Joshua Smith Discussion

[tashoya]

It seems as though Josh's role on the team will be defined by his level of commitment. Coach seems to think that, in game shape, Josh can do more than just eat space and be a typical five. I'd love to see him do a lot of that but, if that isn't his ceiling, I'd love to see what else he can do too. Josh is saying the right things and I'm hoping that translates to action. He clearly has the potential. Him realizing that potential would be great for him and good for the Hoyas.

[CaliHoya]

Hmmm, if this guy from Old Dominion was denied a whole year of eligibility due to playing in one preseason scrimmage, I think we may see Josh lose a whole year as well:

espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9572030/old-dominion-donte-hill-eligibility-appeal-denied

[vv83]

Unless there is something about the ODU guy's case that has not been made clear in the various articles written about his situation - it sounds like the ODU player's case to play a 5th year is a lot stronger than Josh's. So this decision would not seem to bode real well for Josh.

Yet I am almost positive that there have been other players who played a few games in the fall semester, transferred, sat out the Spring/Fall, and still played 4 full seasons in addition the the handful of games they played in a 5th season prior to transferring. But Nikita only played in 4 seasons after transferring to Wake Forest, and he is the only guy I can think of off the top of my head who transferred after playing a few games of the fall semester.

Career Stats
Per Game Team G GS MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TOPG PFPG FG% 3P% FT%
2008-09 GTown 23 9 13.9 2.7 1.5 0.6 0.4 0.1 1.0 2.3 .344 .262 .571
2009-10 GTown 7 0 6.3 0.9 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.6 1.6 .250 .200 .500
2010-11 Wake 23 5 14.1 4.5 1.8 0.6 0.6 0.0 1.5 2.7 .468 .333 .719
2011-12 Wake 31 31 25.5 8.0 3.9 1.8 0.5 0.2 1.8 3.3 .378 .234 .738

[professorhoya]

Aug 16, 2013 15:44:56 GMT -5 CaliHoya said:

Hmmm, if this guy from Old Dominion was denied a whole year of eligibility due to playing in one preseason scrimmage, I think we may see Josh lose a whole year as well:

espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9572030/old-dominion-donte-hill-eligibility-appeal-denied

The only distinguishing factor I see is that it looks like Donte Hill played 2 full seasons when he went to ODU. Josh Smith will not be able to play the first half of this season. Which would give him half a season of basketball at Georgetown compared to a full seasons for Donte Hill if things end up the same.

sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/88622

[bmartin]

Greg Echinique played in five seasons: freshman year and 7 games as a sophomore at Rutgers, transferred to Creighton in mid-season, played after the next fall semester at Creighton and then two more full seasons.

www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/players/playerpage/1647129/gregory-echenique

The difference is that he was injured at Rutgers, so he might have been able to get a medical waiver to wipe out that season even if he did not transfer. Also, I think he blamed Rutgers for misdiagnosing or mistreating his injury, which may have helped with the NCAA.

From what I can tell, if there is a theme to the NCAA decisions, it is that if the player transferred mid season because something happened to him out of his control - injury or some questionable conduct by the coach or school - he can get a waiver.

But if he transferred mid season because he wasn't playing or wasn't happy, the NCAA doesn't care.

[EtomicB]

Here's another decision by the NCAA that makes you shake your head..


msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/rutgers-transfer-denied-hardship-waiver-082013

[SSHoya]

Irrationality of the NCAA re: transfers.

espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/87697/trying-to-understand-transfer-rules-give-up

[bmartin]

There appears to be an unwritten Rutgers rule:
Transfer from Rutgers - the NCAA assumes there is a good reason and grants immediate eligibility
Transfer to Rutgers - NCAA is suspicious of motivation and requires a year in New Brunswick before eligibility

[skyhoya]

Let's hope Josh suddenly has a great year, which we all think he is capable of. Look at Henry Sims, one mo0re year of playing as a Hoya and he could have been al all BE.

[FrazierFanatic]

Aug 29, 2013 7:37:46 GMT -5 bmartin said:

There appears to be an unwritten Rutgers rule:
Transfer from Rutgers - the NCAA assumes there is a good reason and grants immediate eligibility
Transfer to Rutgers - NCAA is suspicious of motivation and requires a year in New Brunswick before eligibility

Makes perfect sense to me. I've been to Rutgers.

[prhoya]

Aug 29, 2013 8:10:19 GMT -5 skyhoya said:

Look at Henry Sims, one mo0re year of playing as a Hoya and he could have been al all BE.

Henry would have led us to the National Championship during his sixth year at GU...

[skyhoya]

yes, Henry didn't bother to try hard in his early years.

[strummer8526]

Aug 29, 2013 9:18:21 GMT -5 FrazierFanatic said:

Aug 29, 2013 7:37:46 GMT -5 bmartin said:

There appears to be an unwritten Rutgers rule:
Transfer from Rutgers - the NCAA assumes there is a good reason and grants immediate eligibility
Transfer to Rutgers - NCAA is suspicious of motivation and requires a year in New Brunswick before eligibility

Makes perfect sense to me. I've been to Rutgers.

The year(s) the kid played there are punishment enough.

[x-centercourt400s]

This article was posted on Aug 14th, which is weird in that it never got linked here. Then again I just found it so maybe they messed up the posting or something.

Anyways this is a somewhat more sober assessment of Josh and his prognosis with the Hoyas. Very sympathetic to him but also pretty stark and not too flattering. Hopefully Josh was as much of a victim of circumstances at UCLA as is suggested here and the more positive and nurturing environment at Georgetown will make a difference. He's a big man with a big opportunity and hopefully he's found the right fit this time.

college-basketball.si.com/2013/08/09/josh-smith-georgetown/

[michaelgrahmstylie]

Wow! That was a sobering assessment of where Josh is. That was even honest on the writer's part to use himself as an example of someone who has struggled with weight issues. I have said on this board before that I respect Josh for trying to get away from a situation that was not conducive to his own development as a player. On the other hand, one should not expect that Josh has left Josh at UCLA. I hope and pray that he gets his weight down, both for Josh's sake and the program and reputation of Georgetown.

[calhoya]

Sobering yes, but if true, the fact that this kid has lost 40 pounds since arriving on the Hilltop would mark a major change in awareness and commitment from anything he showed at UCLA. Still a long way to go, but my takeaway as a skeptic when he transferred is that this is a positive development. Still think he is a year away, but that depends upon the transfer rules, I guess.

[prhoya]

We had the same discussion two pages back after a similar article came out.

[bicentennial]

Does anyone know when eligibility information about a transfer is published by the press, is it because the school releases the information or because the NCAA does? Just wondering if the school might know the answer but not choose to release the information?

[EasyEd]

Let's be cautious about criticizing Josh for, what is being called, lack of discipline by over-eating in the past. Some people eat the same as other people and either put on too much weight or remain very slim. I can relate to that as I had an enormous appetite when I was younger, ate much more than most of my peers, yet was skinny as heck. It's not all will power; for many it's our physical makeup, in our genes. Same goes for criticizing Mike Sweetney.

[x-centercourt400s]

Sept 14, 2013 8:40:54 GMT -5 prhoya said:

We had the same discussion two pages back after a similar article came out.

Lighten up PR... it's September. What the hell else do we have to do with months to go until play starts?