Was Kansas basketball coach Larry Brown setting us up for a post-season departure with what amounted to “can’t recruit here” comments? If you could push a button and rush in a miracle-worker for KU football, who would it be, and how could he make the Jayhawks competitive in a hurry?
The November signing period for recruits came and Brown said, “We’ve just had a terrible tim. Every kid we’re involved with hears I’m leaving. It’s been awful, more pronounced this year…It’s ironic more than half the kids who say that (they hear Brown won’t be back) are being recruited by coaches who haven’t been at their institutions half as long as I’ve been here (in his fifth season)…”
The main blow to KU pride came when Kansas City whiz Anthony Peeler, a national prize, signed with Missouri. He said one of the reasons was that he knew Norm Stewart would be around.
Peeler seems to have some academic shortcomings and they might have figured in the KU approach to the kid. MU and Peeler, of course, think things can be ironed out and that he’ll be eligible next season. As defending Big Eight champion, favored to repeat this year, Mizzou is on a roll.
Bear in mind MU’s Stewart is widely known as a tough cookie who’s been known to get after players Bob Knight-style. Even though Norm seems to have mellowed in recent years, he still can be rough. Peeler knew about that, yet he opted for Columbia when he could have chosen many campuses.
The KC youth said he wanted to play where his folks could watch him. Columbia is a lot tougher trip than Lawrence, so it’s more than that. Stewart is the dean of Big Eight coachces and has assured everybody he expects to be around for a time.
Maybe Brown would have helped his case if before the recruiting season he had declared he was happy with his present contract, would even welcome a longer pact, and plans, like Stewart, to be on hand for years to come. Then he could have promised potential recruits like Peeler he would be here next year, and the next, and…did he?
I’m not the only one who read Brown’s comments in a “no win” vein as far as local recruiting goes. Don’t know how many people I’ve talked to who interpreted them likewise – and figured Larry might be laying the groundwork for leaving after Danny Manning’s windup. The fact the new Carolina pro franchise hasn’t hired a coach and has Carl Scheer, a Brown friend, as general manager heightens such prospects.
As for not being able to recruit here, that’s hard to buy, considering the current roster, the history, the fan support and such. Why should Missouri, or Oklahoma, or Kansas State be able to get kids when Kansas can’t? That old dog doesn’t hunt.
Some kids see television exposure, which may be more frequent elsewhere, as a big lure, but KU and other Big Eight schools are going to be on the tube enough that only a few would-be superstars will defect from the league. Didn’t bother Peeler, or the other good kids who’ve signed in thise parts of late.
Football-wise, Kansas may be in the doldrums, but in basketball, few programs can offer more, legally, at least. I’m not buying any notion that this is a vast wasteland for recruiting.
In football, could Joe Paterno, Lou Holtz, Barry Switzer, Tom Osborne or Jimmy Johnson move to Lawrence and convert the Jayhawk into a Phoenix resurrected from its own ashes? Even if one of them did, could he make it happen quickly, like early next year?
Suppose you were athletic director Bob Frederick – how would you get it done without cheating, illegal payments and lowered academic standards? Twenty-two seniors are departing, and a lot of greenery is left. How talented the returners are, nobody is sure.
Where do you go beef up next year’s roster to win three or four games against seven league opponents and lon-leaguers Baylor, Auburn, Cal-Berkeley and New Mexico State (the only Southern Illinois-level team on the slate)?
Jucos? How many, and how really good, considering KU is down and kids with NFL ambitions might be shy? Do you take the high school leftovers from places like Chicago or Houston or Los Angeles? If you do, can they qualify scholastically?
There are supporters of John Hadl to replace Bob Valesente, but how would John turn it around in short order? There would be a quick surge of adrenaline after the return of the local boy; how strong would that remain if the Jayhawks started out 1-3 next fall against Baylor, Auburn, Cal and NMS?
There’s been talk of John Levra, Chicago Bear assistant, former KU aide and one-time KC Washington coach. Where’s he gonna get the 40 or so Big Eight-level kids right away to make KU competitive?
Do Frederick and Gene Budig dare to stick with Valesente despite the feeling of some he can’t get the job done despite all the positive improvements and faculty support-rapport he’s generated?
Coaches like Mike Gottfried talk about front-office commitment to a program, but never say just what that is, unless they mean cheating.
Name a program as bad off as KU’s or Kansas State’s that’s done a fast dramatic turnabout of late. Colorado? CU wasn’t as bad off as KU and had some advantages, yet still isn’t boffo. Indiana? Look at the heavily populated recruiting area it has to draw from – Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, even Pennsylvania.
Stan Parris was a big savior when he went to K-State from Marshall. He looks very human now.
Say you could revive Knute Rockne, Bear Bryant and Pop Warner to foster a renaissance by 1988. Working within existing rules and boundaries, could they have KU better off than 1-3 after Baylor, Auburn, Cal and NMS, before Nebraska visits here next Oct. 8?
