Oh no...Bamisile has flipped from NU to Va Tech
- Thread starter lou v
- Start date
There’s no way to spin this.
This is awful, awful news.
Stunned.
This is awful, awful news.
Stunned.
The way he was blowing up, I figured we’d lose him eventually — but not to Virginia Tech.
Flips happen. That's what aiming for top recruits will mean sometimes. Not going to push the panic button yet.
This one hurts a lot. Was going to be a starter from day one without a doubt. Trying to stay optimistic, but hard to have a lot of optimism about the future of the program at this point. We’re not terrible, but hard to see a path to being a tourney team anytime in the next few years.
Also today: Anthony Leal has narrowed his choices to Stanford or Indiana.
Haywood had indicated that he wasn’t a likely option given Bamisile’s commitment. But now?
Haywood had indicated that he wasn’t a likely option given Bamisile’s commitment. But now?
I know they're in different classes, but pulling in PBJr and/or Christie would make us forget Bamisile de-committing, the same way Hunter Johnson made us forget about Cale Millen reneging on his verbal in football.
I really try and be optimistic, but both PBJ and Christie seem like very long shots to me.
I've paraphrased Dave Wannstedt before and I'll say it again.
I don't know how anybody bases their career on the whims of 17- and 18-year-olds.
That just f's everything. I wonder how many wings they blew off in the last month because of this kid.
I don't know how anybody bases their career on the whims of 17- and 18-year-olds.
That just f's everything. I wonder how many wings they blew off in the last month because of this kid.
Every recruit on the board for the Cats right now is a long shot. I mean this honestly because Collins' recruiting is about gambling big and so far he has crashed on every recruit this cycle. Right now, the best hope is that Buie and/or Greer develop into bigten players at the point. SG is and forward should be ok for the next few years.
If there is an immediate need it is center where Young is really the only true center on the roster. I think both Nance and Jones can play there a little but for this season, the biggest loss in both need and size was Benson. NU has offered 3-4 2020 centers in the last few weeks. NU has also offered a slew of point guards which suggests maybe the Coaches don't think Buie and/or Greer are the answer.
I would expect a number of offers to go out to SGs in the next week or so.
My prior post shows its really easy to point out that things are tough right now in Evanston and you can't spin it any other way without a huge class of purple koolaid to wash down your lunch.
Thats fine, but what can CCC do besides keep plugging away and try to get the best players he can.
Things have ALWAYS been tough in Evanston for the BB program. NU has a ton of disadvantages compared to the rest of the B1G. In my mind it is THE toughest job in the B1G. I am sure a lot of folks here will get their wish when CCC either gets so frustrated he quits or gets fired when the masses think we should be a perennial B1G contender. Wash, rinse, repeat.
You are absolutely right, welcome to the wonderful world of dealing with 17 and 18 year olds and very likely parents who are in no way ready for this experience. The kid starts playing better and better. The hangers on start telling them to listen to this coach and you’ll be in the NBA, and by the way when you get there have I got a deal for you. These folks are completely unprepared for this kind of experience.
I feel sorry for Collins and Brian James I guess that is why they get paid very well. It’s a hellish job. I think the answer is the way Fitzgerald operates. Here is the scholarship and here is where it will take you in this world, and once you commit to us, if you ever entertain someone else we pull back the offer.
Basketball and football recruiting are completely different. Collins will never have the luxury of slowly building competitive depth by redshirting guys. There aren’t enough scholarship spots. Can’t afford to bring along a freshman PG slowly like a QB.
NU needs to loosen the academic restrictions on Collins or this is going to devolve fast. Haywood has indicated that NU couldn’t even bring in some transfers because of grades!
Wow.
Highly doubt that was *the reason* he flipped, but man, if it was between keeping Bam or going forward with the Pat Spencer experiment, I know which one I’d choose...
The college basketball recruiting environment is really shitty right now, and it's moving in a direction away from NU. Whereas in football, more and more kids are concerned about their futures after football, most top basketball recruits are thinking one-and-one done -- whether it be "done" to the NBA, or "done" to the transfer portal. Basketball players seem much more in need of immediate gratification. They are not going to be immediately gratified by an NU program that has made one NCAA tournament appearance in history, and sends zero players to the "league." Basketball players as a group seem much less driven by academics than football players.
I'm not sold on Collins as a coach -- one post-season appearance, lousy record in close games, etc., but I thought he was leveling the playing field a bit in recruiting. Today's developments are pushing me further into the "NU is never going to be consistently competitive in basketball" camp, no matter who the coach is.
I'm not sold on Collins as a coach -- one post-season appearance, lousy record in close games, etc., but I thought he was leveling the playing field a bit in recruiting. Today's developments are pushing me further into the "NU is never going to be consistently competitive in basketball" camp, no matter who the coach is.
Sounds like a classic case of “what do you care about a degree for? Your stock is skyrocketing - you’re going to the NBA. Northwestern won’t get you there.”
Basketball recruiting is a whole different animal from football and our academics are a much harder sell for top players as compared to all the "friends" and street agents whispering in their ears about all the money they can make almost right away. Football players must wait at least three years to go pro so that's a lot less of a factor and in addition they don't play AAU ball in the summer all over the country.
Unless they lower their academic standards a tiny bit. matching the Dukes. and ND's of the world. They are always brought up as a couple of the top academic schools, so why not?
You got it. The AAU factor is the biggest difference in basketball recruiting. In football, everything goes through the high school coach, who is usually a teacher/guidance counselor/school administrator, etc. In basketball, it goes mostly through the AAU coach, and some of those guys have very different backgrounds and priorities. Many are influenced more by shoe company money than anything else. Basketball recruiting is much more of a meat market and, in my opinion, a lot sleazier. I’m not saying that had anything to do with Joe Bam’s situation because I really don’t know. But basketball recruiting, in general, is a whole different animal, as Catreporter said.
Last edited:
Yeah, as you said, we don't know the situation here (and we may never know it), so I won't go down that path as it relates to Joe Bam specifically. But I agree that while it only takes a few top players to pick a school to make a good basketball team, it's why winning at NU consistently is so difficult. The one and done rule (which I don't disagree with by the way- I actually think kids should be able to go from high school to the pros if they want to try that) does NOT help NU at all. It devalues education, which is one of our top, if not THE top, reason to come to NU. Loosening academic requirements may help some, but even that seems like it could only help us to a certain degree. Leading the NU basketball program is a brutally tough job. Personally I think Collins underestimated it, and I wonder if he's tired of it at this point and hoping for any sort of change.
I'm not going to say "I give up" - I'm about as optimistic a Cats fan as it gets, but...oh man. This hurts. Badly.
I try not to pay attention to recruiting news (it's part of the reason I'm not on The Rock) because everyone sounds great and then you're disappointed you don't get them or disappointed you have to wait forever to see them play in purple. Now I fear that I can't even get excited about landing a big recruit because this (and to a lesser extent, Lathon) will be in the back of my mind from now on. This is a big blow. Being a sports fan is hard sometimes.
I try not to pay attention to recruiting news (it's part of the reason I'm not on The Rock) because everyone sounds great and then you're disappointed you don't get them or disappointed you have to wait forever to see them play in purple. Now I fear that I can't even get excited about landing a big recruit because this (and to a lesser extent, Lathon) will be in the back of my mind from now on. This is a big blow. Being a sports fan is hard sometimes.
I'm not speaking about this situation, but to be more specific the priority of a shoe company in sponsoring AAU teams is having the players on these teams go to college programs that are sponsored by the shoe company. At the highest levels the coaches are paid by the shoe companies to steer favored players to favored programs.
The book Play Their Hearts Out is a heartbreaking look at this issue.
Only the Law class and the Nance class have been exceptions to this.
NU consistency overvalues what it has to offer and how targets perceive NU.
The job is harder than Collins anticipated, and the last two years — and the loss of the pitch that ‘you can be the first’ — have made it harder still.
Probably not the most relevant time to bring this up, but NU absolutely needs to at least dip their toes in international waters — it works out okay at St. Mary’s and Gonzaga.
This day is at least as program-altering as the day Bam committed.
Agree that one of the good things that took place during the Carmody years. Seem to remember that an ex-NU guy had lots of connections in Europe.
