respective schools(Auburn and MSU)..it proves it's not the league or the city...it's the coach...and ours can't recruit period...the talent level on this team and the misses over the past 5 yrs says it all..so drop this stuff about Dixons coaching abilities etc...sometimes a change in scenery does matter...for both sides...and the time may be right for both parties.
If Pearl and Howland can recruit 4/5 stars to their
- Thread starter pittizit
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In all due respect, Bruce Pearl should not be a prime example. Howland, on the other hand I can agree with, although he has the UCLA status backing him, which he can point to for potential recruits.
We are going to be spinning our wheels, until the administration makes Jaimie change things up, or they feel they can eat a contract. As far as recruiting, Dixon is one of the worst to ever coach at Pitt
"star" recruiting is one thing, and I am not totally discounting that aspect of it (sheer talent).
However, the biggest thing is that he has lost his team identity, and started to recruit the same kinds of players as every other marginal P5 team.
The thing that made those Howland/early JD teams wasn't high star kids.
It was toughness ... Physical and mental.
As he has moved away from power plug big men to the same kinds of big men as everyone else has, the team has lost its edge. He also ceded the NE type tough, NYC players, and lost that kind of edge to the program.
Just have to hope that Kithkart and Maginault can start to reinfuse this program with the edge and toughness that used to set this program apart from the next tier teams past the blue bloods ...
However, the biggest thing is that he has lost his team identity, and started to recruit the same kinds of players as every other marginal P5 team.
The thing that made those Howland/early JD teams wasn't high star kids.
It was toughness ... Physical and mental.
As he has moved away from power plug big men to the same kinds of big men as everyone else has, the team has lost its edge. He also ceded the NE type tough, NYC players, and lost that kind of edge to the program.
Just have to hope that Kithkart and Maginault can start to reinfuse this program with the edge and toughness that used to set this program apart from the next tier teams past the blue bloods ...
Notice how howland didn't recruit that level at Pitt, with his arguably biggest splash in Chris Taft?
Yeah, me too.
Yeah, me too.
Location of a school doesn't matter at all in college basketball recruiting. Its not football where you need 25 players and have to spend half your life at local HS's and living rooms. Basketball recruiting is national. You need 3 guys and you recruit primarily at the spring and summer national meat markets.
Anyone saying Pgh is hindering our recruiting doesnt know what they are talking about.
Style of play and the "coolness" of the HC are pretty much the only thing that matters to today's players.
Anyone saying Pgh is hindering our recruiting doesnt know what they are talking about.
Style of play and the "coolness" of the HC are pretty much the only thing that matters to today's players.
It's easier to recruit at Mississippi State than at Pitt? Compare recent classes and try again.
I'm suggesting there are different institutional barriers at play.
Pitt doesn't embrace the dirt.
I'm suggesting there are different institutional barriers at play.
With you on this. I don't think Ben is dirty at all but I do believe he can recruit who he wants and how he wants, within the loosest interpretation of the rules, to MSU. They have a very active booster program down there as at all SEC schools. And as for Pearl, he has never let any barrier, institutional or other, stop him from fishing in dirty water. He's a scumbag.
A former player (very good point guard who I won't name) told me during a pick up game that the reason Dixon isn't recruiting well is because he is socially awkward and doesn't ever loosen up around players and recruits
Yeah. I would have to say this is true. And kiddies, those of us remember, at one time, we kind of landed who we wanted. Aiken from Buffalo. Smith from Connecticut. Gore from Detroit. Lane from Akron. Matthews from LA. Porter and Miller from the local parish. Shorter from Philly. Martin from Atlantic City. The difference? We played hard. We also had a young assistant named Calipari. Want Adrian Autry and Brian Reese (who went to Cuse and UNC) then hire their HS coach, a fireman. We played dirty.
The problem with that....we recruited as well. But we were NC State back then. We had one NCAA tourney win to show for it. But hey, we won recruiting ranking wars.
I have met JD on a couple occasions. 2 in which he was with his family, and other at alumni functions. IMO he is a good man and coach, but I get the sense you are right. He is sort of like PC in their personalities. Narduzzi on the other hand exhudes confidence and is outgoing.
I've actually ran into Dixon in the airport a couple times..
He was very pleasant and social.
I think plenty of people invent a narrative.
He was very pleasant and social.
I think plenty of people invent a narrative.
We have 3 guys total in our Fr. and So. classes, and 2 of them had 0 Power 5 offers. Why do u think this is?
I've spoken to a few people who have spent some time around Dixon at different events and they say the same thing.
Very true. For my job I was around him on a few occasions, nice guy but definitely different. He acts so much differently when coaching and not coaching. Weird
Recruiting misses.
Do you think he had a personality transplant when stocking the team with enough talent to win a lot, including twice being a number 1 seed.
Same personality who closed on early commitments from Rowan and heron.
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And yet players went to bat for him after Howland left asking that Dixon be moved to the top spot. he did a good job for a long time. There is a shelf life to all things. I just think it's time to part ways and for each side to get a fresh start.
He had better assistant coaches. Guys who were better recruiters and coaches. JD is not a good closer.
I have heard both sides of the coin when it comes to people's accounts of Jamie. But when he is on CBS or whatever as he does during the NCAA tourney (which is becoming too commonplace) he seems to do well.
That's my refrain and has been. Like I said, look at someone as seasoned as Huggins and who he has on his staff. And it used to be, you sat next to Jamie for a couple of years, and other schools would be calling for your availability as a head coach. Ain't been happening much lately, has it?
It is all related.
Well Dixon has Louisville option doesn't he??????
Sub the job out to some of the local hookers! Just tell them what to say! How could that plan possibly go wrong?
Noone in the dorms will know just like no one knew at Louisville until the girls dropped a dime on LU basketball.
???????????????????????????????
Just trying to be helpful!
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Fair enough but I think the entire world of NCAA Men's basketball and football is sleazy. If you are going to be a saint, then you can't be in a business that is earning monopoly rents from indentured servants (i.e. "student-athletes"). The question is how sleazy and maybe how dirty to you want to be?
Harve had an excellent post that in college basketball you have such natural roster turnover that you don't need to fire a successful coach. I would agree with that. However, it's not like Dixon's recent trend is just due to one poor recruiting class. We have turned over rosters and things have only gotten worse.
It seems some on this board are thinking of reasons to justify Dixon's poor record the last 5 years. Dixon is earning a darn good salary to find solutions to those problems, not to make excuses for his lack of success. I don't imagine it's easy task to right this program, but it's his job. Either he needs to start making some changes/tough calls or or do honorable thing by resigning.
Dixon is not a closer. He got them to commit but not to sign. "Only one thing counts..get them to sign on the line that is dotted" . No coffee for Dixon.
But he did..
Which indicates the personality narrative is wrong.
And Rowan wouldn't improve this team.
I'd say it's more troublesome some of our guard misses weren't misses at all.
Life Omar Calhoun.
Yikes. That makes it even scarier. Add the kid that went to Fordham. And I'm guessing there's more. It's astounding the lack of success Dixon's had with guards.
Probably not, but
And yet they are not here..ergo he did not close. I don't care about narrative. I care about results. They are not playing for Pitt. If Dixon was a closer, they would be.
You do care about the narrative, otherwise you wouldn't perpetuate myths.
Plenty of flaws for this program and with Dixon... No need to invent things.
Well, that's my point...
We are not only missing.... We aren't targeting good enough guards.
I don't know nor try to speculate why Dixon's recruiting has been subpar. The facts just show it is. Seems to me one of us dealing with facts the other with supposition.
He wouldn't.
His team being 2-9 in conference with him being 33 minutes per game, and him being atrocious on defense is my evidence.
What's yours, drew?
I totally agree.
The fact is we don't have enough talent on both ends, mostly at guard and center.. And have seemingly lost development as a crucial part of the pipeline.
So why are you focusing on the supporting?
Rowan is just an example of him NOT closing with a recruit. If you want to state Rowan is not that good of a recruit, fine. I don't think Rowan is that big of a loss. No matter what you and I think though, Dixon obviously disagreed. We would not have recruited him and got him to commit unless Dixon thought he was a good player. The fact he signed elsewhere does not change that fact.
Best post in the thread. That said, I'd favor giving JD 3 seasons to try to straighten things out versus letting him go in the next year or two. And simply making the tournament is not enough. I don't know much about these guys coming in, but JD had better go find himself another strong leader, preferably at the PG position. This team has no player leadership at all. To me that is the most disappointing aspect to Robinson's Pitt career.
Again, I'm sure the new AD and admin are watching carefully and won;t let the program continue much longer on its current trajectory.
That said, if we make the tourney and get to the 16 with this ragtag bunch, a lot may be forgiven--but i won't hold my breath for that to happen.
Now with the new administration, with at least the lip service of commitment to WIN, maybe it's time to start.
I think the point is that Dixon was practically living in that kid's house the week before he committed to Fordham and still couldn't get it done. Maybe you should ask JD why he thought so highly of the kid, because he gave it his all to get him to PItt. But I think I can answer for him--it's because we got all the way to LOI day without addressing a gaping hole in our roster--a scoring guard. So JD focused all of his remaining energy on the best uncommitted guy left, who apparently has some off court issues and hasn't worked out very well despite a promising freshman year.
Again, that was a recruiting failure--not necessarily that he didn't get Severe, but that he didn't get ANYONE to fill the 2 guard spot, and had to scramble, beg, borrow steal, and grovel a week before the signing period closed to try, and fail, get a Plan B type kid.
You can defend JD on a lot of bases, but his recruiting isn't one of them. It has become painfully obvious that the recruiting success we previously had under Dixon, with the notable exception of our big one and done Kiwi, has been primarily due to the assistants.
