It's official: Johnnie Vassar to transfer

[lou v]

CBSSports' Jon Rothstein just tweeted that Northwestern freshman point guard Johnnie Vassar will transfer, and WR has confirmed it.

I can't say that I'm surprised, given his playing time this season, as well as his track record of transfers in high school.

More to come....
This post was edited on 3/30 4:00 PM by Lou V

 

[NJCat83588]

Too bad for Johnnie. An NU education is a good start to the next 40 eaers. But he wasn't going to get playing time, and if his immediate goal is to play college basketball then he made a god decision.

I wish him the best.

 

[CappyNU]

I don't think anyone following the program will be remotely surprised that this happened. I wish Johnnie well, and also wonder where we stand with Kipper Nichols now.

 

[Gladeskat]

Originally posted by NJCat:
Too bad for Johnnie. An NU education is a good start to the next 40 eaers. But he wasn't going to get playing time, and if his immediate goal is to play college basketball then he made a god decision.

I wish him the best.

Looks like it's a good decision, too.

 

[NJCat83588]

oops!!!!

Well, it IS Holy Week after all...................

 

[Medill90]

It's a super holy week...Passover starts on Friday.

I wish Johnnie well and I hope that he continues to trade his athletic skills for a free, top-notch education right up until he gets that sheepskin.

Other good academic schools offered....maybe he'll play in the Ivy League. Or perhaps the new old coach at DePaul, one of his original schools of interest, offers.

Best of luck.

 

[JournCat]

Too bad. He looked great on the tape. But if Mac is going to play 30 minutes a game, that puts an obvious ceiling on Vassar's playing time.

 

[lou v]

Here's NU's release...



Vassar to Transfer from Northwestern


Guard appeared in 18 games as a freshman during 2014-15 season



EVANSTON, Ill. - Freshman guard Chris Collins announced today.

"Johnnie let us know that he has chosen to pursue another university to continue his career," Collins said. "We support his decision and enjoyed having him as a member of the program this season. He is a talented player with a bright future and we wish him nothing but the best in everything he does going forward."

Vassar appeared in 18 games off the bench as a true freshman during the 2014-15 season.

 

[Gladeskat]

Yikes, a Vassectomy?

Couldn't resist.

 

[DocCatsFan]

I've known this for quite some time. I've even been accused of lying about knowing of an imminent transfer. I wish Johnnie the best. By all accounts i've heard he is a great kid from a great family. I do hope that opening a scholarship was not the main impetus behind this, though. I feel strongly that a 4 year commitment to a player is part of the "deal" with an offer, assuming the student athlete abides by his/her end of the agreement.

 

[Medill90]

Think it's pretty clear from Johnnie's statement that he wants to go someplace where he can play more right away, and this is his decision.

No question that he has high major athleticism and he is effective on the defensive end.

 

[DocCatsFan]

Originally posted by Medill90:

Think it's pretty clear from Johnnie's statement that he wants to go someplace where he can play more right away, and this is his decision.

No question that he has high major athleticism and he is effective on the defensive end.

No doubt he wants to play more. But these statements don't mean much in my opinion. He said what he should say, no matter what the back story is. I wish him the best, truly. And I trust our program will continue to do things the "right way" as we for the most part always have.

 

[clarificationcat]

Have you heard talk that this was the case? Otherwise, this is the kind of passive aggressive post that just stirs up all the crap on this board that you claim you dislike so much. He was in line to get some minutes next year with Sobo graduating and he definitely appears to be a kid that is interested in furthering his basketball career (and that is not meant as a criticism). And his athleticism would seem to warrant giving him plenty of time to develop. So I find it very unlikely that Collins ran him off the squad. It makes a lot more sense to me that he did not want to play behind McIntosh for 3 more years.

 

[olshin]

Why even insinuate that's the case, unless you know for a fact that it IS the case? Because you're passively aggressively throwing out the line that Vassar was "run off" the team, even though there's really not a logical reason to believe that.

It's pretty irresponsible. And I'm not one of your usual antagonists, either. But that's 100 percent the way your message came across to me, and that's really disappointing.

I'll take it on face value as it is. He didn't play as much as he thought, won't play much behind Mac, has other options that are good schools where he can play, and intends to transfer. Good for JV, I wish him the best!

 

[Kelly_32]

I've known for quite some time also and it was entirely Vasser's call.

 

[NUCat320]

Being the backup point guard is like being the backup quarterback - in most cases, you just won't get a lot of chances. His story was written by mid-December, when it looked like Mac was becoming a four-year fixture.

I hope JV takes someone to the tourney one day, and I hope he throws down a few breakaway jams along the way.

 

[mikewebb68]

Originally posted by DocCatsFan:
I've known this for quite some time. I've even been accused of lying about knowing of an imminent transfer. I wish Johnnie the best. By all accounts i've heard he is a great kid from a great family. I do hope that opening a scholarship was not the main impetus behind this, though. I feel strongly that a 4 year commitment to a player is part of the "deal" with an offer, assuming the student athlete abides by his/her end of the agreement.

The other posters covered most of why this post is inflammatory, but what other poster accused you of lying? I could not locate any such accusations in the other transfer thread where you posted your info (unless they were deleted, but I don't believe that was the case).

 

[DocCatsFan]

The posts were by realcatsfan and yes they were deleted.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

Originally posted by DocCatsFan:
The posts were by realcatsfan and yes they were deleted.

He NEVER said you were lying! He said you were intentionally casting a dark cloud over the program....which was 100% accurate.

 

[Medill90]

So now B Mac and Ash are who NU has to handle the ball. With Cobb, Sobo and Vasser gone probably need one more.

 

[DocCatsFan]

Originally posted by VirginiaWildcat:

Originally posted by DocCatsFan:
The posts were by realcatsfan and yes they were deleted.

He NEVER said you were lying! He said you were intentionally casting a dark cloud over the program....which was 100% accurate.

It was in the 2015 Final Recruit thread. The post was deleted, but, yes, the word "lying" was absolutely in it. You are 100% wrong. I'm done with this now. I'm sure nobody on this board is interested in this argument and frankly I'm sorry I brought it up.

This post was edited on 3/31 8:47 AM by DocCatsFan

This post was edited on 3/31 8:50 AM by DocCatsFan

 

[NUCat320]

I'm anticipating Demps as a backup ballhandler as well.


Cobb hardly played, Sobo was hardly on the ball, and Vasser didn't play a meaningful minute. If Ash is healthy, next year's roster will have similar construction, with Ash taking the Sobo minutes on the ball.
This post was edited on 3/31 9:31 AM by NUCat320

 

[clarificationcat]

Trust me. We are all sorry you continue to make these types of posts.

 

[willycat]

doc, don't believe for a moment that you are sorry you brought it up.

 

[Medill90]

All good points. And Demps is a bad omission on my part.

There were way too many turnovers when pressed late in the game. The absence of Cobb who is a good ball handler and played some point guard his first two years contributed to turnovers.

I think Ash will get a lot of minutes, won't be disappointed in his PT.

 

[JournCat]

Speaking generally to our issues under the press, guys like Lindsey and Law have to improve their ball handling as well. Demps and Ash should be able to handle primary responsibilities for the 8-10 minutes a game that Mac sits. An injury to Mac would put us in real trouble, but that was true whether or not Vassar stayed.

 

[Medill90]

I've been watching Wisconsin break the press effortlessly throughout the tournament. Senior team full of smart players don't try to dribble through pressure. Off the charts with their court awareness and spacing.

A little more experience playing together and NU should get much better. Completely agree about Lindsey and Law.

 

[Pete Purple]

Nm

This post was edited on 3/31 9:42 AM by Pete Purple

 

[Pete Purple]

Yawn.

 

[clarificationcat]

Agreed. Lindsey and Law need to get stronger with the ball generally. Law, in particular, had a lot balls ripped from his hands when he tried to drive to the basket. Added strength will help when they are trapped on presses as well. Some of the steals weren't off of the dribble. The opponent just took the ball from their little brother. Demps is great at going to the basket like a running back. He rarely gets the ball stripped. Hopefully, he can teach the younger players as they get stronger.

 

[Fitz51]

Originally posted by Medill90:

Think it's pretty clear from Johnnie's statement that he wants to go someplace where he can play more right away, and this is his decision.

In the spirit of the week, I will state that there are more holes in his story than in Jesus' hands and feet.

 

[hdhntr1]

It sounds much more like it was just him evaluating his position and realizing that there were not going to be a lot of minutes going forward. Probably talked with the coaches and asked honestly about his role going forward.

 

[hdhntr1]

But to go to a major, he would have to sit for a year wouldn't he?

 

[IGNORE2]

Here we go again - Va v Doc. Get a room you two!

 

[willycat]

Medill, the 247 Network is reporting that NU has contacted a PG as a potential transfer in, if Nichols goes elsewhere. He's Marcus Marshall, formally of Missouri State, originally from St. Paul, MN. He was the 2nd leading scorer in the Missouri Valley Conference this past season and could graduate in May and thus be an immediately eligible as a 5th year transfer. A red flag however, states that he was suspended from the team last Wednesday for actions detrimental to the team.
This post was edited on 3/31 5:48 PM by willycat

 

[Styre]

I like how we split hairs between a player being told to leave and a player being told "You're never going to play, but, you know, make up your own mind."

(and don't spin this as some kind of criticism; I said when the wave of transfers began last year that it was nice to see us acting like a real program for once and I support trying to build the best possible roster)

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

Originally posted by Styre:
I like how we split hairs between a player being told to leave and a player being told "You're never going to play, but, you know, make up your own mind."

Nobody is splitting hairs. You have no (ZERO) evidence that CC told Vasser he would never play. And frankly, I highly doubt that happened. Vasser clearly didn't want to play backup his entire college career...

 

[NUCat320]

"So, how can I get more playing time, coach"?

"Well, there are two ways. You can grow six inches, or you can call Gillooly."

With no insider knowledge, I gave zero minutes to Vasser when I built a "guess the minutes" estimate a few weeks ago. It's tough to be a backup point.

Good for CCC for being upfront (if indeed there was that conversation, and it sounds like there was), and good for JV for trusting himself and having the courage to make a move.

 

[Styre]

The hypothesis here is that Vassar asked for a frank assessment of his future with the team and, based on the result, decided to transfer. I'm guessing, if that's what happened, the answer wasn't "you're going to be a starter" or even "you're going to be a significant contributor off the bench." But you're right, the quote I made up wasn't an exact quote from the mouth of CC, so, um, you win, I guess?

 

[clarificationcat]

I don't see Vassar as a guy that would never play. We have no backup point guard on the roster next year and he is an exceptional athlete who can provide a nice change of pace to McIntosh and be a defensive stopper against certain players. I think he would have gotten 6 to 10 minutes a game next year and more if he continued to refine his game. I was looking forward to seeing him play next year. Isn't it much more likely that he saw McIntosh emerge one of the best freshmen in the B1G and concluded that he was never going to be starter in his career at NU because he needs to have the ball in his hands. He's not a spot-up shooter that can play a lot of minutes with McIntosh. If he's serious about basketball (and I get the impression he is), now is the time to transfer. If Collins can continue to improve our depth, there are going to be good players that will not be getting the minutes they want. It's not that they will "never play". In some instances, they may be valuable 10 minute players. Some will transfer. Some will stay. It's a problem that we have not had in the past 50 plus years. Hopefully, we will be in that position.