For some reason I have visions of Ralph Sampson III in my head with Dennis Evans. Tall, lanky, hyped like hell, not particularly fond of contact, never really turned into the player people thought he would be. Or maybe I'm just coping.
Very few have, if any, suggested he was a savior. His commitment was hugely important symbolically as a highly rated recruit committing to the future of the program. The reverse is now true. It is symbolically a disaster to have a key commit decommit, especially in the middle of a season in which there has been no discernible steps forward.
Sure.
Describes me to a T sans the eye problem.
Yeah, I mean, he could go that route as well but then he'd have to pay for school for that season and RS.
I don't think breaking an NLI prevents you from receiving a scholarship at the school you go to. If you know this to be wrong, then I will cede that bit of it.
So, after all that, you agreed with me that the difference between an LOI and a contract is a technicality. Neither get enforced when someone wants out, at least in this context.
Huh? I'm saying even the thing you think it is wouldn't have helped in this situation. That doesn't make a LOI an enforceable contract. LOL. A paddleboat wouldn't help in this situation but a LOI isn't a paddleboat.
I didn't think you could be on scholarship at two different schools at a time. But I could be wrong.
Bolded: really? Given how skinny he is, I would think that may well do him very good.
I think there is zero chance he sits out a season.
I think you're assuming I'm one of those who thinks that the U should make him honor his commitment, regardless of whether it's a LOI or contract. I'm not. Evans wants out of his commitment. It doesn't really matter whether we were engaged or married - the end result is he's gone. Why make such a fuss about the difference when the end result is the same?
Pieces are in place to be average? Like 10-10 in conference? No they're not. Not even close.
RSIII was still a very good player who you would take every day of the week. He just wasn't as good as he could have been if he'd actually liked basketball.
The vast majority of time I've spent talking about the differences have been with you, responding to your questions/comments. So we're in this fuss together, brother.
Certainly made it easier to ask out. Ryan James put out a podcast saying that Dennis liked MN but his camp didn’t. The losing allowed them to have more say and to choose the money.
I don’t think this is true. Wisconsins NIL still sucks and they win a lot. Nebraska has really good NIL and they lose a lot. MN needs to develop relationships with donors (I don’t know how we do this), but we need our big money alum bad. I’m hoping the competition of St Thomas will help some of our rich alum to step up? It’s been a problem here for a long time (hence why it took so long facility upgrades.
Where's our Papa John's?
If the crystal ball said TCU, for example, you could make a straight-face argument that Evans was mostly looking to avoid going to a dumpster fire situation. But Louisville is a dumpster fire situation. They might be better positioned to improve than MN, but they're still waaaay below literally 70-80 other programs. Seems pretty obvious what's at play.
Agree, I don't think the broadcast networks want parity, they make their money off of promoting a couple of schools. These schools are on national channels at prime times over and over again. Their announcers hype these teams to build interest.
I'm not arguing that Louisville isn't offering money. I'd bet a ton of money that they are offering money. That said, I think Evans could have gotten paid this summer and he chose not do that. I think us being historically awful may have made that Louisville bag a bit more appealing.
And all the same, major, significant money from TV deals have only been a thing for the last probably what 15 years or so? Maybe a bit more?
I'm curious if this is true for programs like the Big 10 Network. It feels like a lot of their ratings were just taking all of the $$ from the local cable channels that used to get every Big 10 game.
he was a good player who was not as good as colton iverson but played more than colton iverson.
While the latter stipulation probably is the more important thing anyway, especially given that the NIL deal would more than cover the expenses, I don't see that first stipulation as restricting that "next institution" 's ability to pay for the school expenses with a full scholarship.
That's cute. It's a business decision, where by the player makes the decision that is best for his future. No different than in any other business.
I align with you. I never think he will be an impactful player at the P5 level. He’s too raw and lean, and not bouncy to get around it. He gets blocks now, but he doesn’t dominate lower level competition. He won’t have that luxury in college. But either way, a prized recruit bailing kills.
I think Evans would have been great long term here and not much help next year. Too frail and at 15 pts and 11 boards in HS it shows that he is not ready yet. The biggest loss is for Ben's selling pitch. He can no longer say that you get to play with one of the top 5 big guys in the country to the spring and fall recruits this year.
They at least offer an elite name on the diploma. Players originally don’t pick northwestern to help them get to the NBA, or make it to the top of the B10. They do it as they get a world class education and still play in the B10 (thus same exposure).