You guys both bring up some great points. I agree with UBinMD that I feel like this coach and staff are trying to build a roster around kids that are interchangeable on the floor defensively and offensively both from a size and athletic point of view. These coaches are clearly looking for kids who are willing to play defense, are good athletes, and are unselfish hard workers. I think you can describe all of the freshman from last year under those categories. Those are clearly the type of kids this staff is after. I think this is the formula started by Villanova and now used by many schools, like Uconn. Obviously the talent level at these schools is above the level we are recruiting at but the type of kids are the same. The kids this staff is after are willing to sacrifice their own accolades for the good of the team. This describes, Sabol, Boldin, Wilson and Mcveigh all of this staffs recruits last year. I agree with MuchMany who feels that the veteran leadership from last year never took on these characteristics and they were a non complimentary group of players left leading this team. They were selfish players and were not willing to sacrifice for the good of the team. All of the lazy play from last year falls squarely on the shoulders of Chatman and Adams. That is why we won so little of our games. These kids let us down by being selfish and lazy. I think this staff will be the first to tell you there mistake was to allow Chatman and Adams and Smith the ability to return and their choice to continue to play them heavy minutes down the stretch of the season. It was destined to fail when the only reason these kids stayed here at UB was because they did not want to have to sit out another year because it was all of their at least second transfer if they chose to move to another school. These kids had no interest in playing for this coach, after all they came here to play for Whitesell. They had no interest in buying into what this staff was selling. That was the major issue last year. I wish the coaching staff had just benched them. It was a weird dynamic all year and I think this was the crux of it all. I think this staff is trying to follow the mold of Villanova and Uconn but we did not get a chance to see it much last year. I think they are trying to create an identity of interchangability, with athletes who work hard and are willing to sacrifice and play unselfish. Personally I think this is the approach to take in our situation. We go after the kids who are loyal and are willing to stay and play as a team. I also think this a reason you see this staff recruiting these kids who dont have a ton of other offers. They are under recruited and have a chip on their shoulder to prove themselves.
I think next year we are going to see a vast improvement and I think it will be an entertaining brand of basketball. Trust me, I was as frustrated as anyone this past season. I drove 550 miles to see three games of Chatman and Adams being ball hogs and lazy on defense. I was the one standing and clapping when Chatman was kicked out of his final game, BYE! I am not happy with the status of this program but after I have let my emotions settle and I have reviewed our situation, a plan emerged that I think this staff is aiming for. Will it result in wins next year like we all want, I doubt it, but I think it takes time to build a program. I will support this approach and I hope you all will as well. I look forward to next year. I want to see a team identity based on interchangeability, athleticism and unselfish play where the players sacrifice for each other to allow for team success. If we see this from the team it will be a fun season and we can all get behind that approach. Go Bulls!