of 2019.
Going to briefly revisit my earlier post about this recruiting class out of pure sadism.
PITT VERBAL
Bryce Golden - still in the fold and is still an okay player but his rating continues to plummet and should never be the centerpiece of your class
LIKELY PITT LEANS
Marcus Zegarowski - committed to Creighton, didn't even make his final four.
PLAYERS THAT WE REALLY, REALLY WANT AND HAVE SOME CHANCE WITH
Jake Forrester - Indiana commit, made his final five
Nate Laszewski - Notre Dame commit, ended up way outside looking in
WILD CARDS
Ignas Brazdeikis - Michigan commit, never got a sniff after he reclassified
Saddiq Bey - NC Sate commit, made final 6 but not really in the hunt
OTHERS OF NOTE
Lukas Kisunas - UConn commit, never really made any headway
Dwayne Cohill - Dayton commit, didn't make his final 3
Rasir Bolton - Penn State commit, never seemed to be a priority
Aaron Nesmith - Vanderbilt commit, didn't make his final 7
Jimmy Nichols - Providence commit, didn't get a visit
Amadou Sow - UCSB commit, probably is still open but we didn't make his list of visits
Ian Steere - NC State commit, we recruited Steere twice but lost him to Creighton and then lost him again to NC State
Danya Kinsgby - Pitt commit, might end up as a ranked JUCO recruit, beat out UNLV and Texas A&M
EARLIER MISSES
Brandon Johns - Michigan
Robby Carmody - Notre Dame
Gabe Kalscheur - Minnesota
Jarvis Thomas - Minnesota
PITT VERBAL
Bryce Golden - still in the fold and is still an okay player but his rating continues to plummet and should never be the centerpiece of your class
LIKELY PITT LEANS
Marcus Zegarowski - committed to Creighton, didn't even make his final four.
PLAYERS THAT WE REALLY, REALLY WANT AND HAVE SOME CHANCE WITH
Jake Forrester - Indiana commit, made his final five
Nate Laszewski - Notre Dame commit, ended up way outside looking in
WILD CARDS
Ignas Brazdeikis - Michigan commit, never got a sniff after he reclassified
Saddiq Bey - NC Sate commit, made final 6 but not really in the hunt
OTHERS OF NOTE
Lukas Kisunas - UConn commit, never really made any headway
Dwayne Cohill - Dayton commit, didn't make his final 3
Rasir Bolton - Penn State commit, never seemed to be a priority
Aaron Nesmith - Vanderbilt commit, didn't make his final 7
Jimmy Nichols - Providence commit, didn't get a visit
Amadou Sow - UCSB commit, probably is still open but we didn't make his list of visits
Ian Steere - NC State commit, we recruited Steere twice but lost him to Creighton and then lost him again to NC State
Danya Kinsgby - Pitt commit, might end up as a ranked JUCO recruit, beat out UNLV and Texas A&M
EARLIER MISSES
Brandon Johns - Michigan
Robby Carmody - Notre Dame
Gabe Kalscheur - Minnesota
Jarvis Thomas - Minnesota
Nah, that's borderline fireable for an ACC coach. Even landing Golden, Kingsby and literally any of the high ranking forwards would have been an acceptable rebuilding class. But Golden can't be your best recruit.
Stallings has had three cycles now and his highest rated commits have been Carr, Manigault and Kithcart. I think that sums it up best.
Edit: And that's not to say that everyone out there isn't missing on most of their recruits. But we do things like promise Zegarowski to back off other guards and then don't even make his final list. Or chase every top 100 forward out there instead of focusing on Forrester. Just simple little embarrassments over and over.
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That first class is 50/50 in my mind. Stallings showed up and fought to keep those two and he did which was good. But then he cut them loose after a year which was bad. Plus he didn't fill the last ship either with a recruit from Vandy or another late add which implies that he was happy with that and wanted to save it for next year. Which is fine until it wasn't. So i give everyone a share of the blame there.
But yeah, if you discount those two, which is fair, then Stallings record is even worse.
Because who was he going to get that late in the recruiting cycle ?
Honestly ask yourself with all that s going with Pitt bb you think he’s going to out recruit other good programs ?
Perhaps. But look at the many players Stallings signed from April on this year.
Definitely a bummer on Bey since there doesn’t seem to be any other significant prospects for this class but it seemed like Bey was heading to NCST since he visited there.
Diverting away from that bad news but also related to NCST, looks like the NCAA struck again by making one of their incoming freshman recruits ineligible for the whole year because he had taken some summer classes at OSU when he was planning to go there up until Matta got canned and he then changed to NCST. NCAA is getting slammed for turning a blind eye to UNC’s shenanigans but penalizing a NCST recruit for going to class. Sounds like typical NCAA.
Diverting away from that bad news but also related to NCST, looks like the NCAA struck again by making one of their incoming freshman recruits ineligible for the whole year because he had taken some summer classes at OSU when he was planning to go there up until Matta got canned and he then changed to NCST. NCAA is getting slammed for turning a blind eye to UNC’s shenanigans but penalizing a NCST recruit for going to class. Sounds like typical NCAA.
Let’s see how they turn out ! He NEEDED guys to fill out his roster .
Unfortunately there aren’t any program changers coming to Pitt in April or any other month .
Same could have been said about the 3 freshmen Stallings jettisoned.
And Damon Wilson
It's going to depend on what happens. If this team plays hard and improves they may actually draw some fans as the year goes on. He'll get another year.
If they tank in an empty Pete and produce a mediocre recruiting class (which seems likely), Ms. Lyke would be best served eating the buyout and finding some new blood. They're going to lose $3m a year in ticket sales alone unless they get people to show up.
I don't think she's tied in anyway to KS. If she believes she needs to fire him, she will get the right people on board to support her.
The only way I see KS not getting two more seasons is a total meltdown by either his team or himself . If his recruits live up to their press clippings and are constantly being hammered by 20 or more points per game in conference and if the players show little potential to ever play ACC level ball he’s got problems . If he tries to defect blame on himself and put it on HIS players he’s got problems .
I think it’s going to take several seasons of surprising play (winning ) before fans gravitate back to the Pete , playing hard and losing won’t get it done .
Turning around recruiting will also take several seasons , how many top recruits want to come into a guaranteed losing situation when they all have multiple better options . Pitt needs to win and show promise before recruiting can ever substantially improve .
Unless Heather can sweet talk some big boosters out of some serious cash get use to KS it’s going to take a lot for Pitt to act .
Who's Stallings? Sorry, but that's the attitude I have now. I have no idea who this Stallings guy is and I don't want to know. I'm just going to watch Pitt to watch the kids play and to watch some good opponents. We don't have a coach.
I think the odds of stallings being back next year, barring some miracle in the season or turnaround with top recruits in the wings...
Are no greater than even money.
An empty Pete for the season will force the hand.
Are no greater than even money.
An empty Pete for the season will force the hand.
Not if they aren't actually winning games. No one is going to buy a ticket to see a 2-16 team just because they are playing hard and aren't losing as badly as might have been expected.
Fans ripped Woodall and JRob for not being good enough despite giving 100% on much better teams.
If we go 2-16, no matter how hard they play, I fear attendance will never improve during the year and will in fact get worse.
Sure it is. You said "If this team plays hard and improves they may actually draw some fans as the year goes on." So that would clearly imply that you think that winning isn't what would bring the fans back, that playing hard and improving may be enough. I'm telling you it won't. Other than some of the diehards, no one is actually going to care if the team plays hard or not. Similarly, they won't care is the team is improving if those improvements don't lead to wins.
The kind of fans who aren't going to see the team now but could be convinced to go and see the team are ones who are looking for results. Playing hard or playing better but not well enough for it to show up in the record are not going to be enough. Playing hard and showing some improvement as the year goes on may be enough to keep the people who are still going from bailing out before the season ends, but it won't bring anyone back. Wins, and only wins, will.
He was already recruiting that class as a sitting HC at a major University. He filled most of our 2017 class this year after that date and with guys we didn't even talk to before that date this year. Then he cut those players as soon as possible. How does that excuse still fly?
It's always great when you quote a person work for word and they act like they didn't say what you just quoted them as saying.
You created a strawman so you could topple it with a multi paragraph diatribe. I'm giving you credit for a job well done.
I never once said wins don't matter, and never once inferred they could lose games and draw more fans. In fact, my second paragraph, which you ignored, pretty much kills your narrative.
And everyone was really excited with the level of recruits he filled out this yrs roster with . Let’s wait and see if any of these guys was worth the effort .
Last yrs freshman needed a new home they weren’t ACC players .
Last yrs team was a totally different situation . No one except Wilson-Frame and Carr looks like they could’ve helped . Those guys weren’t available in April/MaybJune etc .
Everyone also assumes that the staff didn’t try to add a player , my guess is the few guys they wanted didn’t want them and they decided to stand pat .
If anyone hasn’t noticed it’s not been an easy sell to sign quality bb players at Pitt for several yrs now this isn’t just a Stallings thing !
Do you think Stallings was stashing a bunch of recruits for Vanderbilt ?
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I quoted you, 100% accurately, so technically didn't you create the strawman?
Your second paragraph doesn't have anything to do with your statement in the first paragraph. Your second paragraph says what will happen if the team completely tanks. You understand that that isn't the same thing, right? You understand those are completely different scenarios, right? You understand that it is entirely possible for you second paragraph to be 100% true (I would agree that it is) and yet your statement in the first paragraph to be completely wrong (which it almost certainly is) because you are talking about what might happen in two completely different scenarios, right?
It doesn't matter if they tried. No other players came. We know they have tried to recruit better players in the 2018 class but they have failed every single time.
Who would want to play for Stallings if you have any other options? He has a bad track record, looked awful leading the team last year, cut a bunch of players, lost his best player and battled it in the media, and looks likely to be fired soon.
You keep saying last year's recruits weren't ACC players? Then why did Stallings sign them? Why didn't he have relationships to land ANYONE?
How many quality guys do you think a coach has out there that he didn’t sign that now all of a sudden will follow him to another school ? Vanderbilt isn’t Kentucky and Stallings isn’t Calipari .
Both freshman were rated as reasonably good prospects , turns out they were both grossly overrated . Clark is another matter and just a bad break for himself and Pitt .
I realize your among the 99.9 % ( 100 % really ) of Pitt hoop fans that aren’t happy with the coaching choices , but Pitt bb and recruiting lost its way under JD his last few yrs here and it appears nothing has changed for the better under KS . Blaming Stallings for not radically revamping a senior dominated team is wrong . Expecting him to find better players wanting to come to Pitt late in the recruiting process last yr is wrong . Expecting some new coach to come in here , except a big name guy , which will never happen , and turn this program around quickly is wrong .
Pitt bb has to live with its bad decisions , the biggest was thinking they could flourish in bb in the ACC , then forcing out a very successful coach for $$$$$ and hiring KS . The hiring of KS turns out to be the best of those three horrible decisions .
Literally nobody assumes this, even though you keep repeating it. Stallings was out scouting guys who went other places. They didn't "stand pat", they struck out.
People on this board just don’t get the idea that right now Pitt bb just isn’t it . Any clean coach , who Pitt could hire , isn’t coming in here with three elite or even top 100 guys right now . You wanted him to blow up the roster last yr and replace them with who ? You’ve constantly belittled all the late signings this yr so how was signing guys of this ilk last yr going to change the direction of Pitt bb ? I don’t recall anyone on this board saying that both freshman were going to be total busts or that Clark would get injured .
I will agree with you that he did strike out on anyone he really wanted a troubling trend that seems to be continuing .
Ps .. people do keep whinnng on how he failed to fill out the roster last yr
Says who? Stallings?
Stallings didn't have to "radically revamp a senior dominated team". We were a 20-10 (9-9) NCAAT team the year before and essentially only lost James Robinson. He took that same team and went 15-16 (4-14). Do you think James Robinson was a 5 win player?
I expect that if a longtime sitting P5 HC is hired he can figure out how to add a class he wants for that year and if he cuts them all 10 months later, he is entirely at fault for that class. They were good enough to sign in April 2016 and there was nothing worth adding from then to September 2016, but somehow come April 2017 they are awful and then there are lots of players worth signing after April 2017 for the 2017 class.
Unfortunately for you and other apologists, Kevin Stallings completely ruined that excuse for you this year with how he "filled" his 2017 class.
New coaches go to new schools and land recruits late all the time. Stallings is landing them late a year later and then signing JUCOs who have essentially 0 other interest in November, while whiffing on every decent prospect we talk to. The guy and his staff can't recruit. Not sure if it is all or a combination of want to or ability, but the results are awful.
