Travis Ford is a great recruiter that's it, horrible head coach.
Btw, I honestly think Lon Kruger isn't the right answer to turn this program around. He can't recruit like he used too and it shows. This team this year is goin to have a terrible season. Like bottom of big 12 bad. Getting 3 star recruits isn't going to bring us back to he final four. We consistently miss out on in state recruits. UNACCEPTABLE. Stevie clark >Woodard..... We also have lost prospects to TCU and Georgia, two of the worst basketball programs in the country. We need to recruit better or move on.
I also know some of you are going to bash me and say that we made the tourney last year.....We made the tourney with 6 seniors and lost in the 1st round. He's not recruiting great, and by the looks
Of Cam Clark and some head scratching losses (TCU) he's not coaching
well either.
I hope he proves me wrong and grabs an impressive in state prospect or he develops cam clark into a dependable player. But right now, I'm worried.
You can't possibly believe all of that, can you?
We didn't lose anybody to Georgia. Juwan Parker didn't have an OU offer when he committed to Georgia. And Juwan Parker was a 2*, and you've been complaining about 3* kids.
The one thing Kruger hasn't been able to land yet is our stud. He hasn't obviously brought in our Ryan Minor, our Nate Erdmann, our Cory Brewer, our Hollis Price, or our Eduardo Najera. I say obviously, b/c it would not shock me in the least to have Hield or Hornbeak develop into something close to Erdmann or Price (in terms of production) by the time they are upper-classmen.
But even if they don't, LK is putting together a very solid, very deep roster that will compete at a top 25-40 level, even without improved recruiting. I don't think he is as far away on the recruiting trail as you seem to think. LK doesn't need a team full of 4 and 5 star kids to win a bunch of games. And quite frankly, that isn't why he was brought in. He was brought in to stabilize the program. To restock the roster, to get us off probation without further incident, and to rebuild our image. And he is doing that in spades. You talk about winning the Big 12 and making Final Fours. As much as I want OU to be known for such things, we aren't that level of program. Haven't been. We've been close, but how many FF's have we made in the last 30 years? That isn't the measure of "good coaching" at OU.
As for in state recruiting, what "must haves" has LK missed out on? Clark? Eh. He'll be a good player, but I've never been a fan of shoot-first pg's. I think OU fans will look back and be glad we landed Woodard. OSU fans will probably feel the same way about Clark, but that will just show how close their actual production was over their careers. The state of Oklahoma doesn't produce enough talent to be counted on year after year. There aren't many Tisdale's, or Kings, or Griffins that come out of Oklahoma.
Joe C. knew that OU needed a steady hand leading our program, and that is what he hired. LK probably won't take us to the FF. Big deal. If he can build our program back to where it was, then maybe the next coach can. But the job LK has in rebuilding our program isn't as easy as he is making it look.
And as for your "bottom of the Big 12" comment, I'm willing to bet you that is not the case. I think worst case this is probably the 7th best team in the conference. Best case, probably 4th. But this is a bit of a rebuilding year. You don't replace that many upper classmen and not experience some growing pains.
