As for the people who keep saying the biggest problem with Ray is the fact he has no recruiting ties to Mississippi, please name me all of the Sweet 16 schools this year that had the majority of their players from their state or surrounding metro-areas. Ray is tabbed as a major recruiter in the Chicago area, which pumps out more D1 talent than the entire state of Mississippi every single year. If he can recruit Chicago well, who's to say he can't grab the 1 or 2 AAU Mississippi guys every single year?
I'm not trying to defend the hire, I think Stricklin is a moron. But it's food for thought. I don't think that should be his biggest flaw. Bost was from North Carolina, Sidney was from Los Angeles (Jackson? No.), and Moultrie got passed on the first time and he was in our backyard (Memphis).
It's important to recruit Mississippi in football, but I think it's an overrated quality in basketball and I think people are overreacting about it. I think it'd be near impossible to assemble at legitimate Sweet 16 team at MSU without going to outside states (and by outside states, I don't just mean Tennessee, Alabama, or Louisiana).
I'm not trying to defend the hire, I think Stricklin is a moron. But it's food for thought. I don't think that should be his biggest flaw. Bost was from North Carolina, Sidney was from Los Angeles (Jackson? No.), and Moultrie got passed on the first time and he was in our backyard (Memphis).
It's important to recruit Mississippi in football, but I think it's an overrated quality in basketball and I think people are overreacting about it. I think it'd be near impossible to assemble at legitimate Sweet 16 team at MSU without going to outside states (and by outside states, I don't just mean Tennessee, Alabama, or Louisiana).