2014 SG JP Macura (Xavier Commit)

[Bluejay Bilas]

I thought we were a long shot. However, I thought he was going to end up at Minnesota.

Going to a conference rival is what really sucks.

Jerry Meyer tweeted: "Here is some fuel for #Crystalball of Isaiah Whitehead. Heard J.P. Macura tried to commit but Minnesota held off".

[Jet915]

I thought we were a long shot. However, I thought he was going to end up at Minnesota.

Going to a conference rival is what really sucks.

Jerry Meyer tweeted: "Here is some fuel for #Crystalball of Isaiah Whitehead. Heard J.P. Macura tried to commit but Minnesota held off".

Awesome! So we were third in the pecking order!

[Bluejay Bilas]

I thought we were a long shot. However, I thought he was going to end up at Minnesota.

Going to a conference rival is what really sucks.

Jerry Meyer tweeted: "Here is some fuel for #Crystalball of Isaiah Whitehead. Heard J.P. Macura tried to commit but Minnesota held off".

Awesome! So we were third in the pecking order!

If there is any truth to that tweet, yeah. But, I don't know that we were top 5 in his mind until a few weeks ago. Also, I think we were actually later than Xavier to the Macura recruitment. Their assistant who was at Mizzou last year has been recruiting him for quite awhile, I believe. I'm not happy about losing out to Xavier, but I think the staff did well, but not perfectly, in getting us close after Stevens left Butler. If this happens a lot next year with the 2015 guys who this staff is following now and has been following for awhile, I'll be more frustrated.

[HandDownManDown]

We're awesome.

Hopefully we didn't discard that 200-400 list Piv mentions we were going off of as a Valley team.



If you guys want to spin this by trying to take a longer term look, then fine. The fact of the matter is that our list of top 150 recruits is almost nonexistent. We either hit on LGIII and/or LaChance or Demery, or we're just about out the door. Everyone here knows what we're up against starting next season, what with a huge chunk of the team leaving, AND having to fill five scholarships. This year is a big deal, and we're failing, regardless of what happens in 2015. There's still time to pull it out but it's the equivalent of hitting a runner-runner flush in hold 'em.

[JayPharmAlum]

Everyone needs to chill out. Doug McDermott wasn't a very highly regarded recruit either coming out of high school and he turned out just fine.

I have no doubt that the coaches have a plan and will put together a class that we will be proud of.

[Duke1Agn]

Doug McDermott is also about a 1 in 10,000 player. If your plan is to recruit under the radar guys hoping that they blossom into All-Americans, then there will be limited success.

[Bluejay Bilas]

We're awesome.

Hopefully we didn't discard that 200-400 list Piv mentions we were going off of as a Valley team.



If you guys want to spin this by trying to take a longer term look, then fine. The fact of the matter is that our list of top 150 recruits is almost nonexistent. We either hit on LGIII and/or LaChance or Demery, or we're just about out the door. Everyone here knows what we're up against starting next season, what with a huge chunk of the team leaving, AND having to fill five scholarships. This year is a big deal, and we're failing, regardless of what happens in 2015. There's still time to pull it out but it's the equivalent of hitting a runner-runner flush in hold 'em.

Maybe it is spin on my part, but I would not label it as such. Rather than trying to fabricate positives than can be derived from disappointing news, I have been saying that some of our hopes and expectations aren’t based on solid footing.

For instance, what ranked recruit who has committed elsewhere was being seriously pursued by Creighton last year, when we already had two early 2014 verbals and were an MVC team?

Or, what ranked recruit who has committed elsewhere was ever thought by someone other than a Creighton fan to be a strong Creighton lean?

For a Macura-specific view of all this, look at when the thread was created (Spring 2013). Note that in the first-half of the summer, other than his unofficial visit, there was little to suggest that we were a serious player in his recruitment. It was relative crickets on here when I suggested that the Stevens firing might actually get us in the door. Obviously, we did move up, only to eventually lose out to Xavier. I guess the “zipped ‘em up” season and subsequent one year out of the tournament have caused people to forget that Xavier’s been a better basketball program than Creighton and all but around a dozen or so NCAA teams over the past decade plus (and I like I said above, apparently their assistant who was briefly at Mizzou, and one of the Michigan directionals before that, had been working Macura for a long time). Maybe I’m being too “good job, good effort” about this, but I hardly see the Macura recruitment as evidence of systemic failure.

Yes, my expectations for the 2014-2015 season are absolutely different than my expectations for the 2013-2014 season. Unless you’re an elite program, the loss of a (hopefully) three-time All American tends to hurt (of course, we’ve absorbed the losses of other recent Creighton stars pretty well). And most everyone on here agrees with you that this is an important recruiting year, and has been saying as much for months. Hoping that we land some ranked recruits in this first Big East year is reasonable. But, expecting this staff in these circumstances to immediately satisfy those new expectations is not very reasonable.


I side with the “we can’t rely solely on under the radar guys” argument, and I’m sure if the staff thought the team would finish above .500 in the Big East with a team only comprised of guys like our 2013 recruits, our 2014 class would be filled at this point. Not that I’m discounting the “let’s wait and see” and “proud of” sentiments.

Last edited by Bluejay Bilas on Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

[LJay]

We don't have five rides to give out we have three. We are losing three starters and the 6th man after this year and one of them is a walk on.

Chill out people.

[AttyAlum]

I thought we were a long shot. However, I thought he was going to end up at Minnesota.

Going to a conference rival is what really sucks.

Jerry Meyer tweeted: "Here is some fuel for #Crystalball of Isaiah Whitehead. Heard J.P. Macura tried to commit but Minnesota held off".

Awesome! So we were third in the pecking order!

Sorry, but I'm calling bullshit one this one.

Minnesota has ZERO commits right now and plenty of seniors. I don't believe Minnesota would refuse a verbal of a top 125 kid that also, by the way, just happens to be from Minnesota. Not just from Minnesota mind you, but about 30 mins away from the Twin Cities. Sounds to me like Minnesota is trying to do a little spin to try to explain to their fans why they may miss out on all four top level kids in the state.

Bullshit.

[SonofFrankTomera]

We don't have five rides to give out we have three. We are losing three starters and the 6th man after this year and one of them is a walk on.

Chill out people.

Wouldn't it be four? I know Grant is considered a walk on, but that is a once in a generation thing.

Just re did my calculations, and you are correct LJay. As mr. Bayer at CP once said to me, math will never be your strong point