Perhaps two. George Mason has to win their tournament to get in most likely.
LSU, in last year's Final Four, has no chance to get in unless they win the SEC tournament which is highly unlikely.
Strange, because LSU has one of the better front courts in the nation. You would think they would waltz to the national championship.
;)
Of course, a point guard might help?
UCONN and Nova were elite eight teams last year, both 1 seeds, now for sure UCONN won't make it and possibly Nova too, what a difference some guys leaving makes.
Quote from: Nukem2 on February 26, 2007, 01:04:07 PM
Of course, a point guard might help?
Exactly. Thus the law of averages. Easier to land good to very good guards and build your team that way and hopefully add a stud (next year we have Trevor coming in).
There are so few very good studs in the middle (and Lord knows we have tried and tried to land them only to finish bride's maid) that you put yourself in a bind if that is your sole focus.
Crean has certainly tried to get big men, but he has failed time and time again. Trevor should help out a lot next year, but questions do have to be raised about the pathetic recruiting of big men under Crean.
And, I am a huge Crean supporter, but watching ND bully us inside all game and knowing that we had no possible answer has converted me that while guards are very important in college basketball, they will only take you so far.
Other programs that aren't elite basketball programs( ie, ND and Georgetown), but very good, like Marquette, seem to be able to find some good bigs. Crean has recruited exactly two in his tenure, and had one transfer in. That is three quality bigs in eight years.
Quote from: ozmetal71 on February 26, 2007, 01:52:58 PM
Other programs that aren't elite basketball programs( ie, ND and Georgetown), but very good, like Marquette, seem to be able to find some good bigs. Crean has recruited exactly two in his tenure, and had one transfer in. That is three quality bigs in eight years.
One good game by Harangody vs MU does not make Brey a good recruiter/developer of big men. Torin Francis never developed there and it looks like Luke Zeller is following suit. Harangody might be the exception, yes, but its not like ND is a notable destination for high-ceiling big men.
I never said anything about developing big men, but Brey has been able to recruit them.
Crean can't even get the guys to sign at MU. Crean is a great developer of talent, but with our bigs minus Barro, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken poop.
Lott, Burke, Kinsella, and Blackledge especially have no business playing high-level Division One basketball. Those are the types of players I would expect to see Mike Deane recruit.
NY Warrior, actually Torin Francis played well at ND nut was limited by injuries from the middle of his spoph season on. Was never quite the same after that, but still good. I would say that torin developed but had the injury bug.
George Mason officially done. Great game but lost to VCU