Does anyone have any idea what’s going on with Asst. Bball Coach Morris

[AZUTE]

He’s been away from the team for months and then there was an unsubstantiated rumor he was moving on to Georgia Tech.

Has he taken a leave of absence? Has he been suspended for some reason? Is he even still a Utah Bball Coach?

The reason I bring this up is Smith needs all the help he can get in recruiting. Burgess only seems to be able to recruit Utah county Slocum is MIA in recruiting and Morris is completely off the reservation.

This is not helping Smith cause.

[chinngiskhaan]

Don’t know and really hard to care at this point. If the best we can do in recruiting is replacing the mediocre guys we’ve lost then we aren’t going to get better.

There isn’t a single underclassman on the roster that has a snowball’s chance in hell at making the NBA.

The staff needs to find a diamond in the rough, sell them on the idea of being the hero that that brings the program back from the dead, and get someone to throw money at them.

When this happens I will start to care.

[dystopiamembrane]

Go, Utes.

[dwainegf]

For someone who doesn’t care, you sure are ready to inject your highly anticipated negativity at every opportunity. 

 

[AZUTE]

This is why this board is well putting it nicely…lacking

Scout and rivals charge monthly subscription fees and it weeds out the trolls but here ask a serious question and you’ve opened yourself up to all kinds of moronic responses.

Smith is a terrible recruiter. Good Coach but he’s a horrible recruiter. His personality is that of dead grass and he can’t relate to todays youth.

He hired a staff to help him in that regard. I expected Burgess to kill it in California but he can’t seem to leave utah county. Slocum was rehired because all of his AAU contacts. He’s producing zilch. Morris has disappeared completely from not just basketball but life apparently leaving Smith who’s already stunted when it comes to recruiting with one less bullet in his gun.

The 3 transfer he’s brought in so far are all good depth players but none can be counted on to be stars. Smith and his underachieving staff need to do whatever it takes to fill these last 3 scholarships with some bona fide basketball talent and pray Br. Carlson returns.

[Tony (admin)]

I’d like as many people as possible to enjoy Ute Hub. You can’t please everyone, unless you’re a Holiday Inn Lounge band. You can ignore users. Are you saying you’d like to see a subscription based UH? Suggestions always welcome. 

[AZUTE]

I’d like to see admin ban blatant trolls.
It goes one step beyond asking each user to just ignore people. Sends a message

[Tony (admin)]

I’ve banned dozens of trolls and people who have broken the rules. 

[AZUTE]

Thank you. To bad it’s probably a never ending task. Trolls just open new username accounts. I never understood trolling. Why do people troll I should Google it.

[Tony (admin)]

If you or anyone has a legit reason to ban someone, be it a bot, spam, troll, or breaking the site rules, let me know. Send me a link to the offending post(s) and I’ll take action.

[chinngiskhaan]

Troll? I know I’m often negative, but nothing I said is objectively false. If you disagree with that statement, kindly point out what I said that is objectively false.

[chinngiskhaan]

– We aren’t getting better if we don’t get better players – TRUE
– None of the underclassmen on the team have any shot at the NBA – Also TRUE
– A diamond-in-the-rough player is the only way we’ll get an NBA-caliber player at this point – Likely true given recent recruiting struggles. Don’t think so? Prove me wrong.

[Ute2]

Craigs personality is the farthest thing from dead grass.  You must not have listened to the guy.I’m a bit shocked and disappointed recruiting is going as poorly as it is.  I’ve followed him closely at USU too because my in-laws are very serious Aggies.  He can absolutely recruit.  A huge question is whether or not our bball NIL sucks.  I know our attendance sucked and if we want a good program we need to show up rather than wait with our noses turned up for the next coach to bottom out.  Nobody good wants to come play for empty stands.  That’s on the fans.  It was a team worth showing up for last year.  And we didn’t.

That said, Craig does need ti make some progress in recruiting.

chingaskhan is a cynic.  And cynicism is pervasive in our fan base.  It’s one of the things that defines us.  I think it’s a backlash to the head in the clouds optimism of our friends in Provo.  And we don’t want to be like that.  He’s no troll, though.  

Mens bball is not in reload territory.  It is in rebuild territory.  Carlson is the only difference in the cupboards that Larry and Craig both started with.   Which is to say, very very bare.  So some patience is warranted.  I was hoping  for more by now with recruiting.  But If we improve again next year then that’s great. If we’re unfairly expecting 25 wins and a tourney next year then we’ll never have a program again.  Just show men some progress and improvement again is all I’m asking of the guy.  

Oh and this board is great! I came of from utefans and never went back. It’s all sports all the time. Good insights. No politics. Thanks Tony!

[Distantute]

Bit of a chicken/egg with performance and fans turning out. But im in the damp it is part of the coach’s job to excite the fan base. Smith has failed miserably there and a big part is his lack of recruiting. Players will commit to a coach efen when there are no fans (they like him, believe in him, and therefore the fans will come). Smith clearly has a problem getting that type of connection. If carlson goes, we are a dead last team and smith will be shown the door. If carlson stays, we have another forgettable/mediocre year with no ncaa bid and he gets one more year.

[Ute2]

If we lose Carlson that’ll be a major blow.

he’s around the team practicing though as evidenced by the Andre miller pic.

current recruiting aside, I think smith more then did his job last year.  It was a major step forward from the previous year in winning and competitiveness.  Not sure what more could be reasonably expected goven what he started with.

Now… he for sure needs to go get some talent!  Bajema is a good start though.  

[The Miami Ute]

Hey brother, listen, I went to almost every single home game last season and to say the Utes played in front of empty stands is being economical with the truth. Fact is that MBB is a loss leader for the PAC. No team except for Arizona averaged more than a 70 percent attendance rate. And then you have places like Cal (18 percent), Wazzu (30 percent), and OSU (39 percent). The Utes did just fine this season compared to the vast majority of the PAC competition. They also have the biggest arena in the PAC, which plays a role in the optics of the matter.

Regarding Smith, I said from the moment that he was picked up that all Harlan had done was hit the easy button. It was a convenient but decidedly uninspiring hire. Personally, I think that this year will kind of be the acid test on his regime. If the team regresses in the third year of his tenure, when he’s had more than ample time to bring in his recruits and put his thumbprint on the team, then it’s going to be hard to see how it gets better. A basketball program is exponentially easier to turn around than football program. That means, at least to me, that if Smith is the long-term guy, the Utes should at least be in the NIT next year. I mean, it’s not rocket science…we all saw what a commuter school like FAU did in the tournament. Utah is on the hook for four more years to Smith but it wouldn’t surprise me if a disastrous 23-24 season led to an early ouster.

[Ute2]

I’m not comparing us to the rest of the pac whose apathetic interest in sports is one major reason (of many) the conference is where it is.  

im comparing us to us.  And for the majority of the Krystowiak era there was much better support.  As there was for the early years of the ray ray and Boylen regimes, to say nothing if the majerus era and earlier.

it would mean a ton to the program if we all got out and supported better.  And I think the progress this year was palpable and merited more of us showing up.  But hey, you were there so major props to you!  
On another note… I am a smith enthusiast for sure.  But I am for sure getting concerned with the lack of new faces.  I thought we’d be much better off by now… 

[Minnesota Ute]

They also have the biggest arena in the PAC, which plays a role in the optics of the matter.

That’s probably my biggest concern.  I was out of state for all of Utah Bball since the Majerus era, so I see it on TV and worry about all the empty seats.  That said, I do want to put my $0.02 on a misconception I hear a lot.  I was a freshman during the 89-90 season.  That was Maj first season and due to a heart attack, he did not coach that year (except for maybe a few games).  Because it was an easy walk from the dorms and I was a bball nut, I went to most of the home games that season.  There was nobody there.  This extended into the preseason of the 90-91 season especially given Maj propensity to schedule a lot of cupcakes in Nov/Dec.  In fact, it was so poorly attended and so little competition for seats that a close group of friends drew front row seats for the second half of the 90-91 season.  Several games into conferance play, it was evident that the team was for real and it was going to be a magical season.  All of a sudden the seats filled and it was packed the rest of the way. 

I didn’t go back to check the attendance and it was over 3 decades ago now, so my perception may be warped, but that’s how I recall it.  As such, this issue with a big stadium and a fan base that needs to be sold on a meaningful season before they’ll show up has always concerned me.  It’s just so hard to construct an atmosphere that people want to come for wether you win or lose when you can hear your own applause echo. It’s cool when it’s packed but it’s lonely when it’s not. 

[Author]

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