I was reading through the Chris Hill retirement thread and saw a couple similar comments that got me thinking. I can't remember who said what, but the gist was that Coach Krystkowiak may eventually be seen as another one of Chris Hill's home run hires. I agree, that is yet to be seen. Which is what is weird. LK has had SEVEN FULL SEASONS and we still don't know for sure what we have. Isn't that weird? I mean after three years of Giacoletti I was ready to move on. And after four years of Boylen he had shown us his stripes.

Yet here we are, after seven years of LK hoping, but not really knowing, if we're on the edge of another breakout.

Here's how I see his tenure so far, and I'm curious if anyone else sees it similarly:

Stage 1: Draining the Swamp.
This was the first two years of his tenure. Ute hoops was in a very bad place. We knew we were bad and no one expected much of his first year. What was hotly debated at the time was whether Larry needed to go as scorched earth as he did letting guys like O'Brien and Clyburn walk. There wasn't much bright side to these first couple of years other than seeing Washburn become who we thought he could become, and getting the commitment from Loveridge which was the hope we all needed at the time.

Stage 2: The Turn Around
We finally start to see the fruits of LK's labors and our patience pay off. Delon Wright was a breath of fresh air, and recruiting seemed to be picking up steam as we were finding hidden gems like Ogbe and Poeltl and pulling in four-stars like Chapman and Kuzma. Poeltl surprised, Bachinski developed and we went from an NIT flameout (which oddly felt like progress) to a Sweet 16, to a year full of young studs post-Delon that felt like we were about to affix ourselves back on the national scene. Poeltl's sophomore year was going well, we were ranked, we were young, and we were competing at the top of a power conference.

Stage 3: The Hiccup
To me, this stage actually begins before the Poeltl era ended. It began with our no-show against Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament. What a bummer way to end an otherwise entertaining season. Predictably, Poeltl bolts for the NBA. Then mysteriously Chapman bails for Weber State? Ogbe can't get on the court here but thrives at UVU? Daniels is a stud, but also a problem? Kuzma thinks he's ready for the jump that LK and most the rest of us think he's a year away from (He was right! We were wrong). Our recruiting stalls and Arizona becomes a thorn in our side even more off the court than on it (funny what a bag man can do for recruiting). We can't seem to beg a 4-star to commit and our team is now a bunch of role players, JCs, and transfers. Our Gonzaga gag job turns into two NIT years. Just when we're all about to throw in the towel on the Krystko era, Timmy Allen commits followed by several more promising recruits. The future is bright.

I've always believed in LK. The first five seasons all felt right. We knew a fix wouldn't likely happen over night. But progress was happening and success finally came. Which is what made seasons six and seven feel so strange. What went wrong? No, we're not Arizona or UCLA, but aren't we a *little* better than begging mid-major grad transfers and disgruntled players to fill our ranks? And after all of this, I actually still see LK and our program through rose-colored glasses. I don't know what next year will bring as we try to give a very talented but young roster some experience, but I see several NCAA Tourney appearances for us. If, (and this is a HUGE "IF") LK can follow up recruiting classes with more that look like this year's, we'll PROBABLY be pretty good in the next five years (Mannion, or not).

Yet here we are, seven years later clinging to a lot of hope rather than concrete evidence considering how much history we have with this coach.

I'm still a Krystkowiak believer and supporter. But what a strange ride its been.