Do players pick coaches or schools?

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Just curious.

[Dish]

Fair question, no doubt. I don't know if this comparison works, but we could use it for ourselves too. Did you pick Marquette (or insert your school here) because of the quality of the major you were studying, or because you liked the school?

For example, Illinois State isn't considered to be a "great" school, but their teachers program is outstanding, and I know a few people who went their in spite of the campus/school being what it is, and chose it because of the specific program. Might not be an apples/to apples comparison with basketball players picking schools, but seems fair.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I think those individuals who know what their majors are focus more on the curriculums and instructors than those students who are "undecided" on majors. 

Similarly, when it comes to major recruits who will essentially be majoring in basketball, I believe the coach, his staff, the facilities and things like TV exposure play a bigger role than the school itself.

Obviously Ben-Eze is a very rare exception, unless you believe he simply chose Amaker over Crean. I suspect it was Harvard over MU.

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

Coaches. No question.

Hell, we've got two kids from Texas that are only playing ball at Marquette because of Buzz Williams. What happens if he leaves in April?

One comment that was interesting from Shumpert is that he felt like he'd be the happiest at GT if he got hurt and couldn't play ball anymore. So, perhaps, for a select few a school comes into it but really this day in age it's down to the coach.

[Murffieus]

Coaches and programs are the two biggest considerations upon which a player will make a decision. IMO they are of equal importance in the evaluation process.

[bma725]

If you mean schools solely as an academic institution then yes coaches are the reason.  But in reality the school encompasses a lot more than that, which I don't think you can separate and put with the coach except in rare circumstances.  The facilities, the conference, the TV deal are very rarely a coach thing, they are more about the school.  And those kind of things can make or break a coach, because they dictate what he may or may not be able to do.Look at guys who jump a level, whether it is up or down in terms of schools/conferences/exposure...very rarely do they continue to recruit at the level they did at their old school.  The school itself sets the level at which they can compete, and it is tough for coaches to exceed that.

Lefty Driesell, for example,  didn't become a different coach when he left Maryland for JMU and Georgia State, but he could never get the kind of players players that he did when he had the lure of Maryland/ACC/TV.  Ralph Willard may be a better coach at Holy Cross than he was at Pitt, but he can't get anywhere near the level of player he got with the draw of the Big East/ESPN etc.  

Or the reverse of that, a guy like Seth Greenberg, who's recruiting has improved at each level he's been at, from Big West to C-USA to ACC.  The school allowed him to get kids that would never have considered Long Beach State or South Florida.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Coaches and programs are the two biggest considerations upon which a player will make a decision. IMO they are of equal importance in the evaluation process.

Where does meeting D-Wade fall into your list of considerations?

In other posts you stated it was the reason why Iman didn't chose MU.

You even went as far to say that D-Wade's body language was pressuring Iman to make an "emotional decision".

[79Warrior]

Coaches. Why else would anyone want to play in Syracuse where winter is 8 months of the year!!  Just kidding. MU is a great example, after Al we sure had some tough times.

[bilsu]

From the very beginning it was obvious Shuppert was an ACC fan. Remember the original posts said he was a lock for Clemson. He wanted to play for an ACC school besides UNC or Duke. He liked Clemson because of their colors and their non-power status. For some reason he dropped Clemson. To choose UNC would have gone against his original dream. Georgia Tech fit this dream. MU was just in the wrong conference. We have to remember that MU has only been in the Big East for two years and midwest high school players more likely have dreamed of playing in conferences other than the Big East. I do not think midwest recruits dream of playing against St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall, Rutgers, South Florida, Villanova, Pittsburgh or West Virginia. Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati, UCONN, Syracuse and Georgetown are well known schools but most midwest players dream of playing against Ohio St., Illinois, Michigan, Michigan St., Indiana and Purdue.  I would think every high school player in the country would dream of playing against UNC or Duke. Remember Hazel, being an eastern player, dreamed of playing in Big East.That is why he is at MU as he was not recruited by the the traditional Big East powers. The longer MU & DePaul are in the Big East the more interest midwest recruits will have in playing in Big East. Right now I do not believe it is their conference of choice. I also believe football schools have an advantage. It is hard to compete against a visit that includes a football game with high spirited fans.