Congratulations to the Missouri Tigers on a great win last night. That is not a fluke. Wins like that don't just happen at this stage of the tournament. However, for my purposes, all Mizzou has really done is made Connecticut's road to the national championship a little bit easier. The Big 12 has been very impressive thus far, but the Big East is still king. I love JT Tiller, but there is just no way that Mizzou can win against this UCONN team if they continue playing the way they have. Stanley Robinson's emergence has made Connecticut the clear front-runner. AJ Price, Hasheem Thabeet, and Jeff Adrien will simply be too much for the Tigers.
And, while we're on the subject of Connecticut, let me just say that I couldn't be bothered less by the recent recruiting allegations. They are probably true, and UCONN will happily give up scholarships (or whatever else it needs to do). But, I just don't care.
I think you should be able to call high school juniors as many times as you want. And, I think that if you're meeting with them, you should be able to take them out to dinner and pay for it. I don't think you can give them cars and homes, and I don't think you can pay them to sign like the fab five. I know the "slippery slope" argument, but there has to be a way to draw the line. It's a free recruiting market man. You have to let them know that you want them. To do that you need to be in touch with them. If you're in the area, take them out to dinner. If you want them to hear about what it's like to be in the program from someone other than a coach, have an ex-player take them out to dinner and tell them about it. This all seems like common courtesy and smart recruiting to me. And, I don't see how it hurts anybody. When these kids are juniors, they have already had tons of exposure, and they're going to have to pick from many suitors. Why shouldn't that process start full on during their junior year?
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