1. Phillips was a McD guy
2. All of those guys were way, way more highly rated than this kid and all had better offers.
3. Hoiberg recruited all of those guys at the very beginning of his stint at ISU, when ISU had little national clout. We have far more now.
You can't just look back in hindsight and compare apples to oranges.
You're looking back and judging good prospects who didn't work out and justifying signing a pretty average P5 prospect.
Of course, no ratings or prior events matter for a kids career, but highly rated kids pan out more than lowly rated ones and vice versa, it's a fact.
I know higher ranked players are more likely to pan out. EVERYONE know this. I never even said I thought he would be good. My point was that it's not a big deal if he doesn't pan out. He'll just transfer like those other players and not take up a scholarship.