Jennings to Europe Official

[sly fly]

Bluetooth-wearing salesman. I love it.

 

[overseascardfan]

I think that in the long run the team will be better despite the loss of a great talent. It should help with Gaddy as he is gauranteed to run the show when he arrives and hopefully he brings Bradley with him. With Wise, Budinger, and Hill returning we should be okay, but the year after will be better.

 

[just do it]

suck it! Gaddy! Gaddy? That dude is bailing on the U. This program is dead. The ownage will continue...

 

[ozzfloyd]

suck it! Gaddy! Gaddy? That dude is bailing on the U. This program is dead. The ownage will continue...

Ownage?

Now that's funny.

 

[just do it]

Ownage?

Now that's funny.

It is funny if you live north of Eloy. Tucson makes Sunnyslope look good. The Rats were owned in everything that matters last year and nothing looks like it will be any different in 08-09. "Ownage" get use to it. I also read that Senile Lute wont recruite one and done players anymore, is HE not a one and done himself this year?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Funny how an NIT squad has "ownage" over an NCAA team.

What's actually funny to those of us both north and south of Eloy (I live in Scottsdale) is the inability of half the ASU fans on this board to write an intelligent thought.

 

[Russ Smith]

It is funny if you live north of Eloy. Tucson makes Sunnyslope look good. The Rats were owned in everything that matters last year and nothing looks like it will be any different in 08-09. "Ownage" get use to it. I also read that Senile Lute wont recruite one and done players anymore, is HE not a one and done himself this year?

I don't really blame him he claims Bayless said 2 years and then bolted, now Jennings doesn't even arrive on campus. I'm guessing he means if a kid tells me, like jennings did, I'm a one and done, I wont' recruit him.

So a kid like Gaddy is probably still fair game he's very good but not an absolute lock one and done.

I think UA gets Gaddy the prime competition seems to be Memphis and theyr'e also hot after John Wall.

 

[Dback Jon]

One point that Lute made I agree with - the system should be like baseball's - you can enter the draft out of HS, then choose (if you don't sign with an agent) to go pro, or enter college. Once you CHOOSE to enter college, you are not draft-eligible for THREE years.

Best of both worlds, IMHO

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

One point that Lute made I agree with - the system should be like baseball's - you can enter the draft out of HS, then choose (if you don't sign with an agent) to go pro, or enter college. Once you CHOOSE to enter college, you are not draft-eligible for THREE years.

Best of both worlds, IMHO

I agree, although I'd put it at two years instead of three to keep the talent pool at the NCAA level high. At three years I'm guessing there would be way too many HS kids in the draft and in the NBDL or Europe or wherever just trying to make a buck and the college game would suffer. Selling elite players on coming to school for what really amounts to 18 months would be rather easy. Remember, if you look at the top 100 baseball recruits versus the top 100 basketball recruits in a given year you'll see much more financial hardship on the basketball side.

 

[Dback Jon]

I agree, although I'd put it at two years instead of three to keep the talent pool at the NCAA level high. At three years I'm guessing there would be way too many HS kids in the draft and in the NBDL or Europe or wherever just trying to make a buck and the college game would suffer. Selling elite players on coming to school for what really amounts to 18 months would be rather easy. Remember, if you look at the top 100 baseball recruits versus the top 100 basketball recruits in a given year you'll see much more financial hardship on the basketball side.

good point - I could handle a two year commitment.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

good point - I could handle a two year commitment.

The one year rule is a joke. All a player realistically has to do is show up in August and take four easiest courses on campus to stay eligible for the spring semester at which point he basically drops out of school. I'm not saying the two year kids will be Rhodes Scholars by any means, but at least they have to be some part of the "student" in student-athlete in order to stay eligible for four semesters.

You can find a semester's worth of BS classes at any campus in the country, three semesters worth is a tad more difficult.

 

[Russ Smith]

The one year rule is a joke. All a player realistically has to do is show up in August and take four easiest courses on campus to stay eligible for the spring semester at which point he basically drops out of school. I'm not saying the two year kids will be Rhodes Scholars by any means, but at least they have to be some part of the "student" in student-athlete in order to stay eligible for four semesters.

You can find a semester's worth of BS classes at any campus in the country, three semesters worth is a tad more difficult.

For example Davon Jefferson passed more credits in the summer before he qualified for USC, than he did his entire freshman season at USC. And he was there 2 semesters and was eligible the whole time so he didn't fail any classes that I heard. His was the classic case he did something like 28 units in the summer via online classic case of gaming the system to get in.

The difference between baseball and basketball is the elite guys in baseball are in general good students, basketball not so much for the reason Mao mentioned they tend to be from poorer backgrounds. Justin Upton didn't bypass college because he wasn't a good student he simply realized he could
make the majors faster out of HS than he could out of college.

Basketball is a different situation many of these kids have no business at all in college level courses.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Mao, I agree with you on most stuff, but I think you, like many U of A fans are a little too confident in thinking that the Cats are going to remain an elite team in college basketball. Obviously through the mid to late 90's and the early 2000's, I would consider U of A an elite team...they were always around the top 10 and had a shot of making the final four. It was a very impressive run, but the turning point seems to be the Illinois game. That game appears to be a crushing blow for the program. For the last three years, the team hasn't done anything in the Tourney, and didn't do anything to prove doubters wrong that they were in it last year only on reputation.

I think you underestimate the importance of Lute, both positively and negatively. Lute has definitely been the best thing that has ever happened to U of A athletics, but as of late he seems to have lost his touch. He continues to alienate many of those around him, and it seems like at best he will be around for a year or two. To me, it really remains to be seen whether or not U of A will remain an elite program, I guess we'll see. In the meantime, we will enjoy the drama down south and hope for another season sweep.

 

[Skkorpion]

This is the very best article I have seen on Jennings and the possible impact of his decision:

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/8327672/Jennings-may-just-be-a-pioneer-for-'student-athletes'

I agree with virtually all of it.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

UA remaining an elite level basketball program depends on who the coach is. Obviously if a guy like Calipari comes to Tucson UA stays on the up and up, because even if you think Cal cant coach he sure as hell can recruit and develop players. For all we know Dixon, Few, Cal, Dunlap could be the next coach. The fact of the matter is, if UA keeps recruiting at the level they are right now (which is simply amazing in my opinion based on everything that happened), they will find a very good coach to come in a keep UA at least close to an elite level program.

 

[Lefty]

UA remaining an elite level basketball program depends on who the coach is. Obviously if a guy like Calipari comes to Tucson UA stays on the up and up, because even if you think Cal cant coach he sure as hell can recruit and develop players. For all we know Dixon, Few, Cal, Dunlap could be the next coach. The fact of the matter is, if UA keeps recruiting at the level they are right now (which is simply amazing in my opinion based on everything that happened), they will find a very good coach to come in a keep UA at least close to an elite level program.

I'm not worried because they will get a top coach to come in. The program will continue to be at an elite level. The Calipari rumors are true, he was very interested in the UofA. I am a Mark Few fan but I don't know if they could get him to leave Gonzaga. It will be interesting to see how Dunlap performs. His resume is very impressive and he has been off to a great start in recruiting.

Since the UofA started play in the Pac-10:
11 Pac-10 titles
24 consecutive NCAA appearances
6 Elite Eights
4 Final Fours
One National Championship

The UofA will be fine, I have no worries. The facilities are excellent. The new practice courts will be finished before practice begins in October and the 2009 recruiting class is off to a great start. It looks like Gaddy is still very high on the Cats and if he does commit, there is a very good chance Bradley follows. Today looks much better than it did three months ago.

 

[PoolBoy]

Funny how an NIT squad has "ownage" over an NCAA team.

What's actually funny to those of us both north and south of Eloy (I live in Scottsdale) is the inability of half the ASU fans on this board to write an intelligent thought.

it's funny how defensive wildcat fans get when their squad is talked about. we're not talking about ASU, we're talking about a diminishing program in U of A, but like most U of A fans, you guys have inferiority complex with ASU knowing that we are quickly taking over in every sport and academics, and that scares the crap out of you, so you keep quoting how many straight appearances you have, and how you made the tourney last year, but where UofA was, ASU is going, and where ASU was, U of A is going, so by talking about the past, it only makes the argument of your program going down the drain larger.

 

[Skkorpion]

Lefty, history shows you are too confident:

Villanova, after Rollie Massimino
Seton Hall after PJ Carlissimo
Michigan after Johnny Orr and later Bill Freider
UNLV after Jerry Tarkanian
NC State after Norm Sloan and later Jim Valvano
Notre Dame after Johhny Dee then Digger Phelps
Georgia Tech after Bobby Cremins
Indiana after Booby Knight
DePaul after Ray Meyer
Iowa after Lute Olsen and later Gary Williams
Boston College after Jim O'Brien and later Gary Williams
Georgetown after John Thompson
St. Johns after Lou Carneseca
Maryland after Lefty Dreisel

All have struggled. Some recovered. Some didn't. Many other schools have similar tales. Illinois, Ohio State and a few others too.

UA is not one of a very few schools with a looong list of success spanning several coaches. Even those schools -- UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas and North Carolina are the only ones I can include there -- have had down periods between good coaches.

If UA goes directly from Lute Olsen to immediate success under the very next coach, you should count yourselves lucky and blessed. It is very unlikely.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Louisville after Denny Crum?
Michigan State after Jud Heathcote?
Florida after Lon Kruger?

If Arizona hires a good coach the program will be fine. If they do not then it will be a struggle.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

it's funny how defensive wildcat fans get when their squad is talked about. we're not talking about ASU, we're talking about a diminishing program in U of A, but like most U of A fans, you guys have inferiority complex with ASU knowing that we are quickly taking over in every sport and academics, and that scares the crap out of you, so you keep quoting how many straight appearances you have, and how you made the tourney last year, but where UofA was, ASU is going, and where ASU was, U of A is going, so by talking about the past, it only makes the argument of your program going down the drain larger.

You're really bringing up academics with this post? Sentence structure must not be one of the areas stressed at the new academic powerhouse of ASU.

 

[PoolBoy]

You're really bringing up academics with this post? Sentence structure must not be one of the areas stressed at the new academic powerhouse of ASU.

i was even going to say that you would pick out something and make a smart ass comment because you know I'm right. this isn't surprising at all.

 

[Skkorpion]

One more take on this from a writer I really like:

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/8345744/I'm-even-more-convinced-Jennings-made-right-move

Whitlock is wrong about Virginia being as tough an adjustment as Italy for a ghetto kid from Compton. He also ignoes that Jennings probably cheated on his SAT and got caught. But on the rest, I think he nailed it.

 

[Russ Smith]

One more take on this from a writer I really like:

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/8345744/I'm-even-more-convinced-Jennings-made-right-move

Whitlock is wrong about Virginia being as tough an adjustment as Italy for a ghetto kid from Compton. He also ignoes that Jennings probably cheated on his SAT and got caught. But on the rest, I think he nailed it.

Good find, the interview with Vaccaro is a great reminder of why I hate the guy so much. With a straight face he says this will be good for american basketball because the problem here is nobody coaches the kids, maybe having a kid go overseas and get some good coaching will change that. Hello, the problem with coaching kids in the US is that summer ball, particularly AAU ball and shoe camp ball has become so huge, the kids don't care that much about their actual highschool seasons. And who is to blame for that Sonny Vaccaro who essentially created the whole summer ball situation we have now.

 

[DWKB]

Well the game on Dec. 23: @ Arizona 'officially' got less worrisome.

 

[Russ Smith]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/080710

Another good article by Jemelle Hill who continues to be one of my favoriter writers. She interviews Chris Owens a former Texas player who's been overseas for 5 years now, gets some real insight into the types of challenges Jennings is going to face over there.