Sidney signs with Miss State

[Russ Smith]

So far Jeff Goodman is the only writer with the nerve to state the truth on this signing, that Sidney only picked MSU after UCLA and USC refused to take him. Goodman points out that USC took his verbal but then dropped him when their administration refused to admit him into school. He swears he has a qualifying SAT score, nobody knows his GPA and core class situation but MSU fans are saying if he signed an LOI, it should mean they consider him qualified, they wouldn't have signed him otherwise.

MSU also now has gone over the scholarship limit so unless Jarvis Vernado stays in the draft, someone at MSU is going have to "decide to transfer" to make room for Sidney.

Sonny Vaccaro was quoted as saying he already told Sidney that Europe wasn't an option for him. I asked theLA Times author who printed that quote what Sonny meant and he said he thinks Vaccaro was saying Sidney and his dad don't have the correct mental makeup to handle Europe. I think that means they lack the patience to spend a half year overseas, they wouldn't handle the situation as well as Jennings has, and would probably hurt his pro stock. It's weird that he thinks Tyler can handle it he's far less mature than Sidney but I suspect he's saying Tyler's dad is better equipped to handle it than Sidney's?

Will be interesting to see if he ever plays a second in college, unlike Mayo nobody will come out and say precisely what UCLA and USC didn't like, everyone has suspicions but nobody knows for sure in this case like we did with mayo.

 

[HooverDam]

Welp, Im glad he's out of the Pac 10

 

[overseascardfan]

So far Jeff Goodman is the only writer with the nerve to state the truth on this signing, that Sidney only picked MSU after UCLA and USC refused to take him. Goodman points out that USC took his verbal but then dropped him when their administration refused to admit him into school. He swears he has a qualifying SAT score, nobody knows his GPA and core class situation but MSU fans are saying if he signed an LOI, it should mean they consider him qualified, they wouldn't have signed him otherwise.

MSU also now has gone over the scholarship limit so unless Jarvis Vernado stays in the draft, someone at MSU is going have to "decide to transfer" to make room for Sidney.

Sonny Vaccaro was quoted as saying he already told Sidney that Europe wasn't an option for him. I asked theLA Times author who printed that quote what Sonny meant and he said he thinks Vaccaro was saying Sidney and his dad don't have the correct mental makeup to handle Europe. I think that means they lack the patience to spend a half year overseas, they wouldn't handle the situation as well as Jennings has, and would probably hurt his pro stock. It's weird that he thinks Tyler can handle it he's far less mature than Sidney but I suspect he's saying Tyler's dad is better equipped to handle it than Sidney's?

Will be interesting to see if he ever plays a second in college, unlike Mayo nobody will come out and say precisely what UCLA and USC didn't like, everyone has suspicions but nobody knows for sure in this case like we did with mayo.

It's like a soap opera. I think the thing that seperates Sidney from Tyler and Jennings is his dad. Tyler's dad while seeming shady, is not on Sidney's dad's level. The guy has come out and said that his son should be getting paid and I believe either Sidney or his father has recieved some illegal benefits from somewhere and colleges should be wise to stay away from him. MSU is taking a huge gamble, they will be on the NCAA'a radar because of this.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

It's like a soap opera. I think the thing that seperates Sidney from Tyler and Jennings is his dad. Tyler's dad while seeming shady, is not on Sidney's dad's level. The guy has come out and said that his son should be getting paid and I believe either Sidney or his father has recieved some illegal benefits from somewhere and colleges should be wise to stay away from him. MSU is taking a huge gamble, they will be on the NCAA'a radar because of this.

Eh, teams like MSU know this is the only way they'll get a top recruit. Good for them, take a shot at something, as opposed to being guaranteed to be worthless.

 

[overseascardfan]

Eh, teams like MSU know this is the only way they'll get a top recruit. Good for them, take a shot at something, as opposed to being guaranteed to be worthless.

Well if it turns out he was ineligible, MSU will forfeit their wins (there won't be many even with Sidney), and could be hit with sanctions to include loss of future schollies. He just seems like to big a gamble even if he makes them better for 1 year.

 

[Russ Smith]

Eh, teams like MSU know this is the only way they'll get a top recruit. Good for them, take a shot at something, as opposed to being guaranteed to be worthless.

He's a local kid he's from Miss, he's had them on his list for awhile. I agree they can't be as choosy as some schools but this seems really short sided.

Given what USC has done in the time Tim Floyd has been coach you have to be REALLY naive to think there's not something really serious with Sidney. USC has taken toxic recruits like Mayo, Jefferson and Leonard Washington and done countless other shady things. If they weren't allowed to keep Sidney that has to tell you there's something pretty bad there.

Too bad Sidney is an immense talent (not a fat joke) but he's wasted a lot of his talent being lazy. I hope he finally gets it and works hard but I have a sneaky suspicion he won't play for MSU eitehr.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I hear both of you, I guess the potential reward outweighed the risk in their mind.

 

[Skkorpion]

Can we quit having to read about this guy now? Isn't he nationally irrelevant there?

 

[bko32]

So much for moving out to Southern California to get more exposure. After all he went through in LA, he still ends up going back to Mississippi to attend college (possibly).

 

[Renz]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-renardo-sidney4-2009may04,0,3341292.story

 

[Russ Smith]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-renardo-sidney4-2009may04,0,3341292.story

Beat me to it I was just going to post the link.

Pretty interesting story explains in great detail the likely reason UCLA and USC backed out and it even quotes Miss State people as saying they're "proceeding with caution" and they realize that just because he committed it's not over.

Among other things in the article they reveal that Sidney's family lived in a rented home worth 1.2 million with a monthly market rental rate of 4 to 5K, which they paid by personal check. Sidney's dad works for Reebok, reportedly 20K a year, his wife is listed as his personal assistant. Theye even asked Sonny Vaccaro given what you know can Sidney's parents afford the lifestyle they've been living and Vaccaro said "no."

Also hinted at what I said the rumor was with UCLA, that Sidney's dad had let colleges know they were expecting to be paid to commit. They quoted the family lawyer as saying no such request was made and no NCAA violations had occurred but all you gotta do is read the story and you doubt that.

Hell even Pat Barrett, no stranger to violations himself, said the reason Renardo left Barrett's AAU team was " the father wanted his own shoe contract."

I'll be surprised if he ever plays in college but given that Mayo was cleared I will never say never again.