[paradox]

Soucy is an East Coaster. I just want the best we can hire no matter what part of the country he possesses the sttrongets ties in.

Sly,

You're right. Soucy has concentrated on the east coast recently. It's always a good sign when you can find local talent that believes in the program. Perhaps we will now have a few worthy locals on the roster form VA, NC, and MD every now and then.

So far, Mckay has assembled quite a staff with Brad Soucie and now Dale Layer. These are the kind of assistants that you only see in the big programs. With Mckay, it seems as though everything is going to be first-class.

[Chris Lang]

Layer is not a done deal yet.

[TDDance234]

We've got to hit VA hard. There are a lot of players that come out of the the northern VA area and the 757/Hampton Roads area that go away to school. With several very good Christian Acadamy's in our backyard (ie; Coastal Christian, Atlantic Shores, etc..) we should be snagging these guys left and right.

[Hold My Own]

Dont forget the players like OJ...we cant keep letting players like that get away!

[LUconn]

We've got to hit VA hard. There are a lot of players that come out of the the northern VA area and the 757/Hampton Roads area that go away to school. With several very good Christian Acadamy's in our backyard (ie; Coastal Christian, Atlantic Shores, etc..) we should be snagging these guys left and right.

NOVA and Maryland has a TON of talent coming out of it, but there are a lot of schools that have a strangle hold on that area. But there are always some that slip out.

[PAmedic]

...we should be snagging these guys left and right.

yeah BUT....

we've had this argument before

maybe some of them just DON'T WANT TO PLAY HERE

I agree- we DO need to recruit hard locally (see: Rocco, D.) but there ARE talented kids out there, from Christian schools, that want a major college hoops exp and wouldn't play for LU no matter how hard we recruit them.

There is no easy fix for some of these issues.

[TDDance234]

And it's the coach's job to make them want to play here.

Obviously, some of these guys will never sniff anywhere near Lynchburg but their are very talented guys signing on to programs that can be compared to LU. Liberty, even outside of the "bubble" has a lot to offer and it's RM's job to sell that.

[PAmedic]

agreed

[paradox]

We may not be able to compete with UVA, Georgetown, or Villanova for recruits, but we should be able to compete with places like Coppin State for VA and MD recruits. And competing for recruits with places like the University of Richmond should not be out of the question. And I don't think that it will be with this staff.

[Sly Fox]

Particularly in a sport like basketball, I think we need to get the best players nationally we can land regardless of their mailing address. If there is any sport where it is possible to see a massive number of players from a coaches' standpoint it is basketball with the proliferation of major summer ball tournaments.

[paradox]

Sly, we agree on that. Let's get the best talent, regardless. However, to me, one sign of this program coming of age, will be the day when our program is solid enough that local or semi-local kids actually want to play here. I have a strong sense that yesterday marks the begining of a new era in LU hoops, where many of our new recruits will actually choose LU over other mid-major offers. Hence, we'll go up a level as far as talent goes, regardless of where they are from.

In addition, there are always recruits who choose to play close to home. So, I'm looking forward to the day when we have players on our roster that actually chose LU over Richmond, VCU, or ODU. I like the fact that our roster is national, but we should be able to recruit a few in our own region every now and then as well. I really believe that McKay and Soucie can make that happen and bring this thing up to a higher level.

[Fumblerooskies]

Paradox...great points. However, I am racking my brain trying to think of the last legit D-I player to come out of the area. There was the Sandig kid out of Heritage, but he went to Del State and has not done much there. Of course, the kid at Tech (freshman, Witcher) is from Franklin County. Who's the last one we would consider local? Arrington from Liberty HS??

[paradox]

Certainly, the Lynchburg area is not a hotbed for BB talent. I'm thinking more like Central VA in general, and more regionally in particular. The Mid-Atlantic region as a whole is loaded with big-time basketball talent. Hopefully, we'll grab a few out of our own region.

[Sly Fox]

I think the argument was based more on Roanoke/Richmond/Tidewater-type talent. And I'm not opposed to bringing in kids form there. But I'd prefer we spend the majority of efforts working to land the best kids nationally. We're a good sell to parents and we have a coach with a infectious personality to sell the program.

[JDUB]

jj redick was from roanoke, why didn't we land him?

[paradox]

Once we start landing the best kids nationally, then some in our own region will naturally fall into the mix as well because LU will actaully be an option to some of those kids who wish to stay in the region.

[paradox]

Obviously, we're not going to compete with Duke for a Reddick anytime soon.

However, we should be able to land evangelical kids such as Joe Crispin who played HS ball in the mid-atlantic region and ended up at PSU, unrecruited. A scholarship opened-up for him after a tryout in the middle of the summer, after his senior year in HS. Crispin turned out to be the Nittney Lions best guard ever as he led an undersized team into the sweet-sixteen back in the 90's. I know of an LU alum who begged LU to take a look at him when he wasn't on anyone's radar, but in this particular case LU didn't show the smallest amount of interest. Hopefully, with Mckay and Soucie, we'll be savy enough within the region to not let another Crispin pass us by.

[LU'sbestmanager]

how about my man BJ? he's from the tide water area. he was actually the tide water offensive player of the year.... he chose us over Indiana, Purdue, Tulsa and a few more.

[paradox]

BJ is certainly the rare exception to the rule around here as far as being from VA goes.

Secondly, Indiana, Purdue, and Tulsa may have taken a look at BJ, but you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that he had offers from those places and he chose LU over them and wasn't even promised a starting job here.

[TIMSCAR20]

Dox, I think the day when we win recruiting wars over the big boys has been here a long time ago. Marcus White, Larry Jackson Brian Woodson, Leo Lightbourne, Crhis Caldwell are just a few off the top of my head with major options but chose LU. I mean major. David Dees and Blair are 2 guys that had options late but they were already committed to Liberty. Plus guys like Vasallo at Tech and Kirk at Texas Tech are obviously big time players that we could have gotten. Now I would agree with you that the top 25 type recruits have yet to get to Liberty but that day will happen soon I think. Liberty will be a major player under Jeff Barber's watch. I said that a year ago and I still believe it.

[LU'sbestmanager]

BJ is certainly the rare exception to the rule around here as far as being from VA goes.

Secondly, Indiana, Purdue, and Tulsa may have taken a look at BJ, but you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that he had offers from those places and he chose LU over them and wasn't even promised a starting job here.

Purdue was BJ's first offer, and Mike Davis did so offer BJ. i think that i know this stuff

[fsn32]

BJ is certainly the rare exception to the rule around here as far as being from VA goes.

Secondly, Indiana, Purdue, and Tulsa may have taken a look at BJ, but you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that he had offers from those places and he chose LU over them and wasn't even promised a starting job here.

Purdue was BJ's first offer, and Mike Davis did so offer BJ. i think that i know this stuff

I had a middle school flashback.

[paradox]

Scar:

That's a nice list of players, and I'm hoping that it continues to grow even beyond the level that we've seen in the past.

I really believe that Ritchie is capable of accomplishing things that were only imagined prior to his arrival.

[ATrain]

BJ is certainly the rare exception to the rule around here as far as being from VA goes.

Secondly, Indiana, Purdue, and Tulsa may have taken a look at BJ, but you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that he had offers from those places and he chose LU over them and wasn't even promised a starting job here.

Purdue was BJ's first offer, and Mike Davis did so offer BJ. i think that i know this stuff

I had a middle school flashback.

Middle school??? That type of stuff went on in Kindergarten when I started my education.

[paradox]

BJ is certainly the rare exception to the rule around here as far as being from VA goes.

Secondly, Indiana, Purdue, and Tulsa may have taken a look at BJ, but you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that he had offers from those places and he chose LU over them and wasn't even promised a starting job here.

Purdue was BJ's first offer, and Mike Davis did so offer BJ. i think that i know this stuff

Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, and he is my favorite young player on this team. I'm really not going to argue the point if he is saying those things. If you talk to him, then you should know. Nonetheless, it's puzzling that he'd pass on the Big Ten and hook up with us. Especially, when we consider that his minutes are going to be limited and outside of a starting role until his junior year. This would certainly be a unique situation to say the least.