|
Post by WorcesterGray on May 9, 2019 6:07:46 GMT -5
Again, how do we know a scholarship was offered? This was the point of my previous post, actually. When NAD, SoV, and Tim - none of whom are casual posters - wonder who the scholarship players are or aren't, we're in peculiar territory.
It's been going on for over a year. Last spring through mid-summer, we were "extending opportunities to play" rather than offers. Multiple recruits (and their coaches) tweeted they had offers, then deleted the tweets and replaced them with ones that substituted "opportunity" for "offer." One of those recruits was Verbeek, who had a late OV and then committed, presumably on scholarship.
Posters weren't the only ones confused. One big we were looking at - Leo O'Boyle, who committed to Lafayette - told an interviewer that he had a number of offers and another overture - "they said if I wanted to come and play, they'd give me a chance to play" - which came from HC. I doubt he was the only recruit puzzled by our behavior.
Last fall, a story started making the rounds on the board (and via PM), that one of the presumed walk-ons - Lovisolo - would be offered a schollie for 2019-20. Did that happen? Who knows? Did Perkins, who we knew wasn't going to play, count against the schollie total? Apparently he did, and we chose to go with twelve able-bodied scholarship players rather than thirteen. But why?
The presumed scholarship freshmen last year played less than any freshman class at HC, maybe ever - and not because we were (Keith Wade's latest tweet notwithstanding) "loaded." And now, after apparently whiffing on two bigs who could genuinely help fill the obvious void, we feel compelled to add another wing. Some folks are wondering whether he's a walk-on, maybe because it seems unfathomable that we would be competing with St. Michael's for scholarship players.
I hope the other thee incoming freshmen work out. Whether they have scholarships or not, there are seven others - Le Sann, Verbeek, Hargis, Sandy, Lovisolo, Yeutter, and Hart - whose on-court performances or incoming resumes might well lead folks to wonder whether or not they are scholarship-level players.
And I find that strange.
|
|
|
Post by hcpride on May 9, 2019 6:14:29 GMT -5
/\ I thought that was what you meant. Put diplomatically, it was hard to see who was good enough to have earned a D-1 scholarship - the fact that it is difficult to discern tells you something about our player quality at this point.
This discernment is further complicated, no doubt, by some previous off the court issues and scollie impact therein.
-- This issue of player quality is related to a point I made last year that the fact we were starting so many frosh did not necessarily tell you much about the quality of the frosh. (Notwithstanding many posts to the contrary.)
|
|
|
Post by hc6774 on May 9, 2019 6:38:51 GMT -5
The scholarship players are the ones who signed NLI's; the College announces signers, usually shortly after the signing period ends; the current one ends May 15;
|
|
|
Post by breezy on May 9, 2019 7:13:53 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Sons of Vaval on May 9, 2019 7:46:15 GMT -5
Well, I guess that settles it. He’s a scholarship player.
Listen, there is not one person here who doesn’t hope for the best for Ciaran and wants him to be an All-PL player one day, but it is pretty disconcerting if not downright alarming that we are filling our final scholarship at the tail end of the 2019 recruiting period with a kid who had a sprinkling of offers from Division II schools.
Make shots, I guess.
|
|
|
Post by hchoops on May 9, 2019 7:55:50 GMT -5
If my old eyes are not deceiving me, I think I spied WOODEN BACKBOARDS at one of those gyms. And I thought those prep schools had money.
|
|
|
Post by alum on May 9, 2019 8:02:57 GMT -5
Nice video. I am hopeful but then again, I always am.
Does Suffield Academy really have wooden backboards? (1:05 mark and following.)
EDIT: I see that hchoops beat me to that comment.
|
|
|
Post by Tom on May 9, 2019 8:38:19 GMT -5
It's odd that you cite "positions where we don't have any need" when you are so highly critical of all but two of our returning players? In the last 3 years we have now signed 5 guys who are almost identical to play the same position - Copeland, Grandison, Hargris, Prideon, Sandy. Meanwhile, the only "big" we have signed is about 50 pounds away from being able to play in the paint.I disagree with the assessment that Verbeek needs to drop 50 pounds to be in game shape
|
|
|
Post by A Clock Tower Purple on May 9, 2019 8:49:26 GMT -5
Amazing that anyone wants to come to HC at all given the usual suspects bashing the staff and kids before they even pull on a uniform.
Sad.
|
|
|
Post by Tom on May 9, 2019 8:51:14 GMT -5
Again, how do we know a scholarship was offered? This was the point of my previous post, actually. When NAD, SoV, and Tim - none of whom are casual posters - wonder who the scholarship players are or aren't, we're in peculiar territory.
And similar to my last post, this is business as usual. Players make some sort of verbal commitment. At a later date they sign a letter of intent, and after the LOI is signed the school issues a press release. This happened last year so we all knew that Verbeek and Hargis were on scholarship and that Lovisolo, Yeutter, and Hart were not. Like last year, we're reading various tweets and trying to make assumptions with incomplete facts. If there were no twitter, we'd still be wondering who the incoming scholarship players are until the letters are signed, we just wouldn't have the extra preliminary data to whet our appetites. Like last year, and the several years before that, we are wondering who the incoming class is going to be right up until an official press release some time in mid-May
|
|
|
Post by rgs318 on May 9, 2019 9:09:13 GMT -5
It's not madness, Bring Back. It's Carmody's ego to think he's smarter than everyone else. I doubt he thinks that, but perhaps he in regard to basketball he is smarter than any CROSSPORTS posters (myself included).
|
|
|
Post by bison137 on May 9, 2019 10:10:39 GMT -5
The scholarship players are the ones who signed NLI's; the College announces signers, usually shortly after the signing period ends; the current one ends May 15; No real reason to wait until after May 15th. They are allowed to issue the release as soon as the player signs. I know they issued a release on Grandison in mid-April.
|
|
|
New Offer
May 9, 2019 10:47:51 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by KY Crusader 75 on May 9, 2019 10:47:51 GMT -5
Could it be that Coach Carmody is more proactive in “recruiting “ the walk-ons than some prior coaches have been? I’m certainly not saying that is a plus as we will no doubt hear “he should focus on getting better scholarship players, including bigs, and forget about the practice players.” I don’t recall hearing about walk-ons from years ago (Victor Vaval, DeVaughn Reid, Patrick Kerrigan, etc) before we saw their names on the roster
|
|
|
Post by timholycross on May 9, 2019 11:01:03 GMT -5
Nice video. I am hopeful but then again, I always am. Does Suffield Academy really have wooden backboards? (1:05 mark and following.) EDIT: I see that hchoops beat me to that comment. Maybe they should hit up Christian Wilkins for a donation after he signs his contract with the Fins.
|
|
|
Post by timholycross on May 9, 2019 11:04:27 GMT -5
Well, I guess that settles it. He’s a scholarship player. Listen, there is not one person here who doesn’t hope for the best for Ciaran and wants him to be an All-PL player one day, but it is pretty disconcerting if not downright alarming that we are filling our final scholarship at the tail end of the 2019 recruiting period with a kid who had a sprinkling of offers from Division II schools. Make shots, I guess. Well in terms of being a decent player (not what happened to him off the court) wasn't Charles a reasonably good pickup very late?
|
|
|
Post by Non Alum Dave on May 9, 2019 11:04:44 GMT -5
I think last year was an aberration in terms of walk-on recruiting. Just my speculation, but I am guessing the thought process was to bring in as many bodies as possible, with the roster uncertainty. Year to year, it's not uncommon for a school to bring in a kid that fans are not sure about in terms of whether or not they are schollie - the Iona board has a thread about a commitment from a kid from Florida that they are speculating about. For me, not really a huge deal.
Now, I am on record as saying I only want to see one "project" every 4 years, and I put BV in that category. While I would have preferred a real big kid with a track record (particularly to provide some immediate benefits) , I do like that the kid did a post grad year, and has the chance to really develop. Really need to see him in person to get an idea of his size; maybe if he lets his hair grow a bit he'll approach JF height. No one person is going to replace JF anyway, everybody has to step up and improve.
|
|
|
Post by bison137 on May 9, 2019 12:05:15 GMT -5
Well, I guess that settles it. He’s a scholarship player. Listen, there is not one person here who doesn’t hope for the best for Ciaran and wants him to be an All-PL player one day, but it is pretty disconcerting if not downright alarming that we are filling our final scholarship at the tail end of the 2019 recruiting period with a kid who had a sprinkling of offers from Division II schools. Make shots, I guess. Well in terms of being a decent player (not what happened to him off the court) wasn't Charles a reasonably good pickup very late? Yes, he was a good late pickup. However he committed prior to the start of the late signing period, which makes him quite a bit different. Charles, as you know, lost a number of his scholarship offers when he missed his junior year due to a torn ACL, but he did have other offers on the table when he committed to HC.
|
|
|
Post by possum on May 9, 2019 12:30:02 GMT -5
Tim, Charles was a good late pickup but not a good comp as he had plenty of interest prior to suffering an injury. ACTP the real sad thing is all the apologists who blindly support Carmody and whatever he does just because he's the coach and it's not nice to criticize him while he's still wearing purple. Once he's let go everybody will jump on the bandwagon pointing out what a lousy coach he was. Listen last preseason virtually everyone agreed that if we weren't at or near the top of the PL Carmody should go. As I'm sure you know we finished last and now the majority of posters say don't pick on him lets give him a redo on last season. Insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, that's us.
|
|
|
Post by alum on May 9, 2019 12:37:23 GMT -5
Tim, Charles was a good late pickup but not a good comp as he had plenty of interest prior to suffering an injury. ACTP the real sad thing is all the apologists who blindly support Carmody and whatever he does just because he's the coach and it's not nice to criticize him while he's still wearing purple. Once he's let go everybody will jump on the bandwagon pointing out what a lousy coach he was. Listen last preseason virtually everyone agreed that if we weren't at or near the top of the PL Carmody should go. As I'm sure you know we finished last and now th e majority of posters say don't pick on him lets give him a redo on last season. Insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, that's us. I don't think that I am the only one who, while unhappy with last year's result, do not want to fire him with time left on the contract. For me, it comes down to not paying $350,000 (or more) when the college is talking about becoming "need aware" in Admissions.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on May 9, 2019 12:46:26 GMT -5
If my old eyes are not deceiving me, I think I spied WOODEN BACKBOARDS at one of those gyms. And I thought those prep schools had money. Some prep schools do have money, but it is old and moldy, and prep schools don't qualify for 80% state reimbursement for building new gyms.
|
|
|
Post by sader1970 on May 9, 2019 13:10:44 GMT -5
Pretty much agree. I didn't want him fired. I didn't even want him to "quit." I wanted him to retire - with dignity - so this program could move on. For me, it has been pretty much proven that he was not going to be the second coming of Ralph Willard. With his wife's health, he had a legitimate reason to honestly say that "family first" and he would be spending his limited time with Barbara and his children. Take the high road. No one would think the less of him. The only conceivable reason that I can think of was the need for quality health insurance via employer HC (he, and presumably Barbara already qualify for Medicare) but I suspect that something could have been worked out there. With the money he is currently making and has made over his career, if he hasn't squirreled away enough for a comfortable living in retirement, shame on him.
I will spit nails if I read that he gets a contract extension this year sans a PL championship. And, no, despite everything I've written, it is not personal. I come from a school of management that results count and when you don't get results, the leader has to be held accountable. Or at least, not rewarded!
|
|
|
Post by WorcesterGray on May 9, 2019 13:43:37 GMT -5
Kind of laughable that a poster would suggest recruits are deterred by coach-bashing on this board. Nobody - NOBODY - got bashed like Milan Brown, from the day he was hired until the day he was fired, and for reasons that didn't always have to do with basketball, and were often couched in ugly, thinly-veiled "cultural" terms. But Malachi Alexander came. So did Rob Champion. So did Eric Green. And so did Jehyve Floyd.
These are the best players to date that Carmody has had the honor to coach here. Alexander, Champion, and Green delivered a memorable March 2016. Floyd was head and shoulders the best player on this team the last two years.
They're all gone. The coach has all his own players now, and now he has to win.
|
|
|
Post by hchoops on May 9, 2019 14:16:26 GMT -5
Kind of laughable that a poster would suggest recruits are deterred by coach-bashing on this board. Nobody - NOBODY - got bashed like Milan Brown, from the day he was hired until the day he was fired, and for reasons that didn't always have to do with basketball, and were often couched in ugly, thinly-veiled "cultural" terms. But Malachi Alexander came. So did Rob Champion. So did Eric Green. And so did Jehyve Floyd. These are the best players to date that Carmody has had the honor to coach here. Alexander, Champion, and Green delivered a memorable March 2016. Of course, that championship belongs to those 3 players having a remarkable run. Our 3 top current sophs obviously have not achieved anything close. But as far as the stats are concerned, it is hard to prove that Alexander, Champion and E. Green are “the best players Carmody has coached.” Now I certainly realize that Eric’s numbers do not tell his value, which was at the defensive end and his low points and rebounds are affected by his injuries. Thus to use Caleb’s 9.9 and 3.1 assist averages are not an equal comparison. But Caleb’s value could be argued to be comparable to Eric’s after Caleb’s first 2 seasons. Rob’s and Mal’s points and rebounds career stats are not higher than Butler’s or Grandy’s even considering minutes played. And certainly not the first 2 year stats of each that is a fairer comparison. Even their best seasons, though one pair is for their senior years. and the other for their soph years are very close. Rob’s senior year was 13.5 and 3.5 Mal’s was 13.7 and 5 Grandy’s soph season was 13.5 and 5 Austin’s was 12.6 and 4.1 It is not unreasonable to project both Austin, Grandy and Caleb will continue to raise those averages the next two seasons.
|
|
|
Post by possum on May 9, 2019 17:55:26 GMT -5
Hoops I think you'd have to agree that the situation was much different when Alexander and Champion joined the program. They began on a team that would win 20 games and had far more talent than the team Grandison and Butler joined. When they arrived the cupboard was basically bare and they were given the opportunity to play big minutes from day one. Whether they'll eventually be rated above Alexander and Champion will depend more on whether they're able to lead the team to success rather than what their statistical averages are.
|
|
|
Post by hchoops on May 9, 2019 19:16:27 GMT -5
Well, many of the Carmody opponents here do not consider the 15-16 a success despite the PLC. I do. I believe that although those players deserve great credit for that PLC, they were disappointing in their senior years. I agree that the burden is on next year’s juniors to lead us to success, however that term may be defined. But the success must be in the league, not just in the OOC games, which to me was the biggest disappointment of the season
|
|