GrizSteve said:
Cherry, Jamar, Akoh, Rorie, Morehead, Oguine &Pridgett, to name a few, had no ties to Montana and love being Griz and are great ambassadors for the program. Not sure where you come from matters, it’s how you embrace your circumstances, teammates etc
I never said that out of state guys couldn't love being Griz and the community. I do think region of origin matters tho, and it's important to emphasize signing guys who have familiarity with the program. Think of the LA guys. Maybe they weren't huge UCLA or USC fans, but they knew the players, scores, history of the programs just because they are hoopers and because it's what is available to them. Their parents, friends, teachers, close ones, probably have a more vested interest in local schools and their success as compared to a school across the country.
I do believe we're going to see, due to the ease of transferring with no penalty, a constantly revolving door in college programs. IMO its going to make less and less sense to sign a kid with no pre-existing knowledge or familiarity to the program. Many times they are using the opportunity as a launch pad to bigger opportunities, preferably closer to home (their comfort zone). Montana is an extreme example of this. It's an ethnically homogenous, cold, small market environment.
At a minimum, emphasizing a more regional recruiting base allows players to accurately portray the importance of what it means to be a Griz to out-of-state players. Who on the team had heard of Cat-Griz before moving to Montana? Who had access to Root Sports growing up and was able to watch/learn about the historical success of the Griz football team? Who had heard of Robin Selvig and the Lady Griz past success before coming to campus? Building a passion for the Griz, Missoula, and its history often comes from hearing stories and experiences about how special this place is.
I will always believe that you can't build a D1 roster of only MT kids, but when your ENTIRE roster besides Mack and Freddy (because of Delvon) have no pre-existing ties to UM, it's going to be that much easier for them to bounce to greener pastures.
Who knows I could be wrong, idk what athletes today are thinking lol