Attitudes toward recruiting

It is always nice to dream of that "home run" recruit who can come in and make an immediate difference to the whole program. It is more realistic, however, since we will not be getting any "one-and-doners," to think in terms of incremental steps. The players we get will be of material help in their upper-class seasons. Before then, anything we meaningful we get from them is just gravy. That means, of course, that jucos are going to have to be contributors from the get-go, and that is one of the risks of juco-only recruiting. Right now we have a nice mix. Our current class is all juco (probably because Shields is feeling the heat), but mixed with them are some nice players who were freshmen when they entered the program, and who are beginning to show signs of helping. Josh Hagins, of course, has been a player from the start, but Isom and Billings have come along more slowly. Same with Gus Leeper, who should be a solid force for us next season, even if not spectacular.