Wisconsin Recruit Lost b/c of Message Board Posts

[zagfan07]

This week Wisconsin lost a commitment from a recruit because of some comments he read on their fan message board.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11776517

We should really think twice about what we post on here. The last thing any fan would want to do is to lose a recruit or make a player feel unwelcome because of something they said on a message board. The truth is, people do read these things and feelings (especially for a teenager) can get hurt.

[GoZags]

LIZF linked this at the top of this board (Must Read). However -- that post is locked. Any comments can be made on this thread.

I completely agree that one should be very, very careful when discussing PSA's and/or Student Athletes.

These boards are read and digested by many people.

[OZZag]

Yes people can voice thier opinions on these boards, but as this episode has shown, you may end up telling the subject directly how you feel.

I have been following this team (Madison Memorial) this year, they won the Wisconsin State championships behind Vander and Marquette bound Jeronne Maymon. Vander has one more year with his team, he and Canadian Sophomore wing Junior Lamomba (watch this kid!). I hope that he gets a bit more support from whoever he signs with and that posters on all boards take note that we are dealing with athletes as young as 14 and 15 years old.

[75Zag]

Puppies, Flowers and Songs?

I respectfully disagree with the underlying premise of this thread. In my opinion, a message board should contain a broad spectrum of ideas, including occasional criticism of players, coaches, etc. The fact that one kid withdrew from a LOI due to negative comments on a board (if indeed he did) does not prove a correlation between negative posts and recruiting failures. While there is no reason to be vindictive, obscene or irrational in making comments regarding players or coaches, I can't see how a team message board can be useful to anybody who is a true fan of amateur basketball without discussing all sides of the story.

That being said, there are probably a dozen posters on this board who are constantly negative, and who seem to thrive on critical or inappropriate comments. Perhaps tolerating those folks is a small price to pay for the 1000s of us who try not to speak or act foolishly?

Go Bulldogs! Get Bigger!

[wiszag]

Much ado

Unfortunately, I can explain a lot of what happened. Tomorrow.

[kclubfounder]

I'm waiting with bated breath.

[MickMick]

These young men are choosing an an institution for higher education and the opportunity to play division one basketball. What is written on message boards should be the least influential factor in making such a life impacting decision.

Further, I prefer an individual with an "I'm gonna prove them all wrong" mentality. I'm sorry, but I can't sympathize with someone getting their feelings hurt to the point of decomitting....all due to what they read on a message board. Anyone with a lick of sense knows that message boards are commonly a cess pool of negativity. It is the last place I would look for validation.

[webspinnre]

While its true that a recruit should probably try to ignore message board criticism, the point remains that as GU students/alums/fans, we're held to a higher standard. Critiquing play is fine, but we're all called to express charity towards our players.

[CDC84]

I think this incident is a good reminder to all of us about making sure we word our viewpoints properly when it comes to PSA's. It also needs to be kept in mind that PSA's are not on the Gonzaga roster, and none of us - even people in the know - know these kids at the level that we know them once they become Zags and play in some games at the college level.

In short, there is a way of saying "I'm not so sure we should be looking at this guy for such and such a reason" without the discussion morphing into a character assassination. The latter happened on the previous board with a couple of people when it came to GU's recruitment of Jeremy Pargo. These individuals didn't know Jeremy whatsoever and never saw him play a game, and yet they treated him as if he had just gotten out of jail or something. The Gonzaga coaching staff knew that whatever background he came from, he would succeed at Gonzaga. The coaches proved to be right. More often than not, they are right.

[gamagin]

agreed

I respectfully disagree with the underlying premise of this thread. In my opinion, a message board should contain a broad spectrum of ideas, including occasional criticism of players, coaches, etc. The fact that one kid withdrew from a LOI due to negative comments on a board (if indeed he did) does not prove a correlation between negative posts and recruiting failures. While there is no reason to be vindictive, obscene or irrational in making comments regarding players or coaches, I can't see how a team message board can be useful to anybody who is a true fan of amateur basketball without discussing all sides of the story.

That being said, there are probably a dozen posters on this board who are constantly negative, and who seem to thrive on critical or inappropriate comments. Perhaps tolerating those folks is a small price to pay for the 1000s of us who try not to speak or act foolishly?

Go Bulldogs! Get Bigger!

I am positive there is/was more to this kid's story, too. And discussion is healthy.

And omnipresent a$$holes will be themselves: seeking perfection and acceptance between themselves but in front of others. That's why we have the ignore function.

Go TEAM Zags !

[cjm720]

That's why we have the ignore function.

Go TEAM Zags !

How/where does the ignore function work? I don't see it anywhere. Thx in advance.

go zags!!

[lothar98zag]

How/where does the ignore function work? I don't see it anywhere. Thx in advance.

go zags!!

In the top left of the screen - click "User CP"

Near the bottom of the Control Panel list - click "Buddy / Ignore Lists"

[wiszag]

Vander Blue

Vander committed to Wisconsin very early, I think it was in his sophomore year. The commitment came before his stock really took off in the summer before his junior year. He's a VERY talented player.

Marquette has a pretty good pipeline of Madison Memorial talent, Wes Matthews and Jeronne Maymon, who I'm sure have had discussions with Vander. Whether those discussions have had any effect on Vander's decision to de-commit to Wisconsin, I don't know.

I have a pretty good relationship with a D1 recruit who told me about 6 weeks ago that Vander was backing out of his Wisconsin commitment. At that time I hadn't heard any grumblings about him not honoring his commitment.

A couple of weeks ago, Rob Schultz, a local reporter, wrote an article which contained details of a meeting that Vander, his mother, UW admissions officials, and the UW coaches all attended. The article was so detailed that someone from the meeting was obviously talking to Schulz. The article started numerous discussions on the Wisconsin board, some of which were ugly. I'm sure the leaking of the details of the meeting and the subsequent message board speculation upset the Blue family.

My feeling is that Vander made a decision about his choice of schools way too early and was wavering in his commitment long before the meeting, article and message board discussions.

I find no fault in a high school senior revisiting a hasty decision he made as a 15 or 16 year old. I think it's smart of him to take his recruiting visits, listen to the coaches and sit down with his family and figure out where he'll spend the next 4 years of his life.

[gamagin]

this

Vander committed to Wisconsin very early, I think it was in his sophomore year. The commitment came before his stock really took off in the summer before his junior year. He's a VERY talented player.

Marquette has a pretty good pipeline of Madison Memorial talent, Wes Matthews and Jeronne Maymon, who I'm sure have had discussions with Vander. Whether those discussions have had any effect on Vander's decision to de-commit to Wisconsin, I don't know.

I have a pretty good relationship with a D1 recruit who told me about 6 weeks ago that Vander was backing out of his Wisconsin commitment. At that time I hadn't heard any grumblings about him not honoring his commitment.

A couple of weeks ago, Rob Schultz, a local reporter, wrote an article which contained details of a meeting that Vander, his mother, UW admissions officials, and the UW coaches all attended. The article was so detailed that someone from the meeting was obviously talking to Schulz. The article started numerous discussions on the Wisconsin board, some of which were ugly. I'm sure the leaking of the details of the meeting and the subsequent message board speculation upset the Blue family.

My feeling is that Vander made a decision about his choice of schools way too early and was wavering in his commitment long before the meeting, article and message board discussions.

I find no fault in a high school senior revisiting a hasty decision he made as a 15 or 16 year old. I think it's smart of him to take his recruiting visits, listen to the coaches and sit down with his family and figure out where he'll spend the next 4 years of his life.

makes sense. thanks for posting.

[LongIslandZagFan]

....
My feeling is that Vander made a decision about his choice of schools way too early and was wavering in his commitment long before the meeting, article and message board discussions.

I find no fault in a high school senior revisiting a hasty decision he made as a 15 or 16 year old. I think it's smart of him to take his recruiting visits, listen to the coaches and sit down with his family and figure out where he'll spend the next 4 years of his life.

I can see that. But IMHO it does not excuse the behavior of the people on the message boards. If anything, they may have helped solidify his already wavering opinions. Tough to know what was in the kid's head.

In the end, it isn't necessarily about Vander but rather that childishness of the people on the message boards who felt it was OK to attack a PSA.... whether its Vander, Jeremy Pargo (because it DID happen here), or an existing player (Josh).