Preston Gone
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@Gunman I agree. They played great the first part of the season, but had no motivation and lost steam mid-way through the season.
Our streak would be unbelievable without that break.
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Fightsongwriter said:
Just curious, do you think Billy will even take the Charger with him to Europe?
All this for a car he will only drive for a couple months. Is Billy really the victim here? I think not. I think thr victims are his teammates whom he let down when he accepted a car that knew had to be shady. Could not someone in his family have said one simple word? No.
Good riddance. Go Silvio!!
There has to be more than just the car.
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@Fightsongwriter Copy, paste
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Until I hear the whole story I reserve throwing him under the bus. I doubt we hear.
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Crimsonorblue22 said:
Until I hear the whole story I reserve throwing him under the bus. I doubt we hear.
Almost no chance the full truth comes out sadly.
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@HighEliteMajor It’s a booster trying to get in close with the family. That’s as much detail as I can give.
I can also tell you for a fact that even if high ranking alumns don’t post here, or at acknowledge they are, they do monitor all major KU sites, including this one.
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@Crimsonorblue22 I threw him under the Charger.
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Integrity - doing the right thing when no one is looking.
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@Fightsongwriter not much of that here
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And man…you think Shakur Juiston would be helping this team? Can’t help but wonder if he’d be a Jayhawk right now if Preston hadn’t been in the way of playing time.
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focojayhawk said:
And man…you think Shakur Juiston would be helping this team? Can’t help but wonder if he’d be a Jayhawk right now if Preston hadn’t been in the way of playing time.
He would help this team. Preston wasn’t the issue there. He was out of play once KU took the Lawsons.
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Texas Hawk 10 said:
@HighEliteMajor It’s a booster trying to get in close with the family. That’s as much detail as I can give.
I can also tell you for a fact that even if high ranking alumns don’t post here, or at acknowledge they are, they do monitor all major KU sites, including this one.
Here is the impression your post leaves: this situation is a powder keg that a bomb squad may have been working long and hard to try to defuse. And the danger has not yet passed.
Mums the word from me.
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I wanted juice bad! Quality kid, coachable kid, high motor, lots of dble dble’s. BUT he was just a juco player, not good enough
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@jaybate-1.0 KUAA is doing what they can to try and keep the person from screwing this up and there is a lot of frustration that the person in question isn’t quite grasping to magnitude of what he’s trying to do and the impact it could have.
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Here is more info from Self from LDJ both on why the process took so long, and on knowing about the Bosnia offer:
Kansas coach Bill Self, who confirmed Preston’s departure through a statement Saturday morning, said he had known about Preston’s opportunity to join BC Igokea in Bosnia for three weeks. But it was not until a text message at 7:18 a.m. that Self knew it was a done deal.
“Of course (we’re) disappointed,” said Self, officially classifying the matter as “an NCAA reinstatement matter” for the first time. “The disappointment comes from us not having a finality to it, (not) from (the NCAA) not making a decision. … Just to be real clear, so fans don’t think (certain) people are at fault; it took some time to get the information to them in a final package because if you get it to them and it’s incomplete, it drags on longer and longer. Then there were follow-up deals, ‘We have more questions, we have more things.’ And we thought we were getting close, real close. But I think the team in Bosnia put pressure on (his mother) Nicole (Player) and Billy.
“We had been told (by the NCAA), 'Hey, we don’t disagree with what you’re saying, we’re not saying we agree. But we are saying that we are not quite ready to make a final determination on it. I don’t blame anybody, to be honest with you. I just hate it. I hate it for him because he didn’t get to experience what college basketball’s all about. Hopefully he’ll go over there and kick butt and put himself in a position to be a higher draft pick because he went over there.”
http://m.kusports.com/news/2018/jan/20/notebook-jayhawks-say-it-was-tough-lose-freshman-b/
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The information concerns a student so no I do not think we are entitled to see anything. If it only concerned the university I would agree with you.
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This isn’t a surprise to me. The longer the process drug out, the more of a possibility this became, particularly because now that classes have started, drop deadlines to preserve his academic record (important for APR purposes) if he did leave were approaching. This lets him leave in good standing without KU taking a hit, provided his fall grades were solid.
As I have posted before, the NCAA acts as if they are the only option. With more international teams willing to sign US HS players, that isn’t the case, and with games streaming on the internet, its no longer the burden it was 15 years ago to evaluate a prospect in Europe or elsewhere.
I don’t think this starts a trend, but it is another option for kids. NCAA isn’t the only game in town for top prospects, so their eligibility process better speed up. Preston can simply withdraw his request and leave. Other kids could do the same - submit information, gauge interest and, if the NCAA doesn’t rule them eligible at the end of the fall semester, take the contract. That route would only be there for the top 20 or 30 prospects, but it would speed the entire process up for everyone.
Good luck to Billy Euro balling.
And if what @Texas-Hawk-10 says is true for Grimes, he certainly has the talent to get a Euro contract.
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Preston IS gone. Now coaches can stop working on the best systems using Billy. Several teammates can stop analyzing playing time with him around. Silvio is here. We have our pieces in place, let the master organize a final plan and put in operation imediately. GAME ON!
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Texas Hawk 10 said:
@jaybate-1.0 KUAA is doing what they can to try and keep the person from screwing this up and there is a lot of frustration that the person in question isn’t quite grasping to magnitude of what he’s trying to do and the impact it could have.
@Texas-Hawk-10 Your comment is present tense. Are you talking about the Preston situation and there’s a smoking gun? Or is another player potentially jeopardized?
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Insightful big picture assessment. Thx.
My add: now modest competition for youth players from foreign pro teams could push recruiting and the amateurism issue in a lot of directions. I suspect the NBA and NCAA are staying in contact on this nascent drift toward overseas play for pay.
Frankly, the overseas teams in Europe east of the Eurals, and eventually Eurasia, as they link up the New Silk Road, the Shanghai Security Pact, transEurasian marketing infrastructure, and absorb elements of the EU, are increasingly going to have the gambling infrastructure, and betting and sports merchandize-buying populations necessary to achieve economies of scale that will dwarf the NBA’s, if it doesn’t expand there first.
It would be interesting to know how many of the NBA owners, or their business associates, are already buying in to the ground floor of Eurasian sports. It would seem a heckuva play.
Another awesome play would be for the sports, gaming and media entrepreneurs of Eurasia to donate massively to America D1 basketball programs. Target the universities by sending either their children to them to attend, or associates children, and then funnel a billion, or three, into a school like KU, or where ever. Take the athletic department to the next level, and do so to attract a pipeline of players to that university that can then be moved to Eurasian pro teams. American schools and American players are ripe for the picking right now. Hope I don’t live to see this, but seems like a plan.
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Gorilla72 said:
Texas Hawk 10 said:
@jaybate-1.0 KUAA is doing what they can to try and keep the person from screwing this up and there is a lot of frustration that the person in question isn’t quite grasping to magnitude of what he’s trying to do and the impact it could have.
@Texas-Hawk-10 Your comment is present tense. Are you talking about the Preston situation and there’s a smoking gun? Or is another player potentially jeopardized?
I’m talking about Grimes.
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@justanotherfan It’s not just that the NCAA acts as if it is the “only option.” The NCAA knows it is the best option. It confirms the fallacy forwarded by the anti-NCAA folks. This is all about freedom of choice. Kids have choices. CBB is easily the best option for the kids without pro potential. And it’s the best option for nearly all that have pro potential. If not, we would see kids flood to the other options.
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Let’s not waste time going negatively on Billy. For whatever damage he caused our team, he multiplied that damage to his own career. That will be exposed this summer in the NBA draft.
I believe, as others do, that having finalized this can do nothing but help our team! Now we have no more question marks hanging over this team. No more practicing awkwardly to make sure Billy continues to develop with the rest of the team.
We lost plenty of potential help from Billy, but now we can focus a big chunk of that extra PT Billy would have got over to Silvio… advancing his development quicker.
Good luck, Billy! Now… let’s get down to business and start defending and dominating every single team we play!
Rock Chalk!
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@drgnslayr Well Said , no reason to dwell on things that can’t be changed. I am in total agreement with others , I think actually with closure, it might actually benefit the guys - - at least we know it’s final now - -not playing the what if game -time to stride forward. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Thanks for keeping it positive! A big part of our team improving is for all of us to stay positive! At a certain point in time, the Billy situation started going negative, and I am 100% positive that was reaching all the way to our players, truly creating more chaos and negativity.
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drgnslayr said:
Thanks for keeping it positive! A big part of our team improving is for all of us to stay positive! At a certain point in time, the Billy situation started going negative, and I am 100% positive that was reaching all the way to our players, truly creating more chaos and negativity.
Hey we got to stay positive right? - - -Billy is a good kid , did he make mistakes? -maybe - -sounds possibly , but the way I still have to look at this - -to me anyways , he was just a teenage kid that might of made some bad decisions . I don’t know - -I can’t say 100 % without a doubt for sure. - The only thing I can say 100 % for sure is - -we were all kids his age at one time or another right? -Every single one of us made mistakes at this point and time of our life I’m quite sure at one point right? - -Mistakes that impacted people just as big as this Billy situation did at KU - -only thing is , we weren’t in the public lime light, we weren’t as much as a public figure at a public place.
Doesn’t mean our mistakes we made were any less - -didn’t effect people in our lives any less , our mistakes could of quite possibly had really big impacts at our point in time of our lives negatively as Billy’s did just little different circumstance - -still mistakes - -we are not perfect, and these types of things is how young kids learn
They will learn - - might be costly mistakes BUT they will learn. This world is a cold hearted world - it will eat you up, if your not careful - -Again I’m not mad at Billy - -wish him nothing but the best in his future - time to move on, we were fine before Billy came and you know what - -Were gonna be fine now that Billy is gone. - -So all I can say now is - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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I will say that a video shot they showed last night of KU catching and beating WVU showed BP jumping up to bump the players coming back to the bench, cheering like a madman, and exultantly screaming for the victory at the end. That was only a week ago. So, I think we should still give him his due for still giving his buds his energy even if he was discouraged over his ultimate chances. He did not act like someone with a foot out the door.
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@mayjay Agree totally. Was anybody at the game? Was there any mention of Jo Jo White in AFH?
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Many of my personal decisions when I was a teenager in contrast would make him “Saint Billy!” lol
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mayjay said:
I will say that a video shot they showed last night of KU catching and beating WVU showed BP jumping up to bump the players coming back to the bench, cheering like a madman, and exultantly screaming for the victory at the end. That was only a week ago. So, I think we should still give him his due for still giving his buds his energy even if he was discouraged over his ultimate chances. He did not act like someone with a foot out the door.
YA I seen that too , still into the game pulling for his bud’s - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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drgnslayr said:
Many of my personal decisions when I was a teenager in contrast would make him “Saint Billy!” lol
LOL, ya me too lol - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@Gunman wasn’t there but I do know there was a video tribute and a moment of silence. Dg mentioned him in his interview too.
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Obviously, for kids that aren’t going to play basketball beyond college, the NCAA is the best option. There’s not even a debate there. I will concede that point.
However, the question is whether its the best option for kids that do have pro options, specifically the top players.
The college game and the pro game are very different. The rules are different (shorter shot clock, deeper three point line, etc.). The talent level is vastly different - there are less than 200 guys in the NCAA right now that will have NBA careers of any substance, and those players are clustered on only a few teams, so chances that you are seeing an NBA caliber player (or even a near NBA player) across from you are pretty low.
The strategy and preparation are different. One of the larger criticisms of NCAA is that most coaches will not deter from their system, regardless of player talent. As a result, you are often facing a system, not talent.
And of course, roles are different in the NCAA versus the NBA. Think about how often you saw the Morris brothers shoot threes in college. Marcus shot a total of 123 threes in 109 college games. Markieff shot 94 in the same 109 games. Not counting this season, Marcus has shot fewer than 123 threes in an NBA season only once (his rookie year, when he played only 17 games total). He’s shot 94 this year already in just 25 games. Markieff has never shot fewer than 94 threes in a season, including this year, where he has already shot 94 threes.
The NBA has required them to change their offensive game. They rarely play in the post, instead playing as pick and roll or pick and pop big men. Both Morris twins face the basket regularly and rarely play with their back to the basket.
In short, their collegiate experience didn’t really prepare them for what they need to do in the NBA. They were able to adapt, but the expectation of them is different than what they did in college.
You can look to a guy like Perry Ellis - incredibly successful here at Kansas, but his NBA career has comprised of just one NBA preseason game. The things he did at KU did nothing to prepare him for a potential NBA career.
That’s not to say that Perry did not benefit from his time at Kansas. He undoubtedly did. But from a basketball perspective, if you were to assess whether he benefited purely on a basketball level from playing NCAA ball, the answer is no. He needed to play SF in college, primarily facing the basket, playing on the perimeter, guarding perimeter guys, etc. It was to KU’s benefit that he play primarily inside, a position he would never play professionally. As a result, the chance that Perry could leave KU and play in the NBA actually went down the longer he stayed at KU. Chances that Perry ever makes the NBA at this point are pretty remote. Had he come out of HS and gone into a more basketball focused program that had him on the perimeter working as a SF, perhaps two or three years of that would have prepared him for a pro career.
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@Kubie Good luck to him.
