Basketball In State Recruitment

[nutz]

With the success LSU is having we will never get another kid from Louisiana to sign at UL. I don't hate LSU and I even rooted for them against Duke. But if they win a national championship we wil never get another local player. I am sick.

Like Turbine says, if LSU starts getting the Chris Duhons and Brandon Moutons, the Darryl Mitchells will more likely fall to us.

The problem is we have not been recruiting the local talent.

Northwestern St. plays almost exclusively Louisana boys including two from New Iberia Senior High and another from Northside !!! I am willing to bet UL didn't give these kids in our own backyard a look and Northwestern would have wiped the floor with our transfers had we played them.

[CajunProud]

With the success LSU is having we will never get another kid from Louisiana to sign at UL. I don't hate LSU and I even rooted for them against Duke. But if they win a national championship we wil never get another local player. I am sick.

Relax. It isn't that bad. I thought the same thing after they won the co-national championship in football in 2003, but it actually had the opposite effect. We now get the kids who LSU will not even look at in football because they are loaded with out of state talent.

This could be a positive thing for us. Let's just hope the coaching staff will take advantage.

[Cajunsmike]

Like Turbine says, if LSU starts getting the Chris Duhons and Brandon Moutons, the Darryl Mitchells will more likely fall to us.

The problem is we have not been recruiting the local talent.

Northwestern St. plays almost exclusively Louisana boys including two from New Iberia Senior High and another from Northside !!! I am willing to bet UL didn't give these kids in our own backyard a look and Northwestern would have wiped the floor with our transfers had we played them.

Northwestern against Orienn Greene, Tyrus Wade, and Brian Hamilton would have been a good game. Those guys were all transfers. JC transfers are different than transfers from D1 schools.

[nutz]

Northwestern against Orienn Greene, Tyrus Wade, and Brian Hamilton would have been a good game. Those guys were all transfers. JC transfers are different than transfers from D1 schools.

True. But i still think we need more freshmen recruits and fill holes with transfers (JUCO or otherwise). We had to be one of the only Div. I programs with zero freshmen on the roster last year. The good news is we have a couple of local boys signed on for next year, I hope they pan out. We may have to grab a JUCO big man for the inside.

[manizzle]

i also agree that we won't be hurt at all by LSU's success. if anything, we are going to be hurt by our lack of success. although we reached the post season for like 5 years running, before this past season, its time we took it to the next level and actually won a game. Seriously. we don't win in the post season, and players want to go to a winner. every year in the NCAA tourney, and the NIT, teams come out of nowhere and win. We are at a crucial point in our program. We cannot stay put, either we will put together a great team next season, and win, thus restoring the integrity of our team, or we will come up lame again, putting us further in the hole. Don't get me wrong, at the end of the year this year, we played pretty well, but not at a competitive level. Please don't read this as a UL bashing post, but as a post made by a fan (and thus a critic) of the program. We have a history of dominance in our conference, but our conference hasn't had much success nationally in a long time. Whatever it takes, we must come through now, or risk that our 'storied' program may no longer be viewed in the same light by future prospects, students, and alums.

JMO

[Sonsissymia]

With the success LSU is having we will never get another kid from Louisiana to sign at UL. I don't hate LSU and I even rooted for them against Duke. But if they win a national championship we wil never get another local player. I am sick.

if they win it my main curiosity isn't how state recruiting will be affected, but how USC tries to figure a way to share it. do the polls still vote after the tournament???????????????????????????

[Cajunsmike]

i also agree that we won't be hurt at all by LSU's success. if anything, we are going to be hurt by our lack of success. although we reached the post season for like 5 years running, before this past season, its time we took it to the next level and actually won a game. Seriously. we don't win in the post season, and players want to go to a winner. every year in the NCAA tourney, and the NIT, teams come out of nowhere and win. We are at a crucial point in our program. We cannot stay put, either we will put together a great team next season, and win, thus restoring the integrity of our team, or we will come up lame again, putting us further in the hole. Don't get me wrong, at the end of the year this year, we played pretty well, but not at a competitive level. Please don't read this as a UL bashing post, but as a post made by a fan (and thus a critic) of the program. We have a history of dominance in our conference, but our conference hasn't had much success nationally in a long time. Whatever it takes, we must come through now, or risk that our 'storied' program may no longer be viewed in the same light by future prospects, students, and alums.

JMO

If we struggle, next year, we won't be further in the hole. If we struggle, it will be because several freshman will play significant roles. They will improve with time. This year's Northwestern team had 7 seniors and they went 6 and 20 their freshman year.

[CajunCool]

As I see it, you can look at this from a few different perspectives. For one, under normal circumstances, we may have a better chance at beating out LSU for a basketball recruit or two than we have in football. Based on their recent success, this may be harder to do. However, the good news is the tremendous success the smaller schools have had in the tourney. I think this can do nothing but help recruiting for a scholl like UL. It makes it so much easier to demonstrate that you don't have to attend a BCS conference school to get exposure and have success. The other positive to LSU's success is that they may seek to recruit on a more national level. They certainly have the funds to do so, and this would only be a positive for UL's in-state recruiting efforts.

[CajunProud]

If we struggle, next year, we won't be further in the hole. If we struggle, it will be because several freshman will play significant roles. They will improve with time. This year's Northwestern team had 7 seniors and they went 6 and 20 their freshman year.

I understand your point and it is well taken, but 6 and 20 is ok for Northwestern (No disrespect intended. I was extremely happy for them this year.) But we are not Northwestern and with the past success of this program, a 6 and 20 season is NEVER acceptable. (A losing season anytime like the one we had this year should never be accpetable.)

[cajunlove]

If next year's team ends up with a similar record, the basketball program should enter crisis mode and consider substantial changes. If I recall correctly, the football program had two Big West championships before Baldwin brought it to ground zero. UL Basketball has built a tradition of dominance within the Sunbelt. Last year's team can by no stretch be associated with "dominance."

Mediocre or losing seasons in the Sunbelt will make it highly difficult to attract quality high school recruits regardless of how great other aspects of our university may be. Quality high school recruits want to be associated with a winner in a good league. UL has always been seen as a winning team in a bad league. Nothing good can arise from being viewed as a mediocre or losing team in a bad league. I hope and pray that next year's Cajuns will return to form. I do not want to see this basketball program leveled like the football program was in years past. GEAUX CAJUNS!!!!!