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Why does KU never win a "hat/presser" decision??

This is a topic that is rather popular over on JayhawkSlant (greatest recruiting site ever, and well worth $9.95/ month. JK would be proud).  It's something that I have though about recently, and decided would be a good topic to do my first FanPost on, as I have been encouraged to do by Denver recently.  But, seriously, why do we seem to NEVER win these things??

You know what I'm talking about; a heralded high school recruit, either in football or basketball, that we salivate over for months and eagerly await updates and fervently speculate on what we think they might do, how they enjoyed their official visits or unofficial visits, and then it all comes down to a makeshift press conference in a high school auditorium on a local TV station.  The recruit's parents speak, his HS coach, then a teammate.  Then, finally the subject of all this attention is handed the mic and he says the same thing as the last guy to pull this very unoriginal public announcement; "I'd like to thank my coaches, my parents, my teammates and most of all God.  I really appreciate all the schools that recruited me and all the coaches that recruited me, and I wish that I could go to all of them, but I have to choose one.  And I've decided I'm going to be playing my college ball at... (grabs hat [never KU, by the way] and puts it on)."  It's all very anti-climactic, at least for us KU fans.

But, what could possibly be the reason for this?  I mean, The University of Kansas is an incredible school set in a wonderful town, has a beautiful campus, more than its fair share of smokin' hot co-ed's, a perennial powerhouse of a basketball team and a quickly rising, up-and-coming football program.  So how could these guys not pick up the hat with the big "KU" on the front and put it on?

I've come up with a couple theories as to why this might be.  First of all, KU sells itself, for all the reasons listed above.  Guys know when they belong here.  Period. Simple as that.

Now, my second theory is a bit more complex.  It seems that the recruits that Coach Self and Coach Mangino bring in are the kind of guys that fit into their vision for what they want their own team to be.  And, a recruit can sense that, in my opinion.  These guys that go through the whole dog-and-pony show are just enjoying their few minutes of local fame and playing themselves up.  Now, don't get me wrong.  If an athlete works hard and does all the things has needs/has to to reach the point where he has numerous schools fighting for him, then by all means they deserve to be recognized and enjoy themself.  But, in my opinion these are not necessarily the kind of guys we desperately want in our program: the Me-First kind of guys.  Not to say that they all are, but it certainly doesn't give the "Anything to help the team win" kind of vibe.

I have faith in my coaches that they will bring in the right players to make us one of the most successful athletic departments in the country.  We may not realize it, but we have two of the top level head coaches in their respective sports.  We are witnessing something special here in Lawrence.  We really are.  Along with the obvious: a Nat'l Championship in basketball, an Orange Bowl victory and back-to-back bowls for the first time ever, is sense of pride that I know I feel to be a Jayhawk.  How many schools can say that they are near elite status in both of the major college sports?  There's not many.  Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Florida... I'm running out of names here.  And then, there's Kansas.  We are certainly in this group.  Within the next 4 or years, given that Coach Mangino stays here, our football program is going nowhere, but up, up, up.

And, if these HS recruits that want to pic a hat to declare their commitment to a school don't want to be a part of that, then so be it.  Next! There's somebody just as good hoping you pass so he can accept.  Quietly and discretely, of course.  Because, if it were any other way, he wouldn't be accepting.

Now, having said all that... Would it just absolutely KILL us to win one of these things? Just to say that we did...

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I would love to win the "hat presser"

but you’re right, not sure if the kid that needs the “hat presser” is for our program. Our historical struggles with Hat pressers began as far back as Baron Davis, during the Roy Williams Era, and we haven’t recovered since. The ridiculous thing about it now is that now even kids that don’t really warrant a presser are holding them…I guess it’s a look at me world and truthfully I’m surprised we don’t get more look at me players in basketball and if things continue I could see us getting in on some in football. I guess the one bright spot is no matter how much drama they create around their own recruitment a player will quickly come back down to earth once on campus.

Nice first fanpost…looks like you were burning the midnight oil for this one…

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 12, 2009 7:24 AM CST reply actions  

5:00am to be sure

I think your hypothesis is correct. Both Self and Mangino look for program players. And as a result the Xavier Henry’s of the world would rather play for Calipari and go one and done. More power to them but I’d rather have 5 four star players out there that will stick around for 3-4 years than a program that occasionally raises to prominence on the shoulders of a one and done superstar.

by labbadabba on Jan 12, 2009 9:05 AM CST up reply actions  

Good post

I’m not sure why we don’t but I gotta say it doesn’t bother me a whole lot. Self recruting a team seems to be a better strategey (or the one I like most, at least). We have 2 good examples of him doing that, last years Nat’l Championship team and then the Illinois team that lost to UNC in the Championship game the year after Self left. That was Self’s team and wow was that a good team.

You are also right about how special a time this is for KU athletics. We have to do everything we can to keep Coach Mangino, there is no doubt we have the right man in place as AD to try and keep him. Lew Perkins should get some credit for the status of KU athletics right now also.

by I need more Esteban on Jan 12, 2009 9:15 AM CST reply actions  

I know that

Al Bohl made the Mangino hire – did he also make the Self fire, or was he run out of town before that?

by labbadabba on Jan 12, 2009 10:36 AM CST up reply actions  

No...

if memory serves we didn’t have Perkins yet and Bohl was gone so Jim Marchiony was the one acting as the AD when the hire was made…again don’t hold me to it but I think that’s how it happened.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 12, 2009 10:49 AM CST up reply actions  

Interesting

so, sweet Lew didn’t make either hire yet is getting a lot of credit for the athletics program. I guess he did have a hand in the Anderson football facility and has enabled Mangino (however he was seriously considering a replacement 18 months ago)

by labbadabba on Jan 12, 2009 11:33 AM CST up reply actions  

It's not just about the hires, though

When he came, athletics started to be treated more like a business and while some fans have really not liked that, look at the results since he’s been here. The coaches are very important, but they can’t work to their fullest extent if they don’t have their bosses fullest support. Do you think the facilities built would’ve got done without Lew Perkins here? The move to Arrowhead has been ill-received from some but I think it has put us up into a bigger league than where we were before.

I don’t have the numbers but KU has seriously lowered the gap in Athletic funding and revenue with the rest of the Big 12 since Perkins has got here.

There is a reason he was voted #1 sports executive by Time Magazine last year.

by I need more Esteban on Jan 12, 2009 12:56 PM CST up reply actions  

+1

Let’s also not forget that even though it worked out for the best Roy Williams departure was due to what he perceived as a bad AD.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 12, 2009 12:58 PM CST up reply actions  

I remember that Time article

I also didn’t want to infer that Bohl was a good AD. From all accounts he was an arse.

by labbadabba on Jan 12, 2009 3:33 PM CST up reply actions  

hat presser

It isn’t always important to win the hat presser. I have two words for you:

JaRon Rush

Last i checked he didn’t do anything at UCLA and left a year later to be an NBA bust. We get good players and are doing fine. Basketball will be back next year and football has the #33 recruiting class, our best ever here.

by BaldJedi on Jan 12, 2009 12:48 PM CST reply actions  

Great example of the negatives of the high-maintenance recruits.

His recruitment was a total soap opera and one of Roy’s best moves was to quit him.

by hunter s. royal on Jan 12, 2009 6:00 PM CST up reply actions  

We've gotten hat-presser talent before.

Darrell Arthur was an incredibly highly recruited player, and Raef LaFrentz was absolutely considered a top 5 talent. I just think the guys that want that pr kind of press conference wind up in southern california(Hollywood) or else go with the super-hustler type of coaches. (Calipari )

by hunter s. royal on Jan 12, 2009 5:26 PM CST reply actions  

you've got a point

it seems like ESPN tries to hype every other guy with the tv camera’s and the like and half of them don’t deserve it.

by I need more Esteban on Jan 12, 2009 5:37 PM CST up reply actions  

press conference talent w/out the...

press conference, sounds like a formula for success. A kid without an ego.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 12, 2009 10:14 PM CST up reply actions  

ESPNU is now giving kids a forum...

if they promise not to let anyone know of their decision in advance. This can put coaches in a bit of a bind if they aren’t chosen and are left in the dark up until the end.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 12, 2009 6:13 PM CST reply actions  

Anything to make a buck

The NCAA has been walking a fine lines for years and is teetering on the edge of oblivion. They’ve sold out under the table. Maybe I’ll put up a new fanpost about the NCAA….let me do some research.

by labbadabba on Jan 12, 2009 7:18 PM CST up reply actions  

sounds like a good idea...look forward to it

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 12, 2009 9:12 PM CST up reply actions  

hat press

I have decided not to go to KU check out my new hat I am wearing here on ESPN!!! thank you everyone, i want to thank all the little people I stepped on to show off my HUGE EGO!!!! Couldn’t resist the joke….

I am okay with Xavier Henry going to Memphis, I think he will be one and done and we do not need that anyways. I am curious about Lance Stephenson but I hear he wants to go to Europe like Brandon Jennings.

With Withey, Robinson and Johnson we will be in great shape. I am curious to see what happens with Mario because I don’t think he will ever be healthy this season, but for future recruiting I say keep him on the roster now.

by BaldJedi on Jan 12, 2009 11:52 PM CST reply actions  

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