College Hoops 2006-2007

[jphelmet]

not that you're making a big issue out of it, but a lot of people have lately, so i'm just gonna take a stab at the whole "student/athlete" thing...

why did you go to college? i'll answer for you... so that you can get a better job. very few go to actually educate themselves. they go because they're more likely to get a better, higher paying job with a degree or two than they are without.

so i really have no issue with greg oden taking history of rock and roll, as is the big cry from the moral police these days. he's preparing himself for his future employment by being on the basketball court. he's going to be an instant millionaire. the old "he needs something to fall back on" argument doesn't fly in his case. even if he blows out his knee in his first season and can never play again... that money is gauranteed. 3 million per for 4 years. something tells me he could always go back and get his degree with that 12 million dollars, if he so chooses.

no one gives pianists and other classicly trained musicians a hard time for concentrating on their craft rather than taking sociology, but world class athletes get a raw deal.

just my .02

I agree with all you said, the only sad part is there are so many players that are not the caliber player of Greg Oden or Durant and still think this way. There are lots of players that are drafted, play 2-3 years blow everything they make and then have nothing. Worse yet there are lots of players who think they will be drafted, are not, bounce around in european leagues (or never play past college) , never make anything and have no education or skill because they blew the chance at an education. I agree with your assessment on why to go to college- unfortunately many squander the opportunity, and make things a lot harder than they had to be.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

not for nothing... a guy i know played 4 years at a top flight D1 school... went undrafted, plays in europe and makes 6 figures. bouncing around in europe is not such a bad thing... marginal players on those rosters make a hell of a lot more than, say, a first year american school teacher... 50 to 60 thousand... with expenses paid on top of it. then when they come back home and look to get a real job they have that international experience on their resume.

for every d1 athlete who leaves school early, doesn't make it and ends up with nothing, there's a thousand regular students who do a little too much partying, drop out after a year and never return. some end up making a good life for themselves anyways, some flip burgers... or worse. same goes for the d1 drop outs. heck, bill gates was a college drop out.

it is sad, but ultimately it's their own life... everyone makes mistakes. some learn from those mistakes, some don't.

 

[ntalwar]

Bill Gates took the leave of abscence from Harvard to spend time on Microsoft, not for academic reasons. He could have re-enrolled later.

 

[Hewson]

Imagine how much money he could have made with a Harvard degree to his name.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Bill Gates took the leave of abscence from Harvard to spend time on Microsoft, not for academic reasons. He could have re-enrolled later.

and michael jordan left the university of north carolina not for academic reasons, either... call it what you will, he left the school to pursue other means. it's the same thing.

note: jordan eventually finished his degree... bill gates, to date, has not.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2826756

Billy Donovan, three days removed from leading Florida to a second consecutive national championship, will announce later Thursday that he will remain the Gators' coach and not make himself available to interview for the opening at SEC rival Kentucky.

Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Donovan met Thursday morning with Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley in Gainesville, Fla. The decision was made at that time that Donovan would stay on as coach.

Donovan was the top choice of Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart to replace Tubby Smith, who left the program in March to coach Minnesota.

 

[Dalton]

Am I the only one who's shocked that Donovan stayed?

Wow.

 

[Dalton]

BTW headache.

I went to school so that I could look down on people that didn't.

I laugh at my boss all the time because I went to a better school than her....

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Am I the only one who's shocked that Donovan stayed?

Wow.

yes... why would he leave? they're in the same conference, and florida's by far the better program at this point in time.


i'm much more surprised that bob huggins is going to west virginia... talk about a change in styles from beilein to huggins. goodbye clean cut program and dead eye shooters, hello athletic freaks and "friends of the program."

 

[Dalton]

"I can think of about 4 million reasons a year that he would leave," said Kim Etheredge.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i'm guessing florida's gonna pony up a few extra bucks for billy boy

 

[Dalton]

Florida will not be able to pay Donovan the same amount of money that Kentucky could (because then they would have to pay Meyer even more...)

And florida will never be Kentucky as far as names go.

But, Kentucky will never be Florida as far as living conditions and girls in bikinis go.

 

[Chizip]

I think Florida is better able to pay the big bucks because of the football revenue they bring in. That is the cash cow of college sports, which means they will always be able to build better facilities to help lure in better recruits.

You leave one school to go to another to give you a better shot at winning a championship, well I think Donovan has proved you can win them more easily at Florida. If you are building a legacy at one school there is no reason to go to another to try to live up to someone else's legacy.

I would have been shocked if Donovan left for Kentucky, he's in a perfect situation as is.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

st. john's is a storied program, too. now look at it. NYU was at one time the best program in all of college basketball... now they're D3. the times they are a changing... UF is the place to be for college sports these days, and that's not gonna change anytime soon.

you can bet that donovan is getting a raise... as is meyer.

 

[Dalton]

Here's my thought:

The highest paid coach in men's basketball right now is/was Tubby Smith at around $2.2 million dollars. I have to assume that Kentucky would have had to offer Donovan at least that amount. With all the kids that are going to leave the Florida team, next year will more than likely be a rebuilding year. So Donovan's stock will fall a bit. If he is going for the big bucks, he has to do it now. So, I assume that Florida must be pushing him close (read 'over') the $2 million mark.

The highest paid coach in men's football right now is Bob Stoops at around $3.4 million dollars. With the class that Florida has coming back next year, they should have a great year. If that happens, Meyer will be one of if not the hottest name on the market, so Florida will have to push him up close to that low 3's mark.

I don't believe that there is any university in the country that is paying top dollar for both coaches.

So, if I am Donovan (and I want to get paid) I would have seriously considered that Kentucky job and I would have named my price. Kentucky would have paid through the nose.

Plus, lets not kid ourselves. Its not like Kentucky is a washed up name in the sport. I've toured their facilities - they're amazing. And Donovan would have had an easy time recruiting there as well.

Now all that being said, I hate Kentucky so I am glad he turned them down.

 

[Chizip]

Florida's athletics revenue last year totalled 82 million

Kentucky's totalled 57 million

I think Florida can afford to pay 2 coaches 3-4 million and still be ahead of the game.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i know that kentucky's not a fading name... for now. but florida is THE name right now. it's the hottest school in D1 athletics, and it's been on an upswing for the past 10-15 years. it is on the level of a kentucky at this point, if not further along. they make much more money than kentucky does... the lone benefit to going to kentucky over florida for donovan is not the money... florida can pay just as much if not more than kentucky can. the benefit is being the only show in town... donovan will always have to share the spotlight with urban meyer and the football team. there's nothing else at kentucky (much like indiana).

kentucky may have the history, but florida's a better job.

 

[Hewson]

Interesting that as soon as Donovan decides to stay, Horford, Noah, Green and Brewer decide to leave.

I'm guessing no 3-peat.

 

[jphelmet]

back to obscurity at A&M in basketball. Best coach A&M ever had in basketball is gone after 3 years. Maybe we can stick it to Kentucky and hire away a football coach from them someday.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

one would think gillispie's gotta be the #1 candidate for kentucky

i'm a genius

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Interesting that as soon as Donovan decides to stay, Horford, Noah, Green and Brewer decide to leave.

I'm guessing no 3-peat.

they've got some good recruits coming in, and these juniors were freshman who got little time when david lee and that group was there, so who knows... maybe billy's got some more kids hiding on the bench.

one would think, with two straight championships, a football championship to boot, great facilities, great climate, great great cheerleaders that it's not gonna be very hard to keep the recruits pouring in to gainsville.

chomp chomp.

 

[LMP]

There's a player Florida recruited from a school nearby me (Lake Howell) who is just mesmerizing to watch. He had a good All-American game too.

Florida runs a great program, I only wish most of the fans weren't assholes.

 

[Hewson]

they've got some good recruits coming in, and these juniors were freshman who got little time when david lee and that group was there, so who knows... maybe billy's got some more kids hiding on the bench.

one would think, with two straight championships, a football championship to boot, great facilities, great climate, great great cheerleaders that it's not gonna be very hard to keep the recruits pouring in to gainsville.

chomp chomp.

I'm sure they'll be good next year, just not likely serious title threats, however if the 4 juniors returned, then they would have to be odds on favorites yet again.

But I can't blame the 4 for leaving, in fact hopefully Noah really appreciates the 2nd title, cause it cost him serious $$$.