Jerel McNeal and Tyshawn Taylor updatesWritten by: NY WarriorFor the second time in as many years, one of Marquette's best is dipping his toes in the NBA waters. Jerel McNeal put himself through a thorough self-evaluation before declaring, and he discussed that with Todd Rosiak in a blog posted over the weekend (http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/04/26/more-mcneal.aspx).
Still, despite an extraordinary finish to a strong junior season there's not much love for Jerel just yet:
- Andy Katz barely entertains the notion that McNeal will stay in the draft in his rundown on the impact of early entrants (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3370718).
- ESPN.com's draft board lists McNeal at #73 overall -- out of 100 eligible draft entrants (http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/tracker/rank?draftyear=2008&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnbadraft%2fdraft%2ftracker%2frank%3fdraftyear%3d2008).
- NBADraft.net does not list McNeal in its mock two-round draft (http://nbadraft.net/).
- Draftexpress.com lists McNeal (http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Big-Board-of-Top-115-NBA-Draft-Prospects,-by-Position,-w-Analysis/) as the 12th best shooting guard in the draft.
TYSHAWN TAYLOR ELIMINATES MU
Taylor visited Kansas last week, and came away impressed (http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/apr/26/hoops_recruit_loved_ku_visit/?sports) (um, no kidding).
Today Adam Zagoria reports that Taylor has crossed MU off of his list and will now decide between Georgia Tech and Kansas (http://njmg.typepad.com/zagsblog/2008/04/taylor-cheek-up.html). No surprise.
http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/04/jerel-mcneal-updates-and-more.html
boo hoo, a player that thinks too much of himself has decided that he wants to ride the bench at KU (I assume it will be his final choice).
His loss, and his coaches' mistake.
TT will see time at Kansas, if all the Jayhawks who declared stay in the draft.
While I think Taylor would have been a good fit at MU, it's not the end of the world that he's gone. We're still guard-heavy next year, and now have a full year to find an equal (or better) replacement.
MU will find a PG for 2009. If you read Zag's blog, it is interesting how Coach Hurley is talking for his 2009 stud SG, Dominic Cheek. Do the St Anthony's players have a life, or does Hurley speak for all of them.
Quote from: Ahoya06 on April 29, 2008, 10:56:04 AM
TT will see time at Kansas, if all the Jayhawks who declared stay in the draft.
While I think Taylor would have been a good fit at MU, it's not the end of the world that he's gone. We're still guard-heavy next year, and now have a full year to find an equal (or better) replacement.
That's the key, will we find and equal (or better) replacement.
I would never recruit another of Hurley's players again. He is living his life through 17-year-olds.
Quote from: ecompt on April 29, 2008, 11:43:46 AM
I would never recruit another of Hurley's players again. He is living his life through 17-year-olds.
I concur. You have to respect what he's done as a coach, but not as a person. What an afterbirth he is.
Hurley is an egomaniac; I imagine that he would be tough to recruit through since he behaves like Drew Rosenhaus
Jerel McNeal and Tyshawn Taylor updatesWritten by: NY WarriorFor the second time in as many years, one of Marquette's best is dipping his toes in the NBA waters. Jerel McNeal put himself through a thorough self-evaluation before declaring, and he discussed that with Todd Rosiak in a blog posted over the weekend (http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/04/26/more-mcneal.aspx).
Still, despite an extraordinary finish to a strong junior season there's not much love for Jerel just yet:
- Andy Katz barely entertains the notion that McNeal will stay in the draft in his rundown on the impact of early entrants (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3370718).
- ESPN.com's draft board lists McNeal at #73 overall -- out of 100 eligible draft entrants (http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/tracker/rank?draftyear=2008&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnbadraft%2fdraft%2ftracker%2frank%3fdraftyear%3d2008).
- NBADraft.net does not list McNeal in its mock two-round draft (http://nbadraft.net/).
- Draftexpress.com lists McNeal (http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Big-Board-of-Top-115-NBA-Draft-Prospects,-by-Position,-w-Analysis/) as the 12th best shooting guard in the draft.
TYSHAWN TAYLOR TO KANSAS
Taylor visited Kansas last week, and came away impressed (http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/apr/26/hoops_recruit_loved_ku_visit/?sports) (um, no kidding). Today Adam Zagoria reports that Taylor committed to KU (http://njmg.typepad.com/zagsblog/2008/04/taylor-to-kansa.html). No surprise.
http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/04/jerel-mcneal-updates-and-more.html
Guys,
Before you all doom Hurley to the eternal fires of he!!, go read "The Miracle of St. Anthony's." Hurley has done a ton in his life for kids from very disadvantaged backgrounds. To sit there and claim he is not a good person because he aggressively looked out for Taylor is nonsense. Unless some of you here have met the man before or talked with him for more than 5 minutes, I think most of you are talking out of your emotion of not landing Taylor and Hurley's statements on the LOI. The man may have gone a little overboard in his statements about Taylor, but that does not make him a bad man.
Quote from: Norm on April 29, 2008, 12:08:31 PM
Guys,
Before you all doom Hurley to the eternal fires of he!!, go read "The Miracle of St. Anthony's." Hurley has done a ton in his life for kids from very disadvantaged backgrounds. To sit there and claim he is not a good person because he aggressively looked out for Taylor is nonsense. Unless some of you here have met the man before or talked with him for more than 5 minutes, I think most of you are talking out of your emotion of not landing Taylor and Hurley's statements on the LOI. The man may have gone a little overboard in his statements about Taylor, but that does not make him a bad man.
But when you do enough of these things (read: become a quasi-agent for your players and teach them about breaking commitments), the "good guy" persona ever get tarnished.
He may be a good man, but he's handled this situation at an unequivocal level.
Quote from: Norm on April 29, 2008, 12:08:31 PM
To sit there and claim he is not a good person because he aggressively looked out for Taylor is nonsense.
Maybe he is a decent fellow, but Hurley could have politely and quietly worked with Taylor and his family to seek a release, rather than throwing MU and Buzz under the bus. Instead, Bully Bob emerged so he could grind an ax about LOIs at MU's expense. That was uncalled for.
A more classy approach seems to have worked out well for Nick Williams and his high school coach, among countless others.
Quote from: NYWarrior on April 29, 2008, 12:19:47 PM
Maybe he is a decent fellow, but Hurley could have politely and quietly worked with Taylor and his family to seek a release, rather than throwing MU and Buzz under the bus. Instead, Bully Bob emerged so he could grind and ax about LOIs at MU's expense. That was uncalled for.
A more classy approach seems to have worked out well for Nick Williams and his high school coach, among countless others.
+1
you are correct sir!
Well, Nick Williams had a pre-existing clause in his LOI that Taylor did not. Different scenario all together.
Quote from: Norm on April 29, 2008, 03:37:25 PM
Well, Nick Williams had a pre-existing clause in his LOI that Taylor did not. Different scenario all together.
Uhh...the LOI is a standard form right? I don't believe the NCAA allows students to just add exceptions into their NLI - think of the crazy crap that could happen if that were allowed. See the NLI site here:
http://www.national-letter.org/
And on their FAQ:
QuoteIs a National Letter of Intent binding if the coach of my sport leaves the institution?
Yes. The National Letter of Intent you signed with an institution is valid if the coach who recruited you leaves the institution with which you signed. When you sign a National Letter of Intent you sign with an institution and not with a coach or a specific team.
This urban legend needs to be stopped.
OK, then why did MU release Nick Williams right away? According to reports it is because he had an agreement with the school that he could be let out without any strings attached if Crean left. That is what was reported by Rosiak and others.
Quote from: Norm on April 29, 2008, 04:23:15 PM
OK, then why did MU release Nick Williams right away? According to reports it is because he had an agreement with the school that he could be let out without any strings attached if Crean left. That is what was reported by Rosiak and others.
Probably because he filled out his form properly right away.
Not sure where you're seeing it reported that he had an agreement with the school about being released if Crean left. This is the Rosiak announcement about Nick being released and it says nothing about such an agreement. (http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=8619.0) If there's an additional report then link it please.
The LOI is a standard form, but that hasn't stopped student athletes from attaching a clause to it.
In one article I recently posted, it states "Colleges are permitted to make oral promises that they will release a recruit from his commitment in the case of a coaching change. If a player doesn't receive that oral agreement, he is bound to his letter-of-intent even if the coach is fired or moves to another school."
Recently on ESPN, for example, "Devin Ebanks has a clause in the letter of intent he signed with Indiana University if the coach were fired or committed NCAA rules violations"
Also posted by Zagoria....Ebanks had a clause in his LOI. http://hoopsfuture.com/front-page-articles/zagsblog-devin-ebanks.html
I've read in several articles that Williams had a similar clause with MU. The kid wanted to play for Crean wherever Crean was....not for MU necessarily.
NY Post (I can't find the article, but mentioned on this forum) also states an out clause existed
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=342&f=2871&t=2371215&p=1&sto=MS_28296956#s=342&f=2871&t=2371215