Scholarship table
As usual I'm amazed by the "knowledge" expounded by posters with 10,000+ posts by their stage names. No Shaka doesn't get a pass this season and he better make the NCAA tournament. He has 12 high major players on scholarship and most, to all of them, were top 150 recruits and/or have that type of upside. Three are 22+ year old - fifth year seniors and many sophomores where the biggest step up in a player's career often occurs between freshman and sophomore year. Further Shaka has been ruthless in running off players so he could get a roster full of high major players knowing only 8 (possibly 9) will play meaningful minutes. So why should he get sympathy and a pass when he knows his actions will lead to two to three players and their family's not being happy with their roles and transferring? To this point I'm glad he did this as he wants lots of competition to see which cream rises to the top but at the same time he shouldn't have the bar of expectations lowered for him when he's not doing it for any of his players. This roster reminds me of Buzz' rosters which were full of athletic ability including a handful of guys with NBA potential. Heck even our preferred walk-on has some potential upside. Kentucky recently went to back to back Final 4's against Wisconsin with freshman starters. So there is no excuse to write off this year like all the lackeys' are doing already and did constantly for Wojo while making bogus excuse after excuse for him. Last time I checked Shaka isn't a rookie coach either and we're paying him $3MM+ based on the fact he's a known commodity that is supposed to deliver excellent results in exchange for this lofty salary. Otherwise we would have hired a hot assistant or mid-major coach for $1 to $2MM+/-. If he can't get this team winning enough this year to be one of the nation's top 40 teams worthy of an at large bid then this will end up being another bad hire. Finally he better win the Leon Bond recruiting battle as well. We also brought Shaka in to get just these kind of players in our backyard that we've been missing/ignoring since Buzz left. If he can't land Leon Bond and loses him to a coach who just had a mass exodus of transfers this offseason and whose teams scores 50 points a game... then we should have hired Porter Moser. Porter was the better coach but we thought Shaka would be a better recruiter and lead to a quicker fix while also potentially being a better overall coach as well. The bar has not been lowered Shaka! I like what you've done so far but much more is expected and now and not three to five years from now!
In other words, he gets a pass from me for a while.
Hired the coach. Now just add water and "whalla!", instand Final Four!
Over/under on Porter Moser Lifespan in Norman?
I'm not a 10,000+ post guy, guy no pass for Shaka from this guy. Plus, the bar is being raised by me because of the national attention the Bucks brought to the city. I could recruit a top team right now at MU.
I could recruit a top team right now at MU.
Why should our expectations be any less than a NCAA Tournament bid?
Why should our expectations be any less than a NCAA Tournament bid? A lot of people have said on this board we are a premier program. UNC, Texas and Indiana hired new coaches and are in the early pre season rankings. Schools like Minnesota, Utah and DePaul are talking about building the program. So is Marquette a program similar to Indiana and Texas or Minnesota and DePaul?
TAMUI do know, Newsie is right on you knowing ball.
I think there's a difference between where we were at the beginning of the offseason and where we are now. When Shaka was hired, it would have been reasonable to expect an NCAAT appearance. He could have focused on keeping the better pieces of the roster and gone out and gotten a bunch of top transfers. That's what UNC, Texas, and Indiana did. It's a viable win now strategy though it is harder to sustain over multiple seasons. Shaka chose a different path. He let most of the roster go elsewhere and filled his team with freshmen and sophomores who have yet to accomplish much (or anything at all in most cases) at the collegiate level but show promise. He topped it off with two senior transfers who aren't superstars but will establish the blueprint of a defensive culture that the young guys will learn. We'll take some lumps this season but we'll be building to sustainable success.In short, my expectations changed from March to now.