It won't be for another couple of years before we can really do an in-depth analysis of how the recruiting was handled between Weis and Beaty, but we can look at a couple of things that give a little bit of insight and also should debunk a couple of myths on here.
First myth I want to debunk right off the bat - we took around a total of 17 JUCO kids in the 2014 and 2015 classes. Unless a couple of them leave before next season or to begin this season, we are looking at all 17 of these JUCO kids exhausting their eligibility at KU. That's really, really impressive if it happens. What happened in 2013 was bad, but also unfortunately falsely skewed the fan bases impressions on JUCO kids IMO.
Now that I got that out of the way, took a look at kids that KU took from the JUCO ranks or were transfers (regardless of if they were regular, blueshirt, or grayshirt guys) because I think that is an area as fans we have had some concerns with previously. Disclaimer - I could have certainly missed a guy or two. I was curious if Beaty was going in a similar direction that Weis did or if they were completely different approaches. Was curious how many we took per year, how long they stayed at KU, and compared that to how long they could have stayed at KU (could really only do this for Weis's classes). As a point of emphasis on this, how long they stayed is something you need hindsight to accurately know. For example, I believe Josh Ford could have stayed three years if he redshirted his first year, but since he didn't only counted him as having two years he could have played here. On the other hand, since Andrew Bolton redshirted his first year, I counted him as having three years he could have played at KU (even though he only played two since he transferred to Southern Miss).
Quick Comparison
The Weis Era (2012 - 2014 classes)
JUCOs/transfers per year: 15.3
Average time JUCOs/transfers stayed at KU: 1.7 years
Max time JUCOs/transfers could have stayed at KU: 2.4 years
% JUCOs/transfers left before max time: 45%
If we compare that to Beaty's 2015 class, assuming no other guys leave in this class, it would look like:
JUCOs/transfers per year: 14
Average time JUCOs/transfers stayed at KU: 2.1 years
Max time JUCOs/transfers could have stayed at KU: 2.4 years
% JUCOs/transfers left before max time: 15%
Now if we add the 2016 class with the three JUCOs and added Denzell Evans, and let's assume Stephan Robinson stays all three years as he was mentioned in that thread and have no idea whats going on with him, the numbers would look like:
JUCOs/transfers per year: 9
Average time JUCOs/transfers stayed at KU: 2.1 years
Max time JUCOs/transfers could have stayed at KU: 2.3 years
% JUCOs/transfers left before max time: 12%
Now if we wanted to include freshman blue shirt guys, things like the max time kids could have stayed at KU would jump up for Beaty.
Thoughts
Beaty did have a pretty large total number of JUCO and transfer guys his first year, but it was still under the average Weis took per year. It is always possible Beaty adds some transfer or JUCO blue shirts in this class and next class, but as of right now it looks like the average number of those guys taken per year are going to do down significantly and thus a lot lower what Weis did.
The most important thing is that Beaty must keep that percentage number of JUCO/transfer guys retained up high. That really hurt Weis, especially with the numbers he took at those spots. So far Beaty appears to be doing well with this, but it is crucial he keeps that number up.
Although it doesn't really pertain to these specific numbers much, when thinking about blue shirts, I often find myself lumping blue shirts in with these transfer and JUCO guys. But I think it is time to start separating that a bit as we are seeing this staff find a few HS blue shirt guys like they did last year with Duckworth and Larry Hughes and apparently a few. When we are back to normal roster numbers, noting the above is a big reason why we got in the hole we did, I think there will be a secret ingredient in fixing this, with that being blue shirt HS guys (or guys here 3+ years) and walk ons that earn scholarships...
First myth I want to debunk right off the bat - we took around a total of 17 JUCO kids in the 2014 and 2015 classes. Unless a couple of them leave before next season or to begin this season, we are looking at all 17 of these JUCO kids exhausting their eligibility at KU. That's really, really impressive if it happens. What happened in 2013 was bad, but also unfortunately falsely skewed the fan bases impressions on JUCO kids IMO.
Now that I got that out of the way, took a look at kids that KU took from the JUCO ranks or were transfers (regardless of if they were regular, blueshirt, or grayshirt guys) because I think that is an area as fans we have had some concerns with previously. Disclaimer - I could have certainly missed a guy or two. I was curious if Beaty was going in a similar direction that Weis did or if they were completely different approaches. Was curious how many we took per year, how long they stayed at KU, and compared that to how long they could have stayed at KU (could really only do this for Weis's classes). As a point of emphasis on this, how long they stayed is something you need hindsight to accurately know. For example, I believe Josh Ford could have stayed three years if he redshirted his first year, but since he didn't only counted him as having two years he could have played here. On the other hand, since Andrew Bolton redshirted his first year, I counted him as having three years he could have played at KU (even though he only played two since he transferred to Southern Miss).
Quick Comparison
The Weis Era (2012 - 2014 classes)
JUCOs/transfers per year: 15.3
Average time JUCOs/transfers stayed at KU: 1.7 years
Max time JUCOs/transfers could have stayed at KU: 2.4 years
% JUCOs/transfers left before max time: 45%
If we compare that to Beaty's 2015 class, assuming no other guys leave in this class, it would look like:
JUCOs/transfers per year: 14
Average time JUCOs/transfers stayed at KU: 2.1 years
Max time JUCOs/transfers could have stayed at KU: 2.4 years
% JUCOs/transfers left before max time: 15%
Now if we add the 2016 class with the three JUCOs and added Denzell Evans, and let's assume Stephan Robinson stays all three years as he was mentioned in that thread and have no idea whats going on with him, the numbers would look like:
JUCOs/transfers per year: 9
Average time JUCOs/transfers stayed at KU: 2.1 years
Max time JUCOs/transfers could have stayed at KU: 2.3 years
% JUCOs/transfers left before max time: 12%
Now if we wanted to include freshman blue shirt guys, things like the max time kids could have stayed at KU would jump up for Beaty.
Thoughts
Beaty did have a pretty large total number of JUCO and transfer guys his first year, but it was still under the average Weis took per year. It is always possible Beaty adds some transfer or JUCO blue shirts in this class and next class, but as of right now it looks like the average number of those guys taken per year are going to do down significantly and thus a lot lower what Weis did.
The most important thing is that Beaty must keep that percentage number of JUCO/transfer guys retained up high. That really hurt Weis, especially with the numbers he took at those spots. So far Beaty appears to be doing well with this, but it is crucial he keeps that number up.
Although it doesn't really pertain to these specific numbers much, when thinking about blue shirts, I often find myself lumping blue shirts in with these transfer and JUCO guys. But I think it is time to start separating that a bit as we are seeing this staff find a few HS blue shirt guys like they did last year with Duckworth and Larry Hughes and apparently a few. When we are back to normal roster numbers, noting the above is a big reason why we got in the hole we did, I think there will be a secret ingredient in fixing this, with that being blue shirt HS guys (or guys here 3+ years) and walk ons that earn scholarships...
