[quote="panther2" post=384443]Tim Doyle played for the AAU team that I was associated with, the New York Panthers. In the summer of 2001, we had the Best AAU team in the Country. On that team were Daryl Hill-StJohns, Taquan Dean Louisville, Curtis Sumpter-Villanova, Charlie Villaneuva-UCONN, Jason Fraser-Villanova, Tim Doyle-StJohns, Marvin McCullough-Iona, Aubin Scott-LIU, and Mike Claxton-Villanova.
Tim was the 6th man and a great teammate. This team won the 3 Stripes tournament at Hofstra, The Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, and the Double Pump Tournament in Los Angeles. They beat teams featuring Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudamire, Raymond Felton, Elijah Ingram, and Lebron James.
Tim had an outgoing personality an a sharp wit mixed with a lot of sarcasm. However, when it came to his teammates, he had their backs. Tim was the only white player on the team but fit in seamlessly. He had an ability to adapt to his environment. I believe that he got this from his father who was the same way.
After we came back from Vegas, we played a Showcase game at Rucker Park against a team from Philly. Tim and his father Danny were probably the only Caucasians in the park that day. Tim put on a show with his passing and low post moves, while his father hung out in the stands with some former ballplayers that he knew such as Bobby Hunter and Bob McCullough.
Tim definitely had an edge to him that he may have felt he needed to survive on the Playgrounds of New York as one of the few white ballplayers in his era.
To me, he was always a respectful young man with a great personality. Wishing him the best in all of his future endeavors.[/quote]
I really appreciate you sharing this Panther. As a fan, I hold grudges against guys who bad mouth our program. Billy Donovan supposedly did this for a long time during his playing days because Looie told him he wasn't good enough to play here (but then made a call to Providence (Joe Mullaney?) telling him that Donovan could play at this level, just not at SJU. I've never forgotten that. Of course this was in an era way pre-social media and internet, so his griping was somewhat private and inside info.
Tim Doyle's swipes at our program came at a time with greater media coverage, and thus were slightly more public. Kids who aren't getting the run they think they deserve are all unhappy in one way or another, and Doyle expressed this a little too publicly. This is in synch with the problems that caused his downfall.
Thank you for sharing your own personal experiences with Tim, and giving him very positive props. I'll definitely look at him differently going forward. He was certainly a dominant CHSAA player on Long Island, and physically was a little bigger and stronger than most kids playing in that league in addition to having a solid skill set.
One thing that any athlete in the public eye is not professionally trained in is public relations. Some all time great players - Reggie Jackson and A-Rod come to mind - were absolutely gifted in saying the wrong thing at the wrong time that raised the ire of fans and teammates. College kids are a lot less mature, or at least their age would warrant that we cut them a little more slack.
Apparently his lack of judgment has cost him a lot at this point in his career, and hopefully he gets the second chance to redeem himself. We all deserve that at one point or another.
