01-20-2022, 04:26 PM
Sure, from a pure recruiting perspective, UA has better players than Stanford. But I also think it's notable that UA lost the following from last year's team:
Their coach, Sean Miller, and most (all?) of his staff
Jordan Brown, #20 HS recruit in 2018, transferred in from Nevada, transferred out to Louisiana
Ira Lee, #60 HS recruit in 2017, transferred to George Washington (but not a major contributor)
Jemarl Baker, Jr., #72 recruit in 2017, transferred in from Kentucky, transferred out to Fresno State
James Akinjo, #89 recruit in 2018 and transferred in from Georgetown, transferred out to Baylor
On this year's team, they have the following returnees from 2020-21:
Dalen Terry, #48 HS recruit in 2020
Bennedict Mathurin, #91 recruit in 2020
Kerr Kriisa, #96 recruit in 2020
They have the following notable new faces:
Coach Tommy Lloyd, no head coaching experience
Shane Nowell, #78 recruit in 2021, currently averaging 0.6 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 0.4 Ast per game
Oumar Ballo, #95 in 2019, currently averaging 5.8 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 0.6 Ast per game
So when you look at what they lost from a team that went 17-9 (11-9, 5th in Pac-12), it's pretty remarkable to me that they have already accomplished so much more in 2021-22 with a first-time head coach and, on paper, less talent.
Stanford, for its part, has two top 100 players on this year's roster: Harrison Ingram (#16 in 2021) and Isael Silva (#59 in 2021).
Their coach, Sean Miller, and most (all?) of his staff
Jordan Brown, #20 HS recruit in 2018, transferred in from Nevada, transferred out to Louisiana
Ira Lee, #60 HS recruit in 2017, transferred to George Washington (but not a major contributor)
Jemarl Baker, Jr., #72 recruit in 2017, transferred in from Kentucky, transferred out to Fresno State
James Akinjo, #89 recruit in 2018 and transferred in from Georgetown, transferred out to Baylor
On this year's team, they have the following returnees from 2020-21:
Dalen Terry, #48 HS recruit in 2020
Bennedict Mathurin, #91 recruit in 2020
Kerr Kriisa, #96 recruit in 2020
They have the following notable new faces:
Coach Tommy Lloyd, no head coaching experience
Shane Nowell, #78 recruit in 2021, currently averaging 0.6 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 0.4 Ast per game
Oumar Ballo, #95 in 2019, currently averaging 5.8 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 0.6 Ast per game
So when you look at what they lost from a team that went 17-9 (11-9, 5th in Pac-12), it's pretty remarkable to me that they have already accomplished so much more in 2021-22 with a first-time head coach and, on paper, less talent.
Stanford, for its part, has two top 100 players on this year's roster: Harrison Ingram (#16 in 2021) and Isael Silva (#59 in 2021).
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)