Custis to West Georgia

dressedcheeseside

Helluva Engineer
Messages
14,027
Have we taken any chances since the Custis and Autry fiascos w/ academically border line recruits? After being burned twice, I think we resolved to steer clear from these types of recruits. Then the mass DL attrition, some for academic reasons, further bolstered that resolve.

Imo, when you target high achievers, primarily if not exclusively, you may further limit an already tiny pool of prospects, but you get a few advantages in the trade off.

1. Much less worry of academic ineligibility
2. Much less worry of off the field poor character issues
3. Much less worry of last minute flips to factories that come a callin' at the 11th hour
4. Much less worry of bad apples in the lockerroom poisoning team chemistry

All that said, I don't mean to imply Travis was any of that other than #1. I have no idea. It's just that all of that becomes much less likely when you target kids who are already a good fit for GT academically. I'm sure there are a handful of exceptions to the rule and someone can list a handful of guys who did very well for GT on and off the field who were academic exceptions, that's not the point.

We have a very small margin for error in recruiting especially now in the era of Progress Towards Degree requirements. We don't oversign or kick kids out of the program for not making the 2 deep. We need to do everything possible to reduce our risks of attrition. Keeping kids eligible is paramount for non factory programs that depend on development over immediate contribution.
 

iceeater1969

Helluva Engineer
Messages
8,916
Have we taken any chances since the Custis and Autry fiascos w/ academically border line recruits? After being burned twice, I think we resolved to steer clear from these types of recruits. Then the mass DL attrition, some for academic reasons, further bolstered that resolve.

Imo, when you target high achievers, primarily if not exclusively, you may further limit an already tiny pool of prospects, but you get a few advantages in the trade off.

1. Much less worry of academic ineligibility
2. Much less worry of off the field poor character issues
3. Much less worry of last minute flips to factories that come a callin' at the 11th hour
4. Much less worry of bad apples in the lockerroom poisoning team chemistry

All that said, I don't mean to imply Travis was any of that other than #1. I have no idea. It's just that all of that becomes much less likely when you target kids who are already a good fit for GT academically. I'm sure there are a handful of exceptions to the rule and someone can list a handful of guys who did very well for GT on and off the field who were academic exceptions, that's not the point.

We have a very small margin for error in recruiting especially now in the era of Progress Towards Degree requirements. We don't oversign or kick kids out of the program for not making the 2 deep. We need to do everything possible to reduce our risks of attrition. Keeping kids eligible is paramount for non factory programs that depend on development over immediate contribution.

On the otherside of academic certainty is
Joke
There is a high school all-star game that is about to be played. There are a great number of the kids there that would do great at gt and fully meet your requirement (1-4).The trouble is that they are watching from the stands and they are small and slow.
If we demand perfection by player development staff, we will end up with to many watchers at gtaa. Now that we have certain new folks in player development I say they should have our full support to decide and not be hung out to dry if they have a bobble. What happened in EARLY 14 was not just (even though you didnt say it) inadequate kids, there were some lack of internal controls..





Sitting here we dont know what really in kids "want to" that will get him thru gt academics.
Just like the intense off-season work going on now, academics is a lot of want to. Most of us know it is life changing.

To get the elusive gt 1-4 who can also ball, we just need unicorns to bring money so we can go look harder here and in wider area.
Remember most kids that could ball and do 1-4 are afraid of gt. They have to be recruited past that.
 

iceeater1969

Helluva Engineer
Messages
8,916
If he was supposed to be so good coming out of high school, why isn't he going to a power 5 school? I thought after his year at Hutchinson, he would end up somewhere big.

Could be we were recruiting him for the bb position that no one else uses? .
Could be that junior college training regime not as good as gt.
Or maybe not that good.
 
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