Mbakwe article

[TallTitan34]

I'd like to make a motion that MU no longer recruit players from the Land of the Lakes. Any other takers?

Not to offend you Mr. Berowitz but I'd like to make a motion that MU no longer recruits players from the land of Israel.

[1990Warrior]

MU94 or anyone - what are the rules for coaches being able to run practices during the summer.  I thought that they weren't supposed to be able to have practices and that the players were on their own for most/all of the time.  Otherwise, what is the significance of midnight madness in October?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yeah, but once you throw Tom Copa into the mix Minnesota looks a lot better!

But when you add in Rod Grosse what happens.... 

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'm not so certain that this is any great loss. All Trevor ever had going for himself was potential. The fact that people are so worked up over this loss speaks volumes as to how bare Crean left the big man cupboard.

He was a top 100 kid offered by many very solid programs...he's going to be good, let's not knock the kid's abilities.  It's a loss, not catastrophic, but a loss especially with the timing.

[79Warrior]

He was a top 100 kid offered by many very solid programs...he's going to be good, let's not knock the kid's abilities.  It's a loss, not catastrophic, but a loss especially with the timing.

I think he is a substantial loss. Trevor is a big body we really needed.

[MR.HAYWARD]

Further evidence to my contention that Buzz needs to revamp the roster.  Yes we have the 3 amigos and even with losing Trevor will be good this year.  But Crean really failed in the recruiting circles after the 3 amigos, Lazar and Trevor would have been the 2 sole top 100 type players on the roster,  cannot compete in the BE witht hat lack of talent.  Then in season two all the blame would have gone on Buzz and potential recruits would be concerned about what is going on, is buzz safe etc.  This is obviously not the guy you want to lose but buzz needs some big time talent to keep Mu on top in 2010.  My hope is Buzz signs two more recruits ideally Snaer and Murray.

[MUFanInGreenBay]

Unfortunately, this is starting to remind me of Diener's last year at MU when they were severely short at guard after he got hurt. Only this time it's in the frontcourt, not the backcourt. Any kind of injury to Burke, Hazel, or Otule and it could get really bad. Just imagine Maurice Acker having to cover Hasheem Thabeet down in the post. I do think Hazel will be a pleasant surprise to a certain extent. He's not chopped liver by any means.

[MUBasketball]

I'm not so certain that this is any great loss. All Trevor ever had going for himself was potential. The fact that people are so worked up over this loss speaks volumes as to how bare Crean left the big man cupboard.

Man, isn't that the truth? Dwight Burke needs to absolutely explode his senior season.

I think Trevor would have been a very integral, effective part of the team the next three years, so this hurts. Undersized, yes. I guess we'll never know what he would have done.

I hope Pat Hazel can step up...he definitely will benefit from this. Hopefully he can provide good minutes off the bench and cushion the blow.

[Blackhat]

Per Mark Miller:  Mbakwe to attend MIAMI DADE COMMUNITY COLLEGE.   I don't want to bash a college kid but this guy's a freaking head case.  Good riddance.

[RawdogDX]

very sad. my expectations just dropped tremendously.

[MUBasketball]

Per Mark Miller:  Mbakwe to attend MIAMI DADE COMMUNITY COLLEGE.   I don't want to bash a college kid but this guy's a freaking head case.  Good riddance.

Just doesn't make any sense at all. Family reasons...but going to Miami?

[augoman]

certainly we all have high hopes for Hazel and Burke to step up.  it'll be interesting to see how Buzz adjusts to compensate for lack of size.  Might not be a bad idea to shop for a 'walk-on' quality big as backup-unless Burke can go 40 min w/o foul trouble, and Otule surprises us all.

[Niv Berkowitz]

To now jump out and say, 'well, he wasn't very good anyway' is akin to people that see polls of the election and when they don't go your way, they just say, 'yeah, well that poll's worthless anyway!'

Fact of the matter is a lot of time, energy and effort went into recruiting and rehabilitating Trevor. He was going to be a big, big cog for the team next year due to the bare coffers left by Crean. TM's now gone and he did so at the last possible friggin' minute.

I understand that there could be a lot of personal issues going on, but it's pathetic that he did this at this time and place.

NOTE - I did like Fitz. And he was never billed to be a superstar. I just blanked out momentarily on all the others from MN that MU's had that never really did a lot. Bottom line, there are other states to be recruiting players from other than MN.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Continuity just took another hit.   

[nyg]

Minnesota to South Beach, wow.

[MUfan12]

That choice is puzzling. Then again, he went from MN to GA and back for his senior year of HS. This might not be the last move in the JUCO ranks.

[MUFanInGreenBay]

This has the makings of a certain school being his destination and not having enough scholarships available right now. So he says what the heck I'll go experience South Beach for a few months in the meantime.

[RJax55]

Further evidence to my contention that Buzz needs to revamp the roster.  Yes we have the 3 amigos and even with losing Trevor will be good this year.  But Crean really failed in the recruiting circles after the 3 amigos, Lazar and Trevor would have been the 2 sole top 100 type players on the roster,  cannot compete in the BE witht hat lack of talent.  Then in season two all the blame would have gone on Buzz and potential recruits would be concerned about what is going on, is buzz safe etc.  This is obviously not the guy you want to lose but buzz needs some big time talent to keep Mu on top in 2010.  My hope is Buzz signs two more recruits ideally Snaer and Murray.

I have to agree with you. The '07 recruiting class has become a disaster. Only Hazel remains, with two transferring out and one (Damian Saunders) never even making it to campus. You can't have a class that like and expect to stay in the top half of the Big East.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I have to agree with you. The '07 recruiting class has become a disaster. Only Hazel remains, with two transferring out and one (Damian Saunders) never even making it to campus. You can't have a class that like and expect to stay in the top half of the Big East.

So does this count as a Crean transfer or a Williams transfer?  Afterall, didn't Trevor recommit to Buzz and spend the last 4 months under his belt?  Just asking.   

[Blackhat]

So does this count as a Crean transfer or a Williams transfer?  Afterall, didn't Trevor recommit to Buzz and spend the last 4 months under his belt?  Just asking.   

Does it really matter?   There was probably no keeping the kid no matter who the coach was.   Crean took a gamble on him and a big warning sign was how he switched schools constantly in h.s.   It's all water under the bridge now assessing blame is pointless.

[🏀]

Does it really matter?   There was probably no keeping the kid no matter who the coach was.   Crean took a gamble on him and a big warning sign was how he switched schools constantly in h.s.   It's all water under the bridge now assessing blame is pointless.

Gamble?

[RJax55]

So does this count as a Crean transfer or a Williams transfer?  Afterall, didn't Trevor recommit to Buzz and spend the last 4 months under his belt?  Just asking.   

Depends what your agenda is. The fact of the matter is Trevor leaving MU is a loss for the program. I'll let others debate who is to blame.

[Blackhat]

Gamble?

He barely qualified and had a history of instability regarding basketball teams. I'd say he was a gamble. 

[dennycrane]

Now we know why Buzz kept recruiting. But junior-college? Sounds like he's lost all confidence in himself.

Did Buzz release Trevor to the school of his choice? If not, going JC for a year does make sense.

[AlumKCof93]

Absolute garbage....barring some unfortunate situation at home, to wait until now to make his decision is BS.  All the time and energy the coaching staff undoubtedly devoted to this kid this summer is all down the drain.  They could have been spending that time with Hazel, Burke, O'Tule, etc.  This kid was nothing but a big waste of energy. 

Yes, his injury was very unfortunate last season and you cannot blame anyone for that but if his heart wasn't at MU the entire off-season then he should've taken off in May.  What a waste. 

+1.  I know he's just a kid, but its tough not to lose some respect for the guy. If reports have been true, he demanded to be on the team last year though it was clear he was not physically ready.  He denied considering transferring in April, only to catch the team by surprise by transferring in August.  Either he's getting bad advice or he's a confused kid. MU will miss him, but my guess is he'll end up missing MU more.