Anyone else getting the vibe that he’s starting to get a little tired of all the comparisons between him and the previous regime?

Actually, I really don’t care where the kids come from. Maybe Lithuania is the new international hotbed for recruits, who knows?

As long as we can get quality recruits, I’ll be happy. That said… don’t UW and Gonzaga already play uptempo style? One of the things I enjoyed the last few years was having a totally different style, one where you could get a totally different kind of recruit. I know that’s what we get for hiring Bone, but I’m not sure what the selling point for Pullman is if we’re basically an inferior brand of the better teams in Washington (or so the other teams will say). I’d hoped Bone would try to keep that Bennett fundamental family atmosphere thing going because it fits Pullman so well.

I guess we’ll see over the next few years. One thing I totally agree on, it will be more exciting for the average fan.

Thinking back to when TB came over with DB. Those guys weren’t West Coast guys. How many established recruiting connections do you think Tony had on the West Coast? Think of his first few recruiting classes those guys came from all over. The way I see it, Bone will use his established connections to try to pick up some big recruits while he and his staff work on building more connections out of state. Just my thoughts.

For WSU to really have success, they need to recruit the NW and the nation. Dick Bennett always felt you drew from the largest circle when you’re trying to rebuild: if you go to Hawai’i, Australia, Texas, the East Coast, wherever, you have to do it. But once you’ve rebuilt the circle draws narrower and you can focus a little closer to home.

The point is this: there is a metric ton of talent in the northwest, and we’ve already rebuilt the program to a solid position. Bone should focus on the northwest, but at the same time he absolutely cannot be afraid to look elsewhere. Hopefully, in particular, Ben Johnson keeps the AIS pipeline going.

I have read many times that the Seattle area is a hotbed for basketball recruiting. We have had a lot of good players come out of the state in the last decade…Roy, Robinson, Williams, Crawford, Terry, Stuckey, Dickerson, etc. So, I am not worried about Bone and his recruiting and I am sure he will look other places besides just Washington. I have also read that Bone is the real deal when it comes to the offense. He is great at game planning. When he was an assistant for Romar he is the one who made the offense go. When he left it really hurt Romar for a while. We will almost forget who TB was in 4 years. I loved Bennett, but he really didn’t do much in game planning, he just made sure they stuck with the pack defense. He also had Kyle Weaver on defense. I questioned a few in-game decisions TB made last year. I also felt like Casto was a caged beast last year. Get ready for Reggie throwing alley oops to Casto. Showtime Baby. The ZZuCrew will doing a lot more jumping around in the coming years. Playing in the Pac10 is still playing in the Pac10, whether you are in Pullman or Seattle. We all play the same teams. I have a feeling Bone will finish his career here. By the way he also builds a family atmosphere like Tony.