Yeah he sleeping on them! They are actually very talented and mature just like the freshman this past season!
Well, that's the problem today w recruiting HS players. If they are 1+Done types, extremely rare, then you have nothing to lose except the NIL investment. Bring them and if they are legit, you can have a title run. If not, then your probably still decent. We used to whine about the handful of these and how they were destroying cbb. Now, they are actually the stable ones!
If FR are good but not 1+done (#15-100 rated) or "projects" (#101-200) then they are now a real problem. Give them PT and a yr of disciplined coaching and some are going to shine (Evans/Brown/Carr etc) at least enough to raise their trade stock. Remember all players are free agents now If they perform and show potential then we'll have to battle the market for their services next season. Plus, they are normally only serviceable as FR and rarely elite.
Therefore, the recruiting school signs them, develops them, invests energy in them, and honestly plays them for developmental reasons as much as production reasons. Boom, then after all the investment, they are off to a competitor the next season, where the development blooms and they actually are a productive or possibly a dominant player. So, the next two to four or three to four years of their career, they are helping win games and leading other competitors to victory. While all we got was a developmental player below average normally and had to put in a lot of work to do so.
I believe that CRB knew Dave was going to open the checkbook this year and decided he wasn't ponying up big money to keep "average" players, so he let some walk away, unless he could get them at or below market. Rick moved into the power position, and became the second or third guy to bring them in after someone else did the development and proved them at the D1 level or saw them excel at the mid major level.
I don't like it at all, but it's the route that I believe most winners are going to take going forward in the current climate. Michigan was head and shoulders better than everyone this year. AZ was close and Duke. There are strategic reasons for that.