Lets resolve this issue... Since it keeps coming up. Good thing its offseason.
I don't have a recruiting budget... I don't recruit players... The guys I picked for this particular exercise were selected based on offers, stats, etc. I didn't "evaluate" them... I didn't bring them to my house and have them run drills and stuff..
You are trying to reshape this entire ordeal to something that doesn't matter... "see, the guys you picked weren't good, how could you possibly expect Lon to pick the right guys"... Do you really believe in that sentiment?
Guys like you and me really don't know who is going to be good or not until they get D1. Paid coaches, however, are supposed to be able to identify proper talent starting in their region and working their way out from there. They get paid millions of dollars to do this, develop relationships with local coaches, go to camps, invite people to campus, etc.
So now lets address your claim.... I cherry picked someone. The guy I cherry picked was in the home state. Turns out he was the most productive recruit to come out of the state.
We only know what we know now, but I would expect Lon to be aware that there was a really good player down the road. Bring him in for a visit. Have him work out with the guys... Offer him a scholarship if you fancy him.
He repeated this pattern with other players... Aaron Calixte and Miles Reynolds, who combined aren't as valuable as Mason Jones. Why did he go through such effort to bring in Miles Reynolds from California, but expended no effort on Mason Jones?
I didn't know about Mason Jones until I saw he signed with Arkansas... He slipped under my radar of random net research. His coach didn't call me, or email me... I didn't notice him at juco tournaments or showcase events... I didn't have a member on my staff that is there to identify talent for me to evaluate. Because I don't have any of these things.
In other words.... I didn't know about Mason Jones. Maybe that concerns you. But what concerns me is that Lon Kruger didn't know about Mason Jones, and instead went after players who are significantly less valuable.
Had this guy been from Canada, or Washington, or Florida, etc... sure, I wouldn't expect you to know of every diamond in the rough from all over the country. You simply don't need to do that. But it concerns me that we went to Maine, California, New Zealand, Finland, etc while some many of these other guys are right here with no offers.
Thats why I don't go "cherry picking" guys from all over the country. That wouldn't be fair. But guys within 3 hours from your campus? That seems inexcusable to me, unless of course you are bringing in far superior talent, but he isn't... That opens the door for fair criticism, in my opinion. Hopefully that addresses the other complaint, that I always point out that they are 3-4 hours by car away from Norman. You should know these guys inside and out....
Which brings me to the next critique people have of the logic.... "How do you know Lon didn't know them inside and out and chose otherwise"... If I accept that to be true, that means Lon would have had Jones (as an example) in for a visit, worked him out... then compared him to Miles Reynolds, and specifically chose to offer Reynolds a scholarship and not Jones. These recruiting efforts are usually widely reported, which didnt happen here. That is clue #1... The other part is, if he had done that, it seems obvious to me that a paid professional would see that Jones was better than Calixte or Reynolds. If he had done his due diligence on local talent, he wouldn't have made the choice he did unless he was rejected by the primary target.
There you have it... I laid out my entire throught process in what I think is a productive and clear manner. I typed quickly, so I apologize for any errors.
