Coach Steele

[IM4X]

Somewhere in this roller coaster of a thread, it was suggested that Steele ran off Elias Harden (or that Harden would have been the answer this year). Well my friends, maybe Steele can put the band back together. Harden is in the transfer portal after one season in Jacksonville.

Oh he’d have been the answer this year, if the question happened to be “Name the struggling X player who should have transferred out last year?”

I wish him the best of luck, but he simply is not talented enough to be playing on the floor at the BE level for more than a few minutes a game.

[xudash]

Oh he’d have been the answer this year, if the question happened to be “Name the struggling X player who should have transferred out last year?”

I wish him the best of luck, but he simply is not talented enough to be playing on the floor at the BE level for more than a few minutes a game.

I did like that kid. He certainly seemed likeable. The look on his face after he nailed the corner 3 against Villanova as he ran back down the court is priceless.

[IM4X]

I did like that kid. He certainly seemed likeable. The look on his face after he nailed the corner 3 against Villanova as he ran back down the court is priceless.

IÂ’ll give you that one, but if we are even sniffing at the possibility of filling roster spots with guys at his level of talent, we need to head back to the A10.

[Xuperman]

The "Mack" era is firmly in the rearview now that James transferred out with Paul the only remnant.

That 2018 class was a real crapper....possibly the worst this century as it no longer exists. It's kinda weird that Steele was riding shotgun for that haul, based on what he's done as the head guy. Of course, a lot of credit has to go to the recruiting prowess of the assistants he hired, especially the impact Hayes' has in the south. That machine needs to be running at max efficiency after the smoke clears from this pandemic.

All indications are that Steele intends to build his program with high school talent. Not much energy being expended in mining the transfer portal in his first 3 tries. Especially this year when he brings aboard 2 guys in a flash, while not being patient until the portal reaches maximum capacity. Yeah, there's still plenty of time but when MU snags a DJ Carton, I just roll my eyes (granted, NO ONE in the portal wants to bank on getting their PG minutes from Odom).

Here's the thing, our roster sets up nicely come fall...10 talented guys that will make for some fascinating 5 on 5's when practice cranks up BUT the fall of 2021 has a very uncomfortable amount of slots to fill. Only 7 projected (+Hanson ok) at this point. Doesn't that seem incredibly thin? Especially with the volatility in keeping rosters intact nowdays.

So here's looking forward to Coach Steele making hay in the top 100 prospects again. There is 3 legit sources on Rivals having Jordan Hawkins out of DeMatha 100% coming to X via coach Hayes....that's a good start.

[xavierj]

The "Mack" era is firmly in the rearview now that James transferred out with Paul the only remnant.

That 2018 class was a real crapper....possibly the worst this century as it no longer exists. It's kinda weird that Steele was riding shotgun for that haul, based on what he's done as the head guy. Of course, a lot of credit has to go to the recruiting prowess of the assistants he hired, especially the impact Hayes' has in the south. That machine needs to be running at max efficiency after the smoke clears from this pandemic.

All indications are that Steele intends to build his program with high school talent. Not much energy being expended in mining the transfer portal in his first 3 tries. Especially this year when he brings aboard 2 guys in a flash, while not being patient until the portal reaches maximum capacity. Yeah, there's still plenty of time but when MU snags a DJ Carton, I just roll my eyes (granted, NO ONE in the portal wants to bank on getting their PG minutes from Odom).

Here's the thing, our roster sets up nicely come fall...10 talented guys that will make for some fascinating 5 on 5's when practice cranks up BUT the fall of 2021 has a very uncomfortable amount of slots to fill. Only 7 projected (+Hanson ok) at this point. Doesn't that seem incredibly thin? Especially with the volatility in keeping rosters intact nowdays.

So here's looking forward to Coach Steele making hay in the top 100 prospects again. There is 3 legit sources on Rivals having Jordan Hawkins out of DeMatha 100% coming to X via coach Hayes....that's a good start.

I think the thing with Mack totally missing on that last class had nothing more to do than with people behind the scenes telling recruits he would be gone soon and the kids went elsewhere. That’s why losing coaches sucks. Chris had finally had consistent success based on his class with Tre and JP and they were getting involved with more and more highly rated recruits and then he just missed on everyone. The good thing is that Travis didn’t miss a beat on getting in with and landing highly rated guys. I think the most top 100 players on one Xavier roster is 4 a during a season, which they will also have this year, but the following year it could be 5 to 7, which is a good thing. As for 21 being thin, no it shouldn’t worry anyone. They will have Odom, Tandy, Jones, Wilcher, Zach, Dieonte, Ramsey and probably 4 freshman and maybe one transfer. That would be 12 guys, which no coach wants any more than that, even if that. I mean how can you fill 13 scholarships and keep everyone happy? Someone isn’t going to play. I would imagine the goal is to get enough talented guys, but not too many, so you can keep everyone happy.

[MADXSTER]

For me the jury is still out on Steele but to be honest, unlike MOR, I'm not overly concerned. If we had the last two seasons and not had Zach and Ky Ky plus the incoming recruiting class then yes I would be concerned.

Someone posted somewhere that Xavier ranked #253 in 3 point shooting. In taking Naji and Q out of the equation, Xavier shoots 35.xx % and Xavier moves up to #70. That's insane. I see next years team shooting somewhere between 35 to 40% next year. 35% would have won Xavier a number of games last year. I do not blame Steele for the poor 3 point shooting as much as that he just had to play with the cards that he was dealt.

Even though they will have a lot of younger guys, I think that the turnovers will go down. Can't see it getting worse IMHO.

The team defense will probably get worse considering that Xavier as a team was ranked #25 and be a relatively young team, but I do not see it as a total collapse or anything like that. Maybe top 40.

Everyone talked about the team IQ last season. The incoming recruits are said to have high basketball IQ in addition to their academic IQ's. Hence why no one has mentioned anything about them being able to qualify academically. I like to look at JP Macura in this instance. Not a lock down defender, Average 3 point shooter but had a very high basketball IQ and now he's already played in the NBA. High IQ can go along way in making a team play like a team. I think that's what we're are going to see in the future. Hopefully as soon as next year.

Xavier had the Dumbass play ran against them more than they ran it against other teams. That's not good and I hope it comes back.

The BE will not be as strong next season as they were this past season. I actually believe that Xavier will have a better record next year than the past two years.

For some(MOR) Steele is on the hot seat but I think after next season that the hot seat will become a warm seat. That said I do believe that Steele was slow to react in getting Q off the starting lineup. Also I'm not a fan of Steele letting the worst two 3 point shooters take the most 3 point attempts and being okay with it. Think this is part of the learning curve. Just hope that he's learned.

In summary, I'm okay with Steele.

In summary, I agree with MOR on most things but think his disdain for Steele is a little premature.

[Xuperman]

I think the thing with Mack totally missing on that last class had nothing more to do than with people behind the scenes telling recruits he would be gone soon and the kids went elsewhere.

I know this is a excuse that has been floated around as fact....I couldn't disagree more. There is no way that in the spring thru early fall recruiting window of 2017 that anyone could predict Mack leaving before a single game had been played, let alone the results that transpired, UNLESS you believe Mack wanted out regardless.

There were no big time prospects that made verbals, only to decommit after/during the 2017/18 season. So to believe that the scuttlebutt about him leaving was a known commodity doesn't make much sense.

Here's the thing, and my basis for concern for team 100....There will be NO SENIORS that came up thru the system other than, wait for it....., Myles Hanson .

a more significant concern is that out of the 2 freshman classes on Coach Steele's watch, FOUR of the eight have transfered....that's 50% folks! Granted, all 3 of the Mack guys are part of the equation, BUT Steele has his fingerprints there regardless.

Ok, so let's toss out the 3 Mack scrubs and insert our incoming 3 studs. Obviously Bishop leaving constitutes a 1:8 ratio already. Just one more departure would establish a 25% expectation, which is not unreasonable in today's shifting rosters. These have to be filled with IMPACT TRANSFERS, of which Steele has shown no ability/interest in accomplishing. I am going to continue to rail against Coach Steele in this area until, hopefully, it is not necessary BUT nearly EVERYONE ELSE in the BEast is making a SIGNIFICANT IMPACT in the transfer game. We have to at least keep pace.

[xavierj]

I know this is a excuse that has been floated around as fact....I couldn't disagree more. There is no way that in the spring thru early fall recruiting window of 2017 that anyone could predict Mack leaving before a single game had been played, let alone the results that transpired, UNLESS you believe Mack wanted out regardless.

There were no big time prospects that made verbals, only to decommit after/during the 2017/18 season. So to believe that the scuttlebutt about him leaving was a known commodity doesn't make much sense.

Here's the thing, and my basis for concern for team 100....There will be NO SENIORS that came up thru the system other than, wait for it....., Myles Hanson .

a more significant concern is that out of the 2 freshman classes on Coach Steele's watch, FOUR of the eight have transfered....that's 50% folks! Granted, all 3 of the Mack guys are part of the equation, BUT Steele has his fingerprints there regardless.

Ok, so let's toss out the 3 Mack scrubs and insert our incoming 3 studs. Obviously Bishop leaving constitutes a 1:8 ratio already. Just one more departure would establish a 25% expectation, which is not unreasonable in today's shifting rosters. These have to be filled with IMPACT TRANSFERS, of which Steele has shown no ability/interest in accomplishing. I am going to continue to rail against Coach Steele in this area until, hopefully, it is not necessary BUT nearly EVERYONE ELSE in the BEast is making a SIGNIFICANT IMPACT in the transfer game. We have to at least keep pace.

Ok on transfers, who else in the Big East besides seton hall and Marquette have really landed anyone of significance or even went after them. Seton Hall has To replace a ton and they don’t have a ton coming in, so it made sense. I mean Paul is coming back and to me that’s better than any of the transfers we could have gone after.

What is the transfer game that Nova plays every year? How many of Nova’s starters have been transfers? Yes Creighton took the O’Connell kid but is he even any good? He will sit one and play one. Georgetown lost 4 guys this year. How many transfers are they bringing in? Xavier went after two of the top transfers but they were not going to concede everything to get them and one of them went back to Bowling Green. I would rather build from the high school market like Nova does. Relying on transfers tells me you are not recruiting very well or you just got the job and lost most of your team. I am much more excited to see the young guys that you invested in get time and build this sucker.

[MADXSTER]

In 2010, he testified in a federal extortion trial involving Karen Sypher, who went to prison after trying to get money and gifts from Pitino in exchange for silence.

In 2015, the NCAA launched an investigation into a sex-for-pay scandal.

In 2016, Louisville gave itself a post season ban.

Pitino was fired in the fall of 2017. It wouldn't be unheard of that rumors were circling in the basketball world ,behind the scenes, that this was coming and that Mack was going to be a top target.

[Xuperman]

Ok on transfers, who else in the Big East besides seton hall and Marquette have really landed anyone of significance

I'm not referring to this short weird off season. This is only a disparaging gap if you look at the true impact of BE transfers recentlly....basically all of our conference competition has added key/multi year guys that move the needle. Hankins was great BUT just a Mahoney or/say Nze look to really leave a mark in more ways than one. Just saying that the priorities don't gel with the newly prioritized transfer options.