Transfers

[Brad]

My take, for what it is worth. As an aside, Xavier transfer Adrion Graves ended up playing for the same school I did. I was considerably more excited to make that team than he was.

[xuhuh!]

My take, for what it is worth. As an aside, Xavier transfer Adrion Graves ended up playing for the same school I did. I was considerably more excited to make that team than he was.

Graves played this season for the University of Cincinnati's Clermont College, Batavia, Ohio.

[hoosiermark]

I don't see any problem replacing those 2 recruits. It opens up the door for more players that can help XU.

[madness31]

I've been critical of Mack but I don't believe he should be blamed for this. This was his first recruiting class and he had to put it together last minute so it is reasonable that he might not have his ideal players. I didn't see much from Latham in the few minutes he was in. He was incredibly slow to react and didn't contribute.

Canty had moments and you could see potential in him but his shot is ugly and he would likely develop into a defensive stopper and slasher with a broke jumper. He would be valuable to have on the team but not a deal breaker.

I understand having some concern over Mack not developing these players more but the team needed shooting this past year and Canty doesn't add much there. Latham simply seemed to slow and/or lost. Given the short time at HC when putting this class together I'd give Mack a pass on this one. Canty will likely turn into a valuable player but he is not needed given the other recruits. Latham could turn into a solid player but it is doubtful he will be dominant. Mack could easily replace both with similar and likely better players.

Mack kept the most important two players. Canty is ahead of McKenzie in development but the SF spot is deep and PF/C isn't. McKenzie has a better skill set than Latham and could easily become another JD or Duncan like player.

[Brad]

My take, for what it is worth. As an aside, Xavier transfer Adrion Graves ended up playing for the same school I did. I was considerably more excited to make that team than he was.

Graves played this season for the University of Cincinnati's Clermont College, Batavia, Ohio.

Really? I didn't know that one. That guy fell off the college basketball map.

[Anti-Homer]

My take, for what it is worth. As an aside, Xavier transfer Adrion Graves ended up playing for the same school I did. I was considerably more excited to make that team than he was.

In response to your article in the XE, I disagree about your assessment of Latham being like Brown. i think he was suppose to be the absolute antithesis of Brown. Brown's offense was mainly face up, and scored the bulk of his points on the perimeter, or driving to the hole.

Latham, from what I understood, was an athletic big (more in the mold of Jamel Mclean) who scored primarily in the paint (back to the basket), either on the block or tipping in a miss.

Also, IMO, implying that the coach is not culpable AT ALL for transfers is extremely short sighted. It's ironic that we wax poetic about CM's ability to recruit players, but say he has no influence when they leave. If this is true, every coach in the country would like to get that perpetual "get out of jail free card". I'm not saying the departures are CM's fault, but 2 tranfers and 2 "de-commitments" in one year is puzzling and concerning to me.

For thos who disagree, I wonder how many of the latter jumped on the "Blame Gregory Bandwagon" when Staten left Dayton, claiming he didn't develop players. Staten had a very solid season, and if he didn't develop, what does that say about McKenzie, Latham, and Canty?

[Brad]

I'm not the one that said Latham was supposed to be the next Derrick Brown, that came directly from ESPN's scouting page. I believe I linked it in the article. I think you miss the point I am making about transfers. They often aren't anyone's fault, per se. Situations don't work out, coaches and players don't mesh like they thought they would, etc. I'm not saying just Coach Mack isn't culpable, I'm saying that, without evidence to the contrary, transfers are generally a no fault situation. Kids come and go.
Latham wanted more time and he just wasn't good enough to get it here, why make him leaving be some big fiasco? It happens.

[Anti-Homer]

I'm not the one that said Latham was supposed to be the next Derrick Brown, that came directly from ESPN's scouting page. I believe I linked it in the article. I think you miss the point I am making about transfers. They often aren't anyone's fault, per se. Situations don't work out, coaches and players don't mesh like they thought they would, etc. I'm not saying just Coach Mack isn't culpable, I'm saying that, without evidence to the contrary, transfers are generally a no fault situation. Kids come and go.
Latham wanted more time and he just wasn't good enough to get it here, why make him leaving be some big fiasco? It happens.

I've learned long ago to take ESPN's assessment with a grain of salt. They get 4th hand reports from AAU "scouts", and basically put it down.

They are pretty accurate about the top 40, b/c they do have actually scout them 1st hand. Regarding Latham leaving, I didn't say it is a big fiasco. I said FOUR people leaving the program is concerning and puzzling. Again, which you didn't address, if recruits who leave is not CM's fault, then why give him credit for those who come to X?

Signing off now, going to watch some AAU ball.

[Joel]

I've learned long ago to take ESPN's assessment with a grain of salt. They get 4th hand reports from AAU "scouts", and basically put it down.

They are pretty accurate about the top 40, b/c they do have actually scout them 1st hand. Regarding Latham leaving, I didn't say it is a big fiasco. I said FOUR people leaving the program is concerning and puzzling. Again, which you didn't address, if recruits who leave is not CM's fault, then why give him credit for those who come to X?

Signing off now, going to watch some AAU ball.

Two people left the program. We were the third school from which Chandler decommitted; maybe, just maybe, the problem is with him and not X. DSR's case has been well covered; maybe he comes back, maybe he doesn't. Taken in their totality - and in the context of the program's recent success and the current composition of the roster - I don't find these four events to be that concerning or frankly even very puzzling. Like baseball trades that involve all-stars for prospects, a recruiting class can't be judged after one year. This doesn't mean I think Mack hit a home run with this group, just I don't think we should bury him for discouraging early returns. The jury is still out.

[XUFan09]

Losing verbals will happen all the time at the level of recruiting that Xavier has reached and also because of the increasing prevalence of early commits in general. I find that second situation troubling as even high school sophomores are sometimes getting pressured to commit (or risk losing their spot on a team to someone else). It is what it is though. All the hints that I've heard concerning Chandler (nothing definite, since it seems to be privileged info) suggest that we would be happy that Xavier and he parted ways if we knew the full story. He's a very poor example anyway, considering the number of decommits (and now it looks like UCF will have an eligible next year after he settled on them).

DSR is the true disconcerting example, as he was a serious recruit that all of Xavier nation was happy about. And he might be back, coming back to Xavier after he or a family member felt his decision was too hasty (and going back to what I said before, I sympathize with that).