Isiah gets off on the wrong foot | detnews.com | The Detroit News You know, of course he's going to want to get his own recruits, but just because he didn't make the call himself really doesn't signal the end of the world and/or integrity. Why would he want to come in and coach some other guy's recruits who weren't already on the team? Even if you think he should have done it himself, the reporter does an awesome job of staying objective. I'm really glad we have "trained" journalists to keep us internet types from injecting our personal inflections into what we write.
I agree with Thee and the Low. This article was pretty bad, and if you didn't have to go through registration to the site to post a comment, I would post a negative one. So the kids had their scholarships revoked? Sucks, but that's how the real world works. They'll just end up having to go to their second favorite school to get a free college education (my parents and I paid $10,000's for mine). Isiah's assistants called to notify the players instead of Isiah himself? Come on... ask the line workers or cubicle employees of the Detroit 3 how their partings are being handled. It is much colder out here, and 1,000's of companies are doing it. Coach won't recommend students to play for Isiah's program? Way to close off an option for your students to get a free college education (where they might not be able to get one otherwise). Isiah did end up calling the kids to smooth things over once the thing (unnecessarily) became a big deal, which I feel is a classy move that he didn't have to make. The reporters and crying coaches are the ones that need to step into the real world and show some class, not Isiah.
At this time of year all the scholarships have been awarded so going somewhere else might not be an option. I don't care about not calling the kids - he misunderstood the rules, kind of dumb, but stuff happens. But the kids made a good faith commitment to the university and it ought to have been followed through with - they didn't sign a letter written to the old coach but to the school. Pulling the rug out at the last minute is pretty tacky, and something the school should not have allowed.
This isn't the first time kids got shafted by a college coach. But usually it's because the coach became a lame duck.
fixed What about the kids Isiah is bringing in? They must not be any good otherwise they'd have signed with other schools by now. BS move by Isiah and the school :P
He represents a school. He needed to think this through before making his decision. Doesn't matter that he did right or wrong, those people still have thrown him to the dogs. That ultimately hurts the school's reputation.
The one thing that Thompson has going for himself is the fact that there isn't a salary cap in NCAA basketball.
Doing a quick google search on two of the kids, they don't sound too impressive. And who knows what kind of off court stuff is going on. Point is, why lock up 3 scholarship positions for 3 marginal players. It's easier cutting them now than a year from now. I bet the only reason they were offered scholarships is they play at decent programs and the former coach was trying to butter up the HS coaches for future recruits. One of the HS coaches is quoted as saying he won't let any of his kids play for Isaiah. Huh? Isn't that the kids choice, not the coaches?
What is the common practice here for new coaches? Do they all honor previous commitments or do they not? That would be the thing to judge him by.
Normally a new coach pulls the guy's aside that he doesn't want on his squad and the have "the talk". He tells them that they don't fit into his plans and if they stay they will sit on the the end of the bench and not play. So The coach makes the player decise to leave. The player tells the coach and team he wants to be released from his scholarship. The coach tells that player or players that he will work to get them a spot with another team. Isiah handled the whole thing like he is cutting guy's from an NBA roster.
I don't have a problem with him wanting his own guys in there but I do have a problem with the way he handled it. He should have been a man about it and informed them himself instead of delegating it. Is it a huge deal? No, but it is a bit classless. This isn't the NBA we're talking about. These are kids.
Stupid mistake. But hey, what do you expect when you try a totally new gig, perfection? Zeke will learn from it and be wiser for it. If I were the AD, I'd explain things to him, have him apologize to the players and coaches, and move on. It comes with the territory when you start a new job. I'd also make an announcement that I have reduced his pay this year by 99% to remind everyone exactly what Zeke sacrificed when he chose to not take a salary.
