Nwankwo commits to VCU

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But does he get in? That's what we want to see.
 

Good for him. Hope it works out, seemed like a nice kid.
 

I'm eager to learn the story on this one. I'm guessing that once the clearinghouse delays turned up, UMn took the opportunity to back out. Thoughts?
 

Comment from VCU boards:

"I'll be honest; I am trying to decide whether I am getting carried away with homer-ism, and whether I am just trying to put the ugly start to this offseason behind me, but I am really starting to think we are in better shape than we would have been had Shaka stayed. Look, I still admire what he started here; he was a good person, a great coach for us and he accomplished terrific things. And the class he had coming in, together with Terry and the other returnees was going to be ranked

But I am not sure we would have had all the returning players back if he had stayed. I think trading Murphy for Jonathan is a BIG trade up. Mack was a loss, but I really think that Samir has huge potential too; how comparable they are is yet to be seen. I think on the trade -- what we got, what we kept, what we would have lost had Shaka stayed, and what we lost -- I think we come out pretty close to even.

And then there is Wade. Who knows how that trade looks 2 or 3 years down the road. We may be in the plus side of the ledger there too when all is said and done."
 


More likely VCU is heading back to the obscure hole they somehow rose out of under Shaka. And in a couple years will be completely irrelevant in college basketball again.
 

Best of luck to JN, I was looking forward to seeing him in Maroon and Gold. I wish I had a better idea of what happened with his scholarship, but he seemed like a great kid.
 

Seems like a good kid, hope he does well. I do Murphy for him all day every day though.
 

Sparlimb said:
More likely VCU is heading back to the obscure hole they somehow rose out of under Shaka. And in a couple years will be completely irrelevant in college basketball again.
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You should be more like "The Dude" and relax. VCU got what they needed (talented, raw big man who can play the 4/5) and the Gophers got Murphy. Both sides did well through this outcome.

VCU will probably take a step back, but irrelevant? Nope.
 




Gopher luck...........watch him become the second coming of Akeem the Dream.
 

LehighFan said:
I'm eager to learn the story on this one. I'm guessing that once the clearinghouse delays turned up, UMn took the opportunity to back out. Thoughts?
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Yeah I've suspected that as well. If Pitino still wanted him badly, he would have waited for the clearinghouse results. And likely no coincidence that Nwankwo was pushed aside within weeks of getting Reggie Lynch.
 

WanderingGopher said:
Yeah I've suspected that as well. If Pitino still wanted him badly, he would have waited for the clearinghouse results. And likely no coincidence that Nwankwo was pushed aside within weeks of getting Reggie Lynch.
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Someone mentioned the Gophers likely knew about this for awhile. If that's the case, I'd guess Lynch was the response to this. Not necessarily part of the reason for it.
 



scher215 said:
Someone mentioned the Gophers likely knew about this for awhile. If that's the case, I'd guess Lynch was the response to this. Not necessarily part of the reason for it.
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I have a hard time seeing the Gophers not knowing about the situation. The staff must know it's unlikely the NCAA granting him a waiver for this year. Here's more info:

Nwankwo originally signed with Minnesota but was released from his letter of intent. He may have to sit out a season with the Rams as a nonqualifier because he attended ninth grade in both his native Nigeria and the U.S.

“The Nigerian academic system is a little bit different than the American academic system,” said Derrik Riullano, Nwankwo’s legal guardian. “The problem is that his clock started much earlier than we thought it actually started. When he came to America, we actually thought he was entering high school for the first time.

“He’s an excellent student. He takes his books very, very seriously. We had to set rules for him going to bed. Sometimes you’d get up at 2 o’clock in the morning, and he’d still be downstairs studying.”
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http://m.richmond.com/sports/colleg...20b-495f-5cfa-af0b-48126d5d6f2a.html?mode=jqm
 



Winasota Gopher said:
So. Let's assume that's true. Why did we let him walk and take someone that isn't eligible until the next year anyway?
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Here's the timeline.
5-18 Nwankwo released
5-20 Sign Jordan Murphy
5-26 Sign Davonte Fitzgerald



I think the timeline is waaaaay off. My apologies Winasota.
 

It's pretty black & white what happened. Pitino wasn't willing to wait this out regarding Nwankwo's eligibility. He didn't want to chance he'd be ineligible, which by all appearances is what will happen. VCU obviously is willing to take the risk and take him even if it means he's a non-qualifier the first year. This has nothing to do with Admissions, and everything to do with NCAA issues, as his legal guardian (Riullano's dad) pointed out.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
So. Let's assume that's true. Why did we let him walk and take someone that isn't eligible until the next year anyway?
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Because you could potentially wait that year with JN only to have him not be eligible after the year? Just guessing, without knowing the specific issue it's tough to speculate what would happen after year 1.
 

SelectionSunday said:
It's pretty black & white what happened. Pitino wasn't willing to wait this out regarding Nwankwo's eligibility. He didn't want to chance he'd be ineligible, which by all appearances is what will happen. VCU obviously is willing to take the risk and take him even if it means he's a non-qualifier the first year. This has nothing to do with Admissions, and everything to do with NCAA issues, as his legal guardian (Riullano's dad) pointed out.
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My view of the situation as well. No way Pitino didn't know about JN taking two 9th grade years (1 each in Nigeria + US). Pitino didn't want to wait it out when there were other prospects who could come in right away w/ no issues. VCU thinks he's a good enough player that the staff is willing to risk not having him a year.
 

Why is it a problem to have repeated his 9th grade year but ok for kids to repeat their senior year at a prep school?
 


SelectionSunday said:
It's pretty black & white what happened. Pitino wasn't willing to wait this out regarding Nwankwo's eligibility. He didn't want to chance he'd be ineligible, which by all appearances is what will happen. VCU obviously is willing to take the risk and take him even if it means he's a non-qualifier the first year. This has nothing to do with Admissions, and everything to do with NCAA issues, as his legal guardian (Riullano's dad) pointed out.
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All reasonable, but obviously something also changed since last September (when we took his commitment and closed out our class). RJ hinted that Nwankwo didn't "take care of" what he was supposed to in the classroom this year (meaning grades, course selection or paperwork ... he or somebody messed up).

I also believe that if he had had a dominating senior year, we wouldn't be having this conversation yet.
 


Winasota Gopher said:
Did we get murph after wonk was let go?

I thought we had a full class for a bit?
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Yep, you're correct. As Cayman stated, Murphy committed a few days before Nwankwo was released. I misinterpreted his signing with his committing. Sorry, my friend.
 


I' also curious about why kids can go to prep school but you better not have repeated 9th grade as an English as a second language student. Doesn't make sense. But didn't JN do both?
 

SelectionSunday said:
This has nothing to do with Admissions, and everything to do with NCAA issues, as his legal guardian (Riullano's dad) pointed out.
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Nope, no way. It's beyond obvious that Admissions has it in for the Athletic Department. The majority of their time is spent devising new and inventive ways to screw over the coaches, because they hate all of them, specifically and especially whoever the basketball coach is at that time. Don't you know that? Man, get a clue.
 

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