LeBron on Maynor

Lebron quote about EM: ""Being at a small college..."

Uh, we have over 30 K students King James...and we're a university.

No disrespect to the King, but this just goes to show, we still have a lot of work to do to get the word out who we are at VCU, both on the court and on the campus...
 
VCUENT said:
Lebron quote about EM: ""Being at a small college..."

Uh, we have over 30 K students King James...and we're a university.

No disrespect to the King, but this just goes to show, we still have a lot of work to do to get the word out who we are at VCU, both on the court and on the campus...
Click to expand...
I think people take this the wrong way sometimes when we are called small. In an athletic context based on conference affiliation or especially when considering the athletic budget we are a small school. I am sure that no offence was meant by it. Academically I feel like we are a player, athletically we are getting there, but it will take a while to be seen as one of the big boys.
 
We are a small university in terms of the athletic department. I don't know what our athletic budget is but it is probably less than what the BCS schools budget for football alone. But I am not trying to start the whole should we have football thread again. Besides it's basketball season and OU will be here soon. :D

And yes I know we should not overlook WMU on Wednesday.
 
I don't think it reflects on VCU as much as it reflects on James.

He saw Sanders first hand this past summer, and now played against Eric. He has seen VCU's name come up often in NCAA discussions over the past 10 years, as well as a few memorable highlights. His comments are taken by me in a postive spirit.

I know Eric and Larry can both ask him on the court in the years ahead how large the school was that he came from? Whether he smiles, laughs or dunks on them, the real answer is still "bigger" then anything he may come up with.

We shouldn't confuse nba stars with scholars, nor some school's students with student athletes. May VCU always produce student athletes with character, which is what I beleive James sees Eric has in addition to talent.
 
Once the Land-Lord joins Easy in the Association, VCU will be even more on the map. What we need to do to build on that is to continue to win, recruit at a higher level, win more, and the rest will be history. The next step is a few more solid NCAA appearances, with a nice little Sweet-16 run or two in there, and a couple of Top-25 seasons. Then no matter where you are in the world, you can pick up a USA-Today and see the RAMS ranked nationally. More recruits. More winning, etc.

The point is.... the hardest part of this cycle is the very beginning- where the winning is the hardest. The recruiting is the most difficult. And so on and so forth. The odds are really stacked against you then. And we have overcome all of that. Now, the trick is to not let what happened in 1986 happen to the VCU basketball program again. We build now on this. One step at a time.

For now, I'll take LeBron's comments. VCU is rolling. Now let's build on that, and in a few years, everyone that knows anything about basketball will know more about the VCU RAMS, and about VCU in general. Go RAMS!!
 
So here's the thing...

both Manyor and Sanders were guys that had "flaws" out of high school, developed in college and became "big time" after they got to VCU. Maynor being noticed by scouts was greatly enabled by his game winning shot against Duke. I don't see us necessarily recruiting at a high major level consistently because of either Maynor or Sanders being in the NBA. I still see us nabbing high mid-major 3 stars mainly. And if we put more players in the NBA they are likely going to be ala Sanders/Maynor - - 2/3 stars that had flaws and developed in college. Am I off-base, or do most folks think that we'll start getting 4/5 star guys in the next 3-4 years?
 
No- I think you are dead-on. I've been a VCU basketball fan for my entire life. Almost 40 now, so I've been tuned in seriously about it since I was 7 or 8, and could go to all the games with my Dad. RAMification knows the recruiting piece of this thing like no other person I've ever met. He has the complete understanding about how "it" all works, and because of that, and of course the inevitable indoctrination, I think I too am a realist.

What you are saying here is spot-on. But here's what I am saying: Now you continue to build. That's it. Examples: OK. No more having to fill in a couple of barren spots with guys like Sam Faulk- who actually had to start for us much of one season. No more "project this," or "we-know something special that no-one else knows / that." We should not need to take gambles like that any more. What am I saying? Consistency.

You now have an opportunity to recruit that high-level, well thought-out, well-researched, high-upside 3-star type like the Eric Maynors / Dom Jones / Larry Sanders (although he was even a lower-level recruit). But those types of guys. You build now by gaining consistency, adding depth and tiering at every position / zone, and you just build a longer-term powerhouse of a program that continues to re-load the talent and layering levels- as opposed to having to completely rebuild.

Then you do this- You MUST go after some of the bigger fish- the 4-stars. The Michael Bradley types- and even better. Guess what? You'll land the occasional shark, while you continue to sign the big bad barracudas out there. And every few years, you're going to have a really nasty team with all sorts of damage potential- on a national scene.

Add to this the fact that you can also build some serious on-going chemistry and hopefully have a few teams like the 07' version of the RAMS that were just darn near impossible to "beat." Lots of JR & SR experience, skill, and confidence. If you had that one big fish, we would have made a final-4 run. That's what I am talking about. A general, subtle lift, and positive step in recruiting, with the big-hit potential here and there. Nothing more. But where we are, who we are, and what we do..... this elevation can take us from being close to a Top-25 program- to actually being a Top-25 program, which ultimately is my goal. We should be making a Top-25 appearance every 3 or 4 years. NCAA's every other, etc. Then you look at maybe the next level up.

Lastly, I will use as examples: Cincinnati of the late 80's and 90's. UNLV. Gonzaga. Georgetown back in the day before they were a power- and the Big East was not what it is today. Butler over the last several years. Saint Joes made a really special little run. Etc. Etc. I know it can be done. But you CAN NOT let the hard-work and momentum slip away. The time to build and charge forward is now. A lot of people are watching. I think some of the recruits we've been speaking to are a solid example of that.
 
By the way, I personally believe if you put the Land-Lord into the Association, on top of the success Maynor is having, you are making a really strong statement about your program. That tells a lot of people that you have serious basketball here, and that it is not just a sweet little conference, or program, but a respected, solid conference and program that turns out NBA-type caliber players. And of course, it tells prospective recruits that you sure can get to the NBA if you come out of VCU. Why not? We've had 2 guys in 2 years??

RAMification and I talk about this at length. And he knows it first hand. These guys ALMOST ALL believe they are the best ball player that has ever suited up. They all think they are going to play in the Association. And so do most of the parents. It's crazy- I know. But that's what they think. So in their eyes- it's got little to do with their actual ability- but quite a lot to do with where they come out of, and who knows their whereabouts. So if you erase that question from the recruiting equation by havings scouts around your program, and active NBA players, that is HUGE!!! So yes- I believe Easy and the Land-Lord being in the NBA can be absolutely Mega-HUGE for us. You can then start telling these kids that "this is where we are going as a program." That's just my two cents.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top