I think too much is made of assistant coaches. I recall all of us getting totally wrapped up in Jerrance Howard and Tracy Webster back in the Weber era, and what came of that? If you have a head coach who can recruit, you don't need to depend on your assistants to do it. If you need to depend on your assistants to get good recruits, you hired the wrong head coach. As for Tillmon, that's a short-term issue.
I disagree. Calipari, Pitino, K, Roy probably don't need recruiting assistants, but pretty much every other school does. The head coach can't do it all. Jerrance has always provided his head coaches with talent. What they do with it is different story.
Tilmon is a big piece in helping the new coach have early success to get a nervous fanbase on board. New coach loses Tilmon and then loses a lot early? May lose the fans quick