Success through recruiting or through development

I never have liked the idea of freshmen coming into a program and being able to play a lot immediately. That just does not say much for your program. If a true freshman can do that, how bad are your upperclassmen? With the one-and-done culture in college basketball today, recruiting has become everything and player development practically nothing. (I am overstating the case on purpose, obviously.) If a coach is doing his job, then a player ought to get better, both physically and mentally, during his years in a program, and if that span is four years, considerably better. If a program is constantly upgrading its talent base, then the freshmen ought to be pushing the veterans, but unless four years of development and maturity mean nothing, it ought to be a real struggle for them to get much playing time. Recruiting is the sizzle of college basketball; player development and real coaching is the steak - the substance.