So you think Nebraska basketball would be better if we focused more on Nebraska kids?
Nowhere in that was I comparing Iowa State basketball to Nebraska. I am talking about a school with a similar geographical situation. Lets not pretend those extra 4 hours is a make or break with Chicago kids especially when Nebraska is in the Big ten and have a lot more exposure in the Chicago compared to Iowa State. Iowa State is not in the middle of fertile recruiting grounds. They go out and get kids from around the country to come to Ames Iowa and they succeed at it. Hell Kansas has done it for years, you think Paul Pierce is from
Bottom line is Tim Miles has to make decisions ultimately based on if this will help them win Big 10 games and help build Nebraska basketball to take a step in the right direction as a program. That is why he offered the kid so early in the process and why he has ultimately chosen to cut ties with that kid. Who knows if this will be the right choice and if it isn't then he will be looking for new employment. But to think that the kid being from a certain area should play into this decision is absurd.
Absurd? Name me an era of basketball where we have been successful?
My point is, Nebraska has sucked in basketball for decades. When there is a D1 worthy player in Omaha, Nebraska damn well better get him. Im not saying you add just any player. Duh.
If you are going to offer a high school sophomore in Omaha a scholarship, you better be damn sure you want him. Now Miles looks either bad for insisting that AA go to prep school, OR stupid for offering in the first place. The looking bad part will likely be in the back of any Omaha area recruits mind as there could be doubts Miles will follow through on an offer. The image is Miles doesn't think Omaha guys are
good enough.
I have said in numerous post for about a year that if Nebraska (there is that better) will always struggle in basketball until they can fill their roster with a more than occasional player from the Omaha area. The programs history says I'm correct. Nebraska can not recruit for basketball the same way they do football. Nebraska is NOT Kansas who can be elite without getting local players.
Miles is worried about wasting a scholarship, but yet he keeps loosing or running off guys who still have eligibility (Petteway, Pitchford, White Iii, Smith, Hammond, Hawkins, Evelyn, etc, etc), so he's constantly short in his roster (which another poster has pointed out recently).
This is what some people aren't getting. There's at least one guy on UNO from Omaha who could at least get minutes at Nebraska (and yes there may have been academic issues with him). There's likely two major contributors on Creighton's roster (oh, and they own Nebraska in hoops right now), that Miles may or may not have tried real hard to get. Now Miles spurns an Omaha player who he offered almost 2 years ago. Meanwhile, there's a potentially pretty damn good player in Papillion graduating in 2 years.