IWB on Newbill

[Ready2Fly]

So does this version sit well with Chicos?

It's not negative, so I'm guessing no.

[Pakuni]

So basically you're saying Brad Forster is full of it. Which is fine, I'm just saying there are two sides of the story.  You have the Marquette side and he has the Newbill side.  The truth is in the middle.  Also, is the coach he's mentioning the coach you mention that's been posting here for two months (Philly Coach) or a different one?  


**Cut from another post from Forster**

These are the facts that have been presented to me from the Newbill side:

1) Scott Monarch phones Stan Laws today to ask about DJ's MU application.
2) Coach Laws informs Scott he will have DJ complete the application immediately.
3) Monarch responds by saying Buzz is no longer certain of DJ's commitment to the program and questions whether Newbill will be dependable considering the application has yet to be completed.
4) After probing Scott further to get past what Stan considered a convenient excuse for Marquette to release DJ, Monarch informs Stan that all along he's been the only coach on staff who believes DJ's skills are Big East caliber.
5) Scott tells Stan that Buzz has decided to go another direction and he needs DJ to sign a form requesting his release from Marquette.  (Remember, DJ had already signed on the dotted line)

From what I have surmised, DJ may have been a bit late in completing the final application for official MU enrollment and the failure to submit the application was used as a way for the BB team to sever ties with him.  DJ had asked Stan just a few weeks ago why his friends were receiving calls from representatives of their respective universities, but he had heard nothing from Marquette.  In being presented the Newbill camp's side of the story it sure sounds like DJ was no longer in Marquette's plans, and after some additional probing by Stan Laws, Scott Monarch admitted as much.  DJ's family is devastated and it's awfully late in the game to try and latch on somewhere else.  It's highly disappointing that Buzz asked one of his assistant coaches to call Stan with the gut wrenching news and subsequently leave it to Stan to relay that news to DJ.  Again, this is Coach Laws version of what transpired today.

No, he's not saying Brad Forster is full of it. He's saying Brad's source is not fully apprised of the facts.

[Litehouse]

I think he's saying PhillyCoach/Coach Laws hasn't been fully involved in everything and may not have known the whole situation and may not necesarily represent the DJ side of the story.

[IWB]

Absolutely correct.

[Shack]

Is Philly Coach and Coach Laws the same guy?    

[dwaderoy2004]

I just don't understand why we would accept a NLI from him if the plan was never to actually have him on the team this year.  That to me still doesn't make sense.  Nothing good can come of that.  If a guard spot opens up, cool, you sign him at that point.  If not, cool, nothing was ever in writing, so you just keep recruiting the kid when he goes to prep school.  Unless Buzz was trying to keep him from signing with another BE school.  But that is purely speculative.

[Lennys Tap]

IWB's story on DJ is logical, especially given the fact that we were told loudly and often by those in the know (including Buzz) that he was not done recruiting and that it was likely that one of our signees was headed to prep school. It was also widely reported that the recruit had known the score from the jump but had elected to sign with MU anyway. Don't know how Buzz could have been more transparent with DJ or the MU fanbase on this matter.

Will our neighbors to the west or even all of our own fans accept this "evidence" as consistent with what Buzz and the program have been reporting all along? If they're fair, logical and have been listening all along, yes. If not, who cares?

[Nukem2]

I just don't understand why we would accept a NLI from him if the plan was never to actually have him on the team this year.  That to me still doesn't make sense.  Nothing good can come of that.  If a guard spot opens up, cool, you sign him at that point.  If not, cool, nothing was ever in writing, so you just keep recruiting the kid when he goes to prep school.  Unless Buzz was trying to keep him from signing with another BE school.  But that is purely speculative.

The NLI was contingent upon nothing else happening that would help to balance the roster position-wise.  Well that happened with wilson and DJ goes to Plan B.

[bradforster]

This story is laughable.  Tune in on Friday for the exclusive. 

[dwaderoy2004]

The NLI was contingent upon nothing else happening that would help to balance the roster position-wise.  Well that happened with wilson and DJ goes to Plan B.

That's not what IWB said:

"Not long after visiting MU last summer, DJ Newbill wanted to commit to MU. However, MU already had Vander Blue, Reggie Smith and Jamail Jones in the fold. DJ was told that they had needs at other positions, and that they had to continue to recruit other positions. Newbill wanted to commit anyway, knowing that there was a good chance that he may not end up at MU in 2010, and he commited.

Fast forward to the period leading up to signing day. Newbill knew the situation and approached MU about it. Newbill was told that the situation hasn't changed, and that it was likely the only way MU could take him, was if he went to a prep school for a year. Newbill understood, hoped things would work out earlier than prep school, and wanted to sign. MU accepted the signature."

Based on this, what is supposedly a direct-from-the-horse's-mouth rundown of what transpired, we never intended on keeping Newbill on teh roster.  When we aaccepted the NLI, we told him he was going to prep school.

[Pakuni]

The NLI was contingent upon nothing else happening that would help to balance the roster position-wise.  Well that happened with wilson and DJ goes to Plan B.

Regardless, it's a poor way to go about recruiting and hopefully no longer will occur. It seems to me the potenial for negative consequences far outweigh the potential benefits of stashing away a borderline Big East player as a backup plan to your backup plan.
Hopefully everyone has learned from this and won't make this mistake again.

Note: Not saying Buzz did anything inappropriate or immoral here, just that it seems a practice that has far more downside than upside.

[jesmu84]

This story is laughable.  Tune in on Friday for the exclusive. 

Will this be an unbiased exclusive?

[ChicosBailBonds]

So in summary, is this a correct statement.


DJ Newbill signed to play with Marquette, signed a NLI, always knowing in the background that he may never step foot on campus if another player came a long and would be cut?  He did this because......because he wanted so badly to play for Marquette that he was willing to take that risk rather than sign a NLI with any number of other schools where this risk didn't exist?

Do I have this correct, because that's what it seems like people are saying.   

[reinko]

This story is laughable.  Tune in on Friday for the exclusive. 

Wow, two in one day!

[bilsu]

All this for a player that will be a 2011 third string small forward behind Blue and Jones.

[NavinRJohnson]

So in summary, is this a correct statement.


DJ Newbill signed to play with Marquette, signed a NLI, always knowing in the background that he may never step foot on campus if another player came a long and would be cut?  He did this because......because he wanted so badly to play for Marquette that he was willing to take that risk rather than sign a NLI with any number of other schools where this risk didn't exist?

Do I have this correct, because that's what it seems like people are saying.   

For someone who doesn't evaluate coaches until after 5 years, you certainly do seem to have your mind made up about this situation, don't you? Why am I not surprised? Perhaps if Buzz put out some bush league, weak sauce tweets, you might be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[PE8983]

I'm not crazy about this whole thing going down, but it sure sounds like DJ has known for a while that he wasn't going to be at MU (no ProAm, no application filled out).  I guess I would rather have a roster of 12 than go thru this often.

[ChicosBailBonds]

This story is laughable.  Tune in on Friday for the exclusive. 

I don't know if it's laughable, but it certainly doesn't close all the holes, that's for sure.   If this kid comes out and refutes it or his family \ coaches do, then what?  Of course, I'm sure MU is going to "help" him with the notion that he keeps his mouth shut.

This whole thing is beyond strange and if it went down with any other school, we would all be calling B.S.

[dw3dw3dw3]

Did he ever have any major offers other than ours? Was WV a real offer, or just another if we don't get the first 20 guys were after offers? That would be the only way it would make sense. Its take a risk on us or go to the Patriot league/DII/etc..

[CrazyEcho]

Did he ever have any major offers other than ours? Was WV a real offer, or just another if we don't get the first 20 guys were after offers? That would be the only way it would make sense. Its take a risk on us or go to the Patriot league/DII/etc..

+1

[MarkCharles]

1. phillycoach being more removed from DJ's recruiting situation than he let on makes his reaction to the news today 100% logical. He was likely as blindsided as any of us (although likely not Newbill)
2. MU appeared to be feverishly recruiting until around the time Kent was fired at Oregon, which is likely when it became clear that Jamil was transferring out of there. Since that time, we stopped taking 2010 visits. This could help to explain why we apparently cooled on Noreen, and why he chose WVU out of the blue.
3. Nothing about Buzz makes me think he would simply cast aside a recruit out into the cold for a better player. Im not saying hes a saint, just not scum like many have been insinuating.
4. IWB and others have been hinting at coming "good news" for weeks. It appears this was it.
5. Buzz previously stated that one of our recruits would go to prep school. It appears this is more true now than ever, unless DJ chooses to try for another school.
6. The timing of these events may have looked fishy at first, but it is clear this was a possibility all along. I feel bad that DJ got so close, but it seems he knew this was a possibility.
7. IWB has proven to be nothing but reliable in the limited time I have been following this site, while brad forster seems oddly connected to the Newbill camp. Im not sayin, I'm just sayin...
8. The lack of a completed application, lack of knowledge about the summer league etc. show DJ had a bit of a disconnect from the program that leads me to believe he knew this could be coming.

All these lead me to believe that IWB's side of the story is at least pretty close to the truth. I will say, I am greatly relieved at this.

Best of luck to DJ and Jamil.

[NavinRJohnson]

“Coach Monarch is a great guy. He is really cool, and like Buzz Williams, he’s real. They keep it real, they doesn’t tell you what you want to hear, they tell you what you need to hear. I really think coach Williams has the best intentions in helping kids out, in helping them to develop.”

 -- DJ Newbill

Either Buzz is a big time snake, or the contention that MU was upfront with this kid all along seems rather legit, even if this situation didn't work out the way DJ had hoped.

[MarkCharles]

forgot one..

9. DJ's genuine enthusiasm for the MU program illustrates why he might have been willing to accept this contingency deal.

[MUfan12]

This story is laughable.  Tune in on Friday for the exclusive. 

Sorry Brad. You made a nice video, but I can guarantee that IWB is more connected to the program than you will ever be.

Also, you say "tune in" like you're a reporter. If that's the case, your credibility as a "reporter" takes a MAJOR hit. From what you've written, you are far too emotionally invested into this kid to give any sort of unbiased account.

[Boone]

Yawn. IWB has credibility. This Forster dude has zip!