But wait. Not every program needs to have the same talent, or even the same levels of talent, to succeed. Clearly what we have all been saying (whether we knew it or not) is that we have needed more talent in order to make up for the obvious deficiencies in coaching. Yes, we have had some talent. But it obviously hasn't been enough! So we can either add more talent, or more/better coaching. We've tried switching coaches. So far so bad, with BU yet to make his full case. Just in case, we should also add more talent.
That's fine as far as it goes, but you run into the Johnny Jones or Lorenzo Romar problem.
On the other hand, name one coach who was an amazing game coach, player developer, roster creator, and scouter for fit to his system that couldn't make it work at the highest level because he just couldn't get good enough guys? (Herb Sendek, if you squint?) It doesn't happen. Just by existing as a Power Five school you get enough talent that doing everything else well keeps you above water, not to mention that the credibility of being an excellent coach can often cause a premier talent to fall into your lap.
It's program building. That's the secret hiding in plain sight.
That isn't really a very controversial opinion, it would be trite and obvious to a lot of people. It's just that in the potential spectrum between a recruiting-focused perspective on what matters in college basketball and an everything-else focused view, this specific website is the absolute furthest possible pole of the recruiting-focused view on earth. And I'm an Illini fan and this is the best Illini board, alas.
(EDIT: Thinking more, you could argue Fran McCaffery for a "great coach without the horses" guy. Mike Brey has gotten out of that box. If anyone argues Bill Carmody I will jump through the computer and smack them.)