The one that got away (basketball)

[msstate7]

Not Malik. Not tookie. Not brooks. Boy, we really could use simonds. He dropped 29 on OM tonight. Wish we had this kid

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Not Malik. Not tookie. Not brooks. Boy, we really could use simonds. He dropped 29 on OM tonight. Wish we had this kid
10-22 shooting with 7 turnovers. I don't even know who he is though, did we cut him loose at some point to sign someone else?

Edit: Looking at his recruiting profile, it seems like we did. Who did we sign that pushed him out of our class?

[starkvegasdawg]

Poor bears had to overcome an 8 point halftime deficit to win by 5 against mighty Ga State.

[msstate7]

10-22 shooting with 7 turnovers. I don't even know who he is though, did we cut him loose at some point to sign someone else?

Edit: Looking at his recruiting profile, it seems like we did. Who did we sign that pushed him out of our class?

Not sure.

Didn?t realize he shot so poorly tonight. I only watched part of it and it was to see him. He got to to the basket pretty easily the portion of the game I watched. Kid has talent.

[Dawg61]

There's always going to be some misses in college basketball. Stansbury had something like 35 misses between 2004-2012. That was players that he signed that quit/got kicked off/transfered/or flat out sucked and had no business playing SEC basketball. If we counted the ones Stansbury didn't even sign and passed up on it'd be 3x that amount. Howland is doing very well on limiting the misses so far imo.

[HoopsDawg]

Not Malik. Not tookie. Not brooks. Boy, we really could use simonds. He dropped 29 on OM tonight. Wish we had this kid

An old Stans quote: The guys you miss don't hurt you, it can be the guys you sign. Ended up being prophetic.

[Liverpooldawg]

There's always going to be some misses in college basketball. Stansbury had something like 35 misses between 2004-2012. That was players that he signed that quit/got kicked off/transfered/or flat out sucked and had no business playing SEC basketball. If we counted the ones Stansbury didn't even sign and passed up on it'd be 3x that amount. Howland is doing very well on limiting the misses so far imo.

But not so well on winning, not yet anyway.

[chef dixon]

It wasn't a "miss." It was pretty simple, he was a Rick Ray recruit and once we fired him Simonds de-committed.

[Dawg61]

But not so well on winning, not yet anyway.

Stansbury fired himself when he refused to fire any of his assistants. Stricklin didn't go into the meeting with intentions of firing Stansbury. Rick left him no choice when he gave Stricklin an ultimatum. Rick Stansbury got 14 seasons as a head coach at MSU. He made over $25 mill dollars while at MSU. He is now set for life because of MSU. He did not make it to one single sweet sixteen in that timeframe. Fourteen seasons is enough for a guy that let his team do whatever the **** they wanted and refused to take direction from his athletic director in terms of replacing an assistant coach. Wouldn't do it. So we let him go and it was ABSOLUTELY the right call. You need to put it to bed. Let it go. Stansbury doesn't deserve to be our coach forever. Fourteen seasons is enough. Do not bitch about Stansbury being fired anymore he fired himself.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

I wouldnt say he got away. When you play on a team that don't have equal or better talent than you, your game will appear better. Guarantee you if Eli Wright played on Florida A&M he would be scoring 15-20 a night.

[Dawg61]

I wouldnt say he got away. When you play on a team that don't have equal or better talent than you, your game will appear better. Guarantee you if Eli Wright played on Florida A&M he would be scoring 15-20 a night.

This is a very good point. Tyson Carter is another player that would be lighting it up in the Sun Belt. Off topic but I am not sold that Newman is a better player than Carter. I could make a strong argument that Tyson is the better 2 guard than Malik. Tyson's biggest issue is that Q/Peters demand all the minutes.

[MCsMGs]

Stansbury fired himself when he refused to fire any of his assistants. Stricklin didn't go into the meeting with intentions of firing Stansbury. Rick left him no choice when he gave Stricklin an ultimatum. Rick Stansbury got 14 seasons as a head coach at MSU. He made over $25 mill dollars while at MSU. He is now set for life because of MSU. He did not make it to one single sweet sixteen in that timeframe. Fourteen seasons is enough for a guy that let his team do whatever the **** they wanted and refused to take direction from his athletic director in terms of replacing an assistant coach. Wouldn't do it. So we let him go and it was ABSOLUTELY the right call. You need to put it to bed. Let it go. Stansbury doesn't deserve to be our coach forever. Fourteen seasons is enough. Do not bitch about Stansbury being fired anymore he fired himself.

Dang! This makes two times in a row I gotta give 61 an "amen"!

[Liverpooldawg]

Stansbury fired himself when he refused to fire any of his assistants. Stricklin didn't go into the meeting with intentions of firing Stansbury. Rick left him no choice when he gave Stricklin an ultimatum. Rick Stansbury got 14 seasons as a head coach at MSU. He made over $25 mill dollars while at MSU. He is now set for life because of MSU. He did not make it to one single sweet sixteen in that timeframe. Fourteen seasons is enough for a guy that let his team do whatever the **** they wanted and refused to take direction from his athletic director in terms of replacing an assistant coach. Wouldn't do it. So we let him go and it was ABSOLUTELY the right call. You need to put it to bed. Let it go. Stansbury doesn't deserve to be our coach forever. Fourteen seasons is enough. Do not bitch about Stansbury being fired anymore he fired himself.



Fact remains we still haven't equaled his last season in what is it, 7 years now? I won't argue that Stans was headed out, but we did it one year too quick. Water under the bridge now. I'd just like to get back where we were. Maybe this is the year. If Howland can't get us there, we really are in trouble.

By the way, how many Sweet 16s has MSU appeared in? I think the number is TWO, back to back years under Richard Williams. Now if the Babe had been allowed to go to the tourney every year, we might have had 1-3 more. It's not like we are a basketball powerhouse.

[Dawg61]

Fact remains we still haven't equaled his last season in what is it, 7 years now? I won't argue that Stans was headed out, but we did it one year too quick. Water under the bridge now. I'd just like to get back where we were. Maybe this is the year. If Howland can't get us there, we really are in trouble.

By the way, how many Sweet 16s has MSU appeared in? I think the number is TWO, back to back years under Richard Williams. Now if the Babe had been allowed to go to the tourney every year, we might have had 1-3 more. It's not like we are a basketball powerhouse.

I'll repeat it cause you still aren't accepting it. Rick Stansbury fired himself when he gave Stricklin the double birds by refusing to replace any of his assistants. There was no "one more year" once Rick made a line in the sand. There was nothing Stricklin could do except to fire him at that point. Had Stricklin not fired him he would have then been firing himself instead. There's only a very small fringe of you that still don't understand this which is confusing as you love to spout off about how much you know about business. Well this is the most basic of all business. When your boss demands you to do something and you refuse to do it you are firing yourself. This is the number one most basic rule of any business anywhere.

[Coach34]

Fact remains we still haven't equaled his last season in what is it, 7 years now? .

Stands has only been gone 5 years. 3 for Ray and 2 for Howland

[Liverpooldawg]

I'll repeat it cause you still aren't accepting it. Rick Stansbury fired himself when he gave Stricklin the double birds by refusing to replace any of his assistants. There was no "one more year" once Rick made a line in the sand. There was nothing Stricklin could do except to fire him at that point. Had Stricklin not fired him he would have then been firing himself instead. There's only a very small fringe of you that still don't understand this which is confusing as you love to spout off about how much you know about business. Well this is the most basic of all business. When your boss demands you to do something and you refuse to do it you are firing yourself. This is the number one most basic rule of any business anywhere.

Whatever 61, you obviously know everything about everything. Had we waited another year, things would have been better. I know how MSU people felt. I also know how it was perceived by those outside the MSU family. Strick should have waited one more year before he forced the issue. His replacement options would have been better if we had fired Rick after a bad season. WE were the only ones that thought Rick's last one was a bad one for us. My non-MSU friends thought we we had gone nuts. I DO think we would have sucked the next year under Stans. I said so at the time. We would have had more options had we waited. Cue up 34 and others to deny this, but I have a DAMN good source on basketball. He has never been wrong, and was spot on on everything that happened, before it happened.

PS.....WE were the only ones that thought the Sydney debacle was a debacle. Everybody else thought it was amusing and mildly embarrassing, if they even noticed. The only thing they noticed in all of it was the fight. I know the story there, we canned the right guy.

[Liverpooldawg]

Stands has only been gone 5 years. 3 for Ray and 2 for Howland

Seems like 10. I hate sucking at basketball.

[Coach34]

I won't argue that Stans was headed out, but we did it one year too quick

In retrospect I'll buy this because the 2013 team under Stands would have been God-awful and it would have shown it was more than time. We should have let him bottom out like we usually do in the other sports- then guys like you wouldnt have anything to hang your hat on

[Coach34]

Whatever 61, you obviously know everything about everything. Had we waited another year, things would have been better. I know how MSU people felt. I also know how it was perceived by those outside the MSU family. Strick should have waited one more year before he forced the issue. His replacement options would have been better if we had fired Rick after a bad season. WE were the only ones that thought Rick's last one was a bad one for us. My non-MSU friends thought we we had gone nuts. I DO think we would have sucked the next year under Stans. I said so at the time. We would have had more options had we waited. Cue up 34 and others to deny this, but I have a DAMN good source on basketball. He has never been wrong, and was spot on on everything that happened, before it happened.

PS.....WE were the only ones that thought the Sydney debacle was a debacle. Everybody else thought it was amusing and mildly embarrassing, if they even noticed. The only thing they noticed in all of it was the fight. I know the story there, we canned the right guy.

you are insane. People from all over wondered how he still had a job. You have lost touch with reality. It's not often Sporting News calls a program the "most dysfunctional team in America". We were a joke to most people. Just wow

[Coach34]

I'll put it this way:

Coaches from all over knew that Sidney couldnt go on our European trip because of his drug problems. We sent him to Texas to work with John because he had a coke problem. Coaches all over the SEC knew this was going on in our program. And thats why nobody wanted the job when it came open. They knew we had a tremendous drug problem within our team. It's also why we told Ray to run off the ones that failed drug tests that Summer- losing 3 more players before practice even started. We were a ****ing dumpster fire because of your boy Stands

[Liverpooldawg]

In retrospect I'll buy this because the 2013 team under Stands would have been God-awful and it would have shown it was more than time. We should have let him bottom out like we usually do in the other sports- then guys like you wouldnt have anything to hang your hat on

That was my point 34........at the time. We all knew where we were headed that next year, but nationally people didn't. We were perceived as firing a coach based on unrealistic expectations because had just had a 20 win NIT season. Outside the MSU family that was seen as a decent season for us. That kind of crap is kryptonite for a coaching search.

[Liverpooldawg]

you are insane. People from all over wondered how he still had a job. You have lost touch with reality. It's not often Sporting News calls a program the "most dysfunctional team in America". We were a joke to most people. Just wow

No, they didn't 34. MSU people from all over did, encouraged by the usual suspects. Most basketball people, outside the media, thought we pulled the trigger too soon. The results since then say it all. The first coaching search went exactly as I, and my source, predicted. Getting rid of Rick for ANY coach did NOT solve our problem. You told me it would, in those exact words. As I said, it's all water under the bridge now. Hopefully Howland gets us back to the NIT this year. I've never been a consistent season ticket holder in football, my late Dad and I had them for 25 years in basketball. It hurts me to see us as we are. I have a lot of great memories of my Dad and me during the Williams and Stans years. Those were good years.

[Dawg61]

Whatever 61, you obviously know everything about everything.

If I am wrong about something I have zero issues admitting it. I am wrong often. Being wrong is the best way to learn and eventually being right. Your issues is not with Stansbury being fired it's that Stricklin came to the end of the year meeting with Stansbury demanding he replace an assistant. This is were your anger lies. That's fine by me as Stricklin then went rogue on the search and hired Rick Ray himself. Something every single one of us disagreed with then and still disagrees with now. Stricklin no doubt fumbled the **** outta the situation. However he did accomplish hiring an AA coach for MSU which is something we desperately needed to do and he hired a coach that totally gutted the program, cleaned out all the drug problems and started anew which is also something we desperately needed to have happen. He then hired Ben Howland. An excellent hire that will result in being our greatest hire in basketball ever this I am still confident of but just like most things in life it takes longer than we want it to.

[Coach34]

No, they didn't 34. MSU people from all over did, encouraged by the usual suspects. Most basketball people, outside the media, thought we pulled the trigger too soon.

Here we go again. We chose Rick Ray just as we chose Croom over Jimbo Fisher. He wasnt our only option- just a very bad choice. Alot of coaches passed because of our known drug problems and our AD making coaches aware of it. But our bad decision had zero to do with pulling the trigger on Stands. People all over knew the chaos within our program. Coaches laughed at Stands for letting Sidney own his ass as we walked up the floor on national TV. You just dont get it because you dont want to.

[Liverpooldawg]

If I am wrong about something I have zero issues admitting it. I am wrong often. Being wrong is the best way to learn and eventually being right. Your issues is not with Stansbury being fired it's that Stricklin came to the end of the year meeting with Stansbury demanding he replace an assistant. This is were your anger lies. That's fine by me as Stricklin then went rogue on the search and hired Rick Ray himself. Something every single one of us disagreed with then and still disagrees with now. Stricklin no doubt fumbled the **** outta the situation. However he did accomplish hiring an AA coach for MSU which is something we desperately needed to do and he hired a coach that totally gutted the program, cleaned out all the drug problems and started anew which is also something we desperately needed to have happen. He then hired Ben Howland. An excellent hire that will result in being our greatest hire in basketball ever this I am still confident of but just like most things in life it takes longer than we want it to.
Strick forced it one year too soon. I was glad to see him leave. I hope you are right about Howland being our best ever basketball hire. Right now I would say it was Williams, and you probabaly have NO idea how underwhelming THAT one was. My roomie at the time was an ex-MSU basketball player. He was floored. I broke the news to him and he was like, you have to be joking.

[BeardoMSU]

I won't argue that Stans was headed out, but we did it one year too quick.

While this part is probably true, what really screwed the pooch was the shittastic hire we replaced Stans with. Hiring RR is what set us back, not firing Stans a year early. Rick Ray was a colossal fu<k up on our part.

[Liverpooldawg]

Here we go again. We chose Rick Ray just as we chose Croom over Jimbo Fisher. He wasnt our only option- just a very bad choice. Alot of coaches passed because of our known drug problems and our AD making coaches aware of it. But our bad decision had zero to do with pulling the trigger on Stands. People all over knew the chaos within our program. Coaches laughed at Stands for letting Sidney own his ass as we walked up the floor on national TV. You just dont get it because you dont want to.

My source, and again my source is impeccable, you have NO idea how impeccable, has always maintained that we DID have other options. Unfortunately they were all about on the same level as Ray. I DO get it about Sid, I hated his lazy butt, probably more than you did. When I saw his last basketball destination I had to laugh, I have been to PEI. It's about as far from the center of the basketball universe as you can get. Coaches DID laugh at what we did with Sid, but the national perception was given what Stans had done here he deserved at least a year without him to right the ship. That we didn't give him that ruined any chance we had of making a good hire to replace him. That is FACT. You can blame Strick, and I DO, but not for the same reason you do. He forced the issue one year too soon. I find it hilarious that he is embroiled in kind of the same situation at Florida, on a much bigger scale. I don't think for a minute he was the one that fired the football coach, but it's a lot like Stans, the previous guy is coming off two straight eastern division championships. He just couldn't beat Saban and his postion became untenable, because they expect him to beat Saban. Never mind that nobody else doesn't do it much either when it really matters.

[Liverpooldawg]

While this part is probably true, what really screwed the pooch was the shittastic hire we replaced Stans with. Hiring RR is what set us back, not firing Stans a year early. Rick Ray was a colossal fu<k up on our part.
The fact that it was one year too soon is directly related to how bad the hire was.

[BeardoMSU]

Coaches laughed at Stands for letting Sidney own his ass as we walked up the floor on national TV.

Oh my God....I remember there was some presser before Sid's last year, and some media guy asked Stans "why he was having trouble getting in shape", and Stans just replied with "it is what it is"....What the **** is that suppose to mean? I vividly remember yelling that out loud as I listened to the PC. Then I realized that the "is what it is" he spoke of was actually just a lazy as **** euphemism for being a limp dick pushover. I was really embarrassed for him in that moment. More embarrassing, however, was Stans being the only SEC coach who voted to keep the divisions, because he knew those 'West Banners' he coveted so much were the only things keeping him employed.....

I digress.

[BeardoMSU]

The fact that it was one year too soon is directly related to how bad the hire was.

I'm not saying there were options out there that would've made a splash, but RR was a no-body before we hired him (shit, he still is...). There absolutely were more qualified people out there we could've hired or at least taken a flyer on.

[Liverpooldawg]

Oh my God....I remember there was some presser before Sid's last year, and some media guy asked Stans "why he was having trouble getting in shape", and Stans just replied with "it is what it is"....What the **** is that suppose to mean? I vividly remember yelling that out loud as I listened to the PC. Then I realized that the "is what it is" he spoke of was actually just a lazy as **** euphemism for being a limp dick pushover. I was really embarrassed for him in that moment. More embarrassing, however, was Stans being the only SEC coach who voted to keep the divisions, because he knew those 'West Banners' he coveted so much were the only things keeping him employed.....

I digress.

The same reasoning they used to do away with the divisions in basketball could be used now in football, but they aren't. nor should they be. I HATE what basketball scheduling is now. I actually love the regional alignment in football except for one thing. Missou needs to be in the WEST where it belongs, and Auburn needs to be in the East. The ONLY reason this hasn't happened is UT and BAMA.

[Liverpooldawg]

I'm not saying there were options out there that would've made a splash, but RR was a no-body before we hired him (shit, he still is...). There absolutely were more qualified people out there we could've hired or at least taken a flyer on.

That's just it, there were NO splash hires available for us. Ray, or his equivalent, was the best we could do. My source was INVOLVED. We screwed the pooch with the TIMING of the firing. The hiring of Ray, bad as it was, wasn't the screw up. We did the best we could. Strick was wet behind the ears, and it showed.

[Dawg61]

Strick forced it one year too soon. I was glad to see him leave. I hope you are right about Howland being our best ever basketball hire.

From the time Stricklin sat down with Stansbury to the time he fired Ray in basketball he absolutely dropped the ball in the basketball coaching search. We are just now recovering from Stricklin's dumbassedry. Scott Drew the Baylor coach wanted our job. Kenny Payne wanted to bring World Wide Wes and start Kentucky 2.0 here but probably even dirtier. Joe Dooley wanted our job and he's had 4 straight 20 win seasons at FGCU. Kermit Davis wanted our job and he won 31 games last year with MTSU. Stricklin took it upon himself to hire Ray though. Literally nobody in the country knew who Rick Ray was. Perhaps Stricklin caught word that the NCAA was wanting to come after us after years of speculation about Stansbury being dirty and thought it best to pull a Croom type hire. Who knows as only Stricklin does. Move on from the frustration of that process though. Stricklin has. He's now worried about hiring Florida's football coach. He couldn't give two shits about Stansbury and you shouldn't either.

[Dawg61]

That's just it, there were NO splash hires available for us. Ray, or his equivalent, was the best we could do. My source was INVOLVED. We screwed the pooch with the TIMING of the firing. The hiring of Ray, bad as it was, wasn't the screw up. We did the best we could. Strick was wet behind the ears, and it showed.

This is just flat wrong. Scott Drew, Kenny Payne, Kermit Davis, Joe Dooley, John Brady, Sean Woods, Phil Cunningham, Robert Kirby all wanted our job and all of them woulda been way better hires than Rick Ray.

[Liverpooldawg]

From the time Stricklin sat down with Stansbury to the time he fired Ray in basketball he absolutely dropped the ball in the basketball coaching search. We are just now recovering from Stricklin's dumbassedry. Scott Drew the Baylor coach wanted our job. Kenny Payne wanted to bring World Wide Wes and start Kentucky 2.0 here but probably even dirtier. Joe Dooley wanted our job and he's had 4 straight 20 win seasons at FGCU. Kermit Davis wanted our job and he won 31 games last year with MTSU. Stricklin took it upon himself to hire Ray though. Literally nobody in the country knew who Rick Ray was. Perhaps Stricklin caught word that the NCAA was wanting to come after us after years of speculation about Stansbury being dirty and thought it best to pull a Croom type hire. Who knows as only Stricklin does. Move on from the frustration of that process though. Stricklin has. He's now worried about hiring Florida's football coach. He couldn't give two shits about Stansbury and you shouldn't either.

Are you SERIOUSLY arguing we should have brought WWW in? My arguments are based on my source 61. What he says AIN'T rumor 61. What he says is FACT. I have others. My impression from all of them is that Rick actually lost the team LONG before Sid ever set foot on campus. That's why I laugh at all you idiots that blame Sid. Heck he wasn't the REAL troublemaker on THAT team when it came to disrespecting the coaches. I had a great up close view of the bench during those years. The REAL trouble was a bit shorter. My old coach Dad spotted it quick, and it was obvious.

[Liverpooldawg]

This is just flat wrong. Scott Drew, Kenny Payne, Kermit Davis, Joe Dooley, John Brady, Sean Woods, Phil Cunningham, Robert Kirby all wanted our job and all of them woulda been way better hires than Rick Ray.

LOL. You don't know jack. My guy does. $$$$$$$$

[Dawg61]

Are you SERIOUSLY arguing we should have brought WWW in? My arguments are based on my source 61. What he says AIN'T rumor 61. What he says is FACT. I have others. My impression from all of them is that Rick actually lost the team LONG before Sid ever set foot on campus. That's why I laugh at all you idiots that blame Sid. Heck he wasn't the REAL troublemaker on THAT team when it came to disrespecting the coaches. I had a great up close view of the bench during those years. The REAL trouble was a bit shorter. My old coach Dad spotted it quick, and it was obvious.

Point to the part in my post where I said I wanted WWW to run our basketball program. Dee Bost was the main locker room problem. It isn't some super secret mystery only a few are privy to knowing.

[Liverpooldawg]

Point to the part in my post where I said I wanted WWW to run our basketball program. Dee Bost was the main locker room problem. It isn't some super secret mystery only a few are privy to knowing.

Well well, you ain't totally stupid then. (Kenny would have meant WWW though) Had we waited ONE year things would have been different. Strick caved, and it cost him. That's why I'm laughing at him now. If Mullen follows him to Florida, and I DO NOT see that happening, he deserves all that he would eventually get down there.

As for Bost, you are one of the very few I have ever seen that recognized THAT, and it was freaking obvious. Rick lost the locker room before he ever set foot on campus though. People like you and 34 may eventually recognize that what you THINK I have argued all these years isn't what you think. My only arguement was timing. At Kentucky or Kansas it may be understandable running a coach off after a NIT year, nationally it isn't at a place like MSU.

[Dawg61]

Well well, you ain't totally stupid then. (Kenny would have meant WWW though) Had we waited ONE year things would have been different. Strick caved, and it cost him. That's why I'm laughing at him now. If Mullen follows him to Florida, and I DO NOT see that happening, he deserves all that he would eventually get down there.

As for Bost, you are one of the very few I have ever seen that recognized THAT, and it was freaking obvious. Rick lost the locker room before he ever set foot on campus though. People like you and 34 may eventually recognize that what you THINK I have argued all these years isn't what you think. My only arguement was timing. At Kentucky or Kansas it may be understandable running a coach off after a NIT year, nationally it isn't at a place like MSU.

Well you're gonna have to talk to Stansbury about that one year you got robbed off cause he's the one that stepped down. He wasn't fired technically. He resigned. He chose to resign over replacing any of his assistants. Your angst is with Stricklin for demanding he let an assistant go and it is ALSO with Rick Stansbury for choosing to resign instead of having to tell one of his buddies he was letting them go. Nobody expected Stansbury to choose resigning over firing an assistant. Not even Stricklin saw it coming. That's why the basketball search was so ****ed from the beginning. It was a way for Stansbury to stick it to Stricklin. It worked. So a big reason for MSU sucking in basketball for the last five years is because of Rick Stansbury. Had he fired an assistant it would of allowed Stricklin a full year to start searching for a replacement and things would have been much different or hell Rick mighta actually saved his own career the next season. Nobody will know though because Stansbury decided to be a bitch about it and he quit.

[shannondawg]

Yep firing Stansbury and hiring Rick Ray was a genius move.

[Hasu Dackds]

Coaches all over the SEC knew this was going on in our program. And thats why nobody wanted the job when it came open. They knew we had a tremendous drug problem within our team.
LOL

[Dawg61]

Yep firing Stansbury and hiring Rick Ray was a genius move.

http://lead1association.com/images/2017/3/30/Scott%20Stricklin.png?width=300http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/SEC+Basketball+Tournament+Quarterfinals+UdPaxC3d_V Cm.jpg
https://media.giphy.com/media/26FPy3QZQqGtDcrja/giphy.gif
https://media.giphy.com/media/joV1k1sNOT5xC/giphy.gif

[Dawg61]

Oh look Rick Stansbury is still trying to get people to feel sorry for him https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2017/9/19/16331898/mitchell-robinson-nba-draft-recruiting-rick-stansbury-western-kentucky-basketball

This one is written for shannondawg

Meet the college basketball coach with more recruiting heartbreak than anyone

Rick Stansbury once again lost a five-star recruit in heartbreaking fashion

Mitchell Robinson put an end to college basketball’s most bizarre recruiting saga this week when he announced he would forgo his commitment to Western Kentucky to begin training immediately for the 2018 NBA draft.

For Hilltoppers head coach Rick Stansbury, the news must have triggered a familiar feeling of dread.

Stansbury is a coaching lifer with a long history of losing out on elite college basketball recruits who decide to jump straight to the NBA. Robinson very much fits the profile as an athletic 7-foot center ranked as the No. 11 overall player in the class of 2017 by ESPN.

From the outside, it was a wonder how a middling Conference-USA program like Western Kentucky could land a commitment from a legit five-star big man and potential lottery pick like Robinson. But this is what Stansbury does: He’s been one of college basketball’s most feared recruiters for two decades, dating back to his 14-year stint as head coach at Mississippi State.

RELATED

Mitchell Robinson’s bizarre Western Kentucky exit, explained

Just about the only thing more predictable than Stansbury getting a commitment from a five-star recruit is that he eventually lost him. Here’s a brief history of Stansbury’s most painful near misses on the recruiting trail.

Jonathan Bender

“I had just gotten married and was falling asleep, thinking about Jonathan Bender.”

The quote above comes from Jonathan Abrams’ 2016 book Boys Among Men, which chronicles the NBA’s prep-to-pros fad from 1995-2005. Stansbury has an entire chapter dedicated to him in the book as an example of how the trend impacted college coaches.

Bender was supposed to be Stansbury’s first savior at Mississippi State. He began recruiting him in middle school. The two took “hours long” fishing trips together. Bender committed to the Bulldogs and looked to be on his way there ... until a record-breaking performance in the McDonald’s All-American Game swayed him to turn pro. Bender was eventually selected with the No. 5 pick in the 1999 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors.

“It was one of the most crushing blows I ever had,” Stansbury recalls to Abrams. “For about two weeks, all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole. I put so much into that thing for five years. It was absolutely just a killer.”

Travis Outlaw

Travis Outlaw grew up in Starkville, Miss., just miles away from the campus. He committed to Stansbury and the Bulldogs as they were coming off back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. The athletic 6’9 wing was thought to be the missing piece for a team with Final Four aspirations.

Instead, Outlaw decided to turn pro after graduating high school in 2003. He was taken No. 23 overall by the Portland Trail Blazers, making him the second high school player selected in the draft behind LeBron James.

Outlaw never made a huge impact in the NBA, but he did enjoy an 11-year career that netted him more than $44 million in earnings. Meanwhile, Mississippi State would lose in the second round of the NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed after finishing the year 26-4.

Monta Ellis

Ellis was a legend at Mississippi’s Lanier High School back in 2005 as a scoring dynamo who once dropped 72 points in a game. He committed to Mississippi State as a junior, with Stansbury beating out blue bloods like North Carolina to get him.

Ellis didn’t look like the typical prep-to-pro candidate as an undersized 6’2 guard. But 2005 was the last year high school players could enter the NBA before the advent of the one-and-done rule, and a record number of them declared. Ellis was one of them. He was the sixth high school player taken and the No. 40 overall pick by the Golden State Warriors.

Ellis is currently unsigned at 31 years old, but there’s no denying he had a great professional career. His total earnings are over $94 million.

Renardo Sidney

Renardo Sidney was the only player of this group to actually play a game for Stansbury, but his story is just as painful as the others.

There was a time when Sidney was considered the best high school player in the country within a class that also included John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Avery Bradley, and Lance Stephenson as five-star recruits. Sidney was a 6’10 big man with soft hands whose ability to handle and pass put him on NBA radars from an early age. He likely would have turned pro out of the high school if not for the existence of the one-and-done rule when he graduated in 2009.

The NCAA investigated Sidney’s eligibility as soon as he arrived at Mississippi State. He would eventually be ruled ineligible for all of what would have been his freshman season and also the first nine games of the next year. All the while, Sidney’s weight ballooned. When he finally did become eligible, Sidney immediately got into a fight in the stands and was suspended again:


Sidney went undrafted when he turned pro in 2012.

Mitchell Robinson

Stansbury worked for years to foster his relationship with Robinson. It started when he was an assistant at Texas A&M, where Robinson committed at the onset of his junior year. When Stansbury left to take the head coaching job at Western Kentucky, Robinson quickly reopened his recruitment and pledged to the Hilltoppers.

Robinson’s allegiance to Western Kentucky appeared to wain when his godfather, Shammond Williams, a former UNC star, left Stansbury’s staff as an assistant coach. Still, Robinson enrolled in school at the start of the summer before leaving campus without telling anyone in late July.

Robinson visited Kansas and University of New Orleans before ultimately deciding to re-enroll at WKU. Three weeks later, he announced he was leaving again to train full-time for the NBA draft.

Rick Stansbury has had as much recruiting heartbreak as anyone in college basketball. Mitchell Robinson is only the latest example.

[Liverpooldawg]

Well you're gonna have to talk to Stansbury about that one year you got robbed off cause he's the one that stepped down. He wasn't fired technically. He resigned. He chose to resign over replacing any of his assistants. Your angst is with Stricklin for demanding he let an assistant go and it is ALSO with Rick Stansbury for choosing to resign instead of having to tell one of his buddies he was letting them go. Nobody expected Stansbury to choose resigning over firing an assistant. Not even Stricklin saw it coming. That's why the basketball search was so ****ed from the beginning. It was a way for Stansbury to stick it to Stricklin. It worked. So a big reason for MSU sucking in basketball for the last five years is because of Rick Stansbury. Had he fired an assistant it would of allowed Stricklin a full year to start searching for a replacement and things would have been much different or hell Rick mighta actually saved his own career the next season. Nobody will know though because Stansbury decided to be a bitch about it and he quit.

Come on 61. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it?s a duck. He was fired, forced out, asked to resign, etc. It was not voluntary.

[BiscuitEater]

Stansbury fired himself when he refused to fire any of his assistants. Stricklin didn't go into the meeting with intentions of firing Stansbury. Rick left him no choice when he gave Stricklin an ultimatum. ... Do not bitch about Stansbury being fired anymore he fired himself.

Total BS and 'revisionist history.' Show me one credible person, article or link that says Stans was fired over assistants. Stans was fired because he lost control of 'his' team. Assistants were George Brooks, Cunningham and Marcus Grant. 'Who' was the problem Strick wanted to leave?

Meanwhile, Strick had 'no clue' who to get to replace the 'winningest' BB coach and we got Rick Ray. Thanks Peaches.

[Dawg61]

Come on 61. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it?s a duck. He was fired, forced out, asked to resign, etc. It was not voluntary.


Total BS and 'revisionist history.' Show me one credible person, article or link that says Stans was fired over assistants. Stans was fired because he lost control of 'his' team. Assistants were George Brooks, Cunningham and Marcus Grant. 'Who' was the problem Strick wanted to leave?

Meanwhile, Strick had 'no clue' who to get to replace the 'winningest' BB coach and we got Rick Ray. Thanks Peaches.

Stansbury "retired" and slept on HIS decision before moving forward with it

"Stansbury said he slept on the decision Wednesday night, and felt comfortable on Thursday morning.

"A lot of coaches can stay at one spot too long," Stansbury said. "I don't want to be one of those coaches."

Miss. St.'s Rick Stansbury retiring

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7691262/mississippi-state-bulldogs-coach-rick-stansbury-retiring

[LC Dawg]

It feels like I woke up in 2010 this morning.

[Dawg61]

It feels like I woke up in 2010 this morning.

Some people are still living in it. Could be worse though Tennessee fans are still living in 1998.