McDonald and Recruiting Class Look Forward to Better Season

Although the basketball season is still many months away, it is not too early to start looking forward to the season ahead. Many WKU fans are still recovering from last season, but there is a lot of potential for the 2011-2012 season to quickly erase the unwanted memories from last year’s disappointment. First of all, for the first time in his career at WKU, Coach McDonald will be coaching a team entirely composed of players he recruited. Some of last year’s struggles can be blamed on the fact that many players didn’t appear to have the desire to play under Ken McDonald, something that is common in the NCAA after head coaching changes. However, since the entire team is now made up of McDonald-recruited players, the success of the team rides solely on his shoulders.

At first glance, the team appears to be in better shape than last year’s team, especially considering Coach McDonald managed to recruit arguably the best recruiting class in WKU history. This recruiting class comprised of seven players, including two recruits in the Rivals.com top 150 prospects, should have no problem excelling in the Sunbelt Conference. Although the class is a solid one, it has undergone many changes in the past few weeks.

A couple of weeks ago, Deng Leek was ruled ineligible and must play at a Junior College before joining WKU’s team next year. However, on Thursday WKU announced that Junior College transfer O’Karo Akamune will come to the hill, bringing the class back to seven players.

Not only did McDonald bring a solid recruiting class to the hill, but he also hired Jake Morton as the new assistant coach. Morton spent the last four years as an assistant coach at the University of Miami (Fla.), where he helped coach the team to three 20-win seasons, three postseason births, and a first round victory in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Morton brings a winning tradition and postseason experience to WKU, something that will definitely help WKU bounce back after last year’s 16-16 finish.

In the next few weeks, we will preview the incoming recruiting class with player profiles, stats, and analysis on how these players will most likely fit into the depth chart.