Jalen Wilson interview on the Insider board

[AdaSooner]

If you don't see how making the NCAA tourney and winning nearly 20 games is better than two seasons under Capel in which we didn't even sniff the NIT, I don't know what to say. I'd also note that if you are comparing the two coaches, Capel is the one who proved incapable of winning without an all-time Sooner great on the roster. Kruger, on the other hand, has won everywhere he has been, with or without a player of Trae's caliber. And I guess I think it is maybe just a bit premature to write off Bienemy -- maybe we should let him graduate high school and arrive on campus before we just assume that he won't be any good for at least two years.

You’re wasting your time with this guy, WS. He is easily in the top three negative posters on this board. Check his posting history and you will see what I mean.

Anyone who thinks Lon Kruger didn’t inherit an absolute dumpster fire when Jeff Capel left town is not worth the time and effort it would take to convince him he’s wrong. Guess he also forgot LK was the coach when OU went to the final four two years ago.

 

[BCSooners]

I'll take my chances that when Lon retires, the program will not have gone 27-36 his final two seasons, nor will they be dealing with NCAA sanctions. And he probably won't have alienated most of the program's fans and many former players. Amazing how quickly many of you forget exactly how bad a shape Capel left the program in.

+2

 

[hoopsaustin]

Well, right now, I see a team that lost 2 of its best players (Young and McGusty), does not have a lot coming in in terms of replacing it (never been a huge Bienemy fan, but he is a couple years away from contributing consistently), and will still be a 12-15 win team, even with Calixte. Not sure how 1 year of Trae Young saving Kruger's butt in many a game is better than those last 2 years for Capel (if you factor it the year before last, and this upcoming year, it could be just as bad). I don't hate Kruger, just know his track record of staying places a couple years too long.

Lol mcgusty.. a top 2 player on last years team..

 

[Ghost of Gar Heard]

You’re wasting your time with this guy, WS. He is easily in the top three negative posters on this board. Check his posting history and you will see what I mean.

Anyone who thinks Lon Kruger didn’t inherit an absolute dumpster fire when Jeff Capel left town is not worth the time and effort it would take to convince him he’s wrong. Guess he also forgot LK was the coach when OU went to the final four two years ago.

Worth noting also that for many years, the word on Kruger was that he didn't stay anywhere long enough, sort of like Larry Brown. Here a few years, long enough to build it up and then he's gone. Now I guess some want to rewrite history and pretend that his legacy is one of outstaying his welcome. Ok...

 

[BCSooners]

Lol mcgusty.. a top 2 player on last years team..

Yeah I'd put him 7th.

 

[Darwin]

We are a blue blood football program and I think some posters think all sports OU should please their ego in similar fashion.

 

[Matthew G]

Lol mcgusty.. a top 2 player on last years team..

Seriously though. Ignoring the rest of the post, how in the hell does anyone believe McGusty was a top 4 player last year, let alone top 2.

 

[Max Power]

We are a blue blood football program and I think some posters think all sports OU should please their ego in similar fashion.

We have won 16 national championships since our last football title so Yea I would like to see OU basketball (men's and women's) on that level.

 

[AdaSooner]

Erik Bossi’s blog. Scroll down a ways to see the list of coaches in attendance. No OU!

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/2nd-live-period-saturday-bossi-s-blog

There is also a quote from Bossi in this blog. Could this be why OU is not in Jalen’s final six?

The skilled forward said that Baylor, Kansas, Marquette, Michigan and North Carolina have been putting in the most work. Not surprisingly, all five of those programs were on hand to watch him with YGC36 on Saturday afternoon.

 

[CoachTalk]

Erik Bossi’s blog. Scroll down a ways to see the list of coaches in attendance. No OU!

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/2nd-live-period-saturday-bossi-s-blog

There is also a quote from Bossi in this blog. Could this be why OU is not in Jalen’s final six?

Props to Jalen if he said... Hey boys youre out move on with the next target. No wasting time

 

[AdaSooner]

Props to Jalen if he said... Hey boys youre out move on with the next target. No wasting time

There is no evidence he said that to OU’s coaches.

The question is why a member of our coaching staff was not in attendance at one of our top recruit’s all-star showcase? I would also like to know why other schools on his list were showing him more love than OU? Perception may not be reality here. But that’s obviously how this young man felt, and it’s not like our coaches have been too busy to make him feel special. Sure, OU is in on several high-profile recruits in the 2019 class. But, there is no guarantee any of them will pick the Sooners.

If this is an example of the recruiting philosophy the staff is using, my confidence level in their ability to actually sign any of these kids took a serious hit. Hope they prove me wrong! IMHO, Jalen Wilson was OU’s to lose.

 

[CoachTalk]

There is no evidence he said that to OU’s coaches.

The question is why a member of our coaching staff was not in attendance at one of our top recruit’s all-star showcase? I would also like to know why other schools on his list were showing him more love than OU? Perception may not be reality here. But that’s obviously how this young man felt, and it’s not like our coaches have been too busy to make him feel special. Sure, OU is in on several high-profile recruits in the 2019 class. But, there is no guarantee any of them will pick the Sooners.

If this is an example of the recruiting philosophy the staff is using, my confidence level in their ability to actually sign any of these kids took a serious hit. Hope they prove me wrong! IMHO, Jalen Wilson was OU’s to lose.

Ada- I get what you're saying but if he's not interested, the staff shouldn't continue to be at his games. We've spoken off board many times about Wilson. The staff just isn't going to stop recruiting a stud like Wilson.

 

[Ghost of Gar Heard]

There is no evidence he said that to OU’s coaches.

The question is why a member of our coaching staff was not in attendance at one of our top recruit’s all-star showcase? I would also like to know why other schools on his list were showing him more love than OU? Perception may not be reality here. But that’s obviously how this young man felt, and it’s not like our coaches have been too busy to make him feel special. Sure, OU is in on several high-profile recruits in the 2019 class. But, there is no guarantee any of them will pick the Sooners.

If this is an example of the recruiting philosophy the staff is using, my confidence level in their ability to actually sign any of these kids took a serious hit. Hope they prove me wrong! IMHO, Jalen Wilson was OU’s to lose.

You're making the assumption that Wilson didn't want to come to OU because OU's coaches just didn't try hard enough to recruit him. It's more likely that OU's coaches were out recruiting other players since they had been given signs that Wilson wasn't that interested in OU.

 

[AdaSooner]

Ada- I get what you're saying but if he's not interested, the staff shouldn't continue to be at his games. We've spoken off board many times about Wilson. The staff just isn't going to stop recruiting a stud like Wilson.

I realize that, CT. Doesn’t mean they shouldn’t continue to recruit this kid. You know all about his background. Most of his family, including his mother, are lifelong Sooner fans.

I’ll admit that i have no idea why OU went from one of his top choices last week when James Hale posted his interview to completely out of the picture now? I was as shocked as anyone. If I find out what happened, I will post it here. In the meantime, color me extremely disappointed by this news and by the way it was handled by our coaching staff. If I’m wrong and there is more to it than we know, I will be the first to apologize.

 

[CoachTalk]

I realize that, CT. Doesn’t mean they shouldn’t continue to recruit this kid. You know all about his background. Most of his family, including his mother, are lifelong Sooner fans.

I’ll admit that i have no idea why OU went from one of his top choices last week when James Hale posted his interview to completely out of the picture now? I was as shocked as anyone. If I find out what happened, I will post it here. In the meantime, color me extremely disappointed by this news and by the way it was handled by our coaching staff. If I’m wrong and there is more to it than we know, I will be the first to apologize.

yeah but we cant know why or how this went down...

Honestly i wouldnt be shocked if they turn up the heat and get after him, maybe this was a message to the staff.

Kids do it all the time. Heck Levi draper did it to stoops... committed to OSU.

 

[AdaSooner]

You're making the assumption Wilson didn't want to come to OU because OU's coaches just didn't try hard enough to recruit him. It's more likely that OU's coaches were out recruiting other players since they had been given signs that Wilson wasn't that interested in OU.

You’re right, G of GH. I am making some assumptions that may or may not be accurate. That’s because I know more than a little about this kid and his family. Most are lifelong OU fans.

I also said I would be happy to apologize if this is not one more in a growing list of recruiting disappointments. Doesn’t bother me one bit to admit I’m wrong. In fact, I’m hoping that is exactly what happened.