It wound up a very disappointing season, at 14-14. We somehow got into the PI, but got bounced in the first round. I'm very annoyed we got four years of Speidel and couldn't make the NT once. Alas, we move forward...

Ryan Otwell (#231 overall, #47 PF) - Otwell was a secondary target for me. I went after a one-star ineligible with room to grow, but he improbably turned into the subject of a three-way battle won by Virginia. He'll be good, but man, battling over ineligibles is a dangerous game...

Anyway, Otwell comes in a very good scorer with even more room to grow, and he reminds me a bit of Luis Brown, who'll be starting at PF next season. He'll only be a "meh" rebounder, his shot blocking is pretty terrible, and both of those things are annoying. However, he'll be a decent athlete with very good speed for his position by the time he's done developing, and his on-ball defense will wind up being very, very good. Add in good potential in ball handling, and I can see him as a pretty good "instant offense"-type off the bench. Him starting at any point is probably a reach, but he ensures we've got some depth moving forward.

- - - - -

RECRUITING GRADE: B-.

All three of these guys scream "flawed, but fine." Morris is slow, Holloman is listed at the wrong position, and Otwell won't ever be a great rebounder. Having said that, they've all got room to grow in important areas. Morris will eventually start, Holloman could start, and Otwell will at least be a guy we can run plays for inside.

It's not a remarkable group, but it'll do the job fine as we rebuild to replace Speidel (who's going to make some NBA team very happy). Next year will have some rough spots, but with only two seniors, I actually think we're set up reasonably well for the campaigns after that.

The less said about last season, the better. I thought we'd have a chance to be reasonably OK, but we lost a LOT of close games and finished 11-17. Thankfully, we've got a lot coming back next season, replacing just two seniors (only one of whom started). Here's what we came up with...

Christopher Puckett (*, #140 overall, #29 PG) - The good news is that we got a pretty good guard prospect. Puckett is already a very good shooter who knows my offense. He'll get better there, he'll add a little inside ability, and he'll become a very good passer and an OK ball-handler. Defensively, he's not elite, but he'll at least get to where he's OK, and while he won't get much faster, I can live with where he's at.

The bad news is that I had to promise him quite a bit. He'll start as a freshman and play 20 minutes. I needed to go that route because Georgetown and Seton Hall both also wanted him, and my promises turned a pretty even three-way battle into a 50-25-25 flip that I won as the favorite. He may hold us back a bit as a freshman, but the rest of the starting lineup (Leeman, Johnson, Brown, and Privett) will be quite good, and with the way this roster is constructed, I couldn't afford him going elsewhere. Johnson and Howard Taylor both graduate after this coming year, and this at least ensures Leeman has a competent backcourt mate his senior year.

Long story short: Puckett isn't elite, and I wish I didn't have to promise him so much for him to come to Richmond. However, he's a good, solid prospect that will turn into a strong starter. That makes some of the growing pains worth it.

Stephen Pincus (#88 PG) - Pincus signed in round one, and he was a backup for me. Initially, he was ineligible (which partially explains his low-ish ranking), but he gained eligibility pretty quickly and was a cheap enough signing to where I could plant my flag on Puckett with the rest of my money. In that way, he's a decent signing, and it's not like he's irredeemable. He's a little slow for a guard, but he's got great potential pretty much everywhere it matters. Down the road, he'll have the skills to be a very solid complementary guard, and he may very well slide over to small forward (not like I've got a shortage of those guys, but it's good to have options).

The downside is that he's raw right now. I wish I could redshirt him, but I probably can't (with Johnson likely moving to SF this year, it would leave just Taylor on my bench, and that's shallow). At a minimum, though, his work ethic is pretty solid, so he'll develop reasonably quickly. He's not elite (and not close), but he'll be a good rotation piece, and that's not nothing.

- - - - -

RECRUITING GRADE: B-/B.

Getting Puckett matters quite a bit. It solidifies our backcourt the next two seasons, and while he'll play too many minutes to start, he'll be pretty good in due time. Having Taylor as a sixth man in his fifth year will also be helpful (he'll have the ability to do a lot of damage against teams' second units), and again, with the way this roster is constructed, I sort of had to promise him quite a bit because I couldn't afford to not give myself every chance to get him.

Pincus, meanwhile, is just so-so, and he'd be quite a bit better with an extra year. That probably won't happen, but at least he'll be a guy we can rely on off the bench if we need him. We'll need at least one really good guard in recruiting next year anyway; this adds a bit more pressure in that regard, but it's not like it changes any needs.

All told, we survived a tough season and were able to fill some gaps. That's not nothing, and it feels like we'll turn a corner next season. If we don't, I probably need to find another job.

The good news is, this season's going better than last season. The projection report currently has us in the PI. The bad news is we've lost a LOT of close games. We're 11-12, and it feels like we should have four or five more wins than we do. Oh, well.

Recruiting, however, isn't a total loss...

Aaron Starr (#202 overall, #29 SG) - I've got two spots to fill this time around, and this season's guard recruits stunk. My initial primary target had 44 defense, and that didn't stop multiple major-conference programs from descending on him. I was shocked by that, but moved on to Starr, who needs time but will turn out to be a pretty good player.

He's already an excellent shooter (with some room to grow there). The drawback is, he's raw right now. His speed and defense will get a lot better with time, and with his high work ethic, we should see a lot of gains very fast. His only true long-term problem is that he's not a good passer. That's annoying, but again, this year's guard class just wasn't very good, so one sort of had to pick their poison. Once he's done improving, though, Starr will be a dangerous "three-and-D" player and a pretty good starter.

I do wish he wouldn't have to play as much as he will next season. I promised him 10 minutes a game, and with the only backcourt returnees being Leeman, Pickett, and Pincus, he'll get it. However, long-term, he'll be a very good player, so I can't complain too much.

We got into the PI, but in fitting fashion, lost a winnable game against a good team. 14-16 feels like a worst-case scenario, and those seasons are getting old. Recruiting, however, wound up okay.

Donald Kuebler (#225 overall, #46 C) - Luis Brown, who probably moves to SF, will be a senior, and so will Michael Privett. They're both very solid players, and backups Ryan Otwell and Stephen Thomas will be juniors. This meant a developmental big wasn't a bad thing to get, and Kuebler fits that bill.

Right now, he's raw. He's slow, and while he knows my offensive set, it's not like he'll be an offensive weapon right away. A redshirt year, however, could do wonders for him given his very high work ethic (and a GPA that won't require much study hall time, to boot). If he takes it, he'll turn into a very good rebounder down the road, as well as a solid defender and a serviceable offensive option (with lots of passing ability for a big man).

I got a little lucky here. I was out of money, but saw Kuebler was only considering D-prestige Green Bay. I had him fully scouted (since he was so close to campus), so I put some attention points his way, offered a scholarship, and won a 59-41 flip. We wouldn't have been worse without him next year, since I'd like to redshirt him, but he does make us better in the long run. He'll need some time to develop, but I intend to give that to him, and once he's topped out, he should be fine. Not a star, and maybe not even a starter in a very deep frontcourt, but fine.

- - - - -

RECRUITING GRADE: B-/B.

The recruits this season stunk, to put it mildly. WIS rankings are mostly cosmetic, but it's telling that, as of now, Starr and Kuebler comprise a top-50 class. Neither was a top option. Starr became a priority after my primary guard target (with, let me stress this again, 44 defense!!!) got poached and wound up at Ohio State. Kuebler, meanwhile, came on my radar after the #73 SF in the country, who I'd only wanted as a "redshirt a year, sit a year" guy, got swarmed on by both Kentucky and Florida State.

It's not like the two guys I got are bad; far from it, in fact. They both just need time and aren't stars. Considering the alternatives and Richmond's C+ prestige, I actually probably did pretty well. Next season, however, will be crucial, as we'll need to replace four players (three of whom start). If I can't do that effectively, it may finally be time to find a new place to hang my hat.

We're 13-10, with no bad losses but very few good wins. We look like a PI team...again, and hitting that ceiling's getting old.

Recruiting, however, could be worse. We'll have three seniors in the frontcourt next year, so securing depth was a priority.

John Mainor (****, international so unranked) - We start off with an impressive-looking guy, at first glance. Four stars, however, is almost certainly overrating him. Still, Mainor is a good, solid prospect I'm happy to have in the fold.

He's already a very good rebounder and an outstanding shot-blocker, with decent athleticism and good passing potential for a big guy. He knows my defensive sets, so he'll be able to make an impact on that end of the floor quickly. Right now, he's very slow, but that'll change in time (and not much time considering his ridiculous work ethic). I do wish he'd be a better scorer, and his true on-ball defense is just "meh" right now, but that's the tradeoff for getting a guy who'll be able to protect the rim very well.

While he WAS overranked by WIS, I'm a bit surprised I didn't have to really fight anyone for him. Fellow A-10 school Rhode Island dipped their toe in the water, but they were never a serious threat. I promised him 15 minutes, and he should get that easily as our first big off the bench (my early plan is to move Ryan Otwell to SF, which will open up quite a bit of playing time for the other guys). He's far from perfect, but for what he is, he'll be a very good key reserve as a freshman who'll be able to start as a sophomore and beyond.

Sean Rutz - Simply put, high school bigs just weren't very good this year. I focused my frontcourt attention on Mainor, and once he was secure and likely to sign, guys I could've conceivably gotten would've been four-year backups, and I didn't really want to waste effort on them. Rutz, meanwhile, is a JuCo who'll be a junior next year. Instead of filling a scholarship on a four-year guy who won't start, I opted to give one to a two-year guy and cut the turnover time in half.

Rutz isn't a great player. However, while he fits a lot better from a team-building perspective than a "get the best possible players you can" one, he's got some redeeming qualities (and was also dirt-cheap to recruit since nobody else was interested). He knows my offense and will at least turn into a decent scorer whose perimeter shooting, ball handling and athletic ability mean he could also see some time at SF. I don't expect him to play a ton as a junior, especially given Mainor coming on board, but he'll likely see significant time off the bench as a senior before we can hopefully turn his scholarship into a quality four-year player (assuming I'm still here).