Cuonzo Martin offers Rawane Ndiaye.

Even if I did buy that, that's not exactly the company I want to keep.

 

OK - here's the deal. Got it figured out. Zo is a genius. He's out to fool everybody by recruiting some guys nobody has every heard of along with some most programs would want. His goal is to continue the road to mediocrity, while leaving a glimmer of hope for the future. He manages to get into the tourney as a lower seed next season and then does it every other year. Meanwhile Hart dumps some more money in his lap every couple of years because the attendance and donations are good and everybody can continue to pretend UT is still relevant in basketball. So far the plan is working to perfection. Incidently, it is the same plan that Hart will employ with Jones in football. If he doesn't run out of bricks first.

 

Not funny. Just depressing.

 

You can't teach 6'11". That's what I'm going with.

 

The Cuonzo Martin hire made no sense. Pearl had gained a lot of momentum for the program. We're top 5 in attendance. Administration is trying to kill sports.

 

Freshly pumped from Sunshine Incorporated:

• The Stats: Yes, they're bad, let alone for JUCO. Out of context, I think they're ultimately just a negative talking point and not necessarily any deeper than that. What if he averaged a double-double and was receiving a similar level of attention from good programs? Would that really be better? Does anyone really have any degree of faith in JUCO stats?
  
  I guess it's counterintuitive, but I'd prefer my under-the-radar signings to have a legitimate reason to be under-the-radar. A diamond in the rough, if you will, rather than someone who has done enough to be noticed and found wanting. Say what you will, but the radar avoidance of Ndiaye is unassailable.
  
• The Team: Indian Hills was the #3 rated JUCO team last year. They have ex-Memphis 5 star commit Jelan Kendrick as well as a two-time JUCO AA forward that is signed with Marquette. They average over 90 points per game, which suggests a high tempo. Perhaps Ndiaye was never going to be a great fit in that system? One late season box score had four guards and a forward as the starting lineup. I'm guessing (and I doubt anyone knows otherwise) that under a different system, Ndiaye would have seen more of the floor. It's possible that he would have anyways without the injury and illness which kept him out of several games.
  
• The Suspension: Stemmed from a brawl after Indian Hills beat Southeastern in OT in a rivalry game, with 9 total players suspended. One of his teammates got arrested, leading the college's president to post bail, thereby rendering Indian Hills ineligible for postseason play. But look at the bright side: he didn't get arrested! Gold star.
  
• The Career Arc: Ndiaye was apparently overweight when playing in high school, and since he ended up at JUCO rather than Western Carolina, I'm guessing academics weren't in order. It's not a direct comparison between his HS recruitment and his JUCO recruitment: we will presumably get an in-shape Ndiaye with no qualification issues. Probably won't stop the hatchet-grindy sarcastic remarks, but like his stats, I'd say it doesn't necessarily mean anything.
  
• The Situation: How long has Cuonzo known about Yemi's plan to transfer? We're already nominally one over the scholarship limit, so were people really expecting Cuonzo to compete for 2013 posts that he had neither room nor need for? Or, rather, should they have been expecting it? Will he assume a significant portion of the minutes left by Hall and Yemi, or is he more of an insurance policy? I'll hazard a guess that Cuonzo would have rather had Yemi transfer after 13-14 (or I guess after 11-12). Somehow I doubt that this was calculated well in advance.
  
  Also, perhaps the rumored interest from lower-rung SEC teams should be dismissed in a typical case, but does anything about this recruitment process feel typical?

In summary, I doubt anyone has seen this guy play and he seems far less of a known quantity than Landry, for example. While I severely doubt Ndiaye ever eclipses limited role-player status, I don't think that's necessarily a failure depending on the circumstances.

 

And he tore it down significantly in that last season. Seems like the AD was crying poor at the time as well. Definitely wasn't a home-run swing of a hire.

AD instability + NCAA uncertainty + non-competitive salary would seem to = Cuonzo, or perhaps worse.

 

I disagree with the logic here. You should fill any open roster spot with the best player available for the position you believe you need to fill the most. Sometimes it has to turn out that way, but I'll never get on board with recruiting a guy to sit on his ass. I'd rather recruit a guy that has a chance to put someone else on the bench for long periods of time. Martin has had two seasons at UT and has missed the tournament both times. He doesn't need to fill slots with basically the same players, as if he is running a dynasty that needs no improvement, and hope it turns out differently. "Large man with African name" is taken care of, I guess.

 

It's late in the game and who knows how long he knew he had to fill this suddenly open spot. There's not a lot of great players left right now.

 

That is true, but unfortunate...

 

Do we have confirmation he's actually coming?

 

This is as close as I have seen:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Rawane-Ndiaye-143296

 

It looks that way. It also looks like Yemi may not be transferring.

 

What the hell?

 

Wat

 

Well, that might be a disaster.

 

Yemi was at practice this morning, Stokes wasn't.

 

Has Stokes even been to class yet? Looks like he's draft bound, if not.

 

I'm not sure. It would be a serious mistake to leave, though. He's too small and lacks touch to play power forward, and there's no way he has the offensive skill or size to play center. An effective Maymon would be the best stock booster that Jarnell could have.

 

Well, that seemingly...uh, "questionable" decision by Stokes seems to explain why Ndiaye was offered so late in the game.