Comments on: Cory Joseph ‘Cuts’ List to 16 Schools

By: OldTerp

OldTerp — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:56:35 +0000

I thought you might have said he’s already a lock for Coach Cal, so his list is just a facade – but I should have known you need to start something to spend the rest of your day trading insults with everybody.

Maryland has verbals from two Guards in the class of 2010 – they either blew it or nobody else wanted them, right?

You’re entertaining Pasta, I’ll give you that …..

By: NinedenLtD

NinedenLtD — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:57:20 +0000

That is why I say I’m not worried, because I don’t think Pastner will “drink the kool aid.” Right now he’s a young coach in his first gig as a head coach. For a couple of years it makes sense to expect that he’ll go after some local kids and have an “inside-out” approach. Once he gains a foothold nationally, I am confident he’ll recruit the best players regardless of where they come from. And I don’t think it’ll take him long. He recruited nationally at Arizona and he came to Memphis to be a part of Calipari’s national program. He’s very obviously ambitious and not afraid to get into the fray with the big boys.

Don’t forget that in Cal’s early years the Memphis team had a lot more local products than we’ve had in the last three or four years.

By: pastaboy

pastaboy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:12:43 +0000

The problem as I see it is that its fine to recruit locally if as you say the kid is good enough . But then these local kids start getting hyped when they are in the 8th grade and by the time they are seniors in HS everyone thinks just get these 3 guys and we’ll win it all ……then they don’t pan out …..I hope Pastner doesn’t drink this kool aid and continues the Cal tradition of recruiting nationally .

By: NinedenLtD

NinedenLtD — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:50:22 +0000

I am going to wait and see what Pastner does with a full season and a full year of recruiting before I say I am worried. Pastner has reached out to local kids and coaches in a way Calipari never did.

I’d like it if what Calipari did for the program (building it into a powerhouse that recruits and schedules nationally) was not erased. I wouldn’t be bothered too much, though, if Pastner did return at least in a small way to the pre-Calipari notion that the top Memphis talent should stay in Memphis. That is, as long as they are good enough.

The bottom line is, as long as the team wins, I really don’t care where the players come from. If we can get to the Final Four with 11 guys from Memphis like we did in ’85 that is awesome, but if it takes kids from Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, wherever, to be involved in the discussion on a yearly basis then that is fine too.

Also, the “next Penny” comment was in sarcasm. I made it with guys like Paris London and Marcus Moody in mind. I like JJ and would be happy to have him, but he’s no Penny. Interesting fact: JJ wasn’t even “Best Athlete” this year at his high school. That title went to my little brother, a baseball player.

By: pastaboy

pastaboy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:40:24 +0000

Maybe the kid should increase his list to 64 so Maryland can be on a list . (snickers)

By: Terp4life

Terp4life — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:17:34 +0000

Cut your list to 16 schools?!!! This is crazy. What is the matter with parenting and advising these days? Tell the kid listen you have to make choices. Narrow your list down to a handful that you can visit and then go from there. There is no way 16 schools have what you are looking for.

By: pastaboy

pastaboy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:41:44 +0000

Or the mantle of the next Paris London …..these local Memphis kids got hyped thru the stratosphere during the Finch era …I’m afraid the program is headed back in that direction .

By: NinedenLtD

NinedenLtD — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:28:22 +0000

JJ keeps insisting he will wait until next spring to pick a college. It only makes sense that if Memphis can sign a Joseph or a Selby before then, they will, even if it means passing on the latest kid from Memphis to assume the mantel of “the next Penny.”

By: pastaboy

pastaboy — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:54:16 +0000

I’m hearing a lot about this guy on some Memphis blogs ……to the point he may make them stop with their total fixation on Joe Jackson

By: NinedenLtD

NinedenLtD — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:32:34 +0000

He also took an unofficial to Memphis, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. It is worth noting that Russell and Pastner are reportedly close friends who played with/against each other in AAU in Houston.