If It’s Not Too Much Trouble, Can People Please Stop Complaining About Mick Cronin’s Recruiting?

Perhaps it’s my own fault, perusing UC message boards when I’m killing time during the day. I don’t recommend it but if you happen to find your way scrolling through a thread on one of the more popular sites, you’ll usually find healthy discussion occurring between some of the Bearcats’ most ardent fans.

But other times you’ll find witless banter and unwarranted complaints about this school, one of its teams, and usually Mick Cronin.

The bitching du jour I’ve seen recently has revolved around the UC head basketball coach’s recruiting and its perceived underperformance. The most popular line of thinking has been since Cincinnati has 2 open scholarships, hasn’t turned them over by signing the best transfers or recruits possible, Mick Cronin’s recruiting over the last decade has been terrible and its vastly holding back this program.

Idiotic, yes?

Ok, to play devil’s advocate, Cronin’s had a few misses during his time here. David Nyarsuk, Ge’Lawn Guyn, Jeremiah Davis III, and Jermaine Lawrence never really panned out. But that’s not uncommon in college basketball. Just look at all these players who transferred to a different school after not living up to their pre-collegiate hype:

• Russell Byrd: 4-star recruit, signed with Michigan State, averaged 1.1 points, 1.0 rebounds before transferring to Masters College.
• Gerard Coleman: 4-star recruit, signed with Providence, transferred to Gonzaga, 6.0 points, 1.6 rebounds before transferring to Georgetown College.
• Stephen Domingo: 4-star recruit, signed with Georgetown (University), transferred to California after averaging just 4.5 minutes with the Hoyas.
• Dominic McGee: 4-star recruit, signed with Memphis, transferred to Grand Canyon University, never played a game for the Tigers.
• Semi Ojeleye: 4-star recruit, signed with Duke, transferred to SMU after averaging 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds with the Blue Devils.
• Kevin Ware: 4-star recruit, signed with Louisville, transferred to Georgia State after suffering a horrific leg injury in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

…just to name a few.

Look, not every recruit is going to be a Gary Clark or Sean Kilpatrick just like not every recruit is going to become a Jeremiah Davis or Jermaine Lawrence. But what sets coaches like Cronin, Izzo, Pitino, and Few apart is that they can churn through players and still win boatloads of games every season. They need high caliber recruits just like every coach in the country but their systems can overcome some of the swings and misses that they’ll inevitably make.

The point is, whining about Mick Cronin’s recruiting is like a spoiled rich kid whining to his parents that they didn’t get him chrome rims on his Bentley. He’ll get his fair share of Gary Clarks just like he’ll get his fair share of David Nyarsuks. No matter what happens, Cincinnati’s ensured of competing for conference titles and making NCAA Tournaments year after year after year.

So why stress the little things like a couple of spots that are still open on this roster? Cronin clearly has a plan in place that, by the way, is the same strategy that’s led the Bearcats to five straight NCAA Tournaments. He’s not going to expend a scholarship on a player that doesn’t mesh with his system; another Jermaine Lawrence.

Overall, I think he’s earned a little leeway when it comes to running this program. We owe him that much at least.