Mike Anderson is a great man, good coach, poor recruiter...

[Omahabound]

Yes I know some will disagree with just the heading and of course this is all my opinion. MA is a very likeable guy. I love to hear him speak, he's great with the press and is ALWAYS 100% completely professional.
His coaching...I don't think he's the greatest x&o's coach out there. I really think he tries to win with a style of BB that you cant win with anymore. There are way too many athletes on the floor in this day and EVERYBODY can run. We don't wear teams down anymore. Usually what happens is we press all game, give up lay up after lay up ( to the really good teams and sometimes average teams ) and never make adjustments. Also MA perimeter defense is non existent. We give up more 3s than anyone in the SEC.
Recruiting....
This one is pretty easy..He's just not a great recruiter...hate to beat a dead horse but we lost a guy ( who self admitted only went to a program because of Billy Donovan ) and he let a basically unknown Michael White give a better sales pitch than he did to lure K Allen.
We will not get Monk( no I don't have a crystal ball ) but he's going to UK. Portis was easy, he was probably more recruited by Corliss. One top 50 player in 5 years of recruiting. Not exactly setting the world on fire.

Having said all that....MA is to BB what H Nutt was to football WITHOUT all the drama! He's usually going to give you 20 wins, maybe win the west here or there but never win the SEC overall.
Just my perspective!     

[Overtheroadtruckdriver]

You're lucky joe is inactive.

[ricepig]

You're lucky joe is inactive.

Yep, there would have to be some boulders kick over that post.

[Omahabound]

You're lucky joe is inactive.

Ive spoken with Joe via PM on the recruitment of K Allen. Its all good. Its not a knock on MA. The fact is there are better coaches and better recruiters out there. Can we get one??? I don't know. IMO...MA may be the best we can get PERIOD!
We aren't the program we were when Nolan was here. Overall, we are irrelevant in the BB world.

[sickboy]

Ive spoken with Joe via PM on the recruitment of K Allen. Its all good. Its not a knock on MA. The fact is there are better coaches and better recruiters out there. Can we get one??? I don't know. IMO...MA may be the best we can get PERIOD!
We aren't the program we were when Nolan was here. Overall, we are irrelevant in the BB world.

We're not irrelevant in the basketball world. We're not where we were in the 90's, but we're still a relevant basketball program.

[Omahabound]

We're not irrelevant in the basketball world. We're not where we were in the 90's, but we're still a relevant basketball program.

We've won 2 NCAA tournament games in 15 years. From someone other than an Arkansas fan....that's irrelevant

[poloprince]

Bj and Ky were also top 50 players. You don't know much OP.

[pigture perfect]

Nolan got the great recruits because he was the first black head coach at a southern major conference school. Now that there are several, the talent pool is more spread. Mike runs the same system. He's a much friendlier and sellable commodity than Nolans persona. It's just that this type of basketball is like the old Run and Gun of the day in football. It was exciting and potent, but not sound fundamentally on both sides of the ball or ends of the court. Other coaches have figured out how to beat it and it's obsolete. I think Mike is doing the best he can.

[Omahabound]

Bj and Ky were also top 50 players. You don't know much OP.

Bj and Ky were also top 50 players. You don't know much OP.

Actually I know more than you! BJ and Ky were Pel recruits! Sure Anderson kept them, Pel did most of the work!

[Omahabound]

Nolan got the great recruits because he was the first black head coach at a southern major conference school. Now that there are several, the talent pool is more spread. Mike runs the same system. He's a much friendlier and sellable commodity than Nolans persona. It's just that this type of basketball is like the old Run and Gun of the day in football. It was exciting and potent, but not sound fundamentally on both sides of the ball or ends of the court. Other coaches have figured out how to beat it and it's obsolete. I think Mike is doing the best he can.

I agree with this 100%! I will just add again MA is not a very good recruiter.

[UNCLE BACK]

Mikes loyalty to his sub par recruiting assistants is possibly the most glaring issue. Not one strong recruiter on staff. I don't think anyone would disagree with what I have posted here. I love Mike and pray that he can get us to where we used to be.

[moses_007]

We gotta hope the new Basketball training center will help immensely with recruiting.

[Danny J]

We gotta hope the new Basketball training center will help immensely with recruiting.

It will help in that it is not a negative recruiting point other schools have used against us in the past when we were in the running for the same player. I don't think it will be the biggest selling point. I think what really helps is showing you can get players to the NBA. That is ALL those big time players care about. They want to be on a big stage, they want to play with equal talent and they want to have a chance to make a deep run into the NCAAt. If somehow CMA can convince Monk to come to play with Whitt and Macon we have a real chance to finally start attracting other really talented players in the 2016 class. If somehow we could get an early commit from Monk then that will help in drawing those players. I am not saying he is a must recruit that is for sure our program and CMA job saving type player but he certainly would do wonders. That is why I was pulling so hard for UK to go undefeated and win it all then Cal would have for sure been out the door to the NBA.

[Marshfieldhog]

Great post, totally agree. The poor recruiting is starting to catch up to Mike.

[TrueBlue]

 CMA will never win the "West". 

[jdlew]

Yes I know some will disagree with just the heading and of course this is all my opinion. MA is a very likeable guy. I love to hear him speak, he's great with the press and is ALWAYS 100% completely professional.
His coaching...I don't think he's the greatest x&o's coach out there. I really think he tries to win with a style of BB that you cant win with anymore. There are way too many athletes on the floor in this day and EVERYBODY can run. We don't wear teams down anymore. Usually what happens is we press all game, give up lay up after lay up ( to the really good teams and sometimes average teams ) and never make adjustments. Also MA perimeter defense is non existent. We give up more 3s than anyone in the SEC.
Recruiting....
This one is pretty easy..He's just not a great recruiter...hate to beat a dead horse but we lost a guy ( who self admitted only went to a program because of Billy Donovan ) and he let a basically unknown Michael White give a better sales pitch than he did to lure K Allen.
We will not get Monk( no I don't have a crystal ball ) but he's going to UK. Portis was easy, he was probably more recruited by Corliss. One top 50 player in 5 years of recruiting. Not exactly setting the world on fire.

Having said all that....MA is to BB what H Nutt was to football WITHOUT all the drama! He's usually going to give you 20 wins, maybe win the west here or there but never win the SEC overall.
Just my perspective!     

110% the way I feel about MA...he is a very good guy.....But.....

[sickboy]

We've won 2 NCAA tournament games in 15 years. From someone other than an Arkansas fan....that's irrelevant

I don't care about the last 15 years we finished at #20 this season and lost in the second round to a solid North Carolina team. We've gotten progressively better the last four years and worked our way back into the national conversation. We had the SEC Player of the Year and I'm sorry -- but we're not irrelevant right now.

My friends who don't keep up with Arkansas basketball think higher of Arkansas basketball than most of our fans.

[hogsanity]

I don't care about the last 15 years we finished at #20 this season and lost in the second round to a solid North Carolina team. We've gotten progressively better the last four years and worked our way back into the national conversation. We had the SEC Player of the Year and I'm sorry -- but we're not irrelevant right now.

My friends who don't keep up with Arkansas basketball think higher of Arkansas basketball than most of our fans.

maybe because those who do not keep up do not realize how much of last years team is gone, and really there is no one on the roster that was going to come close to providing what portis and qualls did. Not even the experience of a Madden or Harris.

[sickboy]

maybe because those who do not keep up do not realize how much of last years team is gone, and really there is no one on the roster that was going to come close to providing what portis and qualls did. Not even the experience of a Madden or Harris.

Look, I get that, but next season is months away. Let's not start saying we're irrelevant in the middle of the summer. I get that people think we're going to regress and, by all logic, I would agree. But let's see how the season plays out before we all start crying like babies. Our program is coming off a great season and has some hard work ahead...

[RedRock]

I'm afraid MAs UA coaching career has hit its peak.  The wins will be very scarce over the next few years.

[mizzouman]

Where is this coming from?  I mean everyone was all joyful after last year when you guys went to the NCAAT and now this?  Let this season play out first.  C'mon man!!

[Omahabound]

I don't care about the last 15 years we finished at #20 this season and lost in the second round to a solid North Carolina team. We've gotten progressively better the last four years and worked our way back into the national conversation. We had the SEC Player of the Year and I'm sorry -- but we're not irrelevant right now.

My friends who don't keep up with Arkansas basketball think higher of Arkansas basketball than most of our fans.

Generally when I speak of the state of the program I'm not talking about one year, apparently you are.
If Alabama has  a bad year in football they are not irrelevant, if they have 15 straight, kinda like the Florida Gators, you start to become irrelevant.
Actually that's a good comparison, we are to BB what FL has become to FB. No one talks about Ark BB ever making a run on the national scene anymore. That's irrelevant.
And yes, we are going to be very bad this year and it's not just because of the three players we lost, it's because of lack of recruiting. And a 15 win season this year isn't going to help that.

[J-co]

I guess winning 29 games proves you can't win with this style of play, that's like , Gus Malzhan saying everyone is running the spread now so I guess I will go back to a Pro style offense, its not the style is the coach and the players he gets to run his system, if one system worked better than another one, don't you think everyone would be doing it? Also check MA's recruiting classes at Missouri, his 4th year there he had the number 1 class in The Big 12 fyi. Also Louisville, Vcu  have won a lot of games with this style of play.

[Omahabound]

I guess winning 29 games proves you can't win with this style of play, that's like , Gus Malzhan saying everyone is running the spread now so I guess I will go back to a Pro style offense, its not the style is the coach and the players he gets to run his system, if one system worked better than another one, don't you think everyone would be doing it? Also check MA's recruiting classes at Missouri, his 4th year there he had the number 1 class in The Big 12 fyi. Also Louisville, Vcu  have won a lot of games with this style of play.

Did you really just compare MA to Rick Pitino?
Louisville does not press all game and repeatedly give up lay ups on the other end. Rick Pitino is one of the greats. MA has NEVER won anything. Nothing.
THIS IS NOT A BASH ON MIKE ANDERSON!!!! I like the guy, however his system is obsolete and he is not a very good recruiter! Period.
Ask Michael White

[Carl Lazlo]

Not getting the Allen kid from NLR is an eye opener.  Florida loses Billy to the pros and style wise Allen is a perfect fit for MA's "system."

Here's hoping Whitt averages 20 ppg his freshman year.

[The_Iceman]

If you have a head coach like Mike who is great at running a program and coaching a system, but not that great at recruiting to that system/program, then you need to fill your staff with A+ recruiters. While there are some decent recruiters on his staff, when you look across the country and the SEC, you realize they aren't quite the best compliment to Mike.

[Carl Lazlo]

And thinking back on it now, I remember a few on here saying KA didn't like playing with Anton.  Funny how things work out sometime .

[booth1249]

Our program is not at the point where we can lose two of our best players early to the NBA and expect the next season to be a good one.  We don't have top talent waiting on the bench.  I expected a step back but the news about these four players is definitely a gut punch.

We will have the least talented roster we've had in 15 years IMO.

[wheelspigharvey]

Our program is not at the point where we can lose two of our best players early to the NBA and expect the next season to be a good one.  We don't have top talent waiting on the bench.  I expected a step back but the news about these four players is definitely a gut punch.

We will have the least talented roster we've had in 15 years IMO.

I think we will have more to work with than Mike's first year maybe even before Powell got hurt, but that's just my opinion.

[navyhog24]

Our program is not at the point where we can lose two of our best players early to the NBA and expect the next season to be a good one.  We don't have top talent waiting on the bench.  I expected a step back but the news about these four players is definitely a gut punch.

We will have the least talented roster we've had in 15 years IMO.

Jacorey was never going to do anything no matter if he stayed or not. Anton is about the only real loss from this. Dustin Thomas doesn't matter because it can't be a loss when he never played with the team to begin with.

At least with this, that takes Jacorey's uselessness out of the way and will give Thompson time in the fire to get some really good experience and playing time, especially with Kapita not making it either.

[Letsroll1200]

I can't wait until next season!!!! Please don't hid under a rock when Arkansaa basketball exceed expectations!!

[hogsanity]

Our program is coming off a great season and has some hard work ahead...

And right there is what some of us can not believe, that people think winning 1 ncaat game makes a GREAT season. IT was a good season. They played better on the road, won a couple sect games, which had been a big hurdle, and made the ncaat.  If that is great, what would making the sweet 16 or elite 8 be?

But, lets go with the word great. It was great because of BP and MQ, they put that team on their backs in several games. Madden and Harris, supplied some veteran plays at key points. They are all gone. Even before last week happened, this coming team was going to be relying on newcomers to try to replace most of the offensive production.

[bigdaddyhawg]

... and I'm sorry -- but we're not irrelevant right now.

I know what you're saying, but think of it this way: do you think there will be any discussion of Arkansas basketball in any preseason polls, preseason predictions or discussions of conference championships, or possible tourney successes?

You and I know the answer is "no".  IMO that is one parameter of non-significance nationally.

There are a gillion teams (that's a lot!!) that make the tourney once in five or six or 8 years, never win conference championships, and we consider them "one dance wonders" and we consider they are irrelevant to the national landscape of CBB.

[bigdaddyhawg]

I can't wait until next season!!!! Please don't hid under a rock when Arkansaa basketball exceed expectations!!

I don't think we'll have a very good basketball team, but I said this BEFORE we lost the three amigos: if Mike can get this group to the tourney, he should be national COY.

Now I'd say if he can get this year's team to the NIT, I'd say he would have over-achieved.  And I'll be tickled to death to come on here and give him full credit for his excellent coaching.

Still, the recruiting HAS to improve at least a couple of notches, or the NIT will be our perennial destination, and IMO that is wholly unacceptable, I don't care how nice a guy the coach is.

[Omahabound]

And right there is what some of us can not believe, that people think winning 1 ncaat game makes a GREAT season. IT was a good season. They played better on the road, won a couple sect games, which had been a big hurdle, and made the ncaat.  If that is great, what would making the sweet 16 or elite 8 be?

But, lets go with the word great. It was great because of BP and MQ, they put that team on their backs in several games. Madden and Harris, supplied some veteran plays at key points. They are all gone. Even before last week happened, this coming team was going to be relying on newcomers to try to replace most of the offensive production.

Agreed!

[Omahabound]

I know what you're saying, but think of it this way: do you think there will be any discussion of Arkansas basketball in any preseason polls, preseason predictions or discussions of conference championships, or possible tourney successes?

You and I know the answer is "no".  IMO that is one parameter of non-significance nationally.

There are a gillion teams (that's a lot!!) that make the tourney once in five or six or 8 years, never win conference championships, and we consider them "one dance wonders" and we consider they are irrelevant to the national landscape of CBB.

Thank you for clarifying what I meant by " irrelevant "
That's exactly what it means! Great post!

[ArkansasI]

And thinking back on it now, I remember a few on here saying KA didn't like playing with Anton.  Funny how things work out sometime .

I've thought about this some, too.  I read those posts you describe back then and a lot of it was dismissed as being overstated or completely untrue.

I don't know these players personally.  But Kevaughn and Anton do know each other personally.  If Kevaughn didn't want to play with Anton because he knew him to be... whatever Anton may be proving himself to be, then the University of Arkansas may have lost this young man twice.

I hope that this was not the case.

In any event, as concerned as I am about this year's basketball team, I do not worry about the player loss as much as some others here.  Whatever talent Anton brought to the floor was largely supplemented by the other 4 on the floor with him.  The starters - all 5 of them if you include Anton - are gone.  And I would argue that Anton was number 5 in the pecking order - even before all this raised its ugly head, Anton is the least of the starting 5 that we'll miss in 2015-16.

The Hogs will survive, it's not like the recent events have caused us to lose really good players.  We've lost depth - which will undoubtedly hurt.

Our coaches need to recruit more players and better men.

[Paul]

[
Our coaches need to recruit more players and better men.
[/quote] Amen!

[hoghappy]

I can't wait until next season!!!! Please don't hid under a rock when Arkansaa basketball exceed expectations!!

from the very first game, I'll be cheering as always. It doesn't mean that I won't complain some either. I would have done that anyway as well.

[Danny J]

If you have a head coach like Mike who is great at running a program and coaching a system, but not that great at recruiting to that system/program, then you need to fill your staff with A+ recruiters. While there are some decent recruiters on his staff, when you look across the country and the SEC, you realize they aren't quite the best compliment to Mike.

X2

[Rzbakfromwaybak]

You're lucky joe is inactive.

Lol.  Yeah, for sure.  He would be forced to kick rocks for a month....

[WarPig88]

We're not irrelevant in the basketball world. We're not where we were in the 90's, but we're still a relevant basketball program.

Seriously?

Before MA, we had the 3rd worst conf winning pct over the prior decade in the SEC. A decade is a long time in college athletics.

We are fighting to regain relevancy. Even this past season doesn't mean that much if we lay an egg this year.

[Omahabound]

Seriously?

Before MA, we had the 3rd worst conf winning pct over the prior decade in the SEC. A decade is a long time in college athletics.

We are fighting to regain relevancy. Even this past season doesn't mean that much if we lay an egg this year.

Honestly I know where sickboy is coming from. I was 18 in 1994 going to UofA pretty much every weekend from Ark Tech. It seems like yesterday when we won the NC, however it was 20 years ago and we've been in a steady decline since 1995. We had some highs and lows with the Reid and Bradley era as well as the Dean and Johnson era ( even that was 15 years ago )
The bottom line is Ark is not relevant on the national stage. Most years now( except this last year) we aren't even relevant in a terrible SEC!
Two NCAA tourney wins in 15 years.....out of the 300 plus D1 BB programs, well there are a lot of them that can claim that!

[rude1]

Recruiting....
This one is pretty easy..He's just not a great recruiter...hate to beat a dead horse but we lost a guy ( who self admitted only went to a program because of Billy Donovan ) and he let a basically unknown Michael White give a better sales pitch than he did to lure K Allen.
We will not get Monk( no I don't have a crystal ball ) but he's going to UK. Portis was easy, he was probably more recruited by Corliss. One top 50 player in 5 years of recruiting. Not exactly setting the world on fire.

Having said all that....MA is to BB what H Nutt was to football WITHOUT all the drama! He's usually going to give you 20 wins, maybe win the west here or there but never win the SEC overall.
Just my perspective!     

This is the perfect example of not letting insignificant things like the facts get in the way of your story. K. Allen never decomitted from Florida so therefor CMA never got an opportunity to try and lure K. Allen away from Florida, so NO he didn't let Michael White give a better sales pitch than he did because he never had an opportunity to give a sales pitch. Hard to take a fans perspective serious when the facts are clearly omitted to make whatever point they think they are making.

Oh by the way there is NO East and West in basketball, but carry on......

[TNhawgfan]

I don't know what some of you view as being relevant, but on a national level, we are very irrelevant. Yes, Arkansas and Kentucky fans remember the glory years, and Texas remembers how we dominated the SWC, but other than that we are an after thought. We are on about the same par nationally as wake forest or iowa.

[Omahabound]

This is the perfect example of not letting insignificant things like the facts get in the way of your story. K. Allen never decomitted from Florida so therefor CMA never got an opportunity to try and lure K. Allen away from Florida, so NO he didn't let Michael White give a better sales pitch than he did because he never had an opportunity to give a sales pitch. Hard to take a fans perspective serious when the facts are clearly omitted to make whatever point they think they are making.

Oh by the way there is NO East and West in basketball, but carry on......

Great post. So now instead of not winning the west we will never win anything. Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, you get my point. West , East , one division...they aren't winning it.
MA NEVER recruited K Allen hard! That's a fact. Prior to his commitment. I have as good of source as you can possibly have on that...as good as it gets ( and I really don't care if you believe it) however he never recruited him hard and clearly it showed, as has the rest of his recruiting classes.
John Pelphrey was at NLR once a week. That's recruiting! Saying I'm not gonna recruit this guy because I don't wanna have to deal with his AAU coach, that's not recruiting. The sad fact is, you better be dealing with AAU coaches! That's who has the influence.

[Omahabound]

I don't know what some of you view as being relevant, but on a national level, we are very irrelevant. Yes, Arkansas and Kentucky fans remember the glory years, and Texas remembers how we dominated the SWC, but other than that we are an after thought. We are on about the same par nationally as wake forest or iowa.

100% correct!

[rude1]

Great post. So now instead of not winning the west we will never win anything. Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, you get my point. West , East , one division...they aren't winning it.
MA NEVER recruited K Allen hard! That's a fact. Prior to his commitment. I have as good of source as you can possibly have on that...as good as it gets ( and I really don't care if you believe it) however he never recruited him hard and clearly it showed, as has the rest of his recruiting classes.
John Pelphrey was at NLR once a week. That's recruiting! Saying I'm not gonna recruit this guy because I don't wanna have to deal with his AAU coach, that's not recruiting. The sad fact is, you better be dealing with AAU coaches! That's who has the influence.

I can tell you that I was told that K. Allen never had any interest in Ar. he had decided a couple of years in advance he was going to leave to state. The fact is you have tried to backup a perspective that is littered with false information.

[Danny J]

John Pelphrey was at NLR once a week. That's recruiting! Saying I'm not gonna recruit this guy because I don't wanna have to deal with his AAU coach, that's not recruiting. The sad fact is, you better be dealing with AAU coaches! That's who has the influence.

Agree 100% and that goes back to Nolans time through the mid to late 90's. He hated AAU coaches and handlers with a passion. He wanted to deal with coaches who were not looking for something. He wanted to deal with HS coaches because he felt that they and not summer league coaches had the players best interests at heart. I really can't blame him, Nolan, for feeling that way but this day and age a HS coach has about as much influence as HV on which way a recruit leans. Better go out and get a coach somewhere on the bench who has those connections. Being a contender once every 4 years is not going to satisfy the fan base especially if football stays in the 6-8 win range. That will only make things worse.

[ArkansasI]

I can tell you that I was told that K. Allen never had any interest in Ar. he had decided a couple of years in advance he was going to leave to state. The fact is you have tried to backup a perspective that is littered with false information.

I believe you. But you know what?  Mike is paid a lot of money to convince a bunch of players with no interest in the University of Arkansas to play basketball for us.

The program can't afford to watch the best in state talent go elsewhere. Don't pretend that Mike didn't have a chance to recruit Kevaughn. Mike had 4 years to compete for his signature, but failed. Mike's failure with Kevaughn was so complete that the young man didn't even think it necessary to talk with the Arkansas staff after Donovan went to OKC.

That's some really bad recruiting. There is no reason that Mike's relationship with any recruit from Arkansas should be so limited that a simple call would not be warranted under the circumstances that Kevaughn and Arkansas both found themselves in this past spring.