We really picked the wrong time to be bad and rebuilding when Lick was fired. The B10 was in a "down" stretch. With the right coach and players, we could have been what Wisconsin was during that period. Contending for conference titles and final fours. Instead we were rebuilding to being an average team and are now trying to push to the next level in the toughest the conference has been in around 2 decades. Such a missed opportunity.
Since that time the conference has added a typically good team in Maryland, and several schools have doubled down on basketball money in an attempt to push into the upper tier of the conference. We build an ok practice facility, but that's about it for investment into our program. Top-50 out of state players aren't signing with us and the in state talent only produces on average 1-2 true Power 5 kids per year.
I appreciate that we don't have a bag man paying off recruits or their families. But the problem is that most of the teams ahead of us do. Even teams like Duke, NC, MSU, and Kansas that shouldn't need to cheat are listed in the FBI probe. So, don't expect to be playing for conference championships or final fours unless the NCAA cleans that up, which won't happen. Unless that gets cleaned up we'll be lucky to compete for the 2nd weekend in the NCAAs every few years when we have a senior laden team. Next year is supposed to be that year because we should only graduate Baer. But we'll see if the glaring hole in our guard play gets figured out before next season.
