brot4britu wrote:
Porter recruit ??? Who cares ???
The truth of the matter is, Porter was our coach for 10 years, brought us multiple conference championships, a CBI title, a Sweet Sixteen, a victory over a #1 NCAA tournament seed, A final Four, 3 different conference Players of the Year, and 2 end-of-season Top 25 finishes. He wasn't fired, and he didn't bolt at the FIRST opportunity -- so in my mind, he's a LOYOLA guy who should be respected by our fanbase. We can all disagree with his decision to leave (I do...), but it would be foolish to ignore his contribution or dismiss it.
If Porter does well, and Drew does well (and maybe leaves), it only makes Loyola look like an extremely attractive place for up-and-coming coaches, and it will only increase the prestige of our program. Also -- you never know! Maybe in 5 years, Drew takes us to 3 or 4 tournaments and decides to jump to a bigger school -- while Porter dominates at Oklahoma and is hailed as a genius - we're looking for a new coach... and there's Clayton Custer looking for his first head coaching job! Are we not going to want a Loyola great who is a Porter guy as our next head coach to continue the tradition and "culture"? I would definitely be excited for that if it turns out Porter doesn't fail on "the big stage."
I'm still bitter about Porter leaving, and I will be for a while UNTIL Drew gets us another regular season title and/or gets us back to the NCAA tournament. If that happens this year (or next), I'll harbor no ill will over Porter leaving. I'm just sad because COVID gave Porter AND US a chance this year to be a national championship contender, in my opinion, and THAT's what makes me the most bitter. I still believe that if Lon Kruger didn't retire, there was no other place for Porter to go this year and if he had stayed, I'm 100% convinced he could have kept Krut for 1 more year. If he did that, I think we would have been a top 10 or top 15 team, ran through the Valley, and Loyola basketball would be catapulted into a coveted destination for recruits. I also think -- if Porter made another deep run this year and he re-committed, Loyola may have become "Chicago's Big East Team," with an invite to join. I'll never not wonder what might have been this year....
I will say this though -- while I respect Porter Moser, my concern is that he cannot replicate the success he had at Loyola at a "Big Time" school in the Big-12 like Oklahoma. Can he recruit the right type of players and not be tempted by the "stars"? Porter didn't win at Loyola with superstars or 4+ star recruits like his most recent acquisition. Porter's success came from HUMBLE guys who didn't believe they had an easy, green light to the NBA. Milton Doyle and Clayton Custer were humbled by their experiences at "Big" schools... Aundre Jackson had to claw his way up to a mid-major D1 school from the JUCO ranks (same as Clemons). Krutwig's best offers were us and Ball State. Williamson, coming out of the Chicago Public League, did not get high major offers. Marques Townes was a three-star recruit whose best offer in high school was Fairleigh Dickinson (who?). When you look at it, Porter's most HIGHLY TOUTED recruit at Loyola was Marquis Kennedy - a player i think a majority of us can agree on was under-utilized during Porter's time at Loyola. I might be wrong, but i think Kennedy leaves is Porter remained our coach.
My point is -- Porter was able to win with humble guys who didn't necessarily have big egos, and were willing to listen, buy in, and sacrifice scoring and the spotlight for the good of the team. All of them were wiling to PLAY TEAM DEFENSE, which - let's not kid ourselves - is the reason we've been able to equalize the talent gap against Florida, Miami, Tennessee, Kansas State, Michigan, Georgia Tech, and Illinois. We played SMARTER under Porter Moser against "Big" teams - we were never more "talented," as individuals. NEVER. One of the most impressive things to me about what Porter did with Krutwig has nothing to do with the numbers we are all impressed by -- it was the fact that, despite being undersized for a center, "pudgy" for a majority of his career, and "slow," in 4 YEARS, he fouled out of the game just ONCE that i can recall. The kid was disciplined as hell to keep himself in games. The question is -- can Porter coach "blue chip" athletes with presumed egos and entitlement? Can he convince offensive juggernauts to not look for their shot immediately every time they get the ball? Can he convince them that team DEFENSE is they key to winning and not trying to run other teams out of the gym? OR is he willing to alter HIS VISION of what he believes needs to be done to win, and adapt to his personnel at a different "level" of college basketball? THAT'S what I'm most interested to see in Porter this year and I why i actually care and am interested about his recruits and what he does.
As much fun as it is to think about the last 5 years about Loyola basketball, I can't forget the first 5 years of Porter's tenure. Porter didn't adapt a system to his players. Rather, Porter implemented a system and stuck with it until he got the players he needed to make it work. He's not an "adaptive" coach. Porter lost A TON of games and ran off A TON of players to implement his vision. He got leeway from his AD, leeway from the fans, and most importantly, leeway from the players he was able to keep around. I'm not saying Loyola was a winner because players like Williamson, Jackson, Richardson, and Townes bought into his Buill**it. I'm not saying it was bulls**t either. I'm saying, Porter was able to win with humble players that either adapt and trust his system, or else their college (and basketball careers) was likely all-but-over. So my question is - can Porter get "blue chip," 4 star/5 star athletes who are looking to make a name for themselves NOW, to unequivocally buy in to his system, play defense, make the extra pass, etc.? Then factor in the new factor individual BRANDING element that's now in college basketball -- a player like Lucas Williamson at Oklahoma scoring 4 points and playing hard-nosed defense probably doesn't get him an endorsement deal for a free 2-year lease on a BMW 7-series at the local Norman, Oklahoma dealership...but a 20 point average (which we know Lucas is capable of doing if that was his goal each game) just might, right? How could that not factor into an 18-year-old, 4-star, big-time recruit's mind when he's on a campus in a huge town that only cares about one thing - OKLAHOMA UNIVERSITY. And how is Porter going to handle having to sit talent...and deal with the fan/booster backlash for doing it?
I love college basketball, and specifically LOYOLA basketball. I'm getting excited for the season, so i apologize for the long-winded post. Let's not kid ourselves though -- if you are reading this message board - you are at least MILDLY interested in what Porter Moser does this season, and beyond... I'll definitely be watching.