http://collegespun.com/acc/duke/repo...a-package-deal
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In other words, hopefully we get nych smith
I'm usually an optimist but I'd say that any shot we had with Malik just died.
In other news, whatever top-tier school gets them should be the immediate NC favorite.
I tried to send the word to our basketball staff in January that Malik was a package deal with Stone,so I called a friend with inside connections to the basketball program. I thought it would be good to get a jump on the competition. Now the whole world knows and I seriously doubt that our basketball staff did a damn thing to capitalize on this when they had the chance. Maybe Diamond Stone has zero interest in coming to State, but if I were RR, I would have busted my ass to get him to come take a look at MSU.
Ray has known for a long time. Sometimes- there's just not much you can do
Malik ain't coming here so what about the next ten best basketball players in MS/AL/TN/GA/FL/AR/LA. Newman ain't LeBron.
Quinndary Weatherspoon would be the guy I'm focusing my attention on. 6'5" 175lbs 2 guard from Velma Jackson. Offers from MSU, OM, TN, Wake Forest, & MTSU. Very nice stroke but also can attack the rim.
And isn't Malik Mewman the top rated player in his class? I know he has ties to us but is it realistic to think if he has Duke, Kentucky, etc lining up begging him to come that we would be sitting pretty. I don't thin it matters who the coach is.
This. I hate to pull Stansbury's name into the issue, but as good of a recruiter as he was, did he himself ever land one of these top-rated guys that every big name program wanted? It's true that Ray hasn't shown a lot of recruiting ability thus far, but losing out on a top-rated, nationally-recruited player isn't a strike against him.
This staff can't recruit? Based on what? On the fact that the #1 player in the country, who we probably had at best a 10% shot to land to begin with, decided he wants to be a package deal with the #3 player in the country who has no ties at all in any way to Mississippi State, and we can't land them both? Seriously?
Was Ray supposed to convince Newman not to be a package deal with this kid? Or was he supposed to convince Stone to come play at State, for essentially no reason?
I enjoy the assumption that a) Ray didn't know about the package deal already, and b) that he didn't care about it and decided he didn't want the #3 overall player in the country.
Good grief, people. If you want to fire Ray, then wait until we see what we have on the court and if it's bad, use that.
But trying to use the fact that he can't land two top-5 players against him only proves your agenda.
at this poing we are just beating a dead horse. Ray has two ways to save his job this year. get to the NIT or land a recruiting class that gives the fanbase hope. Do neither of those and i don't think there is any saving him.
I've moved on from Newman, he's got $ signs in his eyes and I don't blame him. He's about 24 months away from being a multi-millionaire. We need to move up a couple notches from losing to winless TCU to middle of the pack SEC at least before we can hope to be landing top 50 players. I like the suggestion of Quinndary Weatherspoon. Ray should be all over these types. How much time and energy is Ray and his staff spending on Newman when it could be spent on the Quinndary Weatherspoon types?
Where does this leave us as far as schollys and our roster going forward? I have fallen behind a bit in basketball recruiting I'm sad to say
Whatever chance we had to land him was too low to even register on a scale. This is not surprising news.
To add to this point- Bo Ryan at Wisconsin can't get them both, thus he can't recruit either. Anyone with a brain knows a kid from Wisconsin isn't coming to play basketball at state no matter who the coach is. And a kid from Mississippi isn't going in a package to Wisconsin. It's nuts. Our odds were bleak to get Malik alone. As a package they are impossible.
I am in the camp of giving Ray a year to see how his players pan out but Stans did sign Montae Ellis who could have gone wherever he wanted. He just so happened to be the first ever guard at 6' to be drafted out of high school the last year it was possible. Stans also signed Jonathan Bender but most people thought he was 50/50 at best to come to college before he blew up the McD's allstar game.
Stans worst class would probably be better than the best Rick Ray class but you also had to deal with the drama and lack of Xs and Os.