Out of a six-man incoming class this year, four players are juco and only one is a freshman. Another is a transfer who will have only two years left and has had to sit out a year. Relying too heavily on jucos usually means a coach is feeling pressure. I don’t know if that is the case with Steve Shields, but the post-season drought has been a long one.
Shields has had good success identifying JC players who can help the problem, including a nation-leading rebounder and a conference Defensive Player of the Year. It looks like he may have at least a couple in the current crop who can have an immediate impact if they buy into Shields’ system. I hope so. We need help quickly, even to be mediocre in the SBC this year.
I know that mid-major coaches commonly rely heavily on jucos, but I really would like to see us begin to move away from that practice whenever possible. Jucos have a track record to some extent, but they usually are short on defense, which is the staple of Shields’ system. John Fowler was an exception. However, I can’t argue with the overall results of Shields’ juco recruiting. It has been very good.
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