Hope springs eternal

It looked extremely rocky for the Mudville nine that day.
The score was two to four with but one inning left to play.
So, when Cooney died at second, and Burrows did the same,
A pallor wreathed the features of the patrons of the game.
A straggling few got up to go, leaving there the rest
With that hope that springs eternal from within the human breast...

Casey at the Bat -- Ernest Lawrence Thayer

It's the same with recruiting. We look at who our favorite team -- Hawaii, LA TECH, Boise State, et al -- has corralled and envision success and Big Dancin' in our future due to the combination of heralded newcomers and proven returnees.

But it often doesn't turn out that way. Now there's no particular reason -- other than it's a shining example of our false hopes about recruiting -- that we chose Utah State and this particular batch of signees.

Here's the opening of an official release from the Utah State Aggies athletics site:

Men's Basketball Announces Fall Signing Class
Deremy Geiger, Rich Sirju, Jordan Stone and Bryce Webster have all signed NLI's to play at Utah State.
December 12, 2007

Utah State head men's basketball coach Stew Morrill announced Wednesday four players who have signed National Letters of Intent to compete for the Aggies. Among the group are two junior college transfers in Rich Sirju and Bryce Webster, and two high school standouts in Deremy Geiger and Jordan Stone...

Now Logan-ites must have been ecstatic after this announcement soon after the early 2007 signing period concluded. The harvest filled needs: two bigs, one a junior college transfer and the other a high school senior, plus a junior college shooting guard and a high school point. Any WAC fan would have felt the same had their team signed this bunch.

Stew Morrill was quoted thusly at the time:

"This group meets the needs that our program has coming up next season with the graduation of three seniors," said Morrill. "Deremy and Rich give us two quality guards that can shoot the ball to go along with our returning nucleus. Bryce gives us another quality post player with Division I experience, and we are excited about the progress Jordan has made in high school and we have no doubt he will be a tremendous asset to Utah State after returning from his mission."

"All of these student-athletes are very strong academically and all possess the high character that we demand from our players. We as a coaching staff are very excited about the potential of this group and are confident they will be positive influences both on and off the court during their Aggie careers."

But like the best laid plans of mice and men, it didn't work out as envisioned.

THE OUTCOME

Geiger is departing after one season. He saw 7.4 minutes of action per game in 18 contests.

Sirju then played in three games, totaling 23 minutes, before determining he needed to move on elsewhere in order to play.

Webster never made it to campus, remaining at Irvine Valley College in California and then eventually signing with Cal State Fullerton of the Big West Conference. He played his freshman year at Minnesota.

Jordan is the only player who remains an Aggie. He has completed the initial year of his two-year LDS mission and is expected to be in Logan for the 2010-2011 season.

It's like we need to see better -- or in some cases, as good -- futures looming, whether it be as a sports fan or simply as a human being. A mindset that this or that hole will be filled by so-and-so and that success is just around the corner. It can't be quantified but it 'seems' most newcomers don't measure up to the visions -- fairly or unfairly -- we create in our minds for them but enough do to keep us engaging in the behavior.