[quote="Mike Zaun" post=277280][quote="ghostzapper" post=277269]The transfer culture in college basketball is fully in place and is as strong as it has ever been. We have greatly benefited from that culture with the additions of Tariq Owens, Marvin Clark and Justin Simon. Additionally we brought in transfers Mikey Dixon and Sedee Keita who will be part of next year's team. Now we are looking at possibly more transfers to supplement next year's roster and beyond.
At this point Tariq may stay at St. John's but is definitely going to explore his options to leave. This should not be a surprise to anyone, because when you live with the benefits of this culture you will have to deal with the defection side too. Personally I am not sure why it makes sense to praise players when they choose to come here and bash them if they choose to go. Like it or not this is just the nature of things in today's game.
The incredible UMBC upset over Virginia was historic and fascinating. It was the first time a number sixteen seed ever beat a number one seed in the NCAA men's tournament. Some believed it would never happen.
I have posted a link to an article (see below) about UMBC's star player Jairus Lyles and his unusual transfer journey that led him to the spotlight of perhaps the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA tournament. The decision for him to stay at UMBC shows what can be possible if you decide to stay the course and not transfer. Maybe we should show this article to any of our players when they are considering leaving St. John's. Players need to know that there can be some real benefits in staying.
[URL][URL]https://www.yahoo.com/spo...om-3-schools-4-coaching-staffs-033448366.html[/URL][/URL][/quote]
Agree that the transfer culture is definitely at its peak, however even so can you point to another program that consistently loses as many players as us not counting a coaching change? Again, I feel like many in our fanbase sugarcoat things way too much at times IMO. Is it really likely that this is all by chance and has absolutely zero to do with coaching? Which one of those is more likely? Jay Wright goes out and gets 3 star kids who did not get scouted much and by the time they are seniors (usually sooner), they are absolute studs. Spellman is a freshman playing like a senior. My point is you know good coaching when you see it. You can clearly see their development. We say Tariq's but he also worked a lot with his father outside of official practices so who knows who gets some of that credit. Yakwe regressed, Amar regressed, Ponds regressed (better shooting numbers as a freshman), Clark and Simon are transfers, etc. The only evidence I see is regression overall in terms of player development which is alarming given the fact that many players get better naturally even with an average coach.
There is smoke coming from the kitchen and many of us don't seem interested in checking the oven due to fear of what they may find: that maybe, just maybe recruits and current players are losing faith in our coaching staff.[/quote]
Think you're reading way too much into this. Mullin came in with a bare cupboard, and had to take what he could get in year 1. So it was no surprise he was already recruiting over those players with better players for year 2 and beyond. Perfect example, both Sima and Ellison were rumored to have transferred because they were getting outplayed in practice by incoming recruits and knew they'd lose playing time. Mussini and Freudenberg, who knows how long they even ever intended to stay in the US, but it's not like they went to play for other schools. They went back home. Owens is a 5th year grad transfer. Just like we take in transfers, we have the ability to lose them too. Remember in year 1 when we took on Durand Johnson and Ron Mvoika?
I dont even see how it's fair to compare to Nova. They've been a winning program, we have not. Kids are more likely to stay at a winner.
inch: 
