Evaluating Martin's recruiting

#1
Chris4Vols22

Chris4Vols22

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#1
This is an issue that was very hot when Martin got here. Many were worried (which is understandable), so let's take a look at what Martin has done since he's been here at UT

2011
This was a "get what you can" class. We had to reload a depleted roster within 4 months. It was terrible timing, just really unfortunate for Martin. On the whole, this class was a wash, but not a failure.

Wes Washpun - great athlete, good kid, very raw, ultimately not what we needed

Josh Richardson - Martin's best example of players he likes. Athletic, tenacious defender, solid size and frame, solid potential for good offensive game. I think Richardson could jump on almost any NCAA roster and noticeably improve the team.

Yemi Makanjuola - Very raw, athletic, big guy. Has a ton of upside, but lack of organized experience is the biggest thing holding him back. I honestly cannot tell if Yemi will ultimately have a solid NCAA career or not.

Quinton Chievous - Hard worker, athletic, fiery player. Q hasn't seen the floor much, but he's usually productive when he has. The kid hustles, and his moves are quick, deliberate, and fluid. It's hard to tell if Q will in the rotation, but he's making his best case when Martin gives him the opportunities.

Dwight Miller - Wtf? I don't even know. A Jamie Dixon recruit sounded like boobs in the face after watching Brokeback Mountain back-to-back-to-back, but wtf has happened?

Jarnell Stokes - I don't need to break this down for you.

IMO, you give this class a C+ pre-Stokes, B with him.

2012
Martin's first class with a 1.5 year recruiting cycle with UT. We weren't hurting for players, so we only took 3 signees.

Armani Moore - another raw, athletic guard, hustler, excellent help-side defender, struggles on offense but shows flashes of promise. I like Moore, and am glad he in the rotation, but at the time of his recruitment, he is not what we needed.

Derek Reese - Skinny kid with decent jumper, and solid rebounder. Doesn't bring much else to the table, which is why we barely saw him. Was nice to see the big guy stroking the 3 every once in a while though.

D'Montre Edwards - Seemed like a solid, serviceable player. Good size and frame, showed ability to shoot, but apparently not good enough to get in the rotation.

IMO, this was not a good class outside of Moore, and I believe that Moore has overachieved. I doubt he was expecting to be a starter in the SEC as a freshman by the end of his senior year in HS.

2012 gets a D+

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2013

Robert Hubbs - Boom. 5-star, consensus top-20, McD's AA snub. Kid could have gone virtually anywhere he wanted, and Martin pulled him in here. I don't care what you say, a terrible coach doesn't pull in a Hubbs, let alone a Hubbs and Stokes within 3 years. Martin deserves more credit than he's gotten for landing Hubbs

AJ Davis - One of Martin's more highly-ranked non-5star. This is the kind of recruit (along with Josh Richardson) that we want to see Martin pull instead of Reese, Edwards, Washpun, etc. We obviously haven't seen him play yet, but I think he will be solid. I'm hoping he sees 10-15 mpg next season.

Travon Landry - Most peculiar recruit Martin has pursued. Not highly-ranked, very perplexing stats, but revered as a solid PG. 99% of the time, you don't even bat a lash at this kid, but as we all know, we need a PG. I would say this is not worth it, but my god, if he can just dribble the ball up the court against the press, it would be TREMENDOUSLY helpful for us. Since the addition of Thompson, Landry is possibly the one depart from the tentative roster. We'll see.

Darius Thompson - IMO, another kind of recruit you want to see Martin pull in. I'm a little worried about his ball-handling and quickness, but I am confident that Martin is doing everything he can to fix the problem. I think Thompson will end up being a contributor next season, but I admit that he may have the potential to be not be helpful. Again, we'll see.

I think you give this class a B+, maybe even an A-. I think the subtraction of Landry is inconsequential to the final grade.

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So, how are you guys feeling about recruiting nowadays? Seems like it was THE biggest issue a while ago, but I think confidence has grown amongst the fanbase.

The 2014 class has the potential to make us one of the best teams in the country. We are after the 3 big Ls - Lyle, Looney, and Lindsey. I know it's a far shot, but if we even got 2 of those three, we'd POSSIBLY have Lyle, Looney, Hubbs, and Stokes all on one roster.
 
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#4
#4
Chris4Vols22 said:
I guess I can add a poll so you guys can submit your grades.

Yes or no?
Click to expand...

I like this class much better than last yrs but Im still worried if he is doing a good job molding a lineup together. 2014 could be brutal if everything does not come together for him.
 
#5
#5
This probably sounds overly simplistic, and it may make me sound like a star-gazer, but we need more four star recruits. I think it's as simple as that. Martin's recruits have been either feast or famine - a couple five stars, a couple of solid three stars, and questionable three and below stars. We'll be fine next year thanks for Bruce's three, four star hold overs, but the '14 class will be crucial. Need more 2nd tier guys to be able to compete.
 
#7
#7
MannyD said:
This probably sounds overly simplistic, and it may make me sound like a star-gazer, but we need more four star recruits. I think it's as simple as that. Martin's recruits have been either feast or famine - a couple five stars, a couple of solid three stars, and questionable three and below stars. We'll be fine next year thanks for Bruce's three, four star hold overs, but the '14 class will be crucial. Need more 2nd tier guys to be able to compete.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. That's kinda what I was hinting at with Richardson and Davis. Josh was only a 3-star, but's played better than Golden, McRae, Woolridge, Hall, and Maymon did through their first 2 years.
 
#9
#9
Martin likes to recruit long 6'5" - 6'6" players, who can play the swing guard or small forward.

Where Martin has not excelled thus far, is in recruiting point guards and enough big wide bodies in the post.
 
#10
#10
Tux said:
Martin likes to recruit long 6'5" - 6'6" players, who can play the swing guard or small forward.

Where Martin has not excelled thus far, is in recruiting point guards and enough big wide bodies in the post.
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I think we would have seen Martin recruit more bigs if he knew that Maymon was going to play this year. Once he missed on Nichols but found out he's getting Maymon back the need to find more bigs simmered. He's working on Looney and Cofer for the 14 class so I think we may see more bigs next year. If Thompson turns out to be a solid back up PG I think going after another pg will only make it better next year.
 
#11
#11
Chris4Vols22 said:
Yeah, I agree. That's kinda what I was hinting at with Richardson and Davis. Josh was only a 3-star, but's played better than Golden, McRae, Woolridge, Hall, and Maymon did through their first 2 years.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. It's kinda funny the way recruiting worked out for us the last three years. Our future all-american, Tobias, left after a year. The remainder of his class-mates, Golden and McRae have taken a while to get up to speed but are still inconsistent. You lose an entire class after Bruce left and replace them with the kind of talent you'd expect to get from an incoming mid-major coach that hasn't made a name for himself.

It goes without saying, but the coaching transition put us behind the 8ball. I hate to bring Bruce back into this, but it's tough to discount the quality depth his rosters had. We'll have a solid six man rotation next year and not much proven experience behind them. That's the difference.
 
#12
#12
If he is not getting us to the tourney then he should be gone. that is every teams wish. but, with that said he did great adjusting to life without maymon. he he fails to go to the big tourney with the kids coming back and the ones coming in he needs replaced.
 
#13
#13
rickyb712 said:
If he is not getting us to the tourney then he should be gone. that is every teams wish. but, with that said he did great adjusting to life without maymon. he he fails to go to the big tourney with the kids coming back and the ones coming in he needs replaced.
Click to expand...

Every thread on this board is littered with talk of Cuonzo's job stability, and this one shouldn't turn into that. But I'll bite - give him a fourth year. Any coach not named Tony Barbee and Darrin Horn deserves that.
 
#16
#16
I think you may be generous regarding the 2012 class. My concerns are several:

I don't think that you can completely miss on half of your recruits - which it looks like is the case with CQM nor can you have classes like 2012. It creates holes and or weaknesses, someone gets injured, someone decides to go pro and you are left with a mess.

Basketball is a little easier to fix - than say a couple of bad recruiting years in football - but to this point I would have to say that I am still concerned about his recruiting ability.

I think the stars were aligned to get Stokes - many of the other guys he has recruited are head scratchers - We seem to have a lot of people who are just not very good shooters.

I will continue to wish him success - but to this point I am going to give him a C in recruiting. I can go C+ factoring in the 2013 class.
 
#17
#17
Everybody knows I'm one of CCM'a biggest supporters...but last years class was awful and D- would be generous for me. I would give Martin B. Landing Hubbs and Stokes is no easy task for a coach that hasn't even made a name for himself. What I really like about Martin that I didn't like about Pearl was his ability to scout out recruits on their potential and not the stars by their name. Has he had a 4 star, no. But Richardson, Moore, and even Q have played better than some of our other "4 stars" in the past (Swiper, Hall, Tatum.) Like others have said, I would like to see Martin add an elite pg (but even Pearl struggled with that if you don't look at his JUCO's) and I would also like to see him add a 6'10+ big man that can block shots. I'm excited to see how the 2014 class is going to shape up. Looney, Lyle, and Lindsey is who I would to see him land in that order.

Edit: Haas and Cofer would be a good start with big men I'd like to see him get.
 
#18
#18
rickyb712 said:
If he is not getting us to the tourney then he should be gone. that is every teams wish. but, with that said he did great adjusting to life without maymon. he he fails to go to the big tourney with the kids coming back and the ones coming in he needs replaced.
Click to expand...

???
 
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#19
#19
I agree 2012 class was horrific. But I mean you have to give the guy credit, landing 2 five stars with no tournament appearances? Pretty impressive IMO. I can't really gauge his recruiting abilities, 2011 and 2013 say he's a pretty good recruiter, while 2012 says he has no idea what he's doing. 2014 will be very telling I think.
 
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#20
#20
Bruce's biggest prob was that he went after the highest caliber recruit and often ended up 2nd. Lost to Duke, Ga Tech, NC and Hixson to NC State. Oh and of course Kansas and that little puke at OSU.
Then he was left scrambling for plan B. Maze and Prince worked out pretty well.
I thought Harris was the break through sense Pearl had established UT as a winner. He also laid a lot of ground work with Stokes.
Martin seems to be back and forth on recruiting. Sure he gets a great player like Hubbs, but I'm less than impressed with the rest.
 
#21
#21
2014 recruiting will make or break the Martin era at UT. With the players leaving after next season, it will be crucial to bring in some elite talent that can contribute immediately. Any less than that will result in a terrible season.
 
#22
#22
Stoked4Zo said:
Everybody knows I'm one of CCM'a biggest supporters...but last years class was awful and D- would be generous for me. I would give Martin B. Landing Hubbs and Stokes is no easy task for a coach that hasn't even made a name for himself. What I really like about Martin that I didn't like about Pearl was his ability to scout out recruits on their potential and not the stars by their name. Has he had a 4 star, no. But Richardson, Moore, and even Q have played better than some of our other "4 stars" in the past (Swiper, Hall, Tatum.) Like others have said, I would like to see Martin add an elite pg (but even Pearl struggled with that if you don't look at his JUCO's) and I would also like to see him add a 6'10+ big man that can block shots. I'm excited to see how the 2014 class is going to shape up. Looney, Lyle, and Lindsey is who I would to see him land in that order.

Edit: Haas and Cofer would be a good start with big men I'd like to see him get.
Click to expand...

Agree with your post, but Tatum was better than every player you compared him against. Richardson may prove to be a better all around player when it's said and done, but Tatum was a quality player.
 
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#24
#24
If Martin adds Mathieu to this 2013 class I will be very happy and feel very optimistic about the future of Martin, his recruiting and the program. This is likely a top 25 class after the addition of Thompson, and adding mathieu only raises that.

As others have mentioned its really been feast or famine with his recruits outside of josh. It seems to either be highly rated guys, or 2* who are projects and we are pleasantly surprised by any contribution...this 2013 class has the stud in Hubbs that brings excitement to the program and really helps you compete at a high level. But it also has Thompson and Davis, two guys will be very solid 4 year players much like a Richardson. So this class instead of one stud and a few projects has a stud and some solid SEC talent in it...these are the classes CCM needs to bring in with regularity.
 
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