Originally posted by da_coach
View Post
1) I agree that you do not know who will stay during a coaching change. We are worried after this change and we return half of the old staff.
3) I think part of the slow start to TJ's first season was the feeling out process. Does TJ start Orris, Wallace, El Darwich, Gentry, Orris (I hope I didn't forget somebody else he tried to start at PG). Do we play man-to-man or zone. At the end of the day, he started with Orris and man-to man and that is what he finished with after a lot of testing. The players had to learn how to play together and the coaches had to know the best position to put the players in.
4) I don't know if I would call the cupboard bare. He did not have any seniors but he had Reed, Ian, Flatten and Lane as juniors. There was also T.King and Daum as Sophomores. They did not have any freshmen because Nagy took Love with him to Wright State and TJ didn't have Gentry in his plans. Gentry played good for Wright State but Nagy and TJ look for different things in players. If Nagy stayed Love and Gentry would have been here so the team would have been fine but things like that happen during coaching changes.
I think part of it being half way bare is because TJ got here late in the recruiting cycle.
His first year he brought in Hess and Orris as grad transfers. He brought in El Darwich who was a freshman and Wallace who was a junior. Even though Wallace and El Darwich had more years to play, they left after one season. The only recruit who stayed for 2 seasons was Howell. Howell could have stayed for 3 seasons but he only stayed for 2 so he left early, too.
SDSU needed Orris and Hess badly. They didn't have any seniors. A proven PG and shooter were badly needed. SDSU already had 4 juniors so Wallace brought that class to 5 scholarship players. I think adding Howell to the class of Daum and T. King wasn't too bad either. That would only make 3 people in that class.
I will repeat the TJ did get here late in the recruiting cycle so it isn't all his fault but if you bring in 5 players and hope that 3 of them will be here for several years and only 1 sticks around it makes it tough. He did bring in enough good players to fill the holes but he was set back a year.
After that, he redshirted 4 of his 5 recruits his second season and Polk-Hillard and Key only played 1 of 2 possible years so that class was set back, too.
SDSU will be a younger team but they have talent. That is what happens when in your first 2 recruiting classes, there is only 1 player that has playing experience back for TJ's 3rd season. Hess, Orris, El Darwich, Wallace, Howell, Krueger, Dillion, Arians, Key, Polk Hillard and Detlinger were all in those first 2 classes but only Jenkins Jr. had any game action going into the 3rd season.
There are several reasons why this happened but that is just the way it is. SDSU has young talent on the team that should make SDSU good for the next several years.
I don't think the program is worse that it was when TJ came in but I don't think it is much better, yet. Jenkins Jr., Grille, Wilson and others can change my mind on that by getting SDSU to the next step.
Leave a comment: