As you know Hooper may be the only guy in the history of our to have a higher GPA while at Harvard than he had at SJU, proving unequivocally that SJU is the better school/
Did Hooper even attend the graduation? There appear to be no photos of him.
He was in the gym shooting another YouTube video.
Well, it appears he couldn't be bothered going. And I have to say, that really bothers me. SJU gave him a scholarship, and it's like he's saying "up yours."
Give the kid a break. I didn't attend my graduation either. One long colossal bore!
Did the university pay for 100% of your education, including room and board? Did it give you a chance to play high-major basketball and to prove yourself on a major stage at MSG--even though no other team in the nation was offering you the same opportunity?
To me, it speaks to his character. I'm glad he's gone. If that sounds harsh, sorry--but if Marco Borgault and Orlando Sanchez can show up for the long colossal bore, so can Hooper.
He doesn't owe the University anything. I received an academic scholarship from my university....should I have been obligated to attend my graduation? I didn't attend either my undergraduate or graduate school ceremonies, so does that mean I am lacking character?
And you make it sound like we were offering him so much more as a basketball program than Harvard was. We gave him a chance to play 'high-major basketball and prove himself on a major stage at MSG, even though no other team in the nation was offering him the same opportunity." For starters, he voluntarily left Harvard. You make it sound like we took a chance on a kid that no one else wanted. That is not the case at all. Second, I'm pretty sure that Harvard offered him a bigger stage than we ever could have. They made the tourny last year....we did not. There is no bigger stage out there than the NCAA tournament.
Finally, this is nothing more than a business deal. He plays basketball for the school, and in return he get free tuition and room and board. He owes the University nothing more than his basketball obligations.
To your point, although an NCAA tourney berth is great and the goal of any program, St. John's averaged 7300 per game in 2013. Harvard averaged 1700. I was in Spokane when Harvard played in the regionals this year and they didn't have a ton of fans who made the trip. While 7300 is not a staggering number, most of our games are televised in the NYC metro area at least, so the exposure is much greater. So even playing for Harvard, a tourney program recently, the exposure is minimal.
True, but if you look at it this way, with regards to MSG: We average 7,300 for an arena that hold just under 20,000. If you even bumped it up some cause we normally play our bigger games there, we still don't even come close to filling it. And if we do have the higher attendance, the majority of the fans are there for the other team anyway. Harvard, on the other hand, averages 1700 for an arena that only sits 2,195, and I am guessing that the majority of them are Harvard fans.
As far as exposure, outside of the NYC area, St Johns gets no exposure at all. They were helped greatly because of the conference they play in and because of the new FoxSports channel. But if it weren't for that, they would have maybe 2 or 3 games on TV all year.
And I think making the tourny means alot more to these kids than you realize. They are treated like celebrities during the tournament, with all the press conferences, their meals, their hotels, etc. And let's be honest, Harvard is alot more likely to make the NCAA's than we are.
