Why do we always barely miss on the big "splash" transfer?

Just in the last couples years, we've convinced ourselves we were going to get these players, only to have them slip through our fingers at the last second:

Paul Skenes, Dillon Gabriel, Braden Montgomery, Hailey Van Lith, now Jackson Arnold. Am I missing any? This is just going back to 2022.

I get that the answers are "money" and "Starkville," but does anyone else in the country have this kind of record of almost grabbing the big name transfer and then missing? You'd think we would have won a couple of these battles over the years, just with how close we got to all of them, especially given that all of them but Skenes had a clear connection to us.

It's called wanting to be the guy who wants to be the king of the internet and picking a big name and sticking with it, posting enough times that others will start to believe in it. INOW the next Steve Rosebowl. Hey with Arnold did anyone ever think why didn't lebby bring him here in the 1st place instead of some beat up Shapen.

Because they were probably never barely misses to begin with. One or two posters on a message board will act like insiders and get everyones hopes up. That particular player probably never had an ounce of interest.

Most of our Big Splash near misses we were a distant third.

JA is far from big splash. Y'all just played it up that way. He's not that great. MVB has a much higher ceiling. He just needs coaching and maturity.

Arnold didn't even visit. It wasn't close

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Originally Posted by mparkerfd20

JA is far from big splash. Y'all just played it up that way. He's not that great. MVB has a much higher ceiling. He just needs coaching and maturity.

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Well Some of us have been saying this from the beginning. But I guess the insiders will now say the Ewhers will be the next bulldog GOAT,

Starkville. That is the reason we miss. The perception of Starkville is it is a boring ass college town. And instead of fighting that perception, most people want to use words like blue collar and hard work. That is not the way to win in today’s game. At least not win with the splash recruits and the perception game.

The only real miss was Cam Newton. The others don't move the needle above what we've already accomplished.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Starkville. That is the reason we miss. The perception of Starkville is it is a boring ass college town. And instead of fighting that perception, most people want to use words like blue collar and hard work. That is not the way to win in today’s game. At least not win with the splash recruits and the perception game.

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It could be lsu is a better program in baseball
Oregon and Auburn are better football programs.
Texas a&m isn't a better baseball program, but we were coming off a crap season

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Originally Posted by bulldawg28

The only real miss was Cam Newton. The others don't move the needle above what we've already accomplished.

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Paul Skenes would have probably added 8 or 9 SEC to our total, bringing us from 9-21 to a host and Omaha contender. Montgomery would probably have gotten us another win or two and a hosting spot. Van Lith would have been a huge addition to a team that's projected to go to the NCAA Tournament as like a 9/10 seed.

Not sure what our record would have been with Gabriel since the rest of the team was so bad anyway, but I bet we would have won a few more games.

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Originally Posted by msstate7

It could be lsu is a better program in baseball
Oregon and Auburn are better football programs.
Texas a&m isn't a better baseball program, but we were coming off a crap season

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On the day Skenes committed, we were the better baseball program.

I think of these 5 examples, Gabriel is the only one who chose a clearly better program unless you're looking way back into history.

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Originally Posted by Quaoarsking

Paul Skenes would have probably added 8 or 9 SEC to our total, bringing us from 9-21 to a host and Omaha contender. Montgomery would probably have gotten us another win or two and a hosting spot. Van Lith would have been a huge addition to a team that's projected to go to the NCAA Tournament as like a 9/10 seed.

Not sure what our record would have been with Gabriel since the rest of the team was so bad anyway, but I bet we would have won a few more games.

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Would we have achieved anything different from those 3?

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Originally Posted by bulldawg28

Would we have achieved anything different from those 3?

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Yes, I think so. "Paul Skenes would have probably added 8 or 9 SEC to our total, bringing us from 9-21 to a host and Omaha contender. Montgomery would probably have gotten us another win or two and a hosting spot. Van Lith would have been a huge addition to a team that's projected to go to the NCAA Tournament as like a 9/10 seed."

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Originally Posted by Msujd164

Because they were probably never barely misses to begin with. One or two posters on a message board will act like insiders and get everyones hopes up. That particular player probably never had an ounce of interest.

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Exactly! And we have too many people who claim to be an insider but don't know a dang thing!

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Originally Posted by Quaoarsking

Yes, I think so. "Paul Skenes would have probably added 8 or 9 SEC to our total, bringing us from 9-21 to a host and Omaha contender. Montgomery would probably have gotten us another win or two and a hosting spot. Van Lith would have been a huge addition to a team that's projected to go to the NCAA Tournament as like a 9/10 seed."

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We've been a champion in baseball and a final four in Women's basketball. I'm referring to Championships.

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Originally Posted by Quaoarsking

On the day Skenes committed, we were the better baseball program.

I think of these 5 examples, Gabriel is the only one who chose a clearly better program unless you're looking way back into history.

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Just like when we were terrible in 2022-3, I didn't consider our program outside the top 10-15, I don't consider lsu outside of the #1 program for what 20-30 years. Vandy was right there with them for part of that run

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Originally Posted by bulldawg28

We've been a champion in baseball and a final four in Women's basketball. I'm referring to Championships.

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You're asking if I can guarantee that these players would have brought us a national championship? No, I cannot. Skenes would have likely turned a bad team into a contender though.

Are you saying that if a transfer doesn't land us a national championship, he's not worth bringing in?

...because we were 2-10 last year.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Starkville. That is the reason we miss. The perception of Starkville is it is a boring ass college town. And instead of fighting that perception, most people want to use words like blue collar and hard work. That is not the way to win in today’s game. At least not win with the splash recruits and the perception game.

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We are in a small town in an ass backward state. Facts. Historically, Starkville and the university have been at odds with each other. The opposite of Oxford and the confederacy. They have embraced the myth of Faulkner, Morris, The Square, social superiority and ridden it. At the same time demeaning us with the cow college, dirt farmers tags that have stuck. Perceptions are reality sadly, and our fan media doesn?t do us any favors compared to the ones that follow almost all of the rest of the conference. It?s just what we have to deal with and continue to overcome.