Vaughn cites STrib's "negativity" as reason for eliminating Gophers

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Bad Gopher said:
The other thing he needs to get a clue about: he talks as if this is a huge issue in the general community and that everyone in the Twin Cities is hanging on his every word. 95% of the people who saw today's blurb don't know and don't care about the Kaffey situation and have only a passing interest in Rashad Vaughn. Even most Gopher fans don't worry about recruits until they're signed up and in games. The narcissism and self importance these athletes have makes me laugh at them.
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Agree on all fronts. And it's continuing to get worse with each generation.
 

He's a typical pampered baby/athlete who has thin skin. Is anybody surprised?

This is not the Star Tribune's fault or any reporters' fault. Don't blame anyone other than Vaughn and his inner-circle for not coming here. It's not the end of the world that he didn't come here.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
He's a typical pampered baby/athlete who has thin skin. Is anybody surprised?

This is not the Star Tribune's fault or any reporters' fault. Don't blame anyone other than Vaughn and his inner-circle for not coming here. It's not the end of the world that he didn't come here.
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When my late Father told me I wasn't worth a $hit at something, I took it as a challenge and I worked harder to prove him wrong.

Different generations, I guess.
 

Look, it's possible for both parties to be wrong here. The Strib's article was poorly researched and investigated, and was just spewing out theories that many people in this town have privately held for a while. But my thought tends to be that if you're trying to run an article like that, you've got to have something other than speculation. Basically, the Strib is a terrible newspaper, with an even worse sports page, and print media can't die in this town soon enough for me.

But on the other hand, this is clearly Rashad trying to get Gopher fans mad at the Strib when we had no real chance. You'd have to be pretty naive in my opinion to not see that Rashad's recruitment is about as filthy as it gets right now. Whichever team ends up with him will automatically be entered in my Kentucky, Baylor, West Virginia top-five dirty program list, because this process has smelled strongly of impropriety. So it's clear that Rashad wasn't interested in coming here. In a way, that's made it easier. I'm more upset with how Reid handled his recruitment than Rashad or Tyus. We always knew that Tyus wanted to be on the "big stage" with his buddy. I'll not be a fan of his, but whatever, I can understand it. Rashad (and his people) are in it for the under-the-table money. Okay, I don't think much of their character, but they're not the first and they'll not be the last. Reid inviting the Gophers fans, pretending they were in the mix, to drum up local interest in his self-serving announcement? That galled me.
 

Boo f'n hoo. Too bad Rashad. You think that it might look just a tad shady for your assistant coach to be getting jobs the same two places you play ball at? Big deal the original article was been poorly researched and spewed out theories. You can't deny that it looked at least a little bit shady. If Rashad can't handle some questions about that then too bad. I wouldn't doubt that at some point in the future his name will come up again in something shady.
 



I agree with those who say Vaughn was never coming to the U. His leaving for Findlay was all the evidence I needed that he was willing to cut whatever ties he had to Minnesota, and a single article, negative or positive, wasn't going to change that.

Ultimately, we'll see just how accurate the Strib article was once he makes a decision on a school. If he lines up a Whitehead-type deal for his "mentor" (which I can see happening at UNLV and even ISU), then they were right and it will be 100% clear that's what drove his decision.
 

Is the Strib run by the University? By the Athletic Department? By the BB program? No, no, and no. In fact the Strib has been much more of a nemisis of the program than a helper. So why would someone eliminate a school based on an article of an unaffiliated newspaper? Makes no sense. If it were written by USA Today would he eliminate all universities and instead go the Brandon Jennings route and play overseas? Just a dumb excuse.

What does make sense and is entirely possible is the greasy handler told Vaughn to blame the article calling him a greasy handler as the reason for eliminating Minnesota. Wouldn't that be fitting.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Just proves that the negativity of Minnesota is a legit gripe. I'm not originally from the area, but when I went to school and subsequently became employed in the Twin Cities I was simply amazed by how much the media ragged on the sports teams. I mean you have MULTIPLE sports personalities whose entire schtick is to be completely negative. One which has a yearly preposterous statement of the year which seems to only include people who make POSITIVE statements which may ultimately prove to be false...

It truly is a shame, and Vaughn is expressing what many of us have always wondered, do the athletes recognize. Wouldn't be surprised to hear Kevin Love say something similar when he leaves,
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Someone needs to ask; where did you move from?
 




For a kid who has his eyes on a pro career, he better grow some thicker skin. What's he going to do the first time he gets boo'd for a bad game, demand a trade?
 





I've always thought a big part of Rashad's distaste for MN and the media revolved around Tyus and Reid. For whatever reason, the MN media adored(s) those two. They only make positive comments, talk about how fantastic they are, how perfect they are, etc. it is blasphemy to those in the media/around MN basketball to say a bad word about either.

Rashad Vaughn was always treated as an outcast by the MN media/public. He was an after thought. He finally got an article written about him when it was bashing him and his mentor.

Sure it isn't good to be that upset by media/public perception, but I can absolutely see why he has a bit of a beef with the media/public here. They don't take kindly to certain people for whatever reason.

People mention the negativity around other big cities, however often times that is with their PRO sports and rarely attacks individual college/high school athletes. This state thinks if they are allowed to be negative towards Kevin Love or Adrien Peterson, the same applies to Rashad Vaughn. Ignoring the fact the first two are paid professionals while Rashad is a high school kid.

When Reid picked a different school everyone was told to leave the poor 18 year old alone, with Vaughn it is that he is a selfish jerk who deserves to be treated like crap. It's his own fault. Just doesn't make sense to me. Especially since many in the know felt he was the one we had the best shot at.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
He's a typical pampered baby/athlete who has thin skin.
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Ya, he is and we're all on GH reading and commenting about 17 to 21 year old kids, and I'm pretty sure that damn everyone here really, really wanted him to come here. I love Gopher sports but I sometimes feel like an idiot for devoting so much time, emotion, and some money to it.
 


thin skinned? huh?
he's 18 years old for Gods sake.

bottom line is the reasons to leave outweigh the reasons to stay.. no different than a non-student athlete attending Wisconsin over Minnie.
the AAU circuit is a zoo... these guys have been rock stars for 3 or 4 years.. rivals, espn, have all run articles... big name coaches circle them like groupies..

so after all that, who wants to play in the frozen tundra to a bunch of silver-headed old men and have a Sid interview you?
why not to go UCLA or USC and have Kobe in the front row?

plus, most of these guys are one-done anyway.. a year from now everyone in Carolina or Kentucky will accuse Vaughn of being selfish again for being one/done.

give the kid a break.
 

While he may be using it as a scapegoat, the fact is, the kid can play ANYWHERE he wants to. You can say he needs thicker skin, but when you're in the position he's in, why stick around somewhere you feel like you're getting hated on when you have the full ability to go somewhere else? Especially when there are already a plethora of reasons why you'd want to go to one of those other places anyway. It's not like he's backing away from Minnesota and going to a worse program. His options are perennial top programs in the country.
 

SelectionSunday said:
He's not fooling anyone. He was never coming here, but if it makes Vaughn feel better to say that's the reason, go for it. Good insight into the large, large egos some of these pampered star athletes have.
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That's pretty much hitting the nail on the head. Absolutely ludicrous to think that a kid is going to drop a school off his list because of a newspaper article. I hope that nobody honestly believes that the Star Tribune is the reason he isn't considering Minnesota.
 


Bad Gopher said:
Mostly because we fans continue to get more sports crazy.
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Agree.

People's priorities in regards to sports are also getting more and more out of whack. That's one of the ways you end up with kids like Vaughn and his "mentor."
 

lugnard said:
Media in this town 'negative'? Try Chicago. Or New York. Or gawd help them - Philly. In some cities the fans get pissed at you they dump garbage on your lawn. Or put for sales signs up in your yard. Harass your kid at school. If Vaughn thinks this is negative he has some learning to do. Unpleasant learning at that.
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Currently living in Philly and while this town is made up of an unlimited number of dbags talking sports...I will say that the press is mostly positive (and honest) when it comes to college teams. Of course, there are more D-1 BB programs in Philadelphia than in all of MN, IA & Wisc combined so that might have something to limit the singularity of their hate...but I just haven't seen it here regardless of the program. Now the pro teams and pro players are mauled here to make up for the college love fest.
 

scher215 said:
I've always thought a big part of Rashad's distaste for MN and the media revolved around Tyus and Reid. For whatever reason, the MN media adored(s) those two. They only make positive comments, talk about how fantastic they are, how perfect they are, etc. it is blasphemy to those in the media/around MN basketball to say a bad word about either.

Rashad Vaughn was always treated as an outcast by the MN media/public. He was an after thought. He finally got an article written about him when it was bashing him and his mentor.

Sure it isn't good to be that upset by media/public perception, but I can absolutely see why he has a bit of a beef with the media/public here. They don't take kindly to certain people for whatever reason.

People mention the negativity around other big cities, however often times that is with their PRO sports and rarely attacks individual college/high school athletes. This state thinks if they are allowed to be negative towards Kevin Love or Adrien Peterson, the same applies to Rashad Vaughn. Ignoring the fact the first two are paid professionals while Rashad is a high school kid.

When Reid picked a different school everyone was told to leave the poor 18 year old alone, with Vaughn it is that he is a selfish jerk who deserves to be treated like crap. It's his own fault. Just doesn't make sense to me. Especially since many in the know felt he was the one we had the best shot at.
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UCLA basketball and USC football.
 

Bad Gopher said:
The other thing he needs to get a clue about: he talks as if this is a huge issue in the general community and that everyone in the Twin Cities is hanging on his every word. 95% of the people who saw today's blurb don't know and don't care about the Kaffey situation and have only a passing interest in Rashad Vaughn. Even most Gopher fans don't worry about recruits until they're signed up and in games. The narcissism and self importance these athletes have makes me laugh at them.
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Agreed, what you gotta find the 'love' front your local newspaper? Well, these kids may grow up someday. Prep players will find it 'cool' to play at MN because of Pitino. And these three may be looking back in a few years wondering what may have been-but Pitino won't.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
For a kid who has his eyes on a pro career, he better grow some thicker skin. What's he going to do the first time he gets boo'd for a bad game, demand a trade?
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Probably he will count his cash and laugh it off.. lets face it, with his talent, he will get special treatment all the way to the show.. its not like he narrowed his list to nobody U.. big time programs look past that.. I'm not crazy about it, but fact is, the elite talent sometimes is also a lot to deal with, not always, but often.
 

howieramone said:
UCLA basketball and USC football.
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I don't see them attack the players so much as the coaches. Plus, those schools have some other advantages that sort of negate the negative press.

Sunny days and pretty women can do that.
 

Rouser said:
Probably he will count his cash and laugh it off.. lets face it, with his talent, he will get special treatment all the way to the show.. its not like he narrowed his list to nobody U.. big time programs look past that.. I'm not crazy about it, but fact is, the elite talent sometimes is also a lot to deal with, not always, but often.
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I agree mostly. I think sometimes people just like to attack these kids because it's only basketball. And they don't see that as a real profession.

If this was anyone here and they were picking between jobs, comments like the Strib article from shareholders of a company would have you rejecting that job offer too. Especially since you had better offers anyways.

It's so easy to bash these kids when not a single person here has ever been in their situation. Vaughn and any one these kids have put more work into basketball than most of us will into our entire life and deal with more scrutiny than any of us ever did at 18 years old. No one is perfect, but I'd imagine 90% of 18 year olds would be extremely turned off by that Star Tribune article about them.
 

This is beyond childish, and indicates a character flaw in the young man. Good luck to him.
 

scher215 said:
I agree mostly. I think sometimes people just like to attack these kids because it's only basketball. And they don't see that as a real profession.

If this was anyone here and they were picking between jobs, comments like the Strib article from shareholders of a company would have you rejecting that job offer too. Especially since you had better offers anyways.

It's so easy to bash these kids when not a single person here has ever been in their situation. Vaughn and any one these kids have put more work into basketball than most of us will into our entire life and deal with more scrutiny than any of us ever did at 18 years old. No one is perfect, but I'd imagine 90% of 18 year olds would be extremely turned off by that Star Tribune article about them.
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But the Strib is not in anyway a "shareholder" of the U. They are completely independent of the U.

My whole beef with Vaughn is for making the statement that the article is why he eliminated the U. Sure he may have been put off by it, but if he thought that the U was where he wanted to play and was the best place for him he wouldn't eliminate them because of it. That would be just silly. Man up and say that the University of Minnesota isn't where you want to play ball. That's absolutely his right, but don't act like you really, really wanted to play here but can't because of a newspaper article that the U had no part in.
 

Ron Johnson Super Fan said:
But the Strib is not in anyway a "shareholder" of the U. They are completely independent of the U. My whole beef with Vaughn is for making the statement that the article is why he eliminated the U. Sure he may have been put off by it, but if he thought that the U was where he wanted to play and was the best place for him he wouldn't eliminate them because of it. That would be just silly. Man up and say that the University of Minnesota isn't where you want to play ball. That's absolutely his right, but don't act like you really, really wanted to play here but can't because of a newspaper article that the U had no part in.
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That is a good point. I agree he wasn't ready to commit here or anything and I still think the negativity he refers to goes beyond that article. I think he has been turned off by being number 2 to Tyus and even 3 to Reid his entire life. But if he really really wanted to play here, he would.

The Strib isn't a share holder of the U by any means, also agreed. But putting out a speculative piece about a high school kid isn't bashing the U. I don't think Vaughn cares if the paper likes the U or not, but they seemed to have a grudge against him personally. I bet if the Tribune came out and attacked Josh Martin for something they had no proof of he'd be a little upset too.
 

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