WichitaSooner
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Since it always seems to be a major topic, I went back and found this post from late March of last year, when the annual JUCO debate was kicking into high gear. In bold is what thebigabd said:
"We've posted in other threads all the best juco talent out there that fill needs at OU.... Devonte Bandoo, Ricky Torres, Austin Trice, Antun Maricevic... I know Trice is visiting, but getting ALL the best guys this late in the game is a tall order. Plus, all the above mentioned guys have good offer lists already.
This is why OU needs to have guys like Bandoo, Trice, etc already locked up in the early period. But they don't prioritize these types of players so now we are coming in at the end trying to land them."
Now, in the past few weeks, we have seen tons of references to Bandoo, plus Mason Jones (who wasn't even listed in that post). We've not, however, heard so much as a whisper of the names of the other three. For the record, Maricevic is averaging 3.7 pts and 2.7 boards at South Florida. Trice is at 1.9 pts and 2.5 boards and rarely sees the floor for KSU. Torres is at 2.3 pts and 2.75 assists and is shooting .077 from three for Wichita State. (The last number is not a typo.)
I am not posting this to make fun of abd for being wrong about something. I've been wrong plenty. But I am posting it to point out why some of us get so frustrated with the 20/20 hindsight. If people are going to claim that OU would be several games better this season if only the staff had recruited/signed the players that certain posters wanted, then it's only fair to look at ALL the players, not just the one (or two) who panned out. If we had signed Torres instead of Calixte or Reynolds, plus one or both of the bigs, we would be far worse off than we are now, plus we wouldn't have as many scholarships opening up for next season.
"We've posted in other threads all the best juco talent out there that fill needs at OU.... Devonte Bandoo, Ricky Torres, Austin Trice, Antun Maricevic... I know Trice is visiting, but getting ALL the best guys this late in the game is a tall order. Plus, all the above mentioned guys have good offer lists already.
This is why OU needs to have guys like Bandoo, Trice, etc already locked up in the early period. But they don't prioritize these types of players so now we are coming in at the end trying to land them."
Now, in the past few weeks, we have seen tons of references to Bandoo, plus Mason Jones (who wasn't even listed in that post). We've not, however, heard so much as a whisper of the names of the other three. For the record, Maricevic is averaging 3.7 pts and 2.7 boards at South Florida. Trice is at 1.9 pts and 2.5 boards and rarely sees the floor for KSU. Torres is at 2.3 pts and 2.75 assists and is shooting .077 from three for Wichita State. (The last number is not a typo.)
I am not posting this to make fun of abd for being wrong about something. I've been wrong plenty. But I am posting it to point out why some of us get so frustrated with the 20/20 hindsight. If people are going to claim that OU would be several games better this season if only the staff had recruited/signed the players that certain posters wanted, then it's only fair to look at ALL the players, not just the one (or two) who panned out. If we had signed Torres instead of Calixte or Reynolds, plus one or both of the bigs, we would be far worse off than we are now, plus we wouldn't have as many scholarships opening up for next season.