re: LSU Basketball recruiting 2012, updated 7-16-12, removed Tony Trocha

Already more talented than at any point of the TJ era! (outside of what he inherited, obviously)

God bless TCU

Bubba, I know Odoh isn't signed at this point but are we looking at him as a lock and if so what percentage certainty that he comes to LSU in the fall?

Bubs, what are you expectations for the team assuming Odoh is on the team? Tourney? Secondly, how would you rank Jones and his staff as talent developers?

I think that team would be more talented than last year's team -- which was less than 5 wins away from the tournament.

I would expect that team to make the tournament.

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hopefully Morgan can give us the ability to actually hit an uncontested jumper and get into the paint

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I'm almost positive he'll be better than Ralston and Stringer. Ralston had a ton of potential, but he was so damn lazy and streaky. It seemed like he was in foul trouble every game.

This is a good class, CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES. That last part is important.

If Johnny had been here a year and was scrambling in the summer to find Godfrey and Collins, then I think many would be annoyed that he's doing that. Why? Because they aren't the A-list.

Given that, we shouldn't expect this to be a class that comes in and "turns things around." It's a good class, and a great recruiting job considering when Jones was able to find some of these guys. But it's not a great class. There was no time for Jones to piece together a great class (although he might have pulled one off if he could have closed the deal on Gathers or Pollard).

I do agree that the overall talent level may be a bit better. But you've also lost some chemistry (most of last season's players had played together for a year, including the Italy trip). Now you have a roster that's more than 50 percent newcomers and they will all be learning a new system.

All that considered, I think it's reasonable to expect similar results from last season. NIT would be good, IMO. An NCAA berth would be fantastic, all things considered.

The big test comes with Martin, Jones, Mickey, etc., in 2013. Johnny needs to be able to land some of those guys and if he does, he needs to be able to coach them up to make a tournament run.

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Collins, then I think many would be annoyed that he's doing that. Why? Because they aren't the A-list.

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Collins is really a 2013 player so his ranking doesn't indicate anything. He's not ranked against the 2012 players.

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He wasn't a top 100 2013 player, was he?

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The point is that the 2013 evaluations were far from complete, while the 2012 rankings are done. His rankings for 2013 are based on how he did last summer.

Because he was moving classes, his ranking was in limbo. He wasn't moved into 2012, yet he wasn't evaluated for 2013.

He could have very well been a top 100 player in 2013, or even substantially higher. Not that any of that means anything.

Well, Bubba, let me ask this to you and Authority: Do you think he's that good? It's hard to tell. He certainly put up some numbers (as somebody pointed out, sometimes in what looked like a pick-up type environments, other times against legit competition).

It's encouraging, but are you sold enough to be outright optimistic about what kind of player he'll be?

I'm of the mindset of, assume nothing about Collins. Know that Johnny and them liked him for a reason and have some peace of mind with that. But that's enough to think he helps make the roster a slight upgrade over last year's, not necessarily a major overhaul. Not unless Collins, Odoh and Godfrey far exceed reasonable expectations.

I just don't want to create the expectations that this is a 22-win, NCAA-tournament roster if Johnny isn't working with that because, then what happens if they wind up .500 or in the NIT? It gets labeled as Johnny not coaching them up enough, right?

That's where I'm coming from. I think it's safe to say this is a good enough roster to be competitive. Does "competitive" mean 10 SEC wins? Maybe not. But if Godfrey has more offense in his game than we think, if Odoh is more polished than we think, if Collins turns out to be a guy who would have been a 4-star had he stayed in prep school and if Coleman ends up being a 10 pt, 5 reb. type lock-down defending wing, then, hey, all bets are off.

But I'd be happy for Johnny if two of those things happened.

I think rankings are important during the recruitment process, as a way for fans to make fun comparisons. After the process is over, as it is now, it is meaningless.