here is an except. Walker on Sampson. Last line made my heart go pitter pat. "It will be great to pick his brain each day about the game," Walker said. "His NBA experience is impressive. He is a legend in the college game. His name is really big in the basketball world. He is such a good defensive coach and he showed me how they get their shooters open for shots. Their skill development was important for me to play at the next level."
So Sampson does want to play with the big boys and go get the 5 stars. Good for him and the program to evolve at the right time. It's simple. Go get the talent. That always works.
it doesn't. we see in college every year big name programs with all the elite "5 star" names up and down the list not win. The rating of stars has always been about who can get the most exposure. Sampson reiterates that to his program every year. Not actually who the most talented players in the country are. Bc there are tons of kids who Sampson highlights that are able to be elite and compete. he will never change that approach. We've seen first hand Penny fail at it at the last couple of years and not even qualify for a ncaa tourney bid despite top rated recruits on his roster
He changed it because he can. And it does work. You said it yourself, the big name programs get the 5 stars. How do you think they got the big name? By winning. Duh, they recruit 5 star kids.
nah he didn't. he hasn't changed anything. He's recruited the exact same since hes been here and nothing about how hes approached the recruiting process has been changed with his personnel and him. He doesn't look at stars. never have. never will Has Memphis won anything? Nope. In fact they haven't won for awhile and haven't even been in the tourney for a nearly decade.
What I think he should do is grease an NBA team to get Jr. some NBA assistant experience right now. That would help maintain the recruiting continuum when he passes the torch to Kellen. And that additional knowledge and experience will help the Cougars down the road too.
Not the biggest ever, but certainly the biggest in the modern era. There were a number of players 40-50 years ago that the school got 50 years ago that likely were that high. What is impressive about Sampson and this class is that he is not a ranking w****. A lot of coaches will go hard after kids that are 4-5 star recruits regardless of fit, personality and how good they may or may not be. Sampson isn't like that, he doesn't really care about where a kid is ranked, and looks at the fit as a player and culturally. So the fact that he has 3 of the top 80 recruits in the class is impressive. Also I have seen these kids play and their rankings are a little low in the case of Sharp and Arcenaux. Sharp would be in the top 50 had he not gotten hurt.
