Agau, Gill, Aaron transfer

[jalovell23]

Has UofL ever had such a mass exodus in one season.

Agau, Gill, Aaron transfer away from the team
Chris Jones kicked off team
Rozier, Harrell leave for NBA
Blackshear graduates

That is 7 players gone from this past years team, to next season UofL team................WOW!!!! good luck Coach Pitino.

 

[DerVille]

Sometimes Louisville hits it big with a recruit but on the other hand there are a lot of times they strike out.

With so many guys not seeing the court and transferring one can't help but wonder, why did you recruit them in the first place? Louisville takes so long to develop players (it's isn't that often a guy comes in and just plays right away) that losing 3-guys in the middle of the developmental curve and starting over with another raw freshman who "can't play defense" is going to set back. I hope the three new guys are ready to play and don't need two years to develop and learn to "play defense".

 

[ShortCreek]

It's a sign of the times. We get Rowan and Lee we will be fine and be very competitive.

 

[zipp]

I'm not too unhappy with a coach who demands excellence in short order--and acts to make that happen.

Unless I'm missing something...

 

[80_86]

I think sometimes it just works out this way, especially with todays culture. Remember, Pitino went after better recruits that he trusted would play right away but only to miss on them. Guys like Dunn, Lyles, Whitehead and Russell.

Aaron, Gill, and Agau were guys he expected needed some time to develop and wouldn't be forced to perform right away. But as it turned out they were needed and they just weren't ready. In the past most guys would stick it out at least two years but today's kids are not as patient.

 

[zipp]

Originally posted by 80,86:
...Aaron, Gill, and Agau were guys he expected needed some time to develop and wouldn't be forced to perform right away. But as it turned out they were needed and they just weren't ready...
I think Pitino expected more from those guys because he expected them to accept coaching and work harder. Not sure he expected any of them to be stars as freshmen or sophomores...

 

[Steelers2012]

Look at it another way...check out how good and deep our freshman and sophmore classes look now. Minus any transfers in, Mangok is our only upper classman (junior or senior) on scholarship. Glass half full.

 

[cards62878]

I think bottom line with Aaron at least he didn't want to compete are put the work in to get better. Hell the kid thought he should of walked in last year and started over Wayne. Ever see a kid look so depressed and pout when UL was making the tourney run this year? Dude seems like a me first player. Pitino doesn't play that.

 

[Kratz]

I think it also brings into question the scouting of the kids before signing them. How well are they scouted? Here's what Pitino said about Aaron just last week:

"I don't know about that one," he said. "Don't know. I haven't seen enough to like yet. It's a wait and see. He came in late. He's got a bad body. He's not thrilled with the weight room, just until the last month he got serious about it. He needs a makeover."

To me, those things should have been evident when he was being scouted. You scout him for a year or two, you sign him, you coach him for a year and literally the first words out of your mouth are "I don't know".

 

[80_86]

Recruiting is a very fluid thing. Aaron for example came from Washington State and Pitino has had success there with Twill and Siva. Coach probably watched video and saw promise and when Aaron showed considerable interest in coming here, Pitino was open for it. I don't know for sure but I doubt Pitino went after Aaron having to steal him away from other schools. If I remember correctly, I think Aaron was a early signee.

The kid had high regards in the rankings and like the many many other recruits over the years, Pitino had to weigh the recruits he could get with those recruits he was hoping to get. I maintain that Pitino never expected Aaron to come in and be a great freshman like he would have thought Russell or Lyles would be. And there's no way he could know for sure how the kid would react to coaching until he got here.

Just think. What if Lyles and Whitehead had chose the Cards? Aaron would have seen little playing time kind of like Jaylen Johnson. He wouldn't have been called on to make a difference and his confidence wouldn't have been shattered when he failed on the court. He more than likely would have realized those two were one and dones and with Harrell, Blackshear and Rozier also leaving, he would get his chance. But then again, he may have left anyway.

Now Gill was truly a disappointment to Pitino. He was a HS teammate of Rozier and he often had better games than Rozier. Gill wanted to stay with Terry and Pitino was really happy about that. However, Gill never seemed to get over the hump. He got plenty of chances but he just couldn't seem to at least make shots in the games when he was lost on defense. When Terry decided to go pro, the one thing that led him to Louisville was gone. His transfer I think all believe was the correct decision.


It's just one of those years that we don't see often. We lose guys to transfers but they usually don't happen the same year we lose two guys to the NBA early. The Chris Jones thing doesn't count. He was a senior anyway so he was gone. Akoy Agau was another George Goode. A project that Pitino took a gamble with because we've not always had a surplus of big men. Now that we do, his transfer also makes sense.

Hopefully the one and done graduate student will not be something we see a lot. Pitino has to get some of these top recruits eventually and if the rule ever changes where these elite kids have to stay in college more than one season, I think he will.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Well said 80 86

 

[zipp]

Originally posted by Kratz:
I think it also brings into question the scouting of the kids before signing them. How well are they scouted? Here's what Pitino said about Aaron just last week:

"I don't know about that one," he said. "Don't know. I haven't seen enough to like yet. It's a wait and see. He came in late. He's got a bad body. He's not thrilled with the weight room, just until the last month he got serious about it. He needs a makeover."

To me, those things should have been evident when he was being scouted. You scout him for a year or two, you sign him, you coach him for a year and literally the first words out of your mouth are "I don't know".I don't at all disagree with that POV. But to keep stating it ad nauseum is simply playing the role of "Mr. Obvious".

You honestly think Pitino WANTS to keep bringing in guys who transfer? Do you think he keeps trying to repeat the same mistake while expecting different results? Wasn't there evidence of that precise thing this week when he said he was "no longer writing letters to guys who can't shoot"?

The guy's a lot smarter than you and me as far as basketball is concerned. And until I see evidence otherwise, I'm going to assume that he can learn from his mistakes. Playing Mr. Obvious doesn't really help that process along.

AND in that regard, I'm going to gauge his progress against a baseline showing three-fourths of all incoming freshmen don't make it thru four years at the school in which they first enroll. So, don't tell me how much attrition we have. Tell me how much attrition we have versus other schools...

 

[ACCCard]

The crucial thing you are missing in your amateur assessment of the professional coaches assessment of this player and any player is that there is no way to really know if a kid will work hard at this level. How can you scout that? Where do you get that information exactly? From his high school coach?

 

[imajericho]

Came to ask what was going on with all the transfers. Seems you guys aren't too sure either. = /

 

[KerryRhodes]

Originally posted by imajericho:
Came to ask what was going on with all the transfers. Seems you guys aren't too sure either. = /

Business as usual.