TTM has been a solid college player for the last two years and would get significant playing time on most every team in the country. His route what the route I was hoping Vila would take where he was not good at all as a fish but had the underlying skills and figured it out as a sophomore.greg.w.h said:Again: shunting back through redshirt afte having been on the floor is either a failure of evaluation or a failure of development. That we keep hearing answers other than those means the staff isn't being responsible for their choices.GE said:You recruit the best players at the time that fill the needs that you have. You also play your highest potential guys as much as you can (I don't think Vila got nearly enough PT - especially with guys like Collins on the floor). Vila will be a very good college basketball player by the time his career ends. Just doesn't always work out when we're bringing in even better players behind him.greg.w.h said:He was put on the court his first year. Either a failure of evaluation or a failure of development. To shunt a player with a full year of experience back into the scout team for redshirt development causes loss of confidence. And nothing I'm saying disagrees with even a single point you're making.GE said:I doubt it. Nobody has suggested it or seen any evidence of it. Everything I have seen of him indicates he is a good kid and teammate but wasn't ready physically or from a pace of play standpoint for the American game. Seems like a pure playing-time move.greg.w.h said:
Wishing Mr. Vila the best. Not enough information about him to make a comment other than essentially it was a reach by the staff that doesn't appear to have worked out.
If he was offered a redshirt after his freshman campaign, well, we've heard that story before. Sounds like the evaluation process isn't properly feeding into the development approach. We almost certainly will hear he was temperamental or hard to communicate with soon.
Question you have to ask is how he would fit into the lineup. Hogg and Flagg will have the small forward position on lockdown until the '19/'20 season, at which time Vila will be in his fourth year. So who does he take time from? MAYBE we go "small" and he takes time away from Nebo at the 4 in the '18/'19 season. No way he gets significant PT at the 2 guard this season or next with Gilder leading the way and Starks or Chandler to back him up. If we land Quentin Grimes that puts another obstacle in front of him, depending on what position Grimes plays.
While he has great upside, this just isn't the place for him to maximize his contribution to a division 1 team. Would have been a TOTALLY different story if he had been part of the 2012, 2013, or 2014 recruiting classes.
I do agree that they're being displaced by better talent and also not getting enough PT. But that also points to evaluation. Or maybe it's just a problem of recruiting what you can get instead of what you want. But we heard about both TTM and Vila in very pumped terms for their contributions. Yeah next year or some day they'll be good or dominant. (Hopefully TTM this fall.) But the projects aren't moving through the program well.