Nikita Mescheriakov to transfer

[Bando]

Dec 22, 2009 10:43:59 GMT -5 washingtonhoya said:

"Nikita expressed the interest to transfer to a school where he knows he will get more playing time than he feels he will get here," Thompson said. "We wish him the best in his future endeavors and appreciate his hard work."

So...he's transferring to 2008-2009 Georgetown? Does he have to sit out a year, and if so, does that create an infinite time loop?

Post of the year.

[hoyaalf]

Should that be 'Post of Infinity' ?

[Bando]

Dec 22, 2009 15:13:42 GMT -5 EasyEd said:

A question: Causey, Guibunda, Omar and Nikita. What do they have in common? Is it possible that ONE consideration in their decisions was not feeling at home among the rest of the team?

Is there any subject you're unprepared to bring racial ressentiment into?

[mchoya]

At the end of the day, in addition to being racist, the Heckler also chases people off of the team: georgetownheckler.com/wp/2009/11/fake-doctor’s-note-fails-to-get-mescheriakov-out-of-layup-drill/

[ahoya2]

DFW is correct. It is damaging to lose players no matter their athletic contributions. Bad image for the program and the universtiy

[SFHoya99]

Hurts the graduation rate?

Again, I ask what you care about -- the players' education or the school's academic rep. The only Thompson player I know of who hasn't graduated from some school that should have by now is Jeff, and he's going back to school. Egerson graduated, and I'm pretty sure Thorton and Spann are seniors now and on track (though I admit I have no real info here).

So again, do you care about people's education or merely PR?

[Boz]

Couple of thoughts:

1. I wonder if this might be a learning process for JTIII as well. Consider: as the coach of Princeton, he was never really dealing with players of NBA-caliber talent. He had good players, yes, but -- and this may be completely naive or erroneous on my part -- I would imagine players at Princeton who were not getting a lot of PT were much more secure, happier, choose your adj. that they were getting a four-year education at Princeton. Basically, my point is that it was probably a lot easier to have role players there.

Now, at Georgetown, you're a highly visible, nationally recognized program. Players who come in, even if they are destined to be four-year role players, are going to be more ambitious. They're going to want the spotlight more, and probably be less satisfied with being a role contributor on the team.

I don't think any of the players who have transferred out under III have been exceptionally talented, but I think many of them thought they could shine more, be more of a star somewhere else and were not willing to accept their role. Can anyone look at any of our transfers and say, "Wow, we were not using that guy enough. We would have been much better off if he had stayed and JTIII should have played him more." I didn't think so. (Maybe Egerson, but IIRC, his transfer had nothing to do with playing time or anything on-court related).

But the coaching staff does probably have to work at getting players who are going to be happy in a smaller role at a bigger school (basketball-wise). I can't imagine that's an easy thing to do, but it's a shortcoming of the staff. Overall, I think the strengths of our coach far outweigh his shortcomings, but it doesn't mean he can't work on some stuff. This is probably one of those things. (that and teach the team to value the damn ball!!!!! )

2. I am enjoying the racism nonsense and, as always, the lambasting of Mrs. Ixer. We should keep that going as long as we can. (by which I mean, let's lock this already)

3. Nikita was not going to play tomorrow. We still need to beat Harvard. Will Nikita be sitting behind their bench?

[EasyEd]

Dec 22, 2009 17:27:41 GMT -5 Bando said:

Dec 22, 2009 15:13:42 GMT -5 EasyEd said:

A question: Causey, Guibunda, Omar and Nikita. What do they have in common? Is it possible that ONE consideration in their decisions was not feeling at home among the rest of the team?

Is there any subject you're unprepared to bring racial ressentiment into?

Look, I have no information saying this is a problem but it is a fact that most of our non-African American players have chosen to depart. What's wrong with asking the question whether it was ONE of their considerations, especially since one of our recruits for next year is not African American.

Another fact is that Georgetown, over the years, has been criticized for not recruiting non-African Americans. Now most of those actually recruited are leaving. Why are some questions off-limits?

[nashvillehoyas]

What else is new? Same old story. Revolving door. Who's next!

[michaelgrahamfan]

I agree with the Way. On the other hand this is part of Div I hoops.

[hoyas big supporter]

Dec 22, 2009 17:13:09 GMT -5 Bando said:

Dec 22, 2009 10:43:59 GMT -5 washingtonhoya said:

So...he's transferring to 2008-2009 Georgetown? Does he have to sit out a year, and if so, does that create an infinite time loop?

Post of the year.

Seconded.

[NCHoya]

Dec 22, 2009 19:22:17 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

Hurts the graduation rate?

Again, I ask what you care about -- the players' education or the school's academic rep. The only Thompson player I know of who hasn't graduated from some school that should have by now is Jeff, and he's going back to school. Egerson graduated, and I'm pretty sure Thorton and Spann are seniors now and on track (though I admit I have no real info here).

So again, do you care about people's education or merely PR?

Both. I am glad these kids graduate somewhere they deem a better fit.

However, that does not mean I should accept the recruitment of so many players that do not fit, and in turn, make the Georgetown program look like it has a systematic problem with keeping students feeling valued enough to stay.

IMHO this will eventually affect recruiting whether people want to acknowledge it or not. Boeheim, Calhoun and the like will use this against us and since all these kids do their homework they will have their own doubts and questions.

But again, I completely agree that JT3's positive far outweight his negatives. And these are not our blue chip players leaving. But let's not just sweep it under the rug when it keeps happening. Eventually it will bite us in the ass with a recruit we need.

[TC]

It's damaging to have kids transfer. It's also damaging to have people on the team who don't want to be there and who kill the team's chemistry (see: 2008-2009).

I don't know the circumstances, but if Nikita didn't want to be there, maybe it's a blessing that this decision was made this early in the year.

[the_way]

There is a problem in this program. And its growing.

Pops teams had a lot of transfers too. But somehow he always was able to pick up the pieces.

We can say, Nikita was not really a loss, but we could have recruited somebody better here in the first place.

Plenty of successful and middle of the pack teams have role players. This is not some unique thing going on here.

But apparently it is here.

I think the problem is that we recruit extremes. Guys that can play and guys that can't. We hit or miss. And we have been misssing (no pun?) a lot lately.

Somebody brought this up, and somebody brought up that JTIII coach different kinds of kids at Princeton.

And i think JTIII walked into a situation when he first came here, where he had Jeff Green, Hibbert, Wallace, Crawford who laid that type of foundation with kids who wanted to be here, were self-motivated, and fit in to what he was trying to do. Everything clicked for the most part. Add guys like Sapp and Ewing, Jr., and it really clicked. These guys were like the guys at Princeton. You had your superstars and you had your role players, and your in between guys. There was balance. There was leadership.

Right now, we have a legit 6-man rotation, w/ no seniors, getting ready to go into Big East play. For a program like Georgetown...thats not good. Not good at all. Something is wrong with that picture.

Something is going on.

[daytonahoya31]

Did we really have SIX pages because Nikita transferred?.....really?

[gojeffgoroyunder7]

Dec 22, 2009 22:41:14 GMT -5 the_way said:

There is a problem in this program. And its growing.

Pops teams had a lot of transfers too. But somehow he always was able to pick up the pieces.

We can say, Nikita was not really a loss, but we could have recruited somebody better here in the first place.

Plenty of successful and middle of the pack teams have role players. This is not some unique thing going on here.

But apparently it is here.

I think the problem is that we recruit extremes. Guys that can play and guys that can't. We hit or miss. And we have been misssing (no pun?) a lot lately.

Somebody brought this up, and somebody brought up that JTIII coach different kinds of kids at Princeton.

And i think JTIII walked into a situation when he first came here, where he had Jeff Green, Hibbert, Wallace, Crawford who laid that type of foundation with kids who wanted to be here, were self-motivated, and fit in to what he was trying to do. Everything clicked for the most part. Add guys like Sapp and Ewing, Jr., and it really clicked. These guys were like the guys at Princeton. You had your superstars and you had your role players, and your in between guys. There was balance. There was leadership.

Right now, we have a legit 6-man rotation, w/ no seniors, getting ready to go into Big East play. For a program like Georgetown...thats not good. Not good at all. Something is wrong with that picture.

Something is going on.

Only thing that is wrong with this program are "fans" like you. It is "fans" like you that made balla start a new site because of all the crap that is spoken about our team here and how the sky, even when things are going fine, is always falling. We have had as many transfers as Duke. People want more playing time. Perhaps our coach is honest with guys early on (within 2 years) and tells them precisely where they will fit in (or not for that matter). III has taken some chances, a la Wattad and Nikita--neither worked out. We aren't UNC we cant get 5 guys every year from the top 100 on rivals. This is a blessing.

But...something is wrong with the program? Egerson had his own issues. Macklin is a former McD's all american and knew that Monroe was going to start, or at least he would have to really fight to keep Monroe on the bench. You fault him for transferring? or is that III's fault for recruiting Greg Monroe? Because if Greg wasn't coming to gtown Vernon was staying. These kids have egos. Jeremiah thought he would be a star and also knew he would be sitting behind Chris--so he left. YOU make up all of these issues. There isn't much to it other than we recruit good players, but sometimes, we recruit even better ones. You think doc rivers' kid wants to ride the bench?

The negativity is so ridiculous. We are the #13 team in the country with tons of potential to be much better.

But...our program has major issues.

[Nevada Hoya]

I always thought that Nikita and for that matter Omar could help with our 3-pt shooting (e.g., Nikita vs cuse, Omar vs Tenn), so I am sorry that it didn't work out. Is Nikita transferring right away, and this will be his sit out season with another team?

[mapei]

I'm sorry that Nikita is leaving, but I understand it for all the reasons people have written above. I always rooted for him and wanted it to work out, but he will probably be happier somewhere else, and meanwhile on-the-court Hoya ball won't be affected much.

On the racial thing, I haven't a clue whether NIkita was affected in any way. But I doubt it. And we know that 3 has gone after white guys (Kelly, Lubick). I *do* hope we can field a truly integrated team at some point, but I have no reason to think we aren't trying.

Back on the court, I haven't seen enough of Vee and Jerrelle to be as sold as others seem to be. Hope you're right, though. I definitely like what I've seen of Hollis - there's no way Nikita was going to challenge him for the 6th spot. As for Henry, I see flashes of major potential but also see a kid who still looks awkward out there at times.

Count me also among those who would like to see fewer transfers and more graduations. More PT for the subs in lopsided games seems like a good idea to me.

[calhoya]

Why is this such a controversy? The kid is not playing now. The guys playing in front of him are not graduating this year and there are guys coming in or being recruited who would play before him. It is a smart and logical move by a kid who wants to play ball and not sit on the bench. As for JT III's history of transfers, well it is what it is--good and bad. Am I worried about the pattern? Not yet. The time to worry will be if we continue to miss out on recruits who fit into this style of play or recruit kids that cannot or will not play this style. I met a long time D 1 head coach last summer who came in as a client of our firm and asked him about recruiting. He told me that everyone used to recruit against Big John by telling kids that the Hoyas only concentrated on defense. Now they recruit against the Princeton style of basketball. He did not believe it would be a problem for JT III as long as he targets the right kids. Seems logical.

[chep3]

Why do some people list early entries on the same level as transfers? Those are extremely difficult situations with usually dissimilar implications.

And while I think there is some merit to the idea that we need to get more PT for the end o the bench guys, I do understand that the starters didn't play that well last year. It's not out of the realm of possibility that JTIII thinks they need more reps to improve too.

Finally, all this talk is about how JTIII can't keep guys in the program and how kids might not want to play for him. I think its interesting how he has been able to keep two guys, Roy and Greg, who, had they not wanted to play for JTIII could easily have gone pro.