Latest Newbill Developments

[NCMUFan]

Therein lies the problem and why lives are affected when you throw 18 year olds under a bus and don't honor commitments.

Yet people here get cranky when this is pointed out and the messenger is the bad guy.  The koolaid is very strong for some.  Jim Jones is smiling in hell somewhere.

Chicos you call yourself the messenger.  The messenger for who, ChicoBailBandsExpress?  And this is on the scale of Jim Jones?  Dude what are you drinking?

[PE8983]

Offers from all these schools - WVU...
Of course, kids never exagerate the schools that are interested in them.  We'll see what level of interest there is in DJ now that he is free to sign with whomever. 

[ATWizJr]

Ask yourself, would you sign a letter of intent to a school if you were told there was a good chance you would never play there?

We and you don't know that exactly what he was told.  What if he was told that the offer was conditional and that he could sign the LOI if he chose but that there were other developments that could affect his being actually being on the team and yet, he decided to take his chances?  Then, whose at fault?

[TJ]

We and you don't know that exactly what he was told.  What if he was told that the offer was conditional and that he could sign the LOI if he chose but that there were other developments that could affect his being actually being on the team and yet, he decided to take his chances?  Then, whose at fault?

I'm still not pleased with MU for offering and agreeing to such a one-sided crappy deal.

[GGGG]

It should be interesting. I wonder if Buzz and Marquette received legal advice before this all happened.  With a law school their should of been no shortage of advice.

His boss is an attorney.

[NCMUFan]

His boss is an attorney.

Excellent point.  So I am sure they sat down and weighted all the facts of the recruitments and chose a responsible action.  Folks we don't know all the facts and that is why I am holding any type of judgement one way or the other.

[ATWizJr]

I'm still not pleased with MU for offering and agreeing to such a one-sided crappy deal.
[/quote  You may be living in utopia.

[NavinRJohnson]

I've seen some BS on this board, but I think we reaching new heights.

Legal action. Really, Chico? What's he gonna do, claim its not his signature on the LOI or release form he signed? Time to come back to the real world people. I'm sure he's disappointed, but MU told him he couldn't play basketball here. They didn't give him Smallpox.

If anyone should be concerned about legal ramifications, I'm thinking it would be our resident videographer and those involved with Newbill if they put out some intentionally false or misleading account of things to try to discredit MU.

The more I hear, the better I feel about MU in this whole thing.

As I've said before, get a grip!

[bradforster]

On June 7th before a Philadelphia basketball tournament I did ask Newbill and company on camera if prep school was ever an option.  They gave me an emphatic "no."  A person with any level of perspicacity would not sign up for the deal I've heard discussed on this board.  A kid and his advisors are pondering the following scenario:

"I have been offered a scholarship to play at West Virginia and other schools close to home or I can sign a conditional deal with a school in the midwest knowing that if someone better comes along I will be the odd man out.  If I am asked to leave I will never play Big East basketball.  Heck yeah, where do I sign!" 

No one would sign a letter of intent for that deal.  I don't think anyone would do it to play for a traditional college hoops power, much less a team that shows up on national TV only a handful of times each year and hasn't exactly enjoyed post season success of late.  It's not as though a Philadelphia kid grows up dreaming to play for Marquette.  If I did a poll right now anywhere on the east coast about Marquette's geographical location, only 1 or 2 athletes out of 10 would be able to provide the correct answer. 

When I asked DJ why he chose Marquette, he said because of the family atmosphere Buzz creates for his players.  He enjoyed the elite camp experience.  He and his folks liked everything Buzz stood for and DJ looked forward to working hard and earning quality playing time next year. 

To answer the question on whether or not I have posed all the quesions that were recommended on here.  Yes, I have done so off camera and I have received responses to all of them.  I have absolutely no reason to doubt what I have been told.   

 

[Litehouse]

Brad, do you know who this mystery adviser was that IWB referred to?

[bradforster]

I do know the name of the advisor. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chicos you call yourself the messenger.  The messenger for who, ChicoBailBandsExpress?  And this is on the scale of Jim Jones?  Dude what are you drinking?

It's sad when you to use teal now all the time to denote sarcasm.  Yeah, I was equating it with Jim Jones?   

[bilsu]

What's an attorney going to do for Newbill? He won't get stink.

I am not so sure about this. He had a valid contract. The only thing lacking was the failure to submit his application, which in my mind is a correctible error. I am not a lawyer, but what steps did MU take to see that he followed through with that part. Has MU in the past asked other recruits where their paper work was? I would think every school would normally keep on top of getting the necessary paper work done for an incoming recruit. Look at the Mbao situation last year. Buzz said they wre following up daily with the clearing house. My impression of Buzz is that he leaves no stone unturned, but they let Newbill sit on his application. As far as I see it MU's(Buzz's) only out is if they can prove they had a verbal agreement with DJ to not submit the paper work or to go to prep school, so they could use the scholarship elsewhere. If they can do that it would get them off the hook with Newbill, but quite frankly then the NCAA should be coming to MU to look at what is going on. At a minimum the NCAA needs to change their rule to make this a violation in the future. It would be a very interesting case if it went to court. Newbill would be arguing he was denied the value of an MU education and how would MU effectively degrade the value of their own educational degree to show that Newbill was not damaged. However, the most likely reason for Newbill's family getting a lawyer is to get the prohibition form signing with another Big East team lifted. As much as I love MU, the perfect justice to me would have Newbill beat MU on a last second shot. I do not like what went on here at all.

[Litehouse]

Thanks, somewhere between:

Buzz -> Monarch - > Adviser X -> DJ

there was a breakdown in communication.

Maybe the Adviser was telling both sides what they wanted to hear to get the deal done and worry about the details later.  This seems like the biggest missing link to me.

Maybe Monarch wasn't clear enough and dropped the ball here.  I've only met him once and he seemed like a nice enough guy, but he didn't exactly strike me as having a dynamic personality or being an exceptional communicator.

Maybe DJ only heard what he wanted to hear and convinced himself he was coming to MU no matter.  Maybe prep school never was an option for him and plan B for him all along was someplace like Drexel or LaSalle if MU didn't work out.

Ultimately the responsibility lies with Buzz since he's in charge.  He's been saying repeatedly that someone was going to prep school.  I found it extremely odd he would make those comments publicly.  Newbill was the obvious choice, and it was even reported here months ago.  For some reason that message didn't get through clear enough to Newbill.

[NavinRJohnson]

However, the most likely reason for Newbill's family getting a lawyer is to get the prohibition form signing with another Big East team lifted.

That could make some sense (although I find it hard to beleive ay teams would be interested). As far as any action against MU goes, it would be a complete waste of time, especially since he signed a release.

[Litehouse]

Did he actually sign the release?  We know MU asked him to, but did he actually do it?

[icheights]

The argument that he didnt do that application and essay is crap because we all know schools bend over backward to get these kids enrolled (example: D. Wade)  but if the kid was told his enrollment is contingent upon MU not finding anyone else why would he not make sure he had a plan B...quite possibly because Newbill made a classic teenage mistake in only hearing what he wanted to hear...for some reason my gut tells me Buzz made it very clear to all parties involved what was going on, do I/we feel bad for DJ yes, but I also understand the waitlist aspect...I was waitlisted at schools thats just how it goes, live, learn, move on...good luck DJ and we should hope Buzz learns from this and does not do it again...What good would stringing this kid out in a bunch of interviews do either, move on.

[bradforster]

DJ will most certainly sign the release.  There is absoultely no reason for him to sit on it at this point.  The kid wants to play basketball.  He is ready to move on.  Stan and company are not happy that he does not have the opportunity to do that with a Big East school, but in the end he just wants to play hoops.   

[CTWarrior]

A kid and his advisors are pondering the following scenario:

"I have been offered a scholarship to play at West Virginia and other schools close to home or I can sign a conditional deal with a school in the midwest knowing that if someone better comes along I will be the odd man out.  If I am asked to leave I will never play Big East basketball.  Heck yeah, where do I sign!"  

This is the crux of the issue I have with this whole situation.  It makes absolutely no sense that a kid would sign a LOI with those conditions, which is what IWB/MU would have you believe.  Therefore I do not accept it as the truth.  I really liked everything about Buzz and what he publicly stands for, but it sure seems like we left this kid high and dry.

None of the other stuff that has happened, (Buzz leaving UNO, Roseboro leaving, Maymon leaving) bothered me much, because there were reasonable explanations that didn't cast Buzz in too bad a light.  This one is a head scratcher.

I still believe in Buzz the man, but less than I did a few days ago.  We should not be giving kids LOI's to sign unless we plan on honoring them save for law breaking or academic issues.

[MarkCharles]

To answer the question on whether or not I have posed all the quesions that were recommended on here.  Yes, I have done so off camera and I have received responses to all of them.  I have absolutely no reason to doubt what I have been told.   
 

Brad, will you be sharing the responses to our questions, or did DJ's camp ask you not to?

[NersEllenson]

DJ will most certainly sign the release.  There is absoultely no reason for him to sit on it at this point.  The kid wants to play basketball.  He is ready to move on.  Stan and company are not happy that he does not have the opportunity to do that with a Big East school, but in the end he just wants to play hoops.   

Brad - I liked the video you shot, and the insights you provided on DJ about 6 weeks ago.  Clearly you have developed a relationship with DJ and his people on a more personal level than any of us, or to anyone on the MU coaching staff.  It is perfectly reasonable for you to take the Newbill side of the story as the truth.  That said, most of us cannot discount IWB's account - and knowing what we know about Buzz - that he is brutually honest..it is hard for us to believe that DJ was completely blindsided by this.  Furthermore, at the time of your video and Philly Coach showing up on MUScoop, there was ALOT of speculation that DJ wouldn't be coming to MU at that time.  Why would this be?  There were also rumors of Jamil Wilson transferring from Oregon as early as February - and if MU had a deal with him at the earliest outset of the transfer rumors - why would MU have gone through with the Newbill LOI process in late April?  Truly, in many ways it seems Philly Coach and yourself (though maybe not with any real intent), combined to form this situation to where this event could be viewed as a travesty and injustice..if MU decided to go a different direction than Newbill.  I've never known of any other recruit's coach to come post on MUScoop..and it just seems a little weird now..given a ll that has transpired.  Thoughts?

[brewcity77]

You should get YOUR facts straight.  Mine are most certainly in line.  And as an added bonus, they have my actual name attached to them.  They aren't being attributed to Kevin O'Neill's Profanity Filter and Tom "George Hamilton" Crean.  Who the heck would actually use Mike Deane as their screen name anyway?  Obviously you have low expectations of yourself.

Really? Really, Mr. Forster? That's your line of attack? "Oh, I'm better than you because I used my real name when I posted, you must have no credibility."

Please.

People post on different message boards for different reasons. Most of them are posting because they want to discuss a common interest. I think that's the case for most of the people here. Some post because they want to big-up themselves. In the case of a journalist trying to make a break for himself, that makes perfect sense. There's nothing wrong with it, but my guess is that you will probably use the Newbill piece you cut for a demo tape or local piece. There's nothing wrong with that, and it's kind of you to share it with us, but let's not pretend that doing so doesn't give you the chance to get feedback from interested parties, allowing you to make improvements should you send the piece off to a prospective employer to show your prowess.

So you are Brad Forster. Alright, I'm Alan Bykowski. I use the screen name brewcity77 on every site I'm on as a reference to the town and year in which I was born. My interests include working out, Marquette basketball, soccer, the Konami video game series Pro Evolution Soccer (on one UK website I have over 15,000 posts under the brewcity77 name, and you guys thought Chicos had no life), and long walks by the man-made lake with my girlfriend near the condo in which we live. I graduated from Marquette in 2006 with a degree in broadcast communications and a minor in English. So now that my info is out there, I must have at least as much, if not more credibility than you do.

At the end of the day, I'm happy to hear DJ's and your side of the story. Like many on here, I think we are approaching our coach with support, but also a tentativeness as we hope he is the honest and stand-up guy he presents himself as. I truly hope for the best for DJ, and would be very happy if he did end up going the prep school route and joining Marquette a year from now. But I'm also not going to sit here and act like Marquette is the only party here that is likely in the wrong. There's two sides to every story, I'm guessing that Buzz probably could have handled things better but I'm also guessing DJ's handlers could have handled things better.

[Final Four or Bust]

You know, with all the allegations being thrown out, if IF the kid and his family have an attorney file a lawsuit.  Bring a claim for losses if there is an action.  If things happened as it has been described there may be a colorable claim.  Hell, if not that, I am sure the big east and mu would waive the no big east transfer restrictions if an appeal or other actions were taken.  Why do I sense that these things will never happen because the truth, whatever that is, isn't what has been out there by their camp.  Heck, why not cancel this interview as well.  Who knows, maybe someone from mu legal made a call.  

If this went down as reported bythe advisors camp is suspect there would be a claim.  I wouldn't wait- it's easier to talk tobpress.

[DiaperDandy]

This is the crux of the issue I have with this whole situation.  It makes absolutely no sense that a kid would sign a LOI with those conditions, which is what IWB/MU would have you believe.  Therefore I do not accept it as the truth.  I really liked everything about Buzz and what he publicly stands for, but it sure seems like we left this kid high and dry.

None of the other stuff that has happened, (Buzz leaving UNO, Roseboro leaving, Maymon leaving) bothered me much, because there were reasonable explanations that didn't cast Buzz in too bad a light.  This one is a head scratcher.

I still believe in Buzz the man, but less than I did a few days ago.  We should not be giving kids LOI's to sign unless we plan on honoring them save for law breaking or academic issues.

Well said.  I completely agree.  Whether or not which side is right, I do not like how this whole issue went down.  Having Newbill sign a LOI was the wrong decision and then cutting him right before he is about to set foot on campus is just plain wrong. I know this is a business, however I thought Marquette was above behaving in this manor.  I guess I was wrong.

[Hamostradamus]

Wow, I am stunned, stunned I tell you that you will not deliver on the shocking tell all.

If I can be so bold, what do you do for a living Mr. Forster?