Interesting -- he's landed in Champaign.
http://highschoolsports.cleveland.c...ball-star-kipper-nichols-signs-with-illinois/
http://highschoolsports.cleveland.c...ball-star-kipper-nichols-signs-with-illinois/
Kipper Nichols
- Thread starter JournCat
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I don't recall all the details, but I know he's wavered/bounced around quite a bit already. Hopefully he finds a suitable, stable situation - wherever that might be.
Committed to Tulane, but changed his mind when mother got sick. Wanted to be closer to home. I don't know much about his game other than videos. That's the extent of "bouncing around."
You are probably thinking of the Guard Sina, who is on like his 8th school already. Nichols was a solid commit to Tulane until his Mom got sick.
"On further review, the previous post has been reversed - it was indeed Sina whom I had in mind".
Yeah, he just waited a very long time to commit, then chose Tulane but decided to come closer to home. He was on NU's radar off and on for what felt like years. Good for him to land at a more established place in the end, though there are serious questions about Groce's job security this year.
We don't know he didn't. NU is out of scholarships until Vassar transfers though.
Exactly, some who know a lot more than I do feel that if it weren't for Vasser Kipper would be in purple. I give Johnny a lot of credit for doing what he wants. There must be a ton of pressure on him to leave and free up his scholarship.
I'm sorry, but are you blaming Johnny Vassar? I just want to be clear about that.
If he's the one that chose to transfer, then didn't, thus clogging up a scholie, then yes. Still haven't seen a shred of actual evidence that suggests CC flat out told him he's off the team...
If he wasn't willing to be on this team and do all the necessary things that everyone on the team must do, he would have his scholarship removed. Of that there is no doubt. You may argue that we don't know whose idea it was for him to want to transfer and frankly it doesn't matter. 4 year scholarship commitments from the University were designed to protect student athletes. It's disappointing to me to read your attitude blaming a kid for wanting to stay at NU (until an acceptable alternative comes along). I give a tremendous amount of credit to Johnny for doing what is best for him even while he pursues other options.
If you tell a coach you want to transfer, but then don't (and create a dead scholarship), thus hurting the original program along with your former teammates who are still a part of it, you absolutely should hold some responsibility for that.
We're going around in circles here. The scholarship is not "dead." Johnny is willing and able to be a part of this team for as long as he is at NU. If he were not, his scholarship would be removed and given to somebody else. If a guy simply says "I don't want to play this sport anymore" and he has no medical reasons for that he's not going to keep his scholarship. Clearly, for whatever reason (and you have postulated a reason in the past) CC would prefer to not have him on the team. The rules protect Johnny in this situation and he is taking advantage of his right to maintain his scholarship. The two main possibilities in my mind are 1: CC doesn't want a guy to be around the team who prefers to play somewhere else even if he hasn't gotten a good offer yet (you have said that before and it is certainly reasonable) or 2: CC told Johnny he's not gonna be a meaningful part of the team and should transfer so that NU could open up another schollie (for Kipper for example) and Johnny stuck by his guns forcing CC's hand (in my opinion also a very reasonable explanation).
Let's see now. Thought it was Johnny who announced that he going to transfer but sounds like he can't find a program that wants to offer him a schlarship. Can't blame Collins for not wanting a kid on the team who doesn't want to be there, can you? Yes, CC likely told Vassar what his ongoing roll would be at NU but you can't believe that that he told Johnny to transfer, can you? Yes, no one can blame him for wanting to continue his education at NU for free but still he is hurting his former teammates by not playing and leaving the team a man short. Maybe with the injury to Law, Johnny could come back on board, with the approval of his teammates and help out, even if it's only at practice
I think this is a reach Doc. There might be one person on this board who knows what went down but that's it.
I'd be shocked if Collins said to Vassar or any scholarship player, "....you should transfer." Collins rightfully sees this program as different than some of the others in the Big Ten in that NU needs to develop players for multiple years. Vassar had a lot of rope but he needed to buckle under (how 'bout them metaphors) and work on his game. Good kid and hard worker, but didn't want to give it the time here.
It's far more likely that similar to a lot of guards who can run and jump and do other things, Vassar saw himself as deserving far more playing time and attention than he was getting. So, he went to the coaches and said, this isn't working for me. And, the coaches said, we'll help you to transfer. But 6 1" guards who can run and jump and dribble and defend aren't a rarity in D1. And all of a sudden there was tape of Vassar against D1 opponents. And while the D looked solid, the O is problematical.
And this is NU so even though another school hasn't jumped yet, he gets to keep taking classes. Which sends a huge message to the students and the faculty about the values of the athletic program.
I was looking yesterday at the Inside NU minutes predictions, and we could use a player like Vassar -- in theory. If Lindsey ends up playing some 3 due to Law's injury, our only other backup guard is Ash, a true freshman. One injury to Demps or Mac puts us in huge trouble. So if we could bring him back this year, there are reasons that we should. I have zero information on what other factors might preclude this.
That ship has sailed. The young man, for whatever reason, will not be a member of the 2015-16 team.
Vasser was a reach when he was offered. Totally under the radar, hadn't been a major prospect since his freshman year.
I'm very confident that CC told him there wouldn't be opportunities (that is, 'maybe you should transfer, it's not going to happen with Mac and Ash'), and that JV simply hasn't found a program to his liking. JV may think he's a major conference talent and doesn't want to accept mid-major offers. But I think he's a mid-major or lower-conference player.
(This is speculation. I'm only confident because I'm making it up.)
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