Auburn's play and recruiting impact

[abw0004 10,110]

With how well we are doing in men's basketball, does this have any effect on our recruiting?  It seems obvious to me we are on an upward trajectory and are developing depth to compete on the big stage, yet I do not see hardly any news on the recruiting front.  I am well aware of the investigation, but it seems like the only effect that has is on Wiley and Purifoy.

Auburn basketball is not my strong suit, although I am getting better at it, so if someone could fill me in or give me an update I would appreciate it!  

[mustache eagle 2,397]

Oh how I hope it will pull Montgomery back into the fold ...

a big #4 like him and assuming we get Wiley back ... this team would be a scary opponent.

[gravejd 3,270]

Dust will have to settle on investigation before we can get recruiting momentum again. Only a couple weeks ago we were wondering if Pearl would make it through the season. We need some closure on that and the school to publicly get behind coach Pearl before we can hope for much in the recruiting area. The good news is that we have some really good young players on this team. So we could possibly survive 1 down year of recruiting if things stay wishy washy......but we'd have to kill it with immediate impact players the next year if that were to happen. 

[doverstutts 1,643]

nt

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

The BOT has to get behind Pearl for anything to start moving forward.

[boomstick 1,315]

8 hours ago, abw0004 said:

With how well we are doing in men's basketball, does this have any effect on our recruiting?  It seems obvious to me we are on an upward trajectory and are developing depth to compete on the big stage, yet I do not see hardly any news on the recruiting front.  I am well aware of the investigation, but it seems like the only effect that has is on Wiley and Purifoy.

Auburn basketball is not my strong suit, although I am getting better at it, so if someone could fill me in or give me an update I would appreciate it!  

Part of the reason for no news is because it's the middle of the season. There won't be much coverage, basketball recruiting is done much more under the radar than football recruiting, and the coaches just aren't doing as much right now as they will once the season ends. I do think the success of this season will help get Auburn out and recognized by more recruits. But the investigation cloud that still lingers will be used against us, and I don't think it's clear yet how Pearl or any of the assistants might be involved or affected, if at all.

I don't expect much out of this 2018 high school class. EJ Montgomery was the piece we really wanted (and probably the only piece we would take), but that ship has sailed. We tried to get a replacement for him in Babatunde Akingbola, but he's currently a 2019 recruit that couldn't get reclassified for the 2018 class to sign early. I think he's still on the table for the late signing period in May. Also, there is a lot of roster uncertainty right now. Wiley and Purifoy are up in the air. Will Heron stay or leave? Losing all three of those guys could put us in a numbers bind. If those three left, we'd be looking at 9 scholarship players (7 being upperclassmen). We would probably need to take a HS recruit and a grad transfer or two to give us enough depth. The 2019 recruiting class is loaded with talent, and we will probably sign a sizable class to offset the seniors we lose. 

[ellitor 33,084]

8 hours ago, abw0004 said:

With how well we are doing in men's basketball, does this have any effect on our recruiting?

Not right now. Still have to get through the FBI & NCAA investigation. The staff's sole focus, especially being short staffed w/ 3 coaches down, is almost exclusively on coaching this team & not recruiting. Also the staff does not like the talent pool much from the 2018 class other than EJ Montgomery but the ship sail on him with Person.

[ellitor 33,084]

8 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

Oh how I hope it will pull Montgomery back into the fold ...

2 parties have parted ways, apparently permanently.

[ellitor 33,084]

1 hour ago, boomstick said:

We tried to get a replacement for him in Babatunde Akingbola, but he's currently a 2019 recruit that couldn't get reclassified for the 2018 class to sign early.

I have not seen a definitive decision on this one way or the other. Last I saw reclassification by the April period was still possible.

[boomstick 1,315]

1 minute ago, ellitor said:

I have not seen a definitive decision on this one way or the other. Last I saw reclassification by the April period was still possible.

Yeah, that's worded poorly on my part. He couldn't get reclassified in time for the fall signing period. I believe it is still possible he becomes a 2018 recruit in the spring, and if he does, I think we will take him.