Pope recruited Yoeli back for his senior year and Toolson too. He coached a great veteran team and COVID will leave us all forever wondering what if. But that was a great team.

We have to have a core of great LDS players mixed in with the best we can find from wherever else.

Spencer Johnson is a very good piece to the puzzle on this team. Knell can be too. Both were out injured. Who knows when Knell comes back, if at all this year. Johnson was out injured today. Neither guy your #1 guy in a perfect world but each would make us better than we were today.

Pope recruited Hall, Saunders and Toolson as his first LDS core group. They’re all just off missions and barely into their freshman year. All will be very good for us in all likelihood. The best we’ve ever hoped for in a recently returned RM is a solid role player like TJ Haws when he first got back. TJ wasn’t nearly the player his first year back that he eventually became.

Collin Chandler is on a mission and is the same kind of recruit as the three that just came back. He’ll be huge for us.

Atiki, Fous and Robinson all have two years with us after this year.

We really are putting a very inexperienced team on the floor right now.

It’s way too early to write off Mark Pope. This season’s current and likely future frustrations notwithstanding.