DJ Williams to transfer
- Thread starter CoralSpringsCat
- Start date
Underwood: "Hey, DJ, Mark Smith is playing in front of you."
Williams: "See ya!"
I would never contradict your recruiting knowledge, but those might literally be the only two CPL players to wear the purple in my decade-plus following NU.
There's no doubt that NU recruiting in the CPL has been pretty poor, but the post to which I was responding indicated that NU had never before had a CPL player... that's not true.
That's not what I indicated. Michael Jenkins is a contemporary of mine. The problem is that the NU players from CPS are separated by years and maybe decades. How long has Juice been gone? How many kids from CPS has Collins offered?
The unfortunate aspect of this is that other schools don't look after their players in the same manner that NU does. NU is much better lifetime opportunity for these young men and it's unfortunate that they would choose a school that lets its players stagnate academically and leave without a degree.
There should always be one or two players on NU's roster from CPS. Eventually the CPS coaches will get on board with this.
That decade plus largely coincides with the Carmody years. I would really suggest that we put those dark days behind us.
It's just like the broader challenge NU faces with admitting more CPS students or African-American students. NU has made some efforts in good faith, notably endowing scholarships specifically for CPS and working with the city on an academy preparing high-school students years in advance of a college application. Those things take money and effort, and I'm glad we're doing them. Maybe getting more CPS basketball players will help us get more CPS students overall, or vice-versa.
Way back when, NU had guys like Jim Pitts, Wells and Davis from Marshall, Willie Jones from Englewood and North from Harper. Sure I'm missing a few and also realize that those guys from a long while ago but think Collins is trying his foot in door for CPS kids,
I want to write several paragraphs about the outdated, pre-ESPN/B10 Network concept that any Illinois program needs CPS players to be successful, but I don't wanted to mislead one of my new favorite people, Talen Horton-Tucker.
If you want to tell me you MUST have a representative number of players from the Chicagoland area or even the state (Peoria anyone?), I'll agree 100%. That can include CPS, private schools and suburban schools. A roster with Law, Lindsey, Ash and Benson is a great start. Let's not forget RI and Malnati.
Prefer to look at it as what NU can uniquely do for these young men, versus what these men can do for NU basketball.
There's no question NU can build a competitive team without pulling in one CPS player.
I hate to see them cut out of the opportunity because it's always been that way. I don't think the state school alumni organizations look after their bball alums in the same manner as I know NU does.
There aren't too many better lifetime opportunities than getting a four year scholly from NU. Why don't the families of these kids understand this? It's very unfortunate.
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