Walker Availability

[eli#10]

Uconn has gone public with it's criticism of Tennessee after the NCAA rejected the waiver of one of their women's team transfers. The Hartford Courant has published an article where both Auriemma and the AD have wondered why the Tennessee AD has not supported the transfer of the player. Who knows if this strategy will result in the Tennessee AD reconsidering his action as Uconn has appealed the NCAA decision but it makes sense to give it a shot.
I think we have appealed the Walker decision by the NCAA. We should consider taking the same approach and let the world know what Georgetown (AD and Ewing) has done / not done regarding the transfer of Walker who apparently was dismissed from school and left without a school to attend and without a scholarship. Their behavior should be made known to the followers of college basketball.

[bigappleram]

Uconn has gone public with it's criticism of Tennessee after the NCAA rejected the waiver of one of their women's team transfers. The Hartford Courant has published an article where both Auriemma and the AD have wondered why the Tennessee AD has not supported the transfer of the player. Who knows if this strategy will result in the Tennessee AD reconsidering his action as Uconn has appealed the NCAA decision but it makes sense to give it a shot.
I think we have appealed the Walker decision by the NCAA. We should consider taking the same approach and let the world know what Georgetown (AD and Ewing) has done / not done regarding the transfer of Walker who apparently was dismissed from school and left without a school to attend and without a scholarship. Their behavior should be made known to the followers of college basketball.

Totally agree it's a worthwhile strategy to pursue, and their media partners are helping the cause. Our problem, our beat reporter is the only guy on the planet who actually defended the NCAA decision as a cut and dry one and to paraphrase "well Rhody knew the risk in taking Walker." SMDH

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Uconn has gone public with it's criticism of Tennessee after the NCAA rejected the waiver of one of their women's team transfers. The Hartford Courant has published an article where both Auriemma and the AD have wondered why the Tennessee AD has not supported the transfer of the player. Who knows if this strategy will result in the Tennessee AD reconsidering his action as Uconn has appealed the NCAA decision but it makes sense to give it a shot.
I think we have appealed the Walker decision by the NCAA. We should consider taking the same approach and let the world know what Georgetown (AD and Ewing) has done / not done regarding the transfer of Walker who apparently was dismissed from school and left without a school to attend and without a scholarship. Their behavior should be made known to the followers of college basketball.

Tennessee is in the Cartel. UConn, national championships notwithstanding, is not. NCAA has one job -- pacify the Cartel.

[Rhody83]

It is my understanding the Walker appeal was denied.
The reason his request & appeal were denied was because he was excused from the team for disciplinary reasons that were school and team rule violations. We can disagree with that being right but it is what differentiates Walker from others that were approved.

An interesting note with Tenn. Their mens team had a top transfer’s waiver denied last week. Tenn went off on the NCAA.

[URIRecruitingInfo]

So if a player is suspended for violation of rules and told to leave, he can get a waiver (K. Iverson). But if a player is dismissed for violation of rules, no waiver (A. Walker).

[bigappleram]

Disano just posted a review of the LIU game and had new info on the situation with Walker at gtown that was new news.

[adam914]

Here is the link with additional Walker info.

https://www.yurview.com/uri-rams/arduou ... -the-rams/

[Rhody83]

So if a player is suspended for violation of rules and told to leave, he can get a waiver (K. Iverson). But if a player is dismissed for violation of rules, no waiver (A. Walker).

What University/School rule did KI violate at Memphis? He broke team rules and was suspended for two games. Walker got in his second fight and was dismissed from the team and then led of campus.

Kuran Iverson leaving Memphis after being “told nicely to go somewhere else”.
Iverson's knucklehead moves include him retweeting a tweet that called Memphis coach Josh Pastner a fraud. This came after he was suspended two games for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Uconn has gone public with it's criticism of Tennessee after the NCAA rejected the waiver of one of their women's team transfers. The Hartford Courant has published an article where both Auriemma and the AD have wondered why the Tennessee AD has not supported the transfer of the player. Who knows if this strategy will result in the Tennessee AD reconsidering his action as Uconn has appealed the NCAA decision but it makes sense to give it a shot.
I think we have appealed the Walker decision by the NCAA. We should consider taking the same approach and let the world know what Georgetown (AD and Ewing) has done / not done regarding the transfer of Walker who apparently was dismissed from school and left without a school to attend and without a scholarship. Their behavior should be made known to the followers of college basketball.

Totally agree it's a worthwhile strategy to pursue, and their media partners are helping the cause. Our problem, our beat reporter is the only guy on the planet who actually defended the NCAA decision as a cut and dry one and to paraphrase "well Rhody knew the risk in taking Walker." SMDH

This is why we can't have nice things.

A recruit with more than one fighting (?) incident is a "nice thing"?

[SandorClegane]

They need to abolish the NCAA and come up with a new structure. There’s no accountability and no framework here.

[bigappleram]

Uconn has gone public with it's criticism of Tennessee after the NCAA rejected the waiver of one of their women's team transfers. The Hartford Courant has published an article where both Auriemma and the AD have wondered why the Tennessee AD has not supported the transfer of the player. Who knows if this strategy will result in the Tennessee AD reconsidering his action as Uconn has appealed the NCAA decision but it makes sense to give it a shot.
I think we have appealed the Walker decision by the NCAA. We should consider taking the same approach and let the world know what Georgetown (AD and Ewing) has done / not done regarding the transfer of Walker who apparently was dismissed from school and left without a school to attend and without a scholarship. Their behavior should be made known to the followers of college basketball.

Totally agree it's a worthwhile strategy to pursue, and their media partners are helping the cause. Our problem, our beat reporter is the only guy on the planet who actually defended the NCAA decision as a cut and dry one and to paraphrase "well Rhody knew the risk in taking Walker." SMDH

This is why we can't have nice things.

A recruit with more than one fighting (?) incident is a "nice thing"?

Not what I meant by that comment. But since you bring it up, newsflash college kids get in fights. I heard it was over a girl, who knows if that’s true. I went to school in DC, and Gtown is full of a bunch of kids you would want to punch tbh.

[Rhody83]

One troubling factor with Walker and Sheppard is second offenses.
The last fight was Walker’s second issue. I am ok with Cox giving Walker another chance but thinking he is owed a waiver after two issues at Georgetown is misleading. You can say college students do these things. But as a scholarship D1 athlete the standards are higher.

Sheppard dropped out because of academic issues at ECU. To then have academic issues at Jr College is hard to understand. Sheppard didn’t learn from his difficulties at ECU.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Totally agree it's a worthwhile strategy to pursue, and their media partners are helping the cause. Our problem, our beat reporter is the only guy on the planet who actually defended the NCAA decision as a cut and dry one and to paraphrase "well Rhody knew the risk in taking Walker." SMDH

This is why we can't have nice things.

A recruit with more than one fighting (?) incident is a "nice thing"?

Not what I meant by that comment. But since you bring it up, newsflash college kids get in fights. I heard it was over a girl, who knows if that’s true. I went to school in DC, and Gtown is full of a bunch of kids you would want to punch tbh.

Well...newsflash II...not all kids get in fights, and those that do, gotta pay consequences.

[NYGFan_Section208]

One troubling factor with Walker and Sheppard is second offenses.
The last fight was Walker’s second issue. I am ok with Cox giving Walker another chance but thinking he is owed a waiver after two issues at Georgetown is misleading. You can say college students do these things. But as a scholarship D1 athlete the standards are higher.

Sheppard dropped out because of academic issues at ECU. To then have academic issues at Jr College is hard to understand. Sheppard didn’t learn from his difficulties at ECU.

College students that get in fights...need to be held accountable. It's never "OK", and that is no higher standard than a non-D1 athlete.
I hope the kid gets his act together, but he's not owed anything and neither is URI. "Don't get in fights" seems like a pretty low bar..."don't get into a second fight, after you've already been in trouble for being in a fight", seems like a really really low bar....

[eli#10]

IF the appeal has been already denied we should have gone public with the Georgetown behavior just prior to filling the appeal.

[bigappleram]

A recruit with more than one fighting (?) incident is a "nice thing"?

Not what I meant by that comment. But since you bring it up, newsflash college kids get in fights. I heard it was over a girl, who knows if that’s true. I went to school in DC, and Gtown is full of a bunch of kids you would want to punch tbh.

Well...newsflash II...not all kids get in fights, and those that do, gotta pay consequences.

Newsflash 3. Kids make mistakes. Sometimes numerous ones. He got in a physical altercation with another man, twice...on the scale of “bad things college kids may do” it’s not that bad IMO. He did pay the consequences, he was told to leave school, lose a scholarship and not allowed to play basketball for a year. Neither of us have any context around the situation.

Sheppard is a different situation, he just seemingly has put zero effort into the school aspect of being a student athlete. On multiple occasions. Not sure how that isn’t flagged or caught in the vetting process by the staff.

[Rhody83]

IF the appeal has been already denied we should have gone public with the Georgetown behavior just prior to filling the appeal.

It appears the appeal had been denied prior (the same day) to URI announcing that Walker and Sheppard were ineligible. The turnaround was very quick from URI filing the appeal.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Not what I meant by that comment. But since you bring it up, newsflash college kids get in fights. I heard it was over a girl, who knows if that’s true. I went to school in DC, and Gtown is full of a bunch of kids you would want to punch tbh.

Well...newsflash II...not all kids get in fights, and those that do, gotta pay consequences.

Newsflash 3. Kids make mistakes. Sometimes numerous ones. He got in a physical altercation with another man, twice...on the scale of “bad things college kids may do” it’s not that bad IMO. He did pay the consequences, he was told to leave school, lose a scholarship and not allowed to play basketball for a year. Neither of us have any context around the situation.

Sheppard is a different situation, he just seemingly has put zero effort into the school aspect of being a student athlete. On multiple occasions. Not sure how that isn’t flagged or caught in the vetting process by the staff.

Apparently, those that decide penalties for such things, feel there are more consequences to be paid. I got nothing against the kid, I hope he gets his act together to where he can play, but there's rules around that fightin' stuff...not decided by us.

Sheppard...academics...totally agree with you. Is he 'ever' going to be eligible?

[TruePoint]

Just to be clear, Walker did not have his appeal declined as punishment for him getting into a fight. The things are indirectly related because the fight apparently led to his dismissal from the first school, and the NCAA decided (wrongly, in my opinion) that the timing and nature of his dismissal didn’t warrant a relaxing of the default rule. His not being able to play is not a direct “consequence” for his having gotten into a fight. Further, I don’t understand the comment “I hope he gets his act together.” Unless you know something I don’t, his act has been together the entire time he’s been on campus, which is nearly a year now. He certainly hasn’t done anything in his time in Kingston, as far as I know, that would have made his appeal for a waiver less likely. The bottom line is that the kid has now missed an entire basketball season and has been enrolled at URI for 10 months. Just on that basis alone, the waiver should have been granted. Never mind that they have been 10 drama free months in which he has by all accounts done everything that has been asked of him.

[Rhody83]

I misunderstood your comment on leading up to A10 play. It followed your comment about the conference tournament. So I thought yiu meant leading uo to thevA10 Tournament. My mistake.

[eli#10]

My sense of the episode is that if the ass holes from Georgetown had been supportive of the waiver there might have been a different outcome. I may have to consider rooting for the HATED Friars to kick their ass this year.

[UCH21377]

Very few of us know what went on with Walker, or how he's been doing since here. It is what it is. We cannot just blame the NCAA for everything we don't like; a rule is a rule. I know they make lots of exceptions, but nevertheless they are called exceptions for a reason. He got himself kicked out of Georgetown, came here, and now him and the school have to deal with it.

As for Sheppard it sounds like he thought he could go play hoops at college, but the school aspect was not properly emphasized. Maybe he is trying harder now; who knows. URI should have seen this coming.

[steviep123]

The problem is that the NCAA waiver/transfer process is inconsistent. There seems to be (at least on the surface) no rhyme or reason why they waive some and not others.

[rambone 78]

Again, Cox gambled and lost with Sheppard.

Another lesson learned, the hard way.

[DC_Rams]

Again, Cox gambled and lost with Sheppard.

Another lesson learned, the hard way.

Such is life, which is not a unique issue to just URI.

Next man up.

No one feels sorry for us. Just gotta win with what we have.

[luke]

Sometimes I think it can help to have only 10 players for the sake of morale as long as there aren't any injuries . Everyone knows they will
have the opportunity to play and so there won't be the grumbling about riding the bench. Every player will get chances to show that they can
play and they know it, so they will all come ready to play every night

[Rhody83]

Sometimes I think it can help to have only 10 players for the sake of morale as long as there aren't any injuries . Everyone knows they will
have the opportunity to play and so there won't be the grumbling about riding the bench. Every player will get chances to show that they can
play and they know it, so they will all come ready to play every night

Ask 351 D1 coaches if they would like a roster with 10 scholarship players and you would get 351 no answers.

[RhodyKyle]

Sometimes I think it can help to have only 10 players for the sake of morale as long as there aren't any injuries . Everyone knows they will
have the opportunity to play and so there won't be the grumbling about riding the bench. Every player will get chances to show that they can
play and they know it, so they will all come ready to play every night

Ask 351 D1 coaches if they would like a roster with 10 scholarship players and you would get 351 no answers.

Then I'm to assume the other 2 would say "absolutely"?
/s

[luke]

Dayton went to the Elite 8 with 6 and I do think in many ways it helped them get there. They had their best on the floor all the time and they
were prepared to go the full 40. Having 10 guys is not really a short bench if you think about it. How many teams use a 10 man rotation ?
Anybody anymore ? and as I stipulated, barring injuries which of course is a major qualifier.

[rhodylaw]

Can walker and shepherd practice? That is where you need the depth beyond 10 to get through the season. I think we are running our core 4 guys 30+mins a game and I have no problem with that. They are the best and most experienced players on the team. An A10 team is not winning anything by playing the 8-10 players any significant role. 5-10 mins maybe.

[Rhody83]

Can walker and shepherd practice? That is where you need the depth beyond 10 to get through the season. I think we are running our core 4 guys 30+mins a game and I have no problem with that. They are the best and most experienced players on the team. An A10 team is not winning anything by playing the 8-10 players any significant role. 5-10 mins maybe.

First, yes they can practice. Walker has been practicing since Jan. Why would that change?
“An A-10 team is not winning anything playing the 8th player a significant role?” Then you determine 10 mins/game isn’t significant.
Go back and look at some A-10 winning teams.
The best recent URI team (2016-17) that won the A-10 Tournament had TEN players that averaged 10+ minutes/game.
The URI 2017-18 team that won the A-10 Regular Season Champion had 8 players that averaged 18+ minutes/game.

[TruePoint]

Izzo said the decision led him to resign from the National Association of Basketball Coaches board of directors because, he said, the NCAA is making "arbitrary decisions" regarding waiver requests.

Tom Izzo is a bad guy who I hate, but he is right about this.

[ramster]

Read this nonsense about the NCAA saying Wiseman has to pay up $11,500 to a Charity but he is in College, doesn’t have a job, and NCAA is making huge money off unpaid College Athletes.

Absurd to penalize the kid, not the family or his Coach - just the kid who got no money and didn’t even know about the money - a college freshman getting slammed.

But don’t take my word read the comments from sports journalists in the tweets in the article.

The NCAA is getting to be a bigger joke every year

https://www.businessinsider.com/james-w ... er-2019-11

[eli#10]

Izzo is a d-bag. He should stay on the Board and try to get the NCAA to act properly and consistently on transfer situations. As far as I know any player who transfers from a school in May should not expect to play for the new school the following season unless there are extenuating circumstances around the transfer. Th question I would like to know the answer to in the Hauser case is why did Izzo think he should be allowed to play right away? What was the reason in Michigan State's request?

[NYGFan_Section208]

The transfer "policy" is the same as the Selection Sunday process...highly privileged information serious sausage-making...that no one one the outside would will ever want to see

ETA: Set time-frames, have deadlines, have staff to timely handle exception requests. It's not rocket surgery.

[TruePoint]

Izzo is a d-bag. He should stay on the Board and try to get the NCAA to act properly and consistently on transfer situations. As far as I know any player who transfers from a school in May should not expect to play for the new school the following season unless there are extenuating circumstances around the transfer. Th question I would like to know the answer to in the Hauser case is why did Izzo think he should be allowed to play right away? What was the reason in Michigan State's request?

Hey may be wrong in the case of Hauser. I don’t know. You may think he’s wrong to leave the board essentially in a tantrum. But he isn’t wrong to say that the process is a disaster and because they don’t explain their decision it certainly appears arbitrary.

[Rhody83]

Izzo is a d-bag. He should stay on the Board and try to get the NCAA to act properly and consistently on transfer situations. As far as I know any player who transfers from a school in May should not expect to play for the new school the following season unless there are extenuating circumstances around the transfer. Th question I would like to know the answer to in the Hauser case is why did Izzo think he should be allowed to play right away? What was the reason in Michigan State's request?

Agree. Hauser started every game last year and played for a very good team. He isn’t transferring down a level. His Coach didn’t leave. I believe he transferred because he didn’t get along with the star of the team. He is the poster boy for having to sit out a year.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Read this nonsense about the NCAA saying Wiseman has to pay up $11,500 to a Charity but he is in College, doesn’t have a job, and NCAA is making huge money off unpaid College Athletes.

Absurd to penalize the kid, not the family or his Coach - just the kid who got no money and didn’t even know about the money - a college freshman getting slammed.

But don’t take my word read the comments from sports journalists in the tweets in the article.

The NCAA is getting to be a bigger joke every year

https://www.businessinsider.com/james-w ... er-2019-11

And yet the guy who gave him the money -- who now as a coach is subject to the NCAA's rules and regulations -- skates.

[Taylor Swift]

This waiver thing has been complete bullshit to me. Let the kid play. At least it’s only about a month out at this point.

[ramster]

This waiver thing has been complete bullshit to me. Let the kid play. At least it’s only about a month out at this point.

Agree
Let him play

[Rhody83]

4 more games Walker has to sit. They need him. The lack of depth shows when someone is in foul trouble or having an off game.
Rotation will be a legit 8 - Tate, Walker & Toppin. Just missing the Guard off the bench.

[rambone 78]

Tomorrow's game, along with the PC and West Virginia games, are games where we could really use Walker.

Especially since those games are coming up quickly, with travel thrown in between now and the WV game.

Guys will be tired for sure.....especially Dowtin and Fatts.

[Rhody83]

Tomorrow's game, along with the PC and West Virginia games, are games where we could really use Walker.

Especially since those games are coming up quickly, with travel thrown in between now and the WV game.

Guys will be tired for sure.....especially Dowtin and Fatts.

Agree. I don’t see the Walker impact reducing any minutes for Jeff and Fatts. This team struggles offensively with both of them in the game. It becomes stagnant when one of them is out.

[ace]

The clear answer is to clone either Dowtin or Fatts. Not really sure why Cox hasn’t gotten on that yet.

[rambone 78]

They have 15 days between PC and their next game. And then another 8 days until the one after that.

Plenty of time. LOL.

[Rhody83]

The clear answer is to clone either Dowtin or Fatts. Not really sure why Cox hasn’t gotten on that yet.

Dress Sheppard up as Jordan Green was my thought. Seriously Cox missed on roster management. With DJ not playing (appears to be redshirt candidate) they have 9 scholarship players available, no experienced backup Guard and 3 are Fr. Having on open scholarship and three transfers who can’t play right now is a big misstep. They need to give Hammond some minutes so he can be used to give Jeff & Fatts rest come Conference play (when they play 3 games in a week).

[rambone 78]

Tyrese will probably play more at the 2 when Walker becomes available.

Looks like Cox has no confidence in Hammond at this point, especially against better teams.

Can DC get an immediate transfer for 2nd semester, who can walk and chew gum at the same time? Ha ha

[Rhody83]

Tyrese will probably play more at the 2 when Walker becomes available.

Looks like Cox has no confidence in Hammond at this point, especially against better teams.

Can DC get an immediate transfer for 2nd semester, who can walk and chew gum at the same time? Ha ha

Martin has seemed too slow defensively to cover a SG and his ball handling skills are below average for a Guard.
IMO Hammond could be a solid defender at SG this year. He needs more playing time

[ace]

The clear answer is to clone either Dowtin or Fatts. Not really sure why Cox hasn’t gotten on that yet.

Dress Sheppard up as Jordan Green was my thought. Seriously Cox missed on roster management. With DJ not playing (appears to be redshirt candidate) they have 9 scholarship players available, no experienced backup Guard and 3 are Fr. Having on open scholarship and three transfers who can’t play right now is a big misstep. They need to give Hammond some minutes so he can be used to give Jeff & Fatts rest come Conference play (when they play 3 games in a week).

I don’t know enough about Hammond’s game to comment on it specifically, but I think that’s one of the hardest things for coaches- they’re desperate for wins early in the season, so have a lot of hesitancy expanding the rotation past guys they really trust. Then, they get halfway through the season and their guys are tired because they kept the rotation so tight. It’s a constant give and take with what works in the moment versus what’s better in the long-run.

[DC_Rams]

Tyrese will probably play more at the 2 when Walker becomes available.

Looks like Cox has no confidence in Hammond at this point, especially against better teams.

Can DC get an immediate transfer for 2nd semester, who can walk and chew gum at the same time? Ha ha

The speed of the game is a bit much for Greg right now. They will start to fold him in, slowly. Right now they want these wins in the OOC slate more than getting guys minutes.