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Jared Samuelson coming back!
- Thread starter dayday
- Start date
Sadly the direction of the program has gone clearly gone south for several reasons. Injuries, bad luck, some others. But likely the biggest drawback I suspect is the lack of resources available to Shannon and her staff to be able to go beyond the the state to recruit quality talent. True she gets some good talent from other Northwest states but beyond that is virtually nonexistent. No question she could use some beefed up resources aka funds to pursue good talent in other areas.citay said:
AZGrizFan said:
Who is going to fill those 3,000 - 4,000 seats? Two Conference championships/Tournament titles and trips to the Dance, and get 4,000 - 4,500 max except for big rivalry games. Its local butts in the seats, and that total has apparently been max'd. But those within fairly short driving range could be brought into the equation. That's why I say Montana talent would draw interest, which in my 20-30 year old frame of mind, matters. Western Montana and nearby population centers are the potential target market. Great Falls, Helena, Butte, Dillon, and points west in Montana have some potential for that increase in ticket sales. I would hope that the last two years of success would have a positive impact on quality Montana prospects who would choose UM over some big out-of-state school. The base has evidently been built. Can UM lure the best Montana kids?
tourist said:
Attendance is what it is. If winning can't bring in more than nothing will. And if you truly believe that recruiting more Montana kids will have the program win as many games, you are not being truthful with yourself. So sorry to break it to you, but in the current state of college basketball, you are not going to get more people than when you win back to back Championships. Maybe the best Montana kids just aren't good enough?
The thing I really like about Travis is how he persuades very talented players to subordinate their personal success to the needs of the team. That is a formula for basketball greatness, no matter where the players are from. John Wooden was the master.
mtgrizrule
Well-known member
AllWeatherFan said:
Dean Smith was a master at it too.
Big Sage said:
This is one of the dumbest things I have ever read on eGriz. Congrats.
When there are 1-2-3 division-one quality players in MT, then Travis will recruit them. :clap: :clap: :clap: Talents like Fastings, Engellent, Kane, Criswell, Camel, Spoja, Selvig, etc. will be around but not every year. Outliers to the normal year, All of the Tinkle kids were exceptional talents that attracted higher-level conference scholarships. Krystko was a fortunate recruiting win, and not typical.
GrizWhiz said:
tourist said:
To me, anyone who dons a uniform with “Montana” or “Grizzlies” on the front of it IS a Montana kid.
This probably deserves a thread of its own but in discussing recruiting of Montana players at the Div 1 level and becoming legends on the court I feel pretty confident that it’s safe to pencil in Rollie Worster. Rollie will be a senior at Hellgate next year and was MVP of the AA tournament as well as the POY for Montana. The 6’3” guard has the size and bulk to play in Div. 1 and he has gone up against some of the top players in the West and held his own. He has excellent court vision and is deadly from the 3 pt. line. Mark my words next year he will have his own thread.
There already are threads on Worster, including one announcing his 2020 commitment to UM.
mtgrizfankb
Well-known member
I could give less than one sh*t if we’d have a single GD player from Montana. In fact, I don’t give a damn if the whole team is from LA/NYC/ATL etc. I enjoy watching good basketball...if we cared so much about watching Montana boys play...then HS gyms would be packed but in reality even students don’t go to HS games anymore, rather less old men with pompous our local is better than you attitudes. Montana is better without those types of people’s as fans
Sam A. Blitz
Well-known member
There are very few college basketball programs in the country outside of California that have been successful by fielding rosters of players from their respective state. With a 15 man roster you have to really expand your geographic search to find players that will be the right fit to your program. Even most of the top programs near high population areas scope nationwide and globally for the right players. Hell, even Florida State is giving a scholarship to a MT kid of all places.
For a state like Montana, with only a million predominately white population, it's simply not logical to expect a D1 basketball program to have more than a couple in-state scholarship players on the roster. As stated, we might produce 1 or 2 D1 quality prospects a year and they may be a better fit for MSU or an out of state program. TD has done a good job with getting the in-state talent that he can. Next year we will have 3 native Montanans that will be contributors, which is the most we've had in a while, so you have to give TD props for that.
For a state like Montana, with only a million predominately white population, it's simply not logical to expect a D1 basketball program to have more than a couple in-state scholarship players on the roster. As stated, we might produce 1 or 2 D1 quality prospects a year and they may be a better fit for MSU or an out of state program. TD has done a good job with getting the in-state talent that he can. Next year we will have 3 native Montanans that will be contributors, which is the most we've had in a while, so you have to give TD props for that.
Big Sage said:
I think a recruited athlete is entitled to the perk of a scholarship and everything it entails no matter where they are from.
tourist said:
You must be a big Frontier Conference fan.
