The last two sentences are true and I challenge anyone to name a truly positive development.
The season ended on March 21 - roughly one month ago. We're all coming off a high of RU Basketball going to the tourney for the first time in forever. But perhaps taking a step back and for perspective might be in order. Prior to Pike - the state of the program was a mess. Under Pike the program has had a slow/steady build over the past 5 years based on a defensive first focus to the point of becoming good enough to be a mid level BIG team as well as a tourney team the past 2 seasons.
The recruiting of HS players in many cases is done years in advance. To expect things to change at the snap of a finger based on a Tourney appearance would seem improbable - especially with a program lead by a coach who is a "steady" foundational build type. Progression is generally not linear - there will be bumps in the road, but I like the way the program is headed from where it's been - so I'm not disappointed in this regard.
The "Portal" has become a significant newer development & challenge for every program and RU is not immune. It was certainly disappointing but not totally unexpected to lose players to this process - notably Myles, Young and Mathis. But this appears to be the new normal and from an overall perspective hard to tell if losing/adding players early or late in this process is better/worse, hoping that many of us fans will wait and see what happens before casting stones at Pike and the program.