Not in 100% agreement with that position, but I can definitely respect it.
In your estimation, what is the staff's next opportunity to prove their recruiting chops? Is it THT, or does he fall foul of the same sorts of things Ayo and Smith did? What about Okoro? Liddell?
Yeah, I can understand the thinking that the staff hasn't really proven itself to be a great recruiting staff yet.
As I've said several times, Mark Smith was a favorable situation. Blew up late, downstate kid, grew up an Illinois fan. And as many said, Ayo was probably ours the moment we hired Chin Coleman. Chin was made to deliver Ayo, and that's what he did.
That said, Underwood deserves credit nonetheless. Smith had big time offers, and BU hired Chin in the first place -- probably at least in part with Ayo in mind. Getting the commitment is all that matters.
THT will be an interesting test -- he's not naturally inclined toward Illinois, and while he doesn't have blue bloods coming after him, he has plenty of respectable suitors. This isn't nearly as favorable as Smith or Ayo, but this is the sort of recruitment that a "great" recruiter probably should win. Simeon is Illinois friendly, after all. And we are the home state school. If BU nabs THT, then that ups my confidence in his recruiting pretty significantly.
2019 will be a great test as well.