Wally to focus on track, per Fuller

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Hopefully we can take advantage and add two of djuan, Anas, Kobe, or gueye.

Wally was a tweaner to me. His horizontal quickness was too slow to play the wing and he wasn't bulky enough to be an undersized 4. I thought they would pack 30 pounds on him and play with a shorter line up but that body type is counter productive for track.

Good luck to him. I won't miss his scowl on the bench though.
 

The Brain Trust said:
Yeah blame it on Tubby. Well he had offers from Neb, OK ST, St Louis, Utah and West Virginia. He was a Rivals and ESPN 3 star recruit which fits right in with Pit's recruits so far and his signing was well received on this board.. So now the blame it Tubby clown emerges once again.
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Who cares about his stars or his offers, that doesn't mean anything. Stars are simply a measure of potential at the D1 level. Tubby recruited him and he completely failed as a player. That's the coach's fault for bringing in a player who cannot hack it.

Apparently the truth hurts you. It's a totally fair assessment. Grow up.
 

Good luck to Wally on the track team. His career highlight has to have been that insane reverse alley-oop in what I believe was his first appearance in a Gopher uniform.

The timing of this strikes me as odd as one week to get ready for a track meet after training for basketball for ~6 months doesn't seem like enough time. The Gophers are now down to 11 real scholarship players and their two "walk ons" (Shell is on scholarship this semester) are both very small guards. Obviously Wally wasn't playing, but having a 6'4/6'5 legit D1 athlete for practice is pretty important when your numbers are down.
 

this is the biggest loss since the KG trade...I have a feeling somehow the team will find a way to survive....
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
Who cares about his stars or his offers, that doesn't mean anything. Stars are simply a measure of potential at the D1 level. Tubby recruited him and he completely failed as a player. That's the coach's fault for bringing in a player who cannot hack it.

Apparently the truth hurts you. It's a totally fair assessment. Grow up.
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This is dumb, are you going to give tubby for getting andre, austin, ellison, mbakwe, etc? probably not, but you are just going to find where he messed up and bash him, when there is no need to, look around at every program, they all get players who don't make it, that is just the way things go, pitino will have his share too, Just wish Wally luck and move on, there is no reason to put fault on anyone.
 


I really think this is the right thing for Wally. Trying to do two sports with conflicting requirements seems like a prescription for failure in both. From all I've heard, Wally is a very special high jumper and it makes eminent sense that he should decide to concentrate on track and field. I'm delighted that he will remain a Gopher. I know I will be cheering for him, and I'd be absolutely ecstatic if he were to make it to the Olympics.

As for the timing, it makes sense to me. The track and field season is about to start, and he will now be free to focus on high jumping from its beginning. Despite losing him for team practices, his leaving the team now, should increase our ability to land two quality recruits for next season.
 

GuyFawkes said:
This is dumb, are you going to give tubby for getting andre, austin, ellison, mbakwe, etc? probably not, but you are just going to find where he messed up and bash him, when there is no need to, look around at every program, they all get players who don't make it, that is just the way things go, pitino will have his share too, Just wish Wally luck and move on, there is no reason to put fault on anyone.
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My god, did you follow the thread at all? I already wished Wally luck. I responded to another poster who ripped Wally. I politely said don't rip him and casually mentioned that Tubby recruited an over-matched player so let's not blame Wally for not making it. I never said Tubby was a horrible recruiter. It is the Tubby apologists who took it to another level, which was never my intent.

Quit putting words in my mouth and quit taking posts out of context to fit your narrative.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
My god, did you follow the thread at all? I already wished Wally luck. I responded to another poster who ripped Wally. I politely said don't rip him and casually mentioned that Tubby recruited an over-matched player so let's not blame Wally for not making it. I never said Tubby was a horrible recruiter. It is the Tubby apologists who took it to another level, which was never my intent.

Quit putting words in my mouth and quit taking posts out of context to fit your narrative.
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and as I said no reason to put fault on anyone, and as also said wish wally luck and move on
 

GuyFawkes said:
and as I said no reason to put fault on anyone, and as also said wish wally luck and move on
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We are going to fundamentally disagree on what is completely acceptable. If I casually say don't rip the player rip the coach, then that isn't out of bounds. I am not sorry if you cannot handle that.
 



Wally said "the hell with basketball because GopherHole experts said I wasn't worth a $hit." The same will happen with Buggs because of our GH experts.
 

Dr.Don said:
Wally said "the hell with basketball because GopherHole experts said I wasn't worth a $hit." The same will happen with Buggs because of our GH experts.
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Now only if recruits would commit here because GH experts think they will excel here
 

The-Real-Truth said:
True. People are wondering why RV complained about so much negativity around this program and chose to play for UNLV. God forbid, if he had a bad year, he would have been ........
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I really hope this is tongue in cheek because this fan base is about as tame as it gets to negativity.
 

silky said:
Not getting playing time is a struggle for many but he quit on his teammates. I'm assuming he played a role on the scout team and prepared the team for their upcoming opponents. Good luck to Wally with track but I wish he would have stuck it out until the end of the year.
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There is something to that, although I think it's not that simple. The indoor track season is in full swing (I think the upcoming meet Pitino referred to is actually the B1G indoor championships) and outdoor starts soon. If the basketball coach is making it clear he's not going to be a meaningful part of the basketball program going forward, why just hang around and handicap yourself and the track team?

I do wonder what Pitino thought of this behind closed doors. His statement to the press expressed surprise at the "timing."
 




Mulligan said:
Red shirt, work on his game more, no problem between Dad and Pitino, acting like part of the team and Wally could have been a contributing member. The opportunity was certainly there; something went pretty haywire for him not to see the court.
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...And add weight. That's the one where I suspect there might have been a problem between coach and player, as Pitino has been very outspoken about demanding players to follow the conditioning program they set. As a 6'6" guy without great lateral quickness, Wally's best opportunity for a meaningful role seemingly would be to bulk up and be an undersized 4 or a big 3. I wouldn't be surprised if the bb coaches wanted him to bulk up and, by the looks of it, he wasn't doing it. As Wally himself has said, the ideal basketball and high jump bodies are not the same.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
Don't think anyone who has followed the team this season is at all surprised. Glad to have another scholarship to use for this year to get someone who can help us next season. Good luck to Wally with the track and field and hope he and he Gophers have success.
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It's common, but that doesn't make it easy to deal with. Think what Isaiah Dahlman went through. That must have been a bitter pill to swallow, and I can't imagine what goes through his mind about how a promising basketball career hit a stone wall dead end in East Lansing.

Tubby did not make a mistake by signing Wally. He was a legit and sought after recruit. Too bad it didn't work out, but you have to admit that, after a while, it didn't look like Wally's heart was in it anymore. That goes for both years - last and this.

He's still a Gopher and will do the school proud in track. Best wishes, and I'll be cheering for him.
 

I think that this was the best decision for Wally, he's a much better high jumper than he is a basketball player. I wish him well, I will be pulling for him.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Ff__EXRN3-k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 


MadtownGopher said:
I'd consider Mahmoud a breakthrough. He is probably one of the 3 best players still available and a consensus 4-star top 100ish player.
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You know a lot of you like to bash Tubby....and that is fine....but to be fair, he has done a better job turning around the Texas Tech program than Pitino has in turning around the Gopher program. I watched the end of the TT~Kansas game tonight when Kansas scored with less than 2 seconds to pull out a one point victory. I'm sure the Texas Tech turn around is more in spite of Tubby rather than because of him.
 

ethomasp31 said:
You know a lot of you like to bash Tubby....and that is fine....but to be fair, he has done a better job turning around the Texas Tech program than Pitino has in turning around the Gopher program. I watched the end of the TT~Kansas game tonight when Kansas scored with less than 2 seconds to pull out a one point victory. I'm sure the Texas Tech turn around is more in spite of Tubby rather than because of him.
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Why did you post trash like that in response to a post that had nothing to do with your trash? It is because you are looking to pick a fight with the poster.

Quit trolling.
 

Sorry that wasn't meant to be quoted for that comment, but for some of the people who continue to bash Tubby at every chance they get......
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
Why did you post trash like that in response to a post that had nothing to do with your trash? It is because you are looking to pick a fight with the poster.

Quit trolling.
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I wasn't trolling.....I hit the wrong button and didn't mean to quote that comment. I haven't brought up Tubby Smith in this board since he was fired....unlike some on here who bring him up every chance they get....it gets a little old.
 

97alumni said:
I love listening to him talk about the team. He's an easy listen. Thanks for posting.
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When Pitino was talking about how we can't get our pencils out and start marking down Ws and Ls, I found myself a little embarrassed, like i was being scolded by my dad.
 

ethomasp31 said:
You know a lot of you like to bash Tubby....and that is fine....but to be fair, he has done a better job turning around the Texas Tech program than Pitino has in turning around the Gopher program. I watched the end of the TT~Kansas game tonight when Kansas scored with less than 2 seconds to pull out a one point victory. I'm sure the Texas Tech turn around is more in spite of Tubby rather than because of him.
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Tubby has done a nice job down there so far. It's not like Tech is devoid of talent however. Crockett and Tolbert can play and would start on our team and they have decent depth.

This team would probably not be in the NCAA tourney conversation had Tubby stayed however. Andre would be our starting PG which is fine, but that would mean Mav would be seeing more playing time at backup PG. Joe Coleman would have probably stayed and started at the 2. Austin obviously at the 3. We would still have a nice backcourt but our backcourt depth would be worse than it is this year.

Our frontcourt, if tubby had stayed, would have been a potential disaster. We'd have Oto, Buggs, and Foster at the 4. At the 5 we would have A 300lb Mo Walker and Elliot probably wouldn't have gotten in better shape as well.

Both Richard and Tubby have done nice jobs so far with their respective teams. But the Gophers would have been worse than they are now if Tubby stayed at the helm.
 

ethomasp31 said:
You know a lot of you like to bash Tubby....and that is fine....but to be fair, he has done a better job turning around the Texas Tech program than Pitino has in turning around the Gopher program. I watched the end of the TT~Kansas game tonight when Kansas scored with less than 2 seconds to pull out a one point victory. I'm sure the Texas Tech turn around is more in spite of Tubby rather than because of him.
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If Tubby's moral victories counted, he would have won more titles than Wooden. I watched the game too, same crap on offense with 1 on 1 at the top of the key which cost them the second to last possession. When Kansas called a TO before their game winning possession Tubby and his staff didn't even address the team and looked confused. A good staff knows what to do in those situations and has a scouting report about tendencies. Most teams go through end of game tendencies during the walkthrough. Unfortunately Tubby continues to surround himself with yes men.

Tubby is a good basketball coach and he did a lot for the program. But Richard runs a much tighter program. Richard's staff has at least two other future head D1 coaches on it. Tubby has Joe Esposito (couldn't get an interview for the St. Thomas job 3 years ago), and Saul. Pooh will one day be a head coach. Vince will be a career assistant.
 

BarnBoy said:
When Pitino was talking about how we can't get our pencils out and start marking down Ws and Ls, I found myself a little embarrassed, like i was being scolded by my dad.
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I thought that too LOL. Like OOPS he caught me.
 

BarnBoy said:
When Pitino was talking about how we can't get our pencils out and start marking down Ws and Ls, I found myself a little embarrassed, like i was being scolded by my dad.
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I know I put my pencils away.
 

ethomasp31 said:
You know a lot of you like to bash Tubby....and that is fine....but to be fair, he has done a better job turning around the Texas Tech program than Pitino has in turning around the Gopher program. I watched the end of the TT~Kansas game tonight when Kansas scored with less than 2 seconds to pull out a one point victory. I'm sure the Texas Tech turn around is more in spite of Tubby rather than because of him.
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I think Tubby needed a fresh start and so did the Gophers. I think even the biggest Tubby supporters can admit that he lost the fire he had when he first arrived.

I think Coach P is a better fit because he is younger and hungrier. Now a couple years down the road that could prove wrong but I'll willing to take the ride along with him.
 

DeathClutch said:
Tubby has done a nice job down there so far. It's not like Tech is devoid of talent however. Crockett and Tolbert can play and would start on our team and they have decent depth.

This team would probably not be in the NCAA tourney conversation had Tubby stayed however. Andre would be our starting PG which is fine, but that would mean Mav would be seeing more playing time at backup PG. Joe Coleman would have probably stayed and started at the 2. Austin obviously at the 3. We would still have a nice backcourt but our backcourt depth would be worse than it is this year.

Our frontcourt, if tubby had stayed, would have been a potential disaster. We'd have Oto, Buggs, and Foster at the 4. At the 5 we would have A 300lb Mo Walker and Elliot probably wouldn't have gotten in better shape as well.

Both Richard and Tubby have done nice jobs so far with their respective teams. But the Gophers would have been worse than they are now if Tubby stayed at the helm.
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Couldn't agree more. Tubby is doing well so far, but this team is better off with Pitino here.
 

Tubby is doing GREAT with a reasonably talented, scrappy team that he inherited which was underutilized by the previous regime - eerily similar to his first year here.
 

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