Dalonte on recruiting

Just finished talking with Dalonte Hill. I always like my conversations with him as it’s easy to see why he’s so effective as a recruiter.

Anyway, I asked him if the perception of Mike Beasley leaving for the NBA was helping or hindering recruiting:

“Most guys assume he’s leaving. But that wasn’t the biggest question about us. It was, could we coach? I think 20 wins, third in the Big 12 answers that… Nobody realized how young we were. Look at Syracuse, Florida… We’ve always been able to coach. Check with anyone who knows us.

“We’ve proven people wrong. People are starting to believe that we’re going to have success.”

Then he said something remarkable - at least to me.

“We’ve been getting e-mails from people who want to play for us,” said Hill, adding they were unsolicited but also from kids off the staff’s radar. “After the A&M loss, we must have gotten at least 20 e-mails from people who want to play our style, play for us.”

He credited exposure in the Big 12 Tournament as well as the new Nike uniforms.

23 Comments

  1. Russell
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:16 am | Permalink

    Exposure from the Big 12 tournament?

    Were Friday’s games broadcast anywhere but around the Big 12? I guess that includes Texas.

    Still, cool info.

  2. sys
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:19 am | Permalink

    great comments. shows how valuable the new uniforms are. we can only hope some old idiots don’t force the coaches to put the team in purples for the majority of next year’s road games.

    thank god we get the blacks for usc. it’s great to be an 11!

  3. catzacker
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:24 am | Permalink

    What recruit worth a damn would watch the A&M game and say “I want to play that style of ball”?

  4. WildcatLegend
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:29 am | Permalink

    yeah, the new unis are sweet.
    are any of those 20 recruits even DI material? i agree w/ zacker.

  5. SimpsonSampson
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:30 am | Permalink

    Good. Dalonte got my email.

  6. Spike Lee
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:37 am | Permalink

    It’s gotta be da shoes.

  7. sys
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:37 am | Permalink

    russell makes a great point about your hollow guarantee, ‘zacker.

  8. Russell
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:43 am | Permalink

    sys should consider checking his ouinsider pm’s imo.

    We can discuss why 99% of KSU fans seem to be complete and utter retards (in private).

  9. catzacker
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:54 am | Permalink

    The guarantee was really just a jab at Rusty.

  10. K-Rock
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:54 am | Permalink

    Try knowing you were in the same fraternity with him. Ugh.

  11. Russell
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 10:58 am | Permalink

    So was the request for backing it up.

  12. icecoldchickenwing
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 12:16 pm | Permalink

    You can’t see a KSU game with a telescope in North Carolina, fwiw. I’m really looking forward to Duke-Belmont on Thursday, btw. Maybe Vitale and Greg Paulus will finally consumate their relationship (I know, Vitale’s not on CBS).

    Despise the black unis, btw. Can’t decide if we look more like Colorado or WSU. Love the home whites.

  13. yosh
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 12:33 pm | Permalink

    “…from kids off the staff’s radar.” = “regional recruits who we won’t offer now but are watching to see if they develop”

    Still good news.

  14. Russell
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 1:09 pm | Permalink

    you’re right, yosh. The fact that out-of-the-ordinary attention is being received is an excellent sign, overall.

  15. TheWhale
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 1:14 pm | Permalink

    “…from kids on the staff’s radar.” = No recruiting trips to the Ivory Coast for Frank. The money saved there makes the athletic department happy.

  16. The Minister
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 2:50 pm | Permalink

    Agree with yosh & Rusty: just because KSU gets a glut of emails from players interested doesn’t mean they will necessarily sign them, but there’s no way that can be construed as bad news.

    Recruits think the uni’s are sweet — Oregon effect. Excellent.

  17. Zac
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 3:21 pm | Permalink

    This isn’t a slam on you Jeff, but these recruiting updates suck. Essentially, its the samething, “we’re still recruiting and 08 looks great.”

    We have 2 obvious spots, Blake and Clent, and yet we still don’t have anyone close to being signed… outside of Witherspoon, obviously.

    Give me something with substance, but that probably won’t come for another couple weeks.

  18. sys
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 3:29 pm | Permalink

    zac,
    stewart and young’s ’ships are spoken for (samuels and academic penalty). ‘08 recruiting is to fill beasley, hoskins, and walker’s ships.

  19. yosh
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 3:39 pm | Permalink

    Sys is correct. We won’t see any commitments for 08 until Beasley hires an agent. However, we know we have at least one more for 09 (academic penalty ’ship) and probably another because Hoskins won’t have any definitive word until mid summer at the earliest. I think over the off season we’ll only see one 08 recruit and probably three more for 09.

  20. Zac
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 3:40 pm | Permalink

    is the academic loss due to bennett and is that a sure thing?

  21. Chris
    Posted March 17, 2008 at 7:42 pm | Permalink

    Jeff have you ever been out getting crunk with Delonte?

  22. Josh
    Posted March 18, 2008 at 6:17 pm | Permalink

    Is Jaquan Barnes one of the off-the-radar recruits?

    http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/344653.html

  23. Posted March 19, 2008 at 5:51 pm | Permalink

    I ain’t hip like you kids, but lemme say this — I’m proud to read your words because most of you have a lotta purple running thru your veins. The team likes the black suits, so I think they’re kinda neat (sweet?). But, don’t laugh, they had a lotta success in their (in)famous “two-tone traveling purple” ‘way back in the last century.

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