The less said about last season, the better. I thought we'd have a chance to be reasonably OK, but we lost a LOT of close games and finished 11-17. Thankfully, we've got a lot coming back next season, replacing just two seniors (only one of whom started). Here's what we came up with...
Christopher Puckett (*, #140 overall, #29 PG) - The good news is that we got a pretty good guard prospect. Puckett is already a very good shooter who knows my offense. He'll get better there, he'll add a little inside ability, and he'll become a very good passer and an OK ball-handler. Defensively, he's not elite, but he'll at least get to where he's OK, and while he won't get much faster, I can live with where he's at.
The bad news is that I had to promise him quite a bit. He'll start as a freshman and play 20 minutes. I needed to go that route because Georgetown and Seton Hall both also wanted him, and my promises turned a pretty even three-way battle into a 50-25-25 flip that I won as the favorite. He may hold us back a bit as a freshman, but the rest of the starting lineup (Leeman, Johnson, Brown, and Privett) will be quite good, and with the way this roster is constructed, I couldn't afford him going elsewhere. Johnson and Howard Taylor both graduate after this coming year, and this at least ensures Leeman has a competent backcourt mate his senior year.
Long story short: Puckett isn't elite, and I wish I didn't have to promise him so much for him to come to Richmond. However, he's a good, solid prospect that will turn into a strong starter. That makes some of the growing pains worth it.
Stephen Pincus (#88 PG) - Pincus signed in round one, and he was a backup for me. Initially, he was ineligible (which partially explains his low-ish ranking), but he gained eligibility pretty quickly and was a cheap enough signing to where I could plant my flag on Puckett with the rest of my money. In that way, he's a decent signing, and it's not like he's irredeemable. He's a little slow for a guard, but he's got great potential pretty much everywhere it matters. Down the road, he'll have the skills to be a very solid complementary guard, and he may very well slide over to small forward (not like I've got a shortage of those guys, but it's good to have options).
The downside is that he's raw right now. I wish I could redshirt him, but I probably can't (with Johnson likely moving to SF this year, it would leave just Taylor on my bench, and that's shallow). At a minimum, though, his work ethic is pretty solid, so he'll develop reasonably quickly. He's not elite (and not close), but he'll be a good rotation piece, and that's not nothing.
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RECRUITING GRADE: B-/B.
Getting Puckett matters quite a bit. It solidifies our backcourt the next two seasons, and while he'll play too many minutes to start, he'll be pretty good in due time. Having Taylor as a sixth man in his fifth year will also be helpful (he'll have the ability to do a lot of damage against teams' second units), and again, with the way this roster is constructed, I sort of had to promise him quite a bit because I couldn't afford to not give myself every chance to get him.
Pincus, meanwhile, is just so-so, and he'd be quite a bit better with an extra year. That probably won't happen, but at least he'll be a guy we can rely on off the bench if we need him. We'll need at least one really good guard in recruiting next year anyway; this adds a bit more pressure in that regard, but it's not like it changes any needs.
All told, we survived a tough season and were able to fill some gaps. That's not nothing, and it feels like we'll turn a corner next season. If we don't, I probably need to find another job.