Recruiting GOLD or Fools Gold?

[DSouthr]

When I look at our freshman class from last season and I ask the question, of that great class which player will produce more for UNC over his career? The interesting answer I keep coming up with is Kerwin Walton and Kerwin was the least hyped of all our freshmen heading in to last season. Sharpe, Kessler as excited as I was that we got both those kids, their UNC careers have now been written and the truth is we got more fools gold from them, not saying they played poorly, just that the mark isn't how you play as much as it is did you win and their team did not win at the level you expect a big time talented UNC team to.

So with the guys we have for our 2022 recruiting class so far and even those you expect us to add, who do you see as REAL gold and is there a kid you suspect may be FOOLS GOLD? To kick this off, the guy who I think could well end up being our most productive for his UNC career could well yet again be our least hyped, Will Shaver. What think you?

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I think it is a good idea to talk about who might be very productive, however I would feel uncomfortable even hinting that a recruit might be "fool's gold". I really like Shaver's combination of physical gifts, work ethic, and team centered mentality. I don't see a single one of our current recruits that I wouldn't want to go to war with!

 

[Tom79]

Frankly, I was brought back to reality on the OAD thing by our last class, great kids, unlimited potential and what did they produce as freshmen? Just one person's opinion, but not a whole lot.
So to me, back to the core, take the kids like Armando and a few 3-4 year kids as an example.
TPF may be right, a couple of our new kids may hit full bloom in CH.

 

[TheGLOV]

When I look at our freshman class from last season and I ask the question, of that great class which player will produce more for UNC over his career? The interesting answer I keep coming up with is Kerwin Walton and Kerwin was the least hyped of all our freshmen heading in to last season. Sharpe, Kessler as excited as I was that we got both those kids, their UNC careers have now been written and the truth is we got more fools gold from them, not saying they played poorly, just that the mark isn't how you play as much as it is did you win and their team did not win at the level you expect a big time talented UNC team to.

So with the guys we have for our 2022 recruiting class so far and even those you expect us to add, who do you see as REAL gold and is there a kid you suspect may be FOOLS GOLD? To kick this off, the guy who I think could well end up being our most productive for his UNC career could well yet again be our least hyped, Will Shaver. What think you?

Kerwin has great hair and that made all the difference "D".

 

[Archer2]

I think the original point is well taken. Give me a 4* player who will be around 3-4 years over a whiz kid 5* OAD recruit all day long. I think guys like Dunn, Styles, and Shaver are the way to go, 25-100 is our sweet spot, and the area we need to concentrate on. When I look at all the top 10 recruits in the ‘23 class that Hubert is offering, it’s a bit worrisome to me, but I know many fans want to win the recruiting title.

 

[Bubspub88]

I think fool's gold is appropriate term in this case. Bottom line is UNC didn't get the production from Sharpe or Kessler that their rankings suggested. Now part of that is obviously the fact that UNC has two returning players in the post. Had UNC only had one of them it is likely that whoever that was would have had better numbers. Both had typical freshman big man struggles adjusting to college ball.

I think when all is said and done that Davis will have the most impact in a UNC uniform among that class. I expect to see him make solid improvement from frosh year and he should be able to play either guard spot moving forward. I think he a 4 year player has the tools to be really effective in a half court set or playing up tempo.

 

[NorCalTarheel]

I'm excited to see Trimble in a Tarheel uniform (2022). I know he's blown up but I don't know if he's done so to the degree that he won't still be on the hill for 2-3 years minimum.

I'm still so disappointed I Kessler, who could have had EVERYTHING he asked for had he an ounce of perseverance. To ME, he renounced his right to the Tarheel family so he's just another of the 1000 players who I don't really care enough to follow, unless the play UNC.

Caleb Love will be the pure gold player from that class. I expect huge strides this year and feel like he may enjoy the experience enough to stick around for a junior year full of NATIONAL accolades. Here's hoping!

 

[DSouthr]

I think it is a good idea to talk about who might be very productive, however I would feel uncomfortable even hinting that a recruit might be "fool's gold". I really like Shaver's combination of physical gifts, work ethic, and team centered mentality. I don't see a single one of our current recruits that I wouldn't want to go to war with!

For me, the term fools gold is neither negative or positive, it is a simple weighing of did you get what you thought you had. Speaking for just me, I felt we under achieved our talent level last season. For the 2 big men from that class, both are gone so they can not improve on their production for UNC last season which is sad for me because we never really will be able to see the real players those guys can become.

Me, I way prefer POST season titles to Pre-season titles, you win pre=season titles with hyped young guys that commit to your program, you win post season titles with players that produce and most of the time over produce. IN basketball, you get a top 3 class and the expectations are going to be either post season titles or very strongly in the hunt for them, not what we ended up with. Thus, at least for the 2 guys that are gone they ended up to me to be more fools gold, those that remain still have the time to re-write the script or build on it. I do believe that the ONLY player that exceeded incoming expectations from our last freshman class was Kerwin, both Caleb and RJ can still join him but Sharpe and Kessler can not.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I did not disagree with the premise or the entire post, however the following question bothers me:
"so with the guys we have for our 2022 recruiting class so far and even those you expect us to add, who do you see as REAL gold and is there a kid you suspect may be FOOLS GOLD? "

This is not reflection on what could have been, it is asking peeps to negatively critique Family they have never seen play in Tar Heel Blue! I was speaking about my own feelings so I understand if I stand alone here but I think it does nothing but prematurely identify the new whipping boy for our drive by fans to pile onto! I guess for some there has to be a "Leaky" but I wish we could really remove the trolls and idiots who can't understand the difference between critique and bashing!

D: I am NOT calling you a troll or idiot for clarity sake and for those who suffer from poor reading comprehension and/or love to stir the pot!

 

[DSouthr]

I did not disagree with the premise or the entire post, however the following question bothers me:
"so with the guys we have for our 2022 recruiting class so far and even those you expect us to add, who do you see as REAL gold and is there a kid you suspect may be FOOLS GOLD? "

This is not reflection on what could have been, it is asking peeps to negatively critique Family they have never seen play in Tar Heel Blue! I was speaking about my own feelings so I understand if I stand alone here but I think it does nothing but prematurely identify the new whipping boy for our drive by fans to pile onto! I guess for some there has to be a "Leaky" but I wish we could really remove the trolls and idiots who can't understand the difference between critique and bashing!

D: I am NOT calling you a troll or idiot for clarity sake and for those who suffer from poor reading comprehension and/or love to stir the pot!

TP, first off my friend, way to much respect for you from me, it is perfectly OK for friends to disagree at times, trust me, my "real" world friends and I disagree ALL the time. Geez, my best friend in this life is a dukie, ya think he and I don't disagree a LOT! LOL Don't you EVER worry about disagreeing with me, heck, I don't even agree with myself at times! LOL Matter of fact is I actually respect those folks that disagree with me and are willing to explain why they do disagree more than I do someone willing to agree with every stupid thing I say. And....well I maybe should not share this but I will, I admit there are times when I get bored, when I come here and see the discussion has gotten kinda "stale" beating up the same ole topic, that I will post something here that I actually do not agree with, just to get a discussion going that is interesting, that kind of has some spice. I have watched 2 topic threads get beat up and down for many weeks here of late, kinda getting bored watching the same 2 damn threads and thirsting for something else to talk about? LOL

I would venture to guess that all of us or at least most of us have terms we like to use, that others may not like the way those terms strike them, my use of fools gold is for me totally neutral, but yeah, I can see how others would take it as a bit of an affront, to me intent is the important thing. I may as well be saying a variant of who was hyped more than they should have been (again, not an insulting term in my lingo). Classic case in point, Naz, really, in my way of looking at things my definition of Naz is "fools gold". Not at all saying anyone that wanted him was a fool and not saying anything negative about the kid, heck I felt his incoming hype (like a feel about a lot of kids) was unfair to him. But you tell me, from a pure productivity stand point, from who lead a team to the better season, was it Naz, did Naz belong in the same discussion of say Zion or Bagley?

 

[gauchoheel]

I think the original point is well taken. Give me a 4* player who will be around 3-4 years over a whiz kid 5* OAD recruit all day long. I think guys like Dunn, Styles, and Shaver are the way to go, 25-100 is our sweet spot, and the area we need to concentrate on. When I look at all the top 10 recruits in the ‘23 class that Hubert is offering, it’s a bit worrisome to me, but I know many fans want to win the recruiting title.

I think you take the top 5 especially, maybe even the top 10 type recruits any day. Ranks #10-30 can be a bit of a minefield though, it's a lot of guys who leave early who aren't ready for big time play as freshman. Still have guys like Bacot, Coby, Hunter Dickerson, Garcia, etc in that range though.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Thanks for the kind words D! I have no problem seeing it the way you put it now that you have clarified. I still feel that there are too many who will use the idea as a jump off point to unfairly criticize a Family member! I could name a bunch who suffered from this treatment and never deserved it for one second!

Naz certainly needed more seasoning and development than Zion or Bagley (even though Bagley is a waste of money) and the hype train was ridiculous in his case, but he was Family and he made a choice that suited his needs. I thought he and Bradley should have stayed one more year, but I support them still!