2019 6’8 F Tristan Enaruna (KU transfer, Iowa State commit)

[chairclanger]

I was hoping that Al Huss would prove to be the guy that could break our jinx of finishing second on top-rated recruits. In the wake of losing Enuruna, the Preston fiasco and a mediocre 2019 recruiting class, I can't muster much enthusiasm. I will plunk down another several grand for my season tickets, get excited when we have early season success, and then watch us plod to another four-way tie for 3rd (which is also a four-way tie for 7th) in the Big East. Followed by another early exit in the big dance. All while watching Mitch Ballock trying to play power forward. Go Jays!

[JayPak]

I was hoping that Al Huss would prove to be the guy that could break our jinx of finishing second on top-rated recruits. In the wake of losing Enuruna, the Preston fiasco and a mediocre 2019 recruiting class, I can't muster much enthusiasm. I will plunk down another several grand for my season tickets, get excited when we have early season success, and then watch us plod to another four-way tie for 3rd (which is also a four-way tie for 7th) in the Big East. Followed by another early exit in the big dance. All while watching Mitch Ballock trying to play power forward. Go Jays!

Or you could just save your money and watch (or not) on TV.

[chairclanger]

Sorry JayPak, I'll continue to support the program, but I am stating the obvious that we are stuck in neutral. It's Mac's tenth season next year and I don't see a change from our previous pattern with our returning players and incoming recruits. We were so undersized last year that we had difficulty even in-bounding the ball. If Martin leaves we will have 2 players over 6'6" on the roster.

[section221jay]

Same ole same ole

[ictjay]

Man, a lot of dic*ks in the dirt attitudes here. By my count we had 7 losses that were locked wins with 3 minutes or less to go last year, that were the result of inexperience period.
Adding Epperson, Mahoney and for the most part Jefferson will be a great boost.

[CreighTony]

I look forward to every season, some more than others. This coming season is at the "high" end of that spectrum. It's a group of college kids playing a game. It gets me out of the house in the winter and is a fun, exciting product to watch. (Of course, I only pay a couple of hundred instead of a couple of thousand.) But, I've had season tickets since '81 and can't remember ever having a season that I regretted having them. And, believe it or not, I want the Jays to win as much as anyone. But, my life has many other aspects that tend to even out the disappointment that several games bring each season.

[TrueBlueJay]

I look forward to every season, some more than others. This coming season is at the "high" end of that spectrum. It's a group of college kids playing a game. It gets me out of the house in the winter and is a fun, exciting product to watch. (Of course, I only pay a couple of hundred instead of a couple of thousand.) But, I've had season tickets since '81 and can't remember ever having a season that I regretted having them. And, believe it or not, I want the Jays to win as much as anyone. But, my life has many other aspects that tend to even out the disappointment that several games bring each season.

Best post on this board in ages.

[drbluejay]

I really wish the Jays could land a 4 star top 50 or 75 guy without it being a drawn out delayed soap opera. You know, like other power conference teams seem to do annually.

Are you forgetting about Zegarowski, Bishop, Ballock, Alexandar, and Patton all committing early? All of these were 4* recruits.
CU even beat out Kansas for Ballock.

Those guys were top 50 or 75 guys? I didn't know that. Listen, I know recruiting to Omaha is not exactly a walk in the park when you compare CU to the usual blueblood suspects, just wish we could land a top 50 player or 2 to lay the groundwork for future years. A top 50 guy is lot different than a guy that is 100-125. Other teams in the Big East land top 50 players, CU has not, that is the reality. Easier said than done for sure but without landing a few of those guys from time to time, not going to take the next step forward as a program, imo.

According to Rivals;
Patton #45
Ballock #64
Epperson #79
Alexander #85
Enaruna #44 after moving up 60+ spots last week

[Chicagojayfan]

,,,
Are you forgetting about Zegarowski, Bishop, Ballock, Alexandar, and Patton all committing early? All of these were 4* recruits.
CU even beat out Kansas for Ballock.

Those guys were top 50 or 75 guys? I didn't know that. Listen, I know recruiting to Omaha is not exactly a walk in the park when you compare CU to the usual blueblood suspects, just wish we could land a top 50 player or 2 to lay the groundwork for future years. A top 50 guy is lot different than a guy that is 100-125. Other teams in the Big East land top 50 players, CU has not, that is the reality. Easier said than done for sure but without landing a few of those guys from time to time, not going to take the next step forward as a program, imo.

According to Rivals;
Patton #45
Ballock #64
Epperson #79
Alexander #85
Enaruna #44 after moving up 60+ spots last week

Good post!

One thing that people forget is that when we joined the big east, we didn't have a single top 100 recruit on the roster. Last year we had 4 and the year before 5, but that isn't all what it's cracked up to be either.

Ronnie Harrell - 73, Kaleb Joseph - 52. Interesting that Harrell was the first top 100 guy of this era for us (I suppose a few Benoit would have been top 25 maybe, back in the day)

Khyri wasn't on anyone's radar screen, but is in the NBA now and Marcus was a nicely rated, but not super highly rated player (although checking, I see that ESPN had him at 100), and we beat out Ohio State, Minnesota, and Washington.. not Blue Bloods, but some solid P5 programs). Similar stuff but more so for Epperson - Iowa, Illinois, Pitt, Purdue, W Virginia, etc.. Of course, as we all know Kansas offered Ballock, but he came here.

We've missed out on some big recruits, but we've beaten out some big teams for some highly rated guys as well. Whether or not 44 versus 76 is a huge gap in talent is up to others everyone to decide for themselves, but for the most part our roster is made up of guys we recruited and got commitments from over other viable P5 offers. And when they didn't have those offers (as with Khryi and Patton before he blew up) we were the ones who were absolutely right about them.

[bluejayfan00]

To be fair, JP and JE weren't ranked that high when they committed. Mitch was probably the most prolific high school player. His rankings took a major hit after he got hurt, and while he had that KU offer, they backed off quite a bit.

Our recruiting has improved, obviously. I think the OP was talking more about winning recruiting battles for that level of a player (top 50,75) against serious competition. Mitch's recruitment wasn't dragged out, TSA committed out of nowhere with a Clemson and Va Tech offer. Jacob had a really impressive offer list, but his recruitment never seemed high stakes. I think we were the front runner from the get go.

It's hard to explain, but you just *know* the type of player/recruit that will be an immediate impact and is special, whether that's because of their skill and/or because of who's recruiting them. None of those guys had the hype/coverage in their recruitment's as Enaruna did. I mean, he ended up as the #44 player in the class. His recruitment was different, and we haven't been able to win one like that yet. To be fair, we haven't been in too many top 50 players final 3 with tough decisions looming.