A few seasons of rebuilding seem to be paying off. The Spiders are 20-2, with the 19th-best RPI in the country, and we're ranked 22nd. What's more, we're set to return four of five starters barring early entries. If everyone stays, and they should, I think we're set up for success next season, too.

Recruiting is in progress, and here's the first signee...

Dwight Reynolds (*, #154 overall, #34 PG) - Bill Layman is graduating, which means we have a need in the backcourt. Reynolds wasn't my first choice; a **** PG was 30 miles from campus, but both Virginia and Wofford spent lots of money on him, and I didn't feel like battling for a guy who was barely going to play as a freshman.

Reynolds, however, isn't a bad consolation prize. He's a good shooter who can handle the ball, and he'll turn into a solid athlete who can push the tempo. His defense is a genuine problem, but he'll be much better with significant practice, and he's got a lot of room to grow there. If I was desperate, it'd be a problem, but I don't see him as anything more than our #4 guard next year, so he'll have plenty of time to develop. I also wish he was a better passer, but the ball handling rating means he at least won't turn the ball over a ton.

He's not going to be an ace, but I don't need him to be. I see him needing a bit of time, but turning into a good starter down the road (possibly more than that if his defensive potential turns out to be through the roof).

Got a bit preoccupied at the end of last season. We finished 25-4 and made the second round of the NT as an at-large, which was a pretty darned good year.

This year, we're 17-6, with four of our losses coming by four points or fewer. Unfortunately, while we have no bad losses, we have very few great wins. Our RPI is around 90, so we need to keep winning, A LOT, in order to have any hope for the postseason.

Recruiting is underway, though, and that's always fun. Here's this year's first signing...

Joseph Huff (**, #109 overall, #22 PF) - We have to replace two cornerstone-type players this season. One is our all-time leading scorer (Dustin Jones). The other is our all-time leading shot-blocker (William Woodward), who probably ends as a top-five rebounder, too. It's a daunting task, but Huff should fill a pretty gaping hole in the frontcourt.

He's a bit of a project to start with. However, he's going to turn into a top-flight rebounder and rim protector in time, and I also like that he's going to be a terrific passer for a big guy, too. I do wish he'd turn into a better scorer, but he'll have enough athleticism to mitigate some of that (even if that won't grow a lot, either).

I was able to sign Huff for pretty cheap, which stunned me. No other D1 program offered him anything, and I was the only human coach interested in him at all. I didn't have to promise him anything, either, which could come in handy. He's not perfect, but for what he is, I really like him, and he'll eventually turn into a very useful starter.

...oh, my goodness.

Sean Lynch (*****, #19 overall, #3 SG) - You're not seeing things. Richmond got a five-star recruit, and my first reaction to Lynch's signing wasn't to celebrate, but to post an apology to the school I beat out to get him.

As you may have already guessed, I promised Lynch everything I could and invested a record number of attention points (1,340). Even so, I needed to get insanely lucky. Villanova zeroed in on him a day or two ago, but I made the decision to go all-in. I was only 36% to get him, but I got very, very fortunate and won the flip.

Lynch is an exceptional player already. He's a dead-eye shooter, and a very good defender that will become a great defender fairly quickly. It's also pretty cool that he knows my offensive and defensive systems right away. The reason I only had to beat out one high-prestige program for him is that he's probably a bit overranked by the WIS system. He's just an OK passer/ball handler, and while he's not slow, he won't get much faster than he is right now.

Still, it's pretty clear that this is a significant get. Lynch will be a four-year starter, and it's entirely possible he's our leading scorer next season as a freshman.

Lots going on here...

Last season: We got bounced from the conference tournament, but got a little lucky to make the PI and went on a bit of a run. We got to the third round as a #6 seed before being eliminated by Maryland.

This season...well, it's been rough. We graduated the program's best-ever scorer (Dustin Jones, 2,077 points) and the program's best-ever shot-blocker to that point (William Woodward, 180). We're not all the way bad, at 13-11, but I knew it was going to be a rebuilding season of sorts, and I also knew the recruiting period was going to be crucial.

With that in mind...

Daniel Lindsay (**, #115 overall, #35 PF) - Daniel Lindsay was one of two major primary targets I identified from the jump. Another, a *** PG, would've started for us as a freshman, but Maryland swooped in and got him. This one, though, signed with us after we won a three-way flip over Virginia and James Madison.

Lindsay is going to be a top-tier athlete with excellent speed for his position, and down the line, he's going to be a problem. Right now, he's a subpar rebounder and a so-so defender, but those two things will both change considerably, and quickly. As a scorer, he's fine, though it does hurt that he's pretty much topped out in that regard.

I had to promise him a start and 25 minutes as a freshman, but honestly, that won't be a problem. We're going to be pretty bad next year after a few seasons of recruiting that didn't involve much depth, so he'll get plenty of opportunities to grow right away. He's going to be an excellent four-year player for us, and I'm happy we got him.

Michael Michael (#238 overall, #56 PG) - ...and I bet he hates his parents for that.

Every time I think HD has produced the worst crop of guards I've ever seen, it outdoes itself. Michael, for instance, is an absolutely terrible passer for a point guard, and while he's a decent shooter, he won't get any better from the outside.

Why, then, did I sign him? Because his skill set looks FAR better if you change his position from PG to SF. If you do that, he turns into a burner for his position, with strong athleticism, fantastic defensive skills, and potential to develop a useable inside game to complement his OK outside shot. The only real weakness is a lack of rebounding, but that's fairly minor considering everything else he'll bring to the table.

He doesn't look like much now, but I really like him. He'll turn into a very good mid-level D1 starter.

Mariano Martin (international, so unranked) - Missing out on the *** PG hurt, and it was a long way down to find anyone that may be able to see some reasonably-effective minutes as a freshman. Martin wasn't in my first tier, but he's not a terrible get (it also helps that he was cheap, and signed right after I offered him a scholarship without any monetary investment).

In addition to being a very good passer, he's pretty athletic, and he'll wind up a decent defender and ball-handler. He's no offensive threat, but pass-first PG's that know how to play defense are good things to have. The downside is that his speed is just so-so, and his low-ish work ethic might be a problem early on. Still, given the lack of appealing alternatives, I can live with what I've got (especially since I made no promises and don't HAVE to play him much as a freshman).

On to a project...

Damon Keller (#184 C) - I'm pretty sure Keller was ineligible at one point, which affected his purely-cosmetic ranking in the WIS system. I'm DEFINITELY sure he's going to grow into a player that dramatically outperforms that ranking.

He's got tons of potential everywhere it matters, but he's raw. He's already a decent athlete, which helps, as does his strong work ethic. The only area where he's close to topped out is his passing, which isn't bad at all for a big guy.

Keller will almost certainly redshirt this year. Doing that gives him an extra year to learn and grow. All he needs is time, and I can afford to be patient with him for a few seasons while he figures things out. I don't know if he'll ever be a star, but he could absolutely turn into a solid starter by the time he's done developing. Given that he was a cheap recruit nobody else landed on, which allowed me to spend resources on my two primary battles, that's absolutely fine by me.

We finished 16-13 this past season. For having no depth, that's not awful, so I can't complain too much, and at least our B- prestige didn't go down.

This proved helpful in landing a pretty big fish.

James Johnson (****, #41 overall, #5 C, DC Mr. Basketball) - Johnson wasn't a preliminary target, but he turned into a very important get. With four starters graduating this year (including our PF and C), there are a lot of minutes to fill, and Johnson and Daniel Lindsay are both going to be very, very good players down the road.

Johnson's already an excellent rebounder and shot-blocker, and he'll turn into a top-tier on-ball defender, too. His athleticism is solid, even if it won't improve much, and his ball handling and passing numbers are off the charts for a big guy. I don't know if that'll be of much value, but it's a really fun quirk.

The downside to all of this: Johnson cannot score. He's offensively inept. Currently, he cannot throw the ball into the ocean. You get the picture. It does say his perimeter game will improve, but it almost certainly won't be by enough to make him a viable offensive option.

Even so, though, I'm pretty pumped to get him. We might be pretty bad next year, but between Lindsay, Johnson, and Joseph Huff, we've suddenly got a lot of promise at the 4 and 5 spots we didn't have before. That's a win.

I thought I was done, and I was more than OK with that, but we've got one more new signing.

Otha Ulanski (international, so unranked) - I didn't have Ulanski scouted, but I saw a few human-coached teams show interest, which was a clue that maybe he had some talent. Rather than take a useless walk-on, I decided to go after him, and while he's no star, I'm not totally displeased, either.

The good news is he's going to be a top-flight defender. His rebounding will go up a bit in time, too, and like Michael Michael, his skill set looks much better if you think of him as a SF rather than a guard. Do that, and his speed goes from "problem" to "so-so." You can say the same about his other guard stats. He's not a supremely-gifted passer or ball handler, but his passing will shoot up in time and be an asset at his new position.

Like a few other guys I've signed, he's no scorer. That's going to be a problem, and that's why he hadn't signed until today (the last day of recruiting). I can't envision Ulanski will ever start for us. However, as a last-ditch, "better than a walk-on" guy, I could've done worse (and I have!).

RECRUITING THOUGHTS

Like I've said a few times, we're gonna be bad next year. I knew going in that this was going to be a pretty drastic rebuild, and I was prepared for a fight.

All told, I'm pretty pleased. Lindsay and Johnson will start in our frontcourt from day one. Lindsay needs to develop in a few places, and Johnson can't score, but in time, they're going to be tough to go against. Michael, meanwhile, will see some time right away and could easily start as a sophomore once he gets up to speed on the system we run, and Keller is a VERY exciting project that will look a lot better after one season as a redshirt and another as a redshirt freshman.

Martin and Ulanski aren't quite as exciting. If the *** PG I targeted had signed, it's clearly a much better group. However, they'll both wind up being solid (if unspectacular) rotation players that can play defense. As backup signings go, these weren't bad.

This wasn't a "home run" recruiting period, and we're going to have our headaches next season. However, going 6-for-6 isn't easy, and among the half-dozen are some players that will wind up developing into really good ones. Even though we're about to take our lumps for a season, I'm pretty happy with the long-term foundation that exists here.

GRADE: B/B+.

On the court, it hasn't been a memorable season. However, the Richmond Spiders are 12-14 overall, and that's significantly better than I'd figured. After a 3-9 start, we've finished the regular season going 9-5 in the last 14 games. My goal was 10 wins, and we'll have a chance to add a few more in the A-10 Tournament, so I'm not at all displeased.

Off the court...

Paul Day (*, #188 overall, #35 C) - Charles Lamar graduates after this season, and Dean Whittle is done after the next one. Even though we've got our starters set for quite a while, depth is valuable, and this helps in spades.

Day is already a very strong athlete, and he's going to turn into a top-tier rebounder and defender. He's also got some room to grow a few of his "wing" stats, which gives him a few fun wrinkles. Unfortunately, he's not going to be a top-tier scorer, but his perimeter game will get better and he'll likely get plenty of chances at putbacks.

I'm hoping to fill my second scholarship and be able to redshirt Day. Given his work ethic, he'll get a lot out of the extra year and reach his lofty potential pretty quickly. If he doesn't redshirt, it's not the end of the world, but it would certainly be very, very helpful for the long-term of this team's frontcourt. The idea of pairing him with a fully-developed Damon Keller is a pretty fun one.

And we're done with recruiting nice and early!

Christopher Linsey (**, #146 overall, #21 PG) - It was yet another terrible crop of guards generated by HD this time around. That's a genuine problem somebody needs to fix, and I feel like I say it every other season. As a result, a few of my early targets got snatched up by bigger schools, and another one wound up being a primary target of both St. Bonaventure and Duquesne. I briefly engaged in a battle, but my efforts didn't move the needle and I moved on.

Linsey, though, will still be a very good player, even if it'll take a little time for him to grow into himself. His main weakness now is that he's not a strong defender, but with very high potential and an excellent work ethic, that'll change fast. He'll also get a bit faster, which is nice, and that'll complement the rest of his game well. Offensively, he's topped out in scoring, but he's already solid there, and he'll turn into a decent ball handler with excellent passing skills that can play either guard position.

Sean Lynch has the starting SG spot locked down for the next two seasons, so it wasn't an overly-pressing need. Still, Linsey will be a good reserve for two years and a strong starter for two more. As consolation prizes go, that's pretty good.

RECRUITING THOUGHTS

WIS, fix your guard problem. I love recruiting, and I have ever since I came back to HD after a 10-year absence. However, it's really starting to tick me off when there are less than 10 legitimate D1 guard prospects within 300 miles of a school in the mid-Atlantic area, and it's happening often.

OK, rant over. I actually really like this class. Charles Lamar and Eric Bryan weren't top-tier recruits, and they've never started (though Lamar isn't a bad #3 big). Day and Linsey will be significantly better players down the road, and thanks to me filling all six scholarships last year, they won't have to do a ton right away. I'm legitimately excited about this team moving forward, and while we may not be all the way back next season, we've definitely got the ship going in the right direction.

Day and Linsey aren't perfect, but many of their weaknesses will go away with time, and I can work around the ones that don't. Plus, if I'm having difficulty finding and attracting good players, chances are everyone else is, too!

GRADE: B+.

Been quiet here for a bunch of reasons, but here's an update: The Spiders went 17-13 this past season, but did at least make the PI and win a game before bowing out in the second round. We lost two winnable games over much weaker teams in the regular season because I got cute and went uptempo when I shouldn't have. I don't know if that cost us an NT berth (we were a 7-seed in the PI, so probably not), but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

In other relevant news, Paul Day refused to redshirt, even after it was made clear multiple times he wouldn't play at all during the season. He'll still be a decent player, but losing a year hurts.

Anyway, we've got two spots to fill in recruiting, but only lose one starter. Here's our first signing:

Larry Snelson (#48 PG) - Guard gen was, once again, a gigantic problem. There just weren't many options anywhere on the East Coast, and the few good ones very quickly got descended upon by bigger programs.

Snelson was my third or fourth choice, and he comes here after I won a flip over A-10 rival St. Joseph's. That Snelson was worth a flip should say a lot. He's by no means bad, but he comes in a poor defender/passer that won't grow as a shooter. This should've been a backup option for A-10 programs, and he turned into a primary one because guard gen was so brazenly bad.

On the plus side, those defense and passing ratings WILL improve, as will his speed. I wish I didn't have to promise him 10 minutes of playing time, as his defense will be a problem early on. Still, he's an OK prospect that should turn into a solid combo guard akin to Dwight Reynolds, who graduates after a season where he turned into one of our top three scorers.

I could've done worse, but I should've gotten the chance to do a LOT better and just didn't. Still, as I mentioned last season, I doubt I'm alone in experiencing that.

Mercifully, we're done.

Gary Florio (#55 PG): - I was a cycle too late getting on a one-star big that would've been a decent fit (he signed with a Sim after I offered but before I could spend money). I pivoted to Florio right before the first recruiting cycle ended, which meant he'd maxed out his campus visits thanks to strong interest from 6-8 Sim programs. After I offered, I noticed higher-prestige Houston was interested, so I spent every dime I could on home visits. Thankfully, that worked.

It's not like Florio's going to be great. His defense, in particular, is a problem. However, my aim is to redshirt him and give him a season to grow. If he takes the redshirt, he'll be a useful player. He's fast, and I like the very high potential in ball handling, which means he at least won't be a liability at point guard for stretches of time. He won't grow as a shooter or passer, but at least he's got a reasonable base in both categories.

- - - - -

RECRUITING THOUGHTS

WIS, PLEASE fix your guard gen. Every season, I think I've seen the worst guard class, and this season, I may actually not have been exaggerating.

All things considered, I might've gotten a little lucky. Snelson's no star, but he'll be a solid player once he gets his defense up to snuff, and Florio won't hurt us once he's fully developed (he's just a bit raw now). If these are the guys I'm having to settle for, in a good conference with a C+ prestige, I can't imagine how hard it is for people who lose a few battles and totally strike out.

GRADE: C+/B-.

On the court, this has been Richmond's best season in quite some time. As of this writing, we're 19-4, 12-1 in-conference, with the 34th-best RPI in the country. Sean Lynch has broken Dustin Jones's all-time scoring record, but it's not a one-man show, as members of the law firm of Lindsay and Linsey are both averaging double-figures.

You know why I'm posting here, though...

Jeff Lowery (#91 PG) - The good news is that this group of guards was substantially better than last season's trainwreck of a recruiting crop. The bad news is that ALL the big names in the region descended upon the high-quality PG's and SG's close to me that could've started as freshmen. That's a problem, because Lynch is graduating and we're almost certainly going to take a step back because of it.

However, Lowery isn't going to be bad, and he's really not THAT much worse than Linsey was when he signed as a two-star prospect. He just needs some time. His low defense is a problem, but his potential means he'll turn out to be a solid defender (and possibly better than that) by the time he's done. Offensively, he's an OK shooter and a good passer already, and his ball handling will go up a lot to where we can conceivably play him at either guard spot.

I feel lousy about getting him because I had to barge in on a D- prestige human-coached team to do it. I wound up winning a 66-34 flip for a guy who's almost certainly going to redshirt. Still, he's a decent prospect who'll turn into a decent starter, and as audibles go, that's not bad.

And we're done!

Russell Demarest (**, #112 overall, #24 PF) - My plan was to get a guard that could start as a freshman to replace Sean Lynch, then go with the best available recruit I could find. When those plans got foiled, I realized we were going to be pretty light on frontcourt depth next season. Demarest was very close to campus, so he was a logical target.

That isn't to say he's ready right away, though, because he isn't. He's going to develop into a very, very good player, but he's raw right now. I wish he wasn't going to have to play so much as a freshman; I promised him 10 minutes per game, and he should get that pretty easily. His mediocre defense might be a problem early on, and while he'll turn into an excellent scorer and a very good rebounder, he's not there yet.

Still, there's plenty to like. That massive work ethic, combined with high and very high potential in key areas, means he's going to improve leaps and bounds from the jump. He'll have some early missteps, for sure, but he's an excellent prospect.

I got a little lucky here. I was in a battle with West Virginia, who clearly spent a lot of resources, but they filled up all four of their scholarships before Demarest signed. When that happened, I was home free provided nobody else jumped in, and thankfully, that didn't happen.

- - - - -

RECRUITING THOUGHTS

This could've been much, much, much worse. My initial plan, which I thought was pretty solid, backfired spectacularly on me to where I didn't spend money on a single recruit for the first several cycles. To wind up with a legitimate PF prospect and a reasonably good PG prospect isn't a bad haul, all things considered.

We'll miss Sean Lynch next year, and we'll miss him immensely. Still, Demarest is going to turn into a problem for opposing defenses pretty quickly, and Lowery will turn into a solid combo guard once his defense and ball handling get up to snuff. We might take a step back next year, but we'll at least be competitive, and hopefully there'll be a few gems in next season's five-player class that make any sort of rebuild a quick one.

GRADE: B.

Some good stuff to report. After winning an A-10 title last year and advancing to the NT, I expected a significant step backward. However, powered by five seniors from the six-player class a few seasons ago, Richmond is 18-6, 12-2 in the A-10, and contending for an NT spot. We're very bubbly and I wouldn't be surprised either way, but the fact that we're here is a very pleasant surprise.

And now, another year of recruiting...

Arthur Walsh (**, #118 overall, #25 C) - We're losing James Johnson, who's turned into a very good big (even if he's still sort of an offensive liability). Getting one to play significant minutes was a priority, and Walsh wound up right in Richmond.

Because of that, I threw everything but the kitchen sink at him in what turned into a pitched battle with Virginia. That included a promised start, which I'm not crazy about. However, we're not going to be very good next year, and Walsh is going to turn into an excellent player who's worth the long-term investment. Plus, given that I won a flip at just 44% odds, I probably needed to promise the start to have any chance at all of getting him to sign.

He's going to be a fantastic defensive player, even if his rebounding will top out at merely "good." He's got plenty of room to improve offensively despite that being a problem at this point, and he'll also turn into an excellent passer/ball handler for a big guy. I wish he was a better free throw shooter, but given how he'll turn out elsewhere, I'll live with it. All told, Walsh is an excellent signing, even though he'll play a bit more than he should as a freshman.

Jerry Baley (#115 SF) - We're going to be completely empty on the SF depth chart after this year, and having a five-player class is a lot. Baley's no star, but he's immensely valuable in that he helps solve both of those problems.

He's a JuCo player with two years of eligibility left. Currently, Larry Snelson is the only soon-to-be-junior on the team, so this balances out classes in a big way. Baley also isn't totally useless in that he's a good defender that knows the M2M system. Offensively, he'll be a decent scorer when called upon, although the low speed is a bit of a problem.

I don't anticipate Baley starting, or even playing an insane amount of minutes. However, he won't be totally outclassed when called upon and, from a team-building perspective, he's a good fit.