[Rosiak's Blog] Interest shown in transferring Smith

[ToddRosiakSays]

Interest shown in transferring Smith
               



Reggie Smith, the freshman guard who received his release from Marquette University last week, is being pursued to this point by a handful of schools.

               

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/112818749.html
               

[Ellenson Guerrero]

Not an impressive list of options. Reggie must have been pretty sure that he was going to lose out to Cadougan in long run or really disliked Buzz in order to justify leaving his current playtime at Marquette and potential opportunity to be a main contributor. All the schools mentioned are substantially farther away from Chicago so that throws out the family justifications as well. 

[Tugg Speedman]

Here are the schools ...

Fairfield, LaSalle, South Alabama and Tulane.

In addition, a source said Nebraska, TCU and UNLV are also interested in possibly landing Smith, although TCU becoming a member of the Big East in 2012 might cause some issues with regard to the conference rule prohibiting players from transferring within the league.

----

It's been a while since I was 18 years old and I understand that teenagers are different than the rest of the human race. ...

Why does a player leave after 12 games and transfer to one of these schools?  Did Smith (or whoever is talking to him) just conclude he is a second rate player and needed to go to a second rate basketball school?  No interest in trying to "do what it takes" to make it at a top flight BE school?  At least JMay went to Tenn, who was top ten ranked a month ago (before the wheels fell off).

Why not transfer to North Central and be a D3 All-American.  

I just don't get it, please help me understand.

[GGGG]

A couple ideas...

1.  He cares more about playing time than he does about playing at the highest levels.

2.  He simply didn't like Buzz.

3.  He, or his family, completely misjudged the demand for Reggie's services.

[Skatastrophy]

I wish he would have stuck around so we could have watched him grow over the next 4 years, but I'm sure he had his reasons.  Best of luck to Reggie in his future endeavors!

[warthog-driver]

A couple ideas...
1.  He cares more about playing time than he does about playing at the highest levels.
2.  He simply didn't like Buzz.
3.  He, or his family, completely misjudged the demand for Reggie's services.

Door Number Three sounds like a winner

[GGGG]

Yeah, that is where I am leaning too warthog.  I also think if they would have waited until the end of the year, with still having a redshirt to burn, the demand could have been much higher.

[warthog-driver]

Yeah, that is where I am leaning too warthog.  I also think if they would have waited until the end of the year, with still having a redshirt to burn, the demand could have been much higher.

Rog. Mid season market value is diluted by availability. I do question the character of those who deem it appropriate or acceptable to bail in mid season. That has to be a factor for some coaches.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Door Number Three sounds like a winner

Is that based on empiricism? 




South...I'd add a few more

4.  He liked Buzz but just didn't feel right at Marquette University
5.  Reggie was a reach recruit and he realized he would be bypassed by other players down the road so he got out while he still could salvage 3 years of playing time
6.  MU, and it's coaching staff, misjudged the skill level of Reggie's abilities

[GGGG]

I'll grant you #4.

But #5 and #6 are just like my #1 but from a different POV.  He wasn't a reach recruit however.  He was ranked just outside the top 100 right?

[Marquette65]

  Trouble with grades?

[GGGG]

If it were trouble with grades, Reggie would likely not have initiated this.  I don't think MU is particularly hard for an incoming freshman compared to any other school.

[brewcity77]

I'll grant you #4.

But #5 and #6 are just like my #1 but from a different POV.  He wasn't a reach recruit however.  He was ranked just outside the top 100 right?

Yeah, ESPN graded him a 90, Rivals had him as a high three-star rated #112 overall in the country, and Scout had him as the #39 point guard in the country, also a three-star.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'll grant you #4.

But #5 and #6 are just like my #1 but from a different POV.  He wasn't a reach recruit however.  He was ranked just outside the top 100 right?

Yeah, probably so that 5 and 6 are like 1.  When I say "reach recruit", I mean that despite the rankings, perhaps not living up to the billing.

The rankings are nice, but they are so subjective based on where the kid played, who he played against, etc, etc.

[ChicosBailBonds]

  Trouble with grades?

If so, he might want to scratch Tulane off his list.

[Daniel]

Reggie would have done just fine at Marquette.  He started like 5 games and played a lot.  I think he could have been a very solid player and may have been the point next year.

[Bob "Big Daddy" Wild]

Is that based on empiricism? 




South...I'd add a few more

4.  He liked Buzz but just didn't feel right at Marquette University
5.  Reggie was a reach recruit and he realized he would be bypassed by other players down the road so he got out while he still could salvage 3 years of playing time
6.  MU, and it's coaching staff, misjudged the skill level of Reggie's abilities

7. He wanted to be more of a scoring guard than groomed as a backup or change of pace PG.

[Tugg Speedman]

All these points make sense if you leave AFTER your Freshman year (see Jamil Wilson).  That I get.  But to get the hell out of dodge after 12 games, because staying two more months to finish the year was intolerable makes no sense.

I guess I'm asking why Reggie thinks he better off now than 8 days ago before he asked to be released.  As much as I stretch, I cannot figure out how to spin this positively for him.

In the end I'm left with a kid that made a bad decision that reflects completely on him and not at all on MU or Buzz?  To be clear, it about transferring mid-season, not about leaving at end of the school year.  That makes sense, this does not.

Disagree?

Added:

If a kid left at the end of the year, and their grades were in good standing, and left for a mid-major that offered more time and opportunity, I get that and understand it.  But to bolt at mid-season for an early season "buy-a-game" school (LaSalle?, Fairfield?) is just wrong.

Sorry for being so redundant, I'm saying the same thing over and over because this is such a confusing and irrational decision on Reggie's part.

[GGGG]

In the end I'm left with a kid that made a bad decision that reflects completely on him and not at all on MU or Buzz?  To be clear, it about transferring mid-season, not about leaving at end of the school year.  That makes sense, this does not.

Disagree?

Nope.  I cannot understand the mentality of a mid-season transfer just because your options are limited and you don't get as much playing time in the end.

I wonder how much of it was being at home for Christmas and people talking in his ear.  The other question is, knowing what he knows now, would he have still made the same choice?  Or would he stick out for the rest of the season?

[warthog-driver]

Is that based on empiricism? 

No, It is what we in the flying world call the SWAG...there is a science to this sort of wild ass guess!

[bilsu]

If you buy into the fact that Buzz thought he was soft, than the reason for transferring was that he did not want to work so hard. Assuming that is the case then he is going to transfer down to a less demanding program. I still think he was physically sick and probably would not have played much the rest of the year anyways, so there was no reason for him to stay.

[Pakuni]

A couple ideas...

1.  He cares more about playing time than he does about playing at the highest levels.

2.  He simply didn't like Buzz.

3.  He, or his family, completely misjudged the demand for Reggie's services.

4. Coaches tend not to clamor over kids who start as freshmen, perform poorly then bail at mid-season over a lack of playing time.
Reggie may yet develop into a high-level player, but nothing he showed in his brief tenure at MU shows that's anywhere near a lock. Combine that with the squirminess some coaches may feel over the way he left, and this is what you can get.

[Lennys Tap]

Don't know why he left, but if anyone from his camp says it's because he wouldn't participate in weekly Satanic rituals at Buzz's home they'll be some here who'll insist that it's the gospel truth.

[Benny B]

Nope.  I cannot understand the mentality of a mid-season transfer just because your options are limited and you don't get as much playing time in the end.

I wonder how much of it was being at home for Christmas and people talking in his ear.  The other question is, knowing what he knows now, would he have still made the same choice?  Or would he stick out for the rest of the season?

+1.  Does anybody honestly believe that Reggie made this decision on his own?

[mikem91288]

Maybe LeDarryl Billingsly is a family friend and convinced him to head to the Green Wave.