Sam Cunliffe
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Wasn’t going to play, so no big loss outside of practice. Hope he finds that elusive playing time he yearns for wherever he ends up.
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I bet he goes back west. Opens up a spot for a mid year transfer/reclass.
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Always feel bad for a guy that loses opportunity by just sitting. But man, if you transfer to a place like Kansas, do you not know that it is a HUGE risk? He has five years to play four, so he can still end up with three years of competition in total.
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I’m guessing Cunliffe goes D2 to play immediately rather than sit again. If that happens, he will be a star at that level.
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@justanotherfan I heard someone had said Washington or Washington state, closer to home. But yeah, I agree.
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@justanotherfan He said he will only play D1. Sitting. I wish we knew real reason he and Hunter Mickelson could never sniff the court.
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I don’t think this is a surprise to most of us with Vick coming back, even without Vick I didn’t think he’d be a main player. I respect his decision and wish him well, as stated you know when you come to Kansas you’re gonna have to fight for PT all while being recruited over. @Fightsongwriter I think Sam is a great athlete, just hasn’t turned into a ball player to this point. You could argue that Sam never got his shot to shine, playing mop up minutes mainly but Hunter started nearly half the season and didn’t pan out. I don’t think their is a ton more to that story.
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@justanotherfan Read off the LJW that her will sit our again
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Cunliffe got caught in Self’s move away from the trey?
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@kjayhawks Hunter started? I barely remember him getting on the court. Holy cow 11 starts. I can’t remember him doing anything.
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Fightsongwriter said:
@justanotherfan He said he will only play D1. Sitting. I wish we knew real reason he and Hunter Mickelson could never sniff the court.
Hypothesis:
Self and other coaches appear to win recruiting chits by giving scholarships and PT to players from the Power AAU Teams AND from the basketball factories, not to guys like Cunliffe and Mickelson apparently without those ties.
So, to continue the hypothesis: Self is probably trying to win a chit from some of these recruiting sources, so he cleared Cunliffe from his wake to sign a recruit from one of the preferred sources of recruits.
War is hell.
So is recruiting.
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@dylans exactly, he wasn’t effective so the guys wanted LL to get more minutes. The rest is history, no knock on Hunter tho, he was a good dude.
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IDK? Maybe Ochai Agbaji was already ahead of Sam on the depth charts?
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@Statmachine burn!
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I understand that he was busting his butt in practice with the hope of getting minutes but Vick coming back put an end to that. I heard he is really a good teammate and did not get into any trouble so you always hate to lose this type of player. As @Crimsonandblue12 posted, I understand he will likely be transferring to Washington or Washington State.
I would be surprised if Agbaji does not red shirt.
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Might sound mean, but I’m glad that he left now. He’s exactly the type of guy that worries me with getting recruits down the line. And I don’t mean top 5 recruits. But guys like Garrett. Someone who would have a chance to play right away, but with Cunliffe on the depth chart they are worried about PT and go somewhere with a more clear path.
Competition is good, and I want guys who want to compete. But there is a difference in competition for 5 minutes of PT versus competition for 20 minutes.
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Self always says “playing time will work itself out”.
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I am not surprised by this move and I wish Cunliffe all the best. He appears to be a genuinely nice kid with bright future ahead of him although its a pity that he could not fulfill his dreams here at KU.
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Good luck to Sam. The timing isn’t great for him but hopefully he lands somewhere he can contribute and get the playing time he desired
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Good luck, Sam. We hardly knew ye.
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Looks like he’s going to Evansville. I wish him the best.
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They’re happy to have him!
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@approxinfinity Here’s what I had to do:
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My favorite part from the Courier Press article @approxinfinity just posted: “We just kind of talked about it. I told him what I was looking for. He told me what he was looking for and it didn’t match up. It was fine. Just because it didn’t match up doesn’t mean I’m a bad player or he’s a bad coach. We’re both grown men so let’s just part ways.”
I love the mutual understanding. Two guys stepping into each other’s shoes and moving on. We could use more of that in our culture!
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Everything is about matchups!
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Slam, bam, thank you, Sam!
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Evansville just got better!
