One of the criticisms of Skinner was that he had lost his fastball in the vital area of recruiting. Skinner, not surprisingly, denies that.
“That’s ridiculous,’’ he said.
You make the call.
Let’s look at Skinner’s last recruiting class, players who had committed to BC but chose to leave when Skinner was dismissed.
■ Brady Heslip, a 6-foot-3-inch guard, sat out a year and is playing at Baylor, which is unbeaten and ranked No. 6 in the country. Heslip is fourth on the team in scoring and was just voted Big 12 Rookie of the Week. He is averaging 3.1 3-pointers per game, best in the conference.
■ Evan Ravenel, a 6-8 forward, is averaging 13.3 minutes, 5.5 points, and 2.5 rebounds coming off the bench for No. 2 Ohio State.
■ Kevin Noreen, a 6-10 forward, is averaging 12.6 minutes, 3.0 points, and 2.6 rebounds coming off the bench for West Virginia, which is 10-3.
■ Rakim Sanders, a 6-5 swingman, sat out a year and is now finishing his career at Fairfield, where he is averaging 16.6 points and 8.1 rebounds and is the favorite to be Metro Atlantic Conference Newcomer of the Year, if not Player of the Year.
■ Papa Ndao, a 6-8 freshman forward, is in the rotation as a defensive specialist for resurgent Saint Joseph’s, one of the surprise teams in the rising-in-stature Atlantic 10.
Five players contributing to teams with a combined record of 53-13.
Throw that group into the mix at BC, and you would have what looks like a solid combination of shooting guards, big men, 3-point marksmen, and defensive players - a team that probably could look any ACC opponent (including Duke and North Carolina) in the eye.
It is pointless, though, to play the “what-if’’ game.
