Yea, and thanks to Daddy mismanaging his education (starting Kindergarten a year late and repeating 8th grade to retain 4 years of HS eligibility after stupidly having him play for the 9th grade team as an 8th grader without checking the rules), he will be the first ACC player to cash a Social Security check if he stays 4 years.
Oh snap! Strong quotes by Rowan
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Yea, and thanks to Daddy mismanaging his education (starting Kindergarten a year late and repeating 8th grade to retain 4 years of HS eligibility after stupidly having him play for the 9th grade team as an 8th grader without checking the rules), he will be the first ACC player to cash a Social Security check if he stays 4 years.
Yeah, he has been, because he eliminated us. Meanwhile our recruiting is probably going through the worst period under Dixon.
What you just described is what a lot of prospects do. It would have been stupid to stay in WPA for HS, but luckily for him, his family was able to do it with him, rather than just have him board at a basketball sleepaway camp for a year or two of "high school".
Uhhhh.....he just went to school in Florida.....yet couldn't pass the NCAA minimums w/o taking more courses. They had placed him in a single-A school known for the performing arts.....and hoops, lately. And, as SMF pointed out.....he's been treated like a rock star since kindergarten. Nothing wrong with western PA hoops...check our roster. Only one left for a prep school, and he is our best player. I don't wish the kid any harm, but I'm guessing there will be drama.
I am aware. Pretty normal for today's players. We are recruiting basketball players, not rocket scientists. We pay people to get these kids through school.
Are you agreeing with me by telling me to check our roster? Western PA hoops are not good and serious players should leave to play against better competition and get better coaching. We don't have any good players who stayed in WPA. We have some roster players from WPA. The only good player, who was a real get, left to prep at a basketball school in NJ. Just because we have guys like Cameron Johnson and Ryan Luther on the team, doesn't mean WPA hoops are good. Those are guys who were very, very lightly recruited and are not very good players. Sheldon Jeter was 3 years out of HS and couldn't play a real role for a very mediocre Pitt team last year.
I don't think it'll ever be a hotbed, but there have been a few decent kids. TJ just signed a tryout contract with the Sixers, and Blair, Pope and Kane were all legit major-level guys, Pryor, too, and Young is PDG. Coming up there's Konate, Aiken, Carmody, the P-R kid, etc. I do think Johnson can become a solid player for us, maybe Luther, also. Jeter's an enigma. But we've never had a lot of local kids since Grgurich left town.
This kids daddy never planned on him ending up at Pitt. The commitment was so that other Power 5 schools would take notice and offer. The other step was to take him to a school he would shine then take advantage of his new offers. You have to give credit where credit is due, his Dad played the game he played it well and so far he is winning. To win the game though Mav will have to produce down there in Tobacco country and trust me there will be no home grown love shown there! He needs to be good! Time will tell if dads plan worked well but one thing is for sure he played JD like a Carolina Fiddle.
Probably meant guys making it to a higher level. Otherwise I may have to explain to my wife and kids that we should bolt this cesspool aka Wexford....
It's easy to understand how kids that are gifted athletically and have the size to play a GAME at a P5 school and or professionally have a hard time with knowing how to act properly. From parents who instill an I'm special attitude ( not all parents do this ) to coaches who do anything to get and keep them happy ( not JD ) ,to administrators who make sure their eligible to play no mater what , to handlers who want a piece of the action ,the press telling everyone how great they are ,the girls falling all over them , shoe companies etc. We all make these people feel too special ,above the law in some cases then we get upset when they do something stupid. blaming a kid whose ass has been licked by so many adults is stupid. Blame a system that rewards the athlete and a system that pays EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS millions of dollars to televise their games. We all wanted him to go to Pitt and would have rooted for him to be great now we all hate him because the forces pushed him elsewhere . The system is the problem and fans are part of a system that's out of control.
Agree.....I don't hate the kid, though, he's a product of a bad system and an overreaching father. I hope he has bad games vs. Pitt, but torches other ACC teams.Maybe he's the next Reddick?? Or the next Trevor Ferguson???
Probably shouldn't spend time on a message board for college sports recruiting if you are that against the system...
The difference in PPG last year was 3 PPG. NC St averaged 70, pitt averaged 67. Pitt also had a better assist ration on their scores, which is something I would appreciate as a wing. I don't disagree that Dixon's system is not appealing to aggressive Gs, but a guy like Mav would probably do well in that system and help his pro possibilities.
What I think guys don't want is the insistence that they understand the defensive assignments prior to getting meaningful playing time.
What I think guys don't want is the insistence that they understand the defensive assignments prior to getting meaningful playing time.
It is what it is. You can enjoy college sports and not like the system. I'd personally like to see Pitt recurit like Kentucky ,but it's never going to happen. Better yet they should have a minor league were these kids get paid for their efforts and stop pretending that education has anything to do with it ,but the monies too great to disrupt the system.Grown adults ( most of us ) obsessing over were some 16/17 y/o is going to play and have hateful feeling towards the kid and his family when he rejects Pitt is really pitiful. If for whatever reason someone decides what's best for him or his son is going elsewhere it's their business and they owe Pitt or their fans nothing. Now mouthing off opens up a whole new can of worms and I'm sure the Zoo is working on the right response. If it wasn't all about the almighty dollar do you think Pitt would have allowed JD to go to New Zeland to recurit SAdams and spend thousands of dollars because they wanted to educate him? $$$$$$$$$
PS: This board is more than a recuriting board
What bothers me more than anything is how Pitt allowed Rowan to come to the Pete to play pick-up with the team for a couple years, which undoubtedly helped his game. That's much better competition than playing after school with his friends in Beaver County. Ron played Pitt like a fiddle. He guaranteed major D with the early Pitt offer, got his son better by having him play with them, then as his son got more highly ranked, took him "national," but weirdly still wound up at a "3 star" program.
I think it was a mistake on Dixon's part to give the early offers. Both Rowan and Heron just ended up re-opening up their recruitment when the time came. Seems that it is LESS likely to get these players with the early offers. To Dixon's credit he hasn't done this since. Something different that was tried and failed. He is still recruiting Heron as I here it so still some possibility there. Yeah, maybe if the team has a rebound this year from the last four years it might become more likely with Heron.
I disagree because I think you always offer and you always accept a verbal. However, those early verbals should be (and probably are) treated more like we currently "lead" for this player. I would think and hope that the staff just didn't expect that these 2 would definitely make it here just because they said they would several years prior. Inotherwords, contingencies had to be planned and Pitt needed to continue recruiting the same types of players to replace them in case they needed to. The problem, though, is when Dixon is in a living room and the recruit asks, "Well, you just got a verbal from Rowan, so why would I come to Pitt to compete with him when we play the same position?" Dixon surely can't say that that player is the backup option if Rowan doesn't come.
Its not an ideal situation but I dont disagree with the early offers.
Ya know SMF, I think you are getting to the point of disagreeing just to get a conversation started.
The early offers got us NOTHING. If Dixon had kept in touch with these guys, as well as others, IMO there would have been MORE of a chance of them coming here when it came time for them to really open up their recruitment, as well as staying up with others as alternatives. But, once a player decommits, rarely do they end up committing to the same school.
Oh yeah, looks like Dixon also agrees that this was not a good idea as... he has not done it since.
Really. If pitt waited to offer you'd be the first to complain if he went elsewhere.
Perhaps he hasn't done so since because no top 50 kids were close to committing to us since, Both Rowan and Heron both had some ties to Pitt when they committed (local/shoes & an assistant with ties to a dad). That's what led to the early commits, and it was those ties that blew up on us. Those type of relationships with top 50 kids don't come by every year to Pitt or many schools for that matter. It's more likely that their aren't any top 50 kids in 2017/2018 with ties with us currently, or that want to commit that early, than a change in philosophy. What you are saying is possible, but not likely. I don't see any coach turning down a verbal commit to a top 50 kid, even if it might fall apart. because if you say no to the kid, you have lost him for sure. take the verbal, and you are leading. It may fall apart, but if you say no, you have closed the door already.
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So, in hindsight, if Jamie had not offered scholarships to Rowan and Heron, would they have eventually signed here?
What harm did their early offer/verbal do? If you want to make the point that it scared off recruits that play similar positions, that's an argument you could make but you'd need data.
This literally made me laugh out loud. Data? This guy? Don't hold your breath.
Nothing matters until they sign, kids change their minds all the time. Obviously neither one really wanted to come to Pitt Slice no Slice and who knows what JD promised them as for pt and style. We do know they didn't give their dads a job or money at least as far as we know.
This whole discussion makes me regret renewing my Pitt season's tickets. If this is the game that Pitt has to play to get some kids who feel they are entitled to some kind of special treatment just because they can play with a ball, I'm not sure it's worth what I paid for my tickets. What has happened to college sports? Why isn't it fun to watch it any longer?
It's still fun. I think a lot of coaches avoid promising roles to kids. Calipari only promises to get his guys ready for the NBA.....then delivers. Dixon probably promises kids they'll get a fair shot, and I think he's not alone.
I am still going to try to make it fun. It's just a game and it is fun to watch. My concern is going forward and what college sports is turning into.
