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Message: [QUOTE="Rooster C., post: 5298276, member: 10168"] Back awhile [USER=13257]WBBTakeover[/USER] said : Overpaying for players is not "making a big splash". Miami and UVA are bottom half of the ACC teams for a reason (poor coaching, first and foremost)--the players they bought don't move the needle (aren't demonstrably better than the talent they lost, if they are better). Most people here can't name Miami's major acquisitions--because they're not coming from major programs (SMU, UF, and Quinnipiac are not major programs). Sorry I've been out of commission for a bit so I'm playing catch up. Some things I'd like to point out: 1)There's no evidence to my knowledge that any of these players were "bought". 2)The coaching at Miami wasn't great - I felt they should have won another 5 or 6 games last season which would have made them about a 20-win team and put them on the bubble. Having said that, Z. Spearman, K. Oldacre, Lattimore all hit the portal along with several experienced valuable guards. Additionally, very few coaches have done "great" their first year coaching a P4/P5 program coming from a smaller conference. 3) I'm sure many on here could name several of Miami's acquisitions without any trouble. Stating UF and SMU are not major programs is not a strong argument. I'm sure the people on here could cite many of examples of great players who played for mediocre programs. That's the good side of the portal as it gives those players a chance to showcase their talents at a better program. I'm not saying Miami is a "great" program at the moment but certainly better than those two who accounted for two of their wins last season. More to the point if a player is a starter on a P4/P5 conference team and plays against other starters at the same level and performs better than most I would consider them a good/better player even if their team is not so good. Isn't that what happened with UCONN picking up Serah Williams from a lousy Wisconsin team through the portal? I might agree with that argument regarding their guard/wing transfers since although they were very good players for their respective teams they are from smaller conferences and don't have much experience going against top tier P4/P5 guards. 4) The Miami coach has learned a lot from season one coaching at the P4/P5 level. That's why she went out and signed 4 Top-100 ranked players in the 2025 class. It's also why she didn't make the same mistake from last year of getting transfers from top flight programs (Michigan and Notre Dame) who weren't starters. Her portal pickups this year were nearly all starters for their previous school and her post player duo is possibly the best post tandem they've ever had. [/QUOTE]

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