I know you’ve been wondering how this is going, so let me tell you this: it’s going ok. If you haven’t been wondering how this is going, you probably didn’t read the UC-Riversim Preseason Recap, and this won’t make sense to you. Those of you in the latter camp may, therefore, want to go read the UC-Riversim Preseason Recap.
Alright.
Here’s how nonconference play transpired.
When you last saw the Highlanders, we were preparing for the Collegiate Hoops Roadshow, a pitiful tournament taking place in El Paso, the crown jewel of El Paso County.
The results weren’t great:
Yes, we won two games. Yes, LaBradford McCollum, our big man, went *off* against North Alabama. Yes, our defense was wonderful. And yes, I’ve made clear my entire focus for this season is recruiting, not developing the current roster. Have you seen the current roster? Well, you will later, and it’s bad.
Still, we should’ve beaten Eastern Illinois. Shame to let that get away.
After the tournament, the media (as it always does) had questions. I (as I’m bound to do by the laws of this simulation) had answers. Tried to keep it positive:
Yes, I brought the lads back to sunny Riverside in good spirits. The EIU loss stung, but hey—can’t change that now, can we?
After returning, we got word about our first batch of recruits. You may remember we had our sights set on four young guards, and we were hoping to land two of them.
The tension was thick as I approached the dropdown:
I paused, catching my breath.
Dammit. Either I’d forgotten the alphabet again, or no recruits (it was the latter). And to make things worse, UC-Davis got Aaron Swoosh. Should have recruited him. (Did I? Now I forget where I landed on him.)
It turns out that the thing the sim meant by there being three “recruiting cycles” was that there’s a different batch of recruits each cycle, and you get pretty immediate feedback. Choosing just one to focus on helps your chances of landing that specific recruit. If you miss your targets in the first two cycles, you have a last shot. This was probably explained somewhere, but I missed that explanation, so…one cycle down the drain. Not a great spot to be in. And to make matters worse, the next thing that happened was the next three games:
We were playing Illinois and Gonzaga out of the gate? When I’d specifically labeled my priority to be a weak nonconference schedule? Despicable move by the AD. I checked the full slate:
Not acceptable. But not really damaging, either. After all, nonconference schedules for low-major’s don’t really affect their NIT chances, or even their NIT seeds if they do make the field.
I did have one more question, though. Who was Sean Browne, the leading scorer against Northwestern State?
Oh. McCollum’s sidekick. Noted.
More questions from the media were next. Kept it positive once again:
The next three games weren’t great either, though our man Sean took it to the Mastodons out east:
Through nine games, we were only 4-5, and 4-2 in games I expected to win (by virtue of having been named the Big West favorite, I had and still have the possibly misguided assumption that I’m better than every other low-major in the country).
Stinging from defeat, it was back to the recruiting trail, where I had choices in front of me:
I would’ve loved to go after a point guard, since Darnell Hooser’s definitely leaving, Erik Carl’s only leaving if his low loyalty rating means he’s going to transfer regardless, and C.J. Smith is terrible. Instead, with so many options at the two-guard, I tried to straddle the line between aiming high and staying realistic. I’m questioning whether Mendenhall was the right play, since others may have tried the same ‘highest two-star’ approach as me. Maybe I should’ve gone with Morgan, or Ward. Maybe I should’ve gone after Shaw at the point after all, or Krieder after dominating in Texas. If Mendenhall signs, it was the right decision, and we’ve got half of a strong backcourt locked in for the foreseeable future, but if he doesn’t sign, we’re going to really need some held from the transfer portal.
Thankfully, I’ve set our program to egregiously cheat on the recruiting trail and focus on transfers anyway, so the pressure isn’t actually that high. If the guy’s name wasn’t as fun as “Santorio Mendenhall,” I wouldn’t be so nervous. But his name is that fun. So I am, in fact, a bit nervous.
Finally, the last three results of the nonconference slate came through, and after them, I found us in the middle of the league in Strength of Record, likely an NIT 8-seed if we were to hold that line but win our conference and lose our conference tournament:
Look at those defensive numbers, though. *eyeballs emoji* And Erik Carl, showing off the hunger!
Again, the media wanted answers, and as usual, I was positive, and only honest if the lie would be obvious, and very careful to not accidentally set expectations anywhere but building an NIT dynasty in Riverside, effective immediately:
Looking ahead to Conference Play, which begins tonight:
I don’t know who we play first.
I don’t know how good our roster is compared to the rest of the conference.
I don’t know whether one can see how much players are improved or worsened throughout the season, and how much that’s happening based on these press conference answers and my complete inattention to player development in the offseason budget.
What I do know is that we’ve got a shot at an NIT bid, and we’re going to pursue it relentlessly.
Look out, Big West. Your favorites are still here.
(P.S. Santorio if you’re reading this please sign with us I’ll give your family a nice house.)
