Vander Blue reopening his recruitment according to Rivals

[MU Chi_IL]

I just put this page together, does anyone have any other info to fill it out?

http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/men_s_basketball_recruits/vander_blue

[BrewCity83]

Make sure that the phrase "internet circle jerk" is in there somewhere.

[RawdogDX]

Absolutely nothing has come out of the Vander Blue camp and yet that speaks volumes in and of itself.

him not denying it speaks volumes or him not confirming it speaks volumes?

[ChicosBailBonds]

All ratings on incoming classes is purely subjective. So, that being the case, you have to evaluate the talent level you have coming in based on a balanced review of all the ratings players have. And, in the case here, you have to compare apples to apples.

If comparing Crean's classes to Buzz', you have to do so based on incoming rankings (4 stars, 3 stars, etc...). So far, based on who Buzz has been able to bring in, he's done a phenominal job, especially givien his short coaching resume.

Now, we can't truly rank the results/players as college ballers for a couple years. That's obvious. But, based on where all the "experts" have h.s. players ranked, Buzz has been 'great' so far.

In two/three years, we'll all be able to find out how well he does coaching these guys and making them improve their game.

Not only that, but each year is different.  There may be more 4 stars available one year then the next year.  There may be less positions to fill at some of the elite schools or in your general recruiting battles (Big Ten schools, Big East schools, etc).  It's almost impossible to compare one year of recruits to the next year due to all the variables.

[GGGG]

Absolutely nothing has come out of the Vander Blue camp and yet that speaks volumes in and of itself.

While it might, remember that it is Wednesday.  He met with Badger coaches on Monday.  Reports started surfacing yesterday.  Meanwhile he is in school.  I don't know what "camp" he might actually have at this point.

He very well could have decided not to debunk any rumors because he was studying for a test last night.  Who knows?

[Blackhat]

Wonder if it's common for his camp to turn off their cell phones?   

That's a honest question, I don't know. 

[4everwarriors]

Are we talking about Kool Aid Perry or Worldwide Wes? I get them confused.

[LON]

Well I'm just glad I only have the Vander Blue recruiting to worry about now that the whole Miss California thing has been resolved.

[Phi Iota Gamma 84]

What if he enticed them with cocaine, hookers, no-show jobs, new tractors for their dad's farm and a job in a high-rise for mom?
Good recruiter or bad recruiter?

I think that is UNLV with Tark

[Pakuni]

And the winner of the "What Will Bo's Excuse Be Contest" goes to (drum roll) ,,,,
Academics!

Vander Blue met with representatives from his high school and the University of Wisconsin Monday night to discuss his academic future and that led to his vague declaration on a Facebook page that he is looking at other schools to play college basketball.

Blue, a junior guard for Madison Memorial who orally committed to play for the Badgers last summer, has struggled in the classroom, according to sources close to Blue and the UW men's basketball team.

http://www.badgerbeat.com/news/article/id/451052

Pretty sh*tty for the Badger folk to be leaking some of the stuff in this article (I.e. Maymon is "confusing" Blue ... Blue "wasn't thrilled to hear about all the work he needed to do") but hell hath no fury, I guess.

[Big Papi]

While it might, remember that it is Wednesday.  He met with Badger coaches on Monday.  Reports started surfacing yesterday.  Meanwhile he is in school.  I don't know what "camp" he might actually have at this point.

He very well could have decided not to debunk any rumors because he was studying for a test last night.  Who knows?

This story was breaking yesterday morning.  There have been rumblings about this for quite some time and while he did re-state his commitment to the Rodents before, where there is smoke there is fire.  

And by camp I mean Vander Blue, his family and his coach at Memorial. All are silent and non are returning phone calls.  

It is also interesting to note that the Badgernation posters who have an in to what is going on in that program are not denying anything or saying this is a rumor but instead are circling the wagons saying that one recruit does not make a program.

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

Real classy manner the Badgers are handling this all.  Leaking the kid has academic issues and isn't allegedly willing to put the work in.

Vander, you might want to talk to Jeronne about how to deal with a fanbase that has no restraint in trashing a kid's academic history the moment he doesn't show interest or changes his level of interest in attending their institution. 

[Blackhat]

Yeah, the way the adults handling this on the badger side, i.e. Bo and his minions,  is getting close to the edge.....putting into quotes about how Vander got pouty or whatever.   That's not usual unless a schism has occurred, imo. 

[Blackhat]

"It was a normal game plan you go through with everybody," the source added. "But you go into more detail with those you are concerned about."

The source said everyone at the meeting spoke confidently about Blue's potential as a student. "There was no brow-beating. It was, 'All right, this is where we're at. We can't control the past but we can control the present and the future,'" the source added.

But Blue wasn't thrilled to hear about all the work he needed to do to become academically eligible to play at Wisconsin. "He kind of melted into the table," said the source. "He got the sulky, head-down, won't-make-eye-contact look."

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

If Blue was going to stay at Wisconsin, 98% of the details of that meeting don't get leaked in that manner.  Or if they are, they are spun to make it sound like that the UW/Memorial staffs have everything under control and such a meeting was just a mere well-being check on Blue, he's on track, got a little more work to do, etc.

Considering how that source went out of the way to make comments on Blue's demeanor, there's some hard feelings at hand here.  If you had a meeting with your boss that didn't go smoothly and he leaked how you reacted to your coworkers, etc, wouldn't you want to have nothing do do with that person afterwards?  I sure wouldn't.

He's good as gone from UW IMO. 

[StillAWarrior]

"He kind of melted into the table," said the source. "He got the sulky, head-down, won't-make-eye-contact look."

This sounds an awful lot like how a guy looks just before he breaks up with his girlfriend.  Here's hoping Vander has the class to give UW the old, "it's not you...it's me"...even if UW is playing the scorned girlfriend role.

[larrym]

I was going to post pretty much the same thing.  If they didn't think it was a done deal he is gone, the local beat writer would not be putting that out there.  Especially the demeanor stuff.

If Blue was going to stay at Wisconsin, 98% of the details of that meeting don't get leaked in that manner.  Or if they are, they are spun to make it sound like that the UW/Memorial staffs have everything under control and such a meeting was just a mere well-being check on Blue, he's on track, got a little more work to do, etc.

Considering how that source went out of the way to make comments on Blue's demeanor, there's some hard feelings at hand here.  If you had a meeting with your boss that didn't go smoothly and he leaked how you reacted to your coworkers, etc, wouldn't you want to have nothing do do with that person afterwards?  I sure wouldn't.

He's good as gone from UW IMO. 

[MU_Iceman]

Considering his academic situation, are we certain he'd be able to qualify at MU?  If there is any truth to the rumors, it sounds like he has no interest in putting forth the effort necessary to get his grades up...how different are our standards to UW's?  Obviously we wouldn't pass up on a stud, non-academic qualifier (accepting Wade turned out to be a pretty good decision), but would Vander be WILLING to come to a school where he couldn't play the first year?

[Thomas' Danish Delight]

Man...the Badger kids sure sound insecure over Blue even though nothing is for sure, yet.

I hope Vander knows that Badger fans are bitchin' and talkin' crap about him and he decides to come to Marquette to reunite with Jeronne so that the two of them can shut them tfu at least once a year.

[Pakuni]

Considering his academic situation, are we certain he'd be able to qualify at MU?  If there is any truth to the rumors, it sounds like he has no interest in putting forth the effort necessary to get his grades up...how different are our standards to UW's?  Obviously we wouldn't pass up on a stud, non-academic qualifier (accepting Wade turned out to be a pretty good decision), but would Vander be WILLING to come to a school where he couldn't play the first year?

You're assuming that everything Bo's minions are leaking about his academics and demeanor/effort are accurate.

Ask yourself a couple questions:

1. Would a 17-year-old really pout when told he needs to work on his grades to get into the school he really wants to attend? Does that sound like a realisitic response? Wouldn't the kid at least pay lip service to the idea, especially in front of the guy he wants to be his college head coach? I'd suggest that IF Blue really reacted that way, he didn't care what kind of impression he made on Bo. And if he doesn't care, it's because he's already decided that he won't play for Bo.


2. Given some of the kids who havegone through the UW athletic system over the years, does it seem just a little odd that more than a year before Blue would even step on campus as a student they university feels this is a dire academic situation? Does that make sense? Meet with him to make sure he'll qualify? Absolutely. Declare that he's on a certain path to junior college? C'mon. Doesn't pass the smell test.
I'm not saying blue does or doesn't have academic issues and will or won't have trouble qualifying. Beats me. But for them to make a public showing of this during the kids junior year tells me they're less concerned about the kid's grades than they are with saving face.

[Brewtown Andy]

*IF* Blue is having academic issues, that troubles me.  When Maymon committed, there was a lot of talk about how he was going to have to bust his butt in the classroom to be eligible.  *IF* Blue is withdrawing his verbal to UW in order to follow Maymon to MU, I'd like to think he would have seen Maymon busting his butt all this last year and said, "hey, I'm gonna do the same thing so I don't have any problems at all ever."

[GOMU1104]

""He needs to, for lack of a better term, pick up the pace or there will be a 'junior' in front of his next college," said a source close to the UW."


Are you serious?

[MU_Iceman]

My bad, amending my previous statement...IF he has academic problems, how do our standards compare to UW's?  And IF his grades and test scores are a concern, do you think he would be willing to attend a school as a redshirt, non-qualifer?

Hopefully this is just a bunch of lip service from a bitter UW staff - hell, it helps our chances if Bucky Nation bashes him - because I love the idea of snagging ANOTHER highly regarded player on the national level (as of today) from Madison's front yard...

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

Considering his academic situation, are we certain he'd be able to qualify at MU?  If there is any truth to the rumors, it sounds like he has no interest in putting forth the effort necessary to get his grades up...how different are our standards to UW's?  Obviously we wouldn't pass up on a stud, non-academic qualifier (accepting Wade turned out to be a pretty good decision), but would Vander be WILLING to come to a school where he couldn't play the first year?

As much as the UW people want to brag about their academic standards being SO much higher than the rest, they're full of crap.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/resources/file/eb1afe0c529230b/Quick_Reference_Sheet_for_IE_Standards-5-2-08.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Page 2 of this link has the sliding scale the NCAA uses to determine minimum qualfication standards.  Besides meeting the core course requirement (16), you have to have the proper ACT/SAT score and GPA combination.  Most major D-1 programs require a 2.5 GPA and an ACT composite (sum of all 4 sections) of 68 on this sliding scale (or in other words, a 17 on your ACT).  I've heard thru various sources over the years that UW and MU have the EXACT same standard for basketball players, a 2.5 GPA and a 17 ACT. 

This scale is the bare minimum requirements.  Some institutions, like Northwestern, require a high core GPA AND a higher ACT score.  I know this from experience; a high school classmate of mine, who ended up playing football at Purdue before going on for a couple of NFL training
camp, got a 17 on his first attempt of the ACT.  However, since he had a scholarship offer from Northwestern he wanted to take advantage of, he paid off a classmate to retake the test for him, got a 22, and accepted to NU (they required a 22).  Obviously, he was red-flagged by the NCAA Clearinghouse and ended up at a JuCo for his first 2 years of college. 

Also, UW has the luxury of burying their student-athletes in easier programs.  They have plenty of majors like Agricultural Journalism, PhysEd, Sports Management, etc. to bury them in.  The only comparables I can think of MU on that scale would be Comm. Studies and Social Welfare & Justice.  Even with those 2 majors, there's still a considerable amount of work students in those majors must put in, as they must do 36 credits as part of MU's Core of Common Studies of courses EVERY UNDERGRADUATE must take.  As I've said before, although most of the men's basketball players at MU end up in Comm. Studies, if you want to do something different (ie. Chris Grimm=Education, David Diggs=Electrical Engineering, Dominic James=PR/Spanish, Wesley Matthews=Advertising, Jamil Lott=psychology/sociology), you have the flexibility to do that.  Rarely do I see a UW student-athlete in football or basketball outside of one of those three majors. 

In the end, I really do not believe that MU and UW's admission standards for athletes are not that much different.  The difference is in how the institutions handle them once they get in the door, and I think MU does a superior job in that than UW does.

[MU Chi_IL]

Being from Chicago I have no idea, but what kind of school is James Madison Memorial High School (public/Private...good rep/bad rep)?