Durley granted release

[thehammock]

i'm a huge buzz fan but i'm with mac and sultan on this one; don't like it at all. i'll wait for durley's side of the story but i fear it will be that "assistant coach X called and said i no longer had a scholarship." i hope my gut feeling is wrong!

with the rumored new restrictions placed on buzz by the administation, how was this allowed to go down (pending it was not a mutual decision)?

[MUBurrow]

If you are fine with this from a basketball perspective, and that outweighs any other concern you might have about it, fine, but admit that. But cmon, enough rationalizing.

Among the more porous sentiments:

1) That this is win-win --- Stop it. Thats remarkably condescending. Durley gets to decide whats best for Durley. All everyone here says when Buzz is still recruiting w/ no schollies in his pocket is, "Anything can happen, keep going Buzz!" What if Durley wanted to say the same thing? We've got two bigs on the roster with recovering injuries and serious mobility issues. Hell, in the past few weeks, some of the same people who are now praising this move were saying "Its going to be so great for Durley to practice behind Otule and Gardner and learn behind them. We need to develop bigs. Guys with Durley's size don't grow on trees."  Now this is whats best for him? Please.

2) Buzz has to be more loyal to Otule than Durley -- Two points: a) everyone pointing out that this is better for Durley than enrolling at MU is relying on the fact that schollies are renewable every year, so it could've gotten pulled next year. So how long does a player need to be on the roster before Buzz "owes" him a schollie over someone else while he overrecruits? Or is it just whoever is on the roster the longest deserves the most loyalty? By that logic, you could pull Otule's scholarship just as easily as Durley's.  b) There is no way its less loyal to say "Chris, we really appreciate all you've done for the program, but no one could have foreseen what has happened here and we had already committed the scholarship because we thought you were going to be gone."  Its Chris' situation that is so unusual and unforeseen. Not Durley's.  Would this certainly suck for Chris? Of course. But at the end of the day, it isn't more disloyal to tell him you just can't afford another year of scholarship just because the NCAA makes an exception and says its okay than it is to pull the rug out from Durley.

[madtownwarrior]

well at least we can switch the topic from "Buzz almost went to SMU / administration is pushing Buzz out" to "how can Buzz possibly pull this kids scholarship"

and soon the promised Marquette Basketball Hiroshima?

[Norm]

I don't like this move to release Durley from his LOI. Seems really smarmy and can't help but feel this trend of releasing guys from their LOI will be used against Buzz on the recruiting trail by opposing programs.

[bamamarquettefan]

Not that surprising.   The kid never played his senior year of high school.    Very unlikely he'd make the transition to the Big East similar to Mbao and Roseboro.


I don't know why they keep offering these massive projects.   Get it done already Buzz.   Get that legit big it's been four years now.

Gosh, that made me look them up.  Mbao was worth 0.32% Value Add (all on defense of course) for Marshall to be in the top half of all D1 players but obviously nowhere near Big East level.  Roseboro was actually worth 0.01% Value Add for St. B's, and actually almost half of players have no value add, so he did just  little.  In fairness though DJ Newbill was a top 500 player.

In general though, i still say these kind of releases are good when it just becomes evident the player can have a much more fulfilling career at another school than being buried at the end of the bench at MU.  This isn't a tough one.  Obviously the tough and fair debate is if we get a late 5-star at some point in the future and someone who is a decent BE bench player is odd man out.

[Goose]

I believe this is the type of situation that causing a problem for Buzz with the brass. The off court stuff is made worse because the over recruiting and letting kids go looks bad to some. Obviously everything comes to character and being in position of telling one kid no to get another kid does not play well in some circles.

[ATWizJr]

If they want to compete they better get used to it. Doesn't the AD have to sign off on the release?  If they feel that bad about it why don't they give the kid an academic schollie and ease their minds?

[Stretchdeltsig]

It's Buzz's responsibility to field the best team possible.  This means the most talented players that give MU a chance to succeed.  Durley had a terrible senior year period.  His poor play or lack of play simply took him out of scholarship contention.  This action was appropriate.  We need talented players period. 

[tower912]

I would like Durley at MU.    But IMO, there are two reasons he isn't coming.   1.  Otule coming back for a 6th year.  (IMO, he wouldn't have been ready to contribute until his third season anyway, which leads to the second reason.......) 2.  He made no progress his senior year.    Again, IMO, Buzz and Co game to the conclusion that this guy was not going to play for a couple of years, if at all.   I disagree, but I haven't seen him.     My final opinion is that if CO wasn't coming back for a 6th year, Durley would be coming in and perhaps red-shirting.    

[brewcity77]

It's Buzz's responsibility to field the best team possible.  This means the most talented players that give MU a chance to succeed.  Durley had a terrible senior year period.  His poor play or lack of play simply took him out of scholarship contention.  This action was appropriate.  We need talented players period. 

Disagree. There's more to this than just fielding the best team. And there's nothing wrong with having your 12th and 13th man not really contribute, if it comes to that. This isn't pro basketball, and I don't like the idea of playing fantasy sports with a kid's life. I sincerely hope that Durley was fully involved in this process.

Winning is important, but I don't want to turn into Kentucky in the process.

[Big Daddy 84]

This was not done in a vacuum and Coach Courtney had input and was included in discussion. He was in agreement that Aaron was not ready to play in the BE. I hope that Aaron finds great success on and off the court.

BD

[jsglow]

Disagree. There's more to this than just fielding the best team. And there's nothing wrong with having your 12th and 13th man not really contribute, if it comes to that. This isn't pro basketball, and I don't like the idea of playing fantasy sports with a kid's life. I sincerely hope that Durley was fully involved in this process.

Winning is important, but I don't want to turn into Kentucky in the process.

Brew, this doesn't turn us into Kentucky.  My son isn't Harvard material.  Part of my job as a parent during his college search process is to help him make a good choice that positions him well for the future.  If Harvard had 'offered' him this Spring, I would have encouraged him not to head in that direction for his own good.  Durley's HS coach and Buzz did the same (and right) thing by the young man.  Sure he's disappointed.  But in the long run this will pay off for him.

For comparisons sake, assume Buzz ran Mellow off the team right now to make room for some stud recruit.  Now that would be a 'Kentucky' move and wrong on every level.

[UticaBusBarn]

i'm a huge buzz fan but i'm with mac and sultan on this one; don't like it at all. i'll wait for durley's side of the story but i fear it will be that "assistant coach X called and said i no longer had a scholarship." i hope my gut feeling is wrong!

with the rumored new restrictions placed on buzz by the administation, how was this allowed to go down (pending it was not a mutual decision)?

This quote, like many on this thread, fit into the "rag picker" mentality. All the comments, in this and other posts, are conditioned on assumptions the poster does not know ... "I'll wait for Durley's side of the story, but fear ... rumored new restrictions ... pending it was not a mutual decision", etc.

This, and most of the other posts in this thread, reminds this alum of Logic 101. "A chair has four legs, a dog has four legs, therefore a chair must be a dog."

It would do all of us well to stick to the facts, and not make things up to fit our own (fractured) thought process.

[DomJamesToTheBasket]

He clearly didn't have the senior season expected from a High-Major. He is a big time project that may pan out eventually, but that is a big question mark. Most guys never develop. It's hard. Had he come, he would have surely not seen any minutes his first 2 years at least...even with another injury at center. Buzz prefers to go with a skilled small in that situation. Odds are he would have transferred after Freshman season. It would at least be wildly speculated and the process would repeat after Sophomore season. That's no fun for anyone.

I hope he picks a school where he can gain game experience right away. I'll definitely be rooting for him.

[wiscwarrior]

A tad off topic, but would it be safe to assume that the posters pre 8:00 am on a Saturday morning are not students and probably have first hand knowledge of the Al era? 

[jsglow]

A tad off topic, but would it be safe to assume that the posters pre 8:00 am on a Saturday morning are not students and probably have first hand knowledge of the Al era? 

LOL. God it sucks to be old!

[MattyWarrior]

Guilty as charged, I had great seats for all the home games in 77!  I thought Durley would go Juco this year when I saw
all his DNPs.

[Hards Alumni]

This was not done in a vacuum and Coach Courtney had input and was included in discussion. He was in agreement that Aaron was not ready to play in the BE. I hope that Aaron finds great success on and off the court.

BD

Quoted since it was probably missed.

Anyone who claims the rug was pulled out from Durley is misinformed.

He probably saw it coming months ago like more than a few of us.

[nycwarrior]

Life Lessons with Buzz. Quote about preparing young men to be husbands and fathers. Wearing Christianity on your sleeve.

These are all positive things that appear to make our coach genuine and perhaps somewhat unique in what many regard as a less than human business. For our Jesuit school which teaches and preaches Ad Majorem Dei Gloriem, that's appealing.

Now we see our leader chasing one kid (Lockett) as he makes room for him by rescinding a commitment to another kid.

This is not happening at this moment because of Otule. We need a schollie right now because Lockett might average 15 ppg next year, DJO's gone and Vander cant shoot. All of our decisions are being driven by making the team better. For some, that's all that matters. For others, it stinks of MU becoming like "the other kinda schools."

For me it's tough to take because of all the talk about having a higher purpose and a commitment to these kids.

And don't tell me it's a win-win. Durley's tweet shows he wanted to be here. What if that's as much about school as it is about hoops?

Life Lessons just had a summer school session.

[Goose]

Hards
I would agree this just did not happen overnight and unfortunately many only see the end result. I am sure Buzz has the kids best interest in mind and not trying to hurt the kid.

[tower912]

Durley played JV as a junior.   His coach didn't play him as a senior.   With Otule coming back, he wasn't going to see much playing time until his third year at MU.    That means 4 straight years of not much playing time.   Maybe the whole "hurting right now" quote is about the fact that he knew he wasn't going to play much at MU, was sad that his original plan had fallen through, but knew he wanted to go somewhere he could actually play.   From that perspective, there is every chance this was a relatively mutual decision. 

[jsglow]

Life Lessons with Buzz. Quote about preparing young men to be husbands and fathers. Wearing Christianity on your sleeve.

These are all positive things that appear to make our coach genuine and perhaps somewhat unique in what many regard as a less than human business. For our Jesuit school which teaches and preaches Ad Majorem Dei Gloriem, that's appealing.

Now we see our leader chasing one kid (Lockett) as he makes room for him by rescinding a commitment to another kid.

This is not happening at this moment because of Otule. We need a schollie right now because Lockett might average 15 ppg next year, DJO's gone and Vander cant shoot. All of our decisions are being driven by making the team better. For some, that's all that matters. For others, it stinks of MU becoming like "the other kinda schools."

For me it's tough to take because of all the talk about having a higher purpose and a commitment to these kids.

And don't tell me it's a win-win. Durley's tweet shows he wanted to be here. What if that's as much about school as it is about hoops?

Life Lessons just had a summer school session.

Of course he wanted to be here.  But it is not in HIS best interest.  And the 2 basketball experts in his life right now are facilitating that with the least amount of disruption for Aaron.

[GGGG]

Of course he wanted to be here.  But it is not in HIS best interest.  And the 2 basketball experts in his life right now are facilitating that with the least amount of disruption for Aaron.

And while I understand that, how many fliers is Buzz going to take on this type of player?  He has backed out of NLIs three of the last five years...I simply don't like that trend.

[NotAnAlum]

First of all I'm not going to say this was some kind of mutual decision or the kids decision.  Based on his tweet it clearly wasn't.
That said I can live with it and I don't think it says anything really negative about Buzz or the program.
This is big time college athletics boys.  These guys are being offered $200,000 in scholarship, expensive training facilities, the chance to be coached by a multimillion dollar coaching staff, a decent shot at the NBA.
Durley's tweet says he'll be more motivated now.  Well maybe he should have been more "motivated" during his senior year.  Obviously from his HS Coach's point of view he wasn't.
Buzz was willing to take a flyer on this guy probably because he figured he'd red shirt his first year while CO as a senior and Davante as a junior played ahead of him.  Then after a red-shirt year he back up Davante while we try to recruit another center.  Well guess what.  When Chris got injuried and in effect got a 6th season that all changed.  Now the staff is looking at 2 years where Durley won't see the floor.  All of that said if this guy was putting up good HS numbers they still take him.  BUT HE ISN'T AND THAT IS ON HIM.
For all we know his coach may have told Buzz "You know I told you to take a flyer on this kid because he has potential but after this year I'm not so sure, he just doesn't get it."
To me this is not nearly as heartless as forcing guys into walkon status (as Louisville has done) or kicking guys off the team.  Its not even as heartless as what some on this board have advocated "Not allowing Chris a 6th year so we can move on and he'll probably get injured anyway."  That is HEARTLESS.
IF MU is going to have to take chances on guys this is going to happen and people can't resort to all kinds of hand ringing when it does.

[real chili 83]

Wow, and the kid had a 427 mph fastball.

Seriously, feel bad for the kid.  Also feel a little stupid for drinking the koolaid on this one that Buzz was serving.

Curious how Enlund's interview of Durley's coach came about.  Did the coach initiate it?  If so, seems like a cheap shot.  Did Buzz call the coach and put him up to the interview?  Did Buzz call Enlund, and tell him to do the interview?  I doubt if Enlund figured this out all on his own.

Best of luck to Durley.