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Benson transferring? Whoa!

Rationalize much? Please, spare me your bs arguements. Collins recruited him, offered him a scholarship and then decided he didn't Want him on the team. That’s the coach’s prerogative to change his mind but it is the University’s ethical responsibility to honor the scholarship offer if the player decides to continue on as a student. The fact that Vassar initially said he intended to transfer is irrelevant. The kid changed his mind and in my view the University has the responsibility to honor his scholarship for the full four year period.
Yes Collins recruited him. I did not say I am holding him blameless in the situation. I am just saying I am cutting him some slack as it was his first class and he brought in 5 guys in that class (of which I think he was the last and it was considered a stretch at the time) and 4 of them worked out pretty well. As far as how things played out, it could have been handled better by both sides. Now if a similar situation happened at this point, I would hold him to different standards and be much more critical of the situation.
 
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But should the scholarship be an athletic scholarship if no longer an athlete counting against the total? One thing to convert it as in a medical retirement but in this case it was not converted?

Sure, but "no longer an athlete" needs both sides to agree. Vassar (allegedly) wanted to remain on the team and continued to fulfill his responsibilities to the team, so he remained an athlete. Otherwise, coaches could just sidestep the four-year requirement by kicking players off the team and converting them to academic scholarships.
 
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The bummer is that three of these current guys were 4-star recruits. It seemed like they'd be BIG level guys, but for various reasons, it didn't pan out.
Injures took their toll on a couple of them Pardon being ahead of Benson did not help his development as he had a hard time getting playing time
 
Sure, but "no longer an athlete" needs both sides to agree. Vassar (allegedly) wanted to remain on the team and continued to fulfill his responsibilities to the team, so he remained an athlete. Otherwise, coaches could just sidestep the four-year requirement by kicking players off the team and converting them to academic scholarships.
What athletic responsibilities did Vassar fulfill, after he said that he wanted to transfer?
 
I don't totally disagree with you. My point is this has a similar vibe. Walters played two years at NU. His first year was nondescript. His Sophomore year was his breakout year. He then sat out before his two years at Kansas. His NBA career, though long was below average. Holmes had a mediocre career at Rice. Pedersen was rock solid at St. Louis and Nixon was fairly good at BYU. Our three guys here that have left, came in with some promise, but due to injury, development etc. didn't blossom. Add Rap to the equation and that's four guys who you state, "aren't B1G level players". Well then why the heck were they recruited to a B1G program and why were most of us excited about them when they inked their LOI???
All looked like BIG players coming in but three were knocked out of that position by serious injuries and were not the same afterwards. But so much of a players development has to do with getting time on the court and after the injuries they were not going to really get it here. Rap has gotten court time at Colgate that he likely would not have gotten here and he has recovered form. Not sure if it would have been enough to deal with the BIG but for him it has worked. The others... hopefully get their chance. The forth is a different story. Partly he had trouble getting minutes behind Pardon but not sure if that would have been enough to get him to another level.
 
Isn’t shooting and driving to the basket the definition of what a wing does on O?

Well, that was my point.

And the wing at the 2-spot needs to be a decent ball handler/distributor (can't just rely on the lead guard).

Cobb more than ably filled the shoes when he was basically given lead guard responsibility.


Injures took their toll on a couple of them Pardon being ahead of Benson did not help his development as he had a hard time getting playing time

If BB showed more while he was on the court, he would have gotten more minutes.

CC even experimented w/ having Pardon and BB on the court at the same time, but that didn't last long.
 
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Cobb spot filled lead guard as a frosh...he was an impressive talent. NBA quality if not for the injuries.
 
Well, that was my point.

And the wing at the 2-spot needs to be a decent ball handler/distributor (can't just rely on the lead guard).

Cobb more than ably filled the shoes when he was basically given lead guard responsibility.




If BB showed more while he was on the court, he would have gotten more minutes.

CC even experimented w/ having Pardon and BB on the court at the same time, but that didn't last long.
We had the wins that were decent enough ball handlers. With a lead guard as well, things would have been much better as their ball handling skills would have been synergistic. But without the lead guard, other teams did not have to respect what we had and could much more easily eliminate driving and passing lanes causing the whole offense to flounder. Less apparent in the preseason the conference

Pardon and BB on the court at the same time had more to do with the matchup we were facing
 
Injures took their toll on a couple of them Pardon being ahead of Benson did not help his development as he had a hard time getting playing time

Don't buy the Pardon being ahead of Benson thing.

Hearn basically didn't play for 2 years, but was an impact player his 3rd yr (but having to split time w/ Cobb, among others).

Lindsey also didn't break-out until his JR season.

Coble and Shurna were basically similar type players (altho Shurna was the better defender and had more of an inside game), but the plan (waysided by Coble's Lisfranc injury) was to play them both in the front-court as they were the 2 best players (along w/ Juice).



We had the wins that were decent enough ball handlers. With a lead guard as well, things would have been much better as their ball handling skills would have been synergistic. But without the lead guard, other teams did not have to respect what we had and could much more easily eliminate driving and passing lanes causing the whole offense to flounder. Less apparent in the preseason the conference

No doubt, a lead guard would have made a diff., but still want to see the off-guard being a good enough ball handler to be able to bring the ball up under pressure/against the press.

Having such a 2nd adept ball handler takes pressure off the lead guard (there were times when BMac struggled against the press) and allows for the O to continue to run smoothly when the lead guard is on the bench (rest, foul trouble) or when the injury bug arises.


Pardon and BB on the court at the same time had more to do with the matchup we were facing

If BB had been more productive, CC would have gone more w/ the 2-big front-court, forcing other teams to match-up w/ what the 'Cats were throwing out.

Imagine if there had been a Pardon clone on the team - you don't think CC would have been playing both (instead of the throwing out the various 4's the staff did, trying to find an answer?).
 
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No doubt, a lead guard would have made a diff., but still want to see the off-guard being a good enough ball handler to be able to bring the ball up under pressure/against the press.

What you are describing is a second lead guard. Both Turner and Law could bring the ball up against the press. It wasn’t like teams threw the Nolan Richardson 40 minutes of Hell against the Cats to beat them.

The problem was once they crossed half court the ball swung around the edge of the 3 point line and went backwards as much as it went towards the hoop. Getting the ball to someone in a preferred spot was the issue not bringing it up court.
 
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Don't buy the Pardon being ahead of Benson thing.

Hearn basically didn't play for 2 years, but was an impact player his 3rd yr (but having to split time w/ Cobb, among others).

Lindsey also didn't break-out until his JR season.

Coble and Shurna were basically similar type players (altho Shurna was the better defender and had more of an inside game), but the plan (waysided by Coble's Lisfranc injury) was to play them both in the front-court as they were the 2 best players (along w/ Juice).





No doubt, a lead guard would have made a diff., but still want to see the off-guard being a good enough ball handler to be able to bring the ball up under pressure/against the press.

Having such a 2nd adept ball handler takes pressure off the lead guard (there were times when BMac struggled against the press) and allows for the O to continue to run smoothly when the lead guard is on the bench (rest, foul trouble) or when the injury bug arises.




If BB had been more productive, CC would have gone more w/ the 2-big front-court, forcing other teams to match-up w/ what the 'Cats were throwing out.

Imagine if there had been a Pardon clone on the team - you don't think CC would have been playing both (instead of the throwing out the various 4's the staff did, trying to find an answer?).
Don't by Pardon being ahead of Benson? What are you smoking?

You remember Gaines was that off guard and fills your desire and Turner to a lesser extent. . Without the LG/PG, everything else had a hard time working.
 
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