In Reply to: Yes, Cronin can develop players, but he can't get them posted by Pyperkub on June 25, 2026 at 11:36:36
It's not who you get. It's what you do with them.
From 2009-2013 Howland had five first round choices and three second rounders. He won exactly two NCAA tournament games: a 1 point win over a #11 seed and 2 point win over a #10 seed. He missed the tournament entirely twice in the five seasons.
From 2014-2019 Alford had seven first round choices and four second rounders. He had three Sweet 16's and no wins the other three seasons.
From 2020-2026 Cronin had two first round choices and four second rounders. He won at least one tournament game all but one season (no tourny in 2020) including a Final Four and two sweet 16's. In two of those seasons he was playing without one or more of his best players.
So Cronin did a lot more with much less talent. All those high draft choices didn't help those other coaches.
(Note: Alford may have originally recruited JJJ, but he was free to look elsewhere when Alford was fired. Cronin had to re-recruit him and JJJ stayed because Cronin had recruited him for Cincy.)