All of it's overstated. I have no idea if his brother is of any value. The new guy can judge that. Tracy also doesn't have the leverage a lot of you think he does.
A good recruiter will sell a kid regardless of what his trainer thinks (and I don't think Tracy is one to go all scorched earth and jeopardize his own reputation out of spite anyways). And winning trumps everything. As always.
Power I agree with you on
Where I disagree is that he has the ability to be chilly if things go south and that vibe has the chance to indirectly be a negative going forward … the whole perception is reality thing
The world of basketball is a little different, but this is exactly what happened with Roy Williams at UNC. Won titles in 2005 and 2009, Top 5 classes. Then came John Wall and his AAU handlers around 2009. He was interested in UNC, but Roy basically told his handlers to fuck off because he didn't deal with those guys, the "uncles," all that bullshit. He dealt with high school coaches and families. So Wall signed with Kentucky and poisoned the well throughout the AAU circuit for years about how Roy didn't develop NBA guys, his style was outdated, etc. (note the NC over Gonzaga a few years later). After that, the classes started coming in #15 or so, with the lone bright spot whenever he could convince a legacy or an OKG-type from Iowa or Minnesota to come.
For my money, though, it's worth it not to sell your soul. Tracy can go fuck off.
1. What has it helped us so far? We aren't getting the top WA kids NOW, so what good is it?
2. He claims he doesn't steer kids. So if he doesn't, why do we need an 'in' with FSP?
3. Owing somebody something in this game NEVER works out, from what I can tell. Look at USC promising the starting job to JT Daniels. For what? He got hurt, lost his job, you lost the team bc they knew starting him was bullshit, you look weak, JT transferred anyway. Look at all the recruiting "package deals" that never amount to shit. At worst you end up losing the good player if he doesn't turn out and then you're stuck with a wasted scholarship. Look at Tennessee paying $ to Tootoot and Alabama to Kaho. Both gone. I'm sure it works sometimes, but if it doesn't you risk losing your team.
If we hire a good enough coach, it won't matter. I'm not saying I believe any particular rumor, but can you imagine Bob Stoops thinking, "Oh no, I better keep Tracy Ford on my good side! Whatever will I do without his stamp of approval?"
