Mizzou 2010 Hoops

[phins]

Can anyone comment on his recruiting abilities. That seems to be a concern down here in Tennessee.

I will be straight up with you. Huge MSU fan, went to every game but two, and saw him grow.

First year here, he wasn't sure what to do, or what he had. Coached an awful MSU team to a victory over Arkansas. The rest of the year they did nothing, and he couldn't win on the road or close games. His entire first recruiting class is gone. He had no time to recruit, and took some chances on guys. Two kids were God awful. Another failed out after a semester. The third had talent. He had been recruited to Purdue, but had character issues.

Second year, the team adds talent in the form of transfers. They start hot, going 10-0, beating Tulsa and Arkansas. Go to Arkansas and lose in OT. The team moves up from 10th to 7th. Wins two road games instead of the one. After the year, he recruits a solid player in Nathan Scheer. Missouri State was his best offer, but he was offered by Mizzou as a junior. He regressed senior year and offer was pulled. Corey Copeland was fairly heralded, but did nothing as a freshman. Missouri State was his best offer. Aaron Cooper was a PG here who couldn't get on the floor, and wasn't good enough for this level. Missouri State was his best offer.

By now, you see he hasn't pulled anyone with a better offer thus far. All freshmen from the team his first year have now left. One kicked off. The second year, he pulls Jerome Jones, Keith Pickens. Lamont Austin transferred to Morehead State not on track to graduate. He gets Missouri State put on APR restriction by a scholarship for his first two years, and the
last coaches last two years due to player losses.

Of the starters this year, he didn't recruit the best player (he was redshirting the year before he got here). The post player who was second team all conference was a transfer the year before and became eligible at mid-season. The SG was a transfer from E. Kentucky. The other two starters were Juco kids. He can recruit Juco kids, but has yet to pull a single high school recruit who made an impact. The backup post was a transfer from Colorado.

To this point, Zo has recruited Derron Hobbs, Jerome Jones, Cardell McFarland, Darius Heyward-Mayhew, Dominique Brumfield, Keith Pickens, Nathan Scheer, Corey Copeland, Aaron Cooper out of high school. Hobbs wasn't close to good enough and left school after a semester. MSU was his only offer. Brumfield failed out and wasn't good enough. Heyward-Mayhew was awful and went DII after a year. McFarland hit his girlfriend and went DII after a year and a half. Jones wasn't good enough and went Juco after a year. Copeland looks iffy. Cooper isn't good enough and barely played on a team without a backup PG, and only played 7 people. Nathan Scheer averaged 4 pts a game and made All-Frshman team. Solid player.

Those are the freshmen brought in thus far. He has a solid class this year, but one is from Springfield, and was a lock here regardless (best recruit). The Bears son with minimal talent because he's that good of a coach and learned along the way and had a ton of close hames go his way. Great coach, character guy, and tactician, but honestly his recruiting is a question mark, and why I felt he needed another year to prove himself.

Good luck to Coach Zo, and I wish him well. Wish he'd been a little more forthcoming over the past few days, but that's rare in this industry.

[cardsfansince82]

I wonder how this affects the big picture for Mizzou. I would think Martin would have waited to see what happens at Purdue first, unless he believes Painter is staying. Tennessee probably paid him more anyway.

[Leroy]

Phins, that may be the hugest picture I've ever seen on the internet.

[phins]

I'm pretty sure it needs resized.

[JL21]

I wonder how this affects the big picture for Mizzou. I would think Martin would have waited to see what happens at Purdue first, unless he believes Painter is staying. Tennessee probably paid him more anyway.

I'm not convinced at all that it matters. I can appreciate that Painter would be looking out for his friend like that, but to that extent? That he'd leave his current school for Mizzou so they could both have high profile jobs? The idea that it'd be a deal-breaker (Martin no longer available to take the Purdue gig so Painter stays) seems awfully far fetched to me.

I hope all of this Painter stuff isn't just a pipe dream that ends when he gets a raise at Purdue. Other candidates are perfectly reasonable options but they look so much worse by comparison to Painter.

[cardsfansince82]

I wonder how this affects the big picture for Mizzou. I would think Martin would have waited to see what happens at Purdue first, unless he believes Painter is staying. Tennessee probably paid him more anyway.

I'm not convinced at all that it matters. I can appreciate that Painter would be looking out for his friend like that, but to that extent? That he'd leave his current school for Mizzou so they could both have high profile jobs? The idea that it'd be a deal-breaker (Martin no longer available to take the Purdue gig so Painter stays) seems awfully far fetched to me.

I hope all of this Painter stuff isn't just a pipe dream that ends when he gets a raise at Purdue. Other candidates are perfectly reasonable options but they look so much worse by comparison to Painter.

That first sentence was just a lame joke about the ginormous picture phins posted. The rest of it you either misunderstood or I wrote it poorly. I was simply speculating that Martin would prefer the Purdue job over Tennessee, so he must not think Painter is going anywhere. I figure it won't take more than a few days for us to find out if any of this Painter stuff is true or Purdue opens up the checkbook to keep him. If on the off chance Painter could be pried away from Purdue, I further speculated that Martin still is likely getting paid more by Tennessee than any hypothetical deal he could have gotten at Purdue.

[MrCrowesGarden]

I'm still not convinced Martin could play the waiting game either. When a power conference team comes calling, it's hard to play wait and see.

I think this definitely puts the impetus on Alden to get something done with Painter though. The most obvious Plan B is gone.

[The Third Man]

I hope all of this Painter stuff isn't just a pipe dream that ends when he gets a raise at Purdue. Other candidates are perfectly reasonable options but they look so much worse by comparison to Painter.

My understanding, as gleaned from a Purdue fan at another forum, is that Purdue's AD is a real penny-pincher, and is precisely the reason that Painter to MU (or wherever else) is far from a pipe dream. He wants more money in the basketball program and isn't getting it. Considering Purdue's success, the league they play in, etc., Painter is fed up with second-rate budgets and facilities.

[MrCrowesGarden]

brianbuster1 Rumor tonight that mizzou insider confirmes Painter has accepted 14 million 7 year deal. Deal announced mon or tues. We shall see... #fb

[JL21]

That first sentence was just a lame joke about the ginormous picture phins posted. The rest of it you either misunderstood or I wrote it poorly.

Yeah, neglect my reply. There's a lot of "I wonder if Cuonzo being unavailable to take the Purdue job will affect whether or not Painter will leave now" out there (i.e. Painter would only leave if he knew that Cuonzo would replace him or something) and I thought that's what you were saying with the big picture thing.