At 16-6 and 10-2 in-league, it's been a solid season. We're not flashy, but we've got enough defense and rebounding to get by and, hopefully, sneak into the NT. As far as recruiting goes...we'll see.

Philip McKinlay (#172 overall, #32 C) - We needed at least one big guy. Three members of the frontcourt come back, but they'll all be seniors, and I don't want the cupboard totally bare. Hopefully, we're not done, but for now, this'll do.

McKinlay is far from a finished product, but in time, he'll be a very good big. His two main weaknesses, speed and on-ball defense, will get considerably better with practice, and he'll also turn into an excellent rebounder and shot-blocker with solid athleticism, too. I wish he shot free throws better, but in the grand scheme of things, that's minor considering everything else will turn out pretty well.

I promised him 10 minutes/game to bump off some lower-prestige teams, and he'll get that next year. He could start as a sophomore if we need him to, and I didn't have to seriously drain the war chest for him. All things considered, this is a pretty good get for us.

This season surpassed my expectations considerably. I'd hoped for 16-18 wins and a postseason berth somewhere. We wound up winning 23 games, including the CT. The ending was a first-round NT loss, which wasn't ideal, but all told, much more good than bad.

Meanwhile, in recruiting...

Earl Sprenger (#249 overall, #48 C) - Sprenger comes to us as an "I really hope he redshirts" guy. His potential is quite good, and down the road, he'll turn into a very good starter (though he won't ever be a great one). His athleticism is nearly topped out, which is unfortunate, but it's not like that's at a bad point, and with time, he'll be solid everywhere else it matters. Like McKinlay, I wish he was a better FT shooter, but I'll live with what we've got.

He's not going to play much this year, if at all. McKinlay's better than he is, and even he'll be behind several seniors. A redshirt year isn't a necessity, per se, but it would buy him some time since he might not see the floor at all. For the sake of this season, Sprenger wasn't a necessity. However, given that we graduate three frontcourt players next year, he's very helpful from a "roster construction" standpoint, since there's now one less big we need to recruit next season. It also, of course, helps that he'll be a useful player when all is said and done.

- - - - -

RECRUITING GRADE: B-/B.

I'm likely done and will need to take a walk-on, but that's okay. I got into a three-way battle for a JuCo guard who would've been a very good two-year starter for us. Ultimately, the roll came down to us, North Carolina, and NC State, and he chose the Wolfpack. That was annoying, but nothing I can't recover from. Ballenger likely moves from SF to SG, Justin Scott probably gets into the starting lineup, and Ryan Richards starts seeing even more time as our sixth man.

The bigger priority was getting some bodies in the frontcourt, and the recruits closest to me weren't great. I feel kind of bad, because for both McKinlay and Sprenger, I had to bump off the same lower-prestige, human-coached team (Kent State), and I don't enjoy doing that. Still, this was a necessity, and those guys were good enough to merit the investment. McKinlay, in particular, has a lot of room to grow, while Sprenger is raw and just needs time.

There weren't any home runs hit here. At a minimum, though, I got two guys that'll help me a fair bit down the road and dodged a few bullets along the way.