natetheskate wrote:
Just read the article on the 4 players vying for player of the year in the Sun Times......none of which are coming to LU.
Branden Huff Glenbard West...to Gonzaga
Nick Martinelli Glenbrook South to Elon U
Ty Rodgers Thorton....To Uof I
Jaden Schutt Yorkville Christian to Duke.
no shame in losing to some of those schools. but
Ulitimately Loyola's continued success is going to depend on getting good recruits.....or continuing to get pieces and get them to play great basketball....What bothers me a little about our end of season play is if it will effect recruiting ...also we really do not have anyone on staff with a real Chicago connection....am I correct on that.? Maybe the A-10 will increase our profile and help recruiting...but would have to help to get to the Dance again.
Not sure what their roles in recruiting are, but London is from Schaumberg and Jake is from Bloomington, so there are Illinois connections on the staff, just not one with an Assistant Coach title. The top 50-75 level recruits from Illinois are still far more likely pick a Gonzaga/Duke/Kentucky than even U of I, let alone Loyola. While I think getting some higher end local talents ever couple of years will be important to keep the "home-grown" element of the program, getting to the next level in the A10 is going to require the next level of recruit. There are only so many 3/4 star athletes in IL to be had, so it will be crucial to expand the recruiting footprint (as we have seen them been doing) and possibly taking a page out of the early Gonzaga playbook hitting a homer run in the international talent pool from time to time.