2014 Recruits

[Jaysker12]

So we've struck out on 2 PG's in 2 days..who's left on the board? Cohen, Perkins, and Nairn? I'm trying to understand why the staff has such a hard time landing valuable recruits. Do kids just want to avoid Nebraska like the plague?

[skywalker]

I know many on here did not care for Brian Fish, but he has shown an ability to land highly rated recruits. In fact, his Oregon recruits played the best game against Louisville in the tourney. At Creighton it was a different story. Many of those recruits did not live up to the hype. A few did not represent the university well like previous Creighton student athletes. Maybe the fringe recruits that were rated highly were the only ones he could get to commit to Creighton. Maybe he should have seen the character flaws that seemed so obvious. What I see now, however, is that our staff has landed one recruit other than a son that has shown anything resembling excellence. My confidence is dwindling, to say the least. That was Fish that stole our highest priority at point guard. He was evidently smart enough to see what we also saw in the kid.

[AzJay90]

I have been following this board for several months now and am posting my first reply. I am only doing so because of recent comments and speculation about losing a recruit to Oregon both on this thread and on the players thread. I really think that words matter and some of the posts can certainly affect our ability to land recruits. Oregon has been recruiting this point guard for much longer than we have. He has previously attended Oregon's summer camp. CU got involved much later but was high on his list. His Mom is NOT ill. His brother played for and has been an assistant at Grand Canyon and was retained by current staff. It is unfortunate that we have lost out on him because he will be an excellent player, but we were closer than we probable should have been given how late we were in this process.

[Jet915]

I have been following this board for several months now and am posting my first reply. I am only doing so because of recent comments and speculation about losing a recruit to Oregon both on this thread and on the players thread. I really think that words matter and some of the posts can certainly affect our ability to land recruits. Oregon has been recruiting this point guard for much longer than we have. He has previously attended Oregon's summer camp. CU got involved much later but was high on his list. His Mom is NOT ill. His brother played for and has been an assistant at Grand Canyon and was retained by current staff. It is unfortunate that we have lost out on him because he will be an excellent player, but we were closer than we probable should have been given how late we were in this process.

That's nice and all but we've had plenty of "moral victories" and being the "bridesmaid" the last couple of years...

[bluejayfan00]

I've said many times, and I'm sure you all are well aware that 2014 has to be a really good recruiting class. We aren't getting players that we can and should be getting. My confidence has gotten a lot lower after not getting Benson. What now? Who are REALISTIC targets now?

[HandDownManDown]

I must admit I am curious as to what statements that have been made that would jeopardize a recruit. Is there something on the Benson thread that you think helped sink us?

[AttyAlum]

I have been following this board for several months now and am posting my first reply. I am only doing so because of recent comments and speculation about losing a recruit to Oregon both on this thread and on the players thread. I really think that words matter and some of the posts can certainly affect our ability to land recruits. Oregon has been recruiting this point guard for much longer than we have. He has previously attended Oregon's summer camp. CU got involved much later but was high on his list. His Mom is NOT ill. His brother played for and has been an assistant at Grand Canyon and was retained by current staff. It is unfortunate that we have lost out on him because he will be an excellent player, but we were closer than we probable should have been given how late we were in this process.

I'm not sure what was said that was so offensive. Are you saying that because people didn't know that Grand Canyon was D1 or that nobody believed he would really end up there is something that would make the family take offense? As to Oregon, nobody even mentioned them until after he committed there.

I do agree that the negativity is getting a little heavy around here. Hopefully we can get a commit soon to stem that tide a little bit...

[mredle]

I have been following this board for several months now and am posting my first reply. I am only doing so because of recent comments and speculation about losing a recruit to Oregon both on this thread and on the players thread. I really think that words matter and some of the posts can certainly affect our ability to land recruits. Oregon has been recruiting this point guard for much longer than we have. He has previously attended Oregon's summer camp. CU got involved much later but was high on his list. His Mom is NOT ill. His brother played for and has been an assistant at Grand Canyon and was retained by current staff. It is unfortunate that we have lost out on him because he will be an excellent player, but we were closer than we probable should have been given how late we were in this process.

Welcome and I look forward to reading your posts.

[Bluejay Bilas]

I've been something between pessimistic and cautiously optimistic this offseason about the initial post-Doug era, so have probably had my share of posts with some negativism. But, some of the alarm on here seems a little overblown. Of the 2014 kids who have verballed elsewhere, we were either a little late to offer or simply unlikely to land about each one. Benson seemed the most likely of those, but as pointed out by the new poster, we were not the first to pay attention. Further, it is almost always going to be an uphill battle with kids far out of our school and new conference's footprint. A Phoenix kid is going to have a hard time choosing Omaha over Eugene or Palo Alto in most situations, especially as the staff tries to build our brand. As an MVC school, we almost never landed a recruit of Benson's caliber, so it's maybe not reasonable to think that we're going to get 2 or 3 such players right away because we've moved into the Big East. Until we see our 2014 class, it's a bit harsh to say that our staff is repeatedly swinging and missing. We don't know everything that's going on. Things have looked a little wobbly to those of us who care about the program 365 days a year, but that's to be expected during our transition.

I don't know that much or any of what's been typed on this board lately has been harmful. Most every comment I've seen about individual players has been highly complimentary, and there are plenty of very optimistic posts about the program generally. If people are incorrectly speculating about someone's family, that's not good. But in the crazy world of message boards, recruiting and twitter, I don't see online Creighton fans as being any different in a bad way from the online supporters of any other college hoops fan base with a pulse.

Re: Fish. I've got nothing but respect for what Dana's doing up there, and Fish surely is playing a role. But, let's not act as though that program had no prior success or that it's a really tough job. Dana would not have taken that job if that was the case. Plus, if they were getting all the HS kids they wanted, which they're not, they would not be getting all the Jucos, one-year rentals and other transfers they're getting. They do seem to be mentioned in a lot of kids' final lists, so they're doing something right, though.

I stand by what I've thought or said about our 2014 class needs since the conference switch was first announced, and I think it is a critical class. But, until the dust settles, it is foolish to get overly worked up about one or two guys.

[HandDownManDown]

Let's not forget, Oregon does have the best owner in college sports. I'm sure they have all the new doodads and whatzits that 17 year old kids dig.

I'll tell you what, we need to really cash in on the last Doug/Grant dance. The best way to break through the glass ceiling is through overwhelming success.