Sunday, June 27, 2004

Campus Blues

Washington Times story on kids leaving from high school to the NBA, and a little more of a shift from recruiting in the top 10 high school players from the likes of UNC and others. From Coach Hewitt:

Despite the setbacks, many college coaches will continue to wade in the increasingly murky recruiting waters.
"I still think you have to recruit the best possible players," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who led the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA championship game last season. "Obviously, there are some situations where you know somebody is going to be an early draft pick, and it may be a waste of time. Coach [John] Wooden at UCLA used to say, 'The team with the best players almost always wins.' So you have to recruit the best possible players. It's getting to the point where most kids you are recruiting in the ACC figure they are going to be in the NBA — it is just a matter of when."
Yes, Coach Hewitt will still continue to recruit "the best players", but Coach has not brought GT back to a level where we consistently compete for the top 10 talent. Let's be real - this is a year-in and year-out issue for Duke / UNC / Kansas / UConn / Arizona, etc. We tend to be on the fringe of that group, even though we are catching up fast. With the academic requirements at GT, it usually limits our access to many top players anyhow.