KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

URIRecruitingInfo wrote: ↑4 years ago I think we all know the family didn't visit in December and ask why haven't you built any new facilities in the last 6 months. The growth they were looking for was Toppin specific.

Yeah, that’s why they think he’ll succeed at Kentucky. C’mon man.

Seawrightspostgame wrote: ↑4 years ago Why are other A10 programs consistently raised above URI on this board when they are basically neck and neck on the court?

Davidson? They play in a cafeteria. VCU won’t beat URI this upcoming year.

It's less about what happens on the floor and more about what you have a right to expect.

If you're Kentucky and you go 39-24 in two years, you have a 50/50 chance of being fired. It's about what they spend, what they've won, who they've produced -- all of those things. You can expect more because of who they are and what they invest. That doesn't mean they can't lose to Florida or South Carolina or Alabama. It just means it shouldn't happen often if you want to keep your job.

In the A10, that's Dayton and Saint Louis and VCU. They spend the most. They have the amenities and the track record. They should expect to be in the NCAA Tournament every year if their programs are being operated correctly. URI has enjoyed recent success, but it does not have the foundation to be responsibly included in that discussion.

Does that entirely explain the roster turnover in the last two seasons? Certainly not. Player retention was certainly better under Dan Hurley. But the entire point here is that this program -- beyond one coach, beyond a couple recruiting classes -- still must be improved if you want to reasonably expect corresponding annual results in all areas.

I don’t think we’re giving enough attention to the fact he has KENTUCKY on his final list...Calipari must be drunk as hell during this quarantine and is thinking it’s Obi who’s transferring.

With URI's total Athletic budget at about $4.3 million, the buyout from Hurley and the NCAA credits is half that amount. Where is that money going?????

Rhody15 wrote: ↑4 years ago I don’t think we’re giving enough attention to the fact he has KENTUCKY on his final list...Calipari must be drunk as hell during this quarantine and is thinking it’s Obi who’s transferring.

A lot of players final 10, 5 and 3 is a joke. Players list schools that haven’t actually offered and haven’t shown serious interest. It looks good on Twitter. It said Tres Berry picked URI over Auburn for example, but than ended up at Toledo temporarily. If Auburn wanted Berry he goes there.

theblueram wrote: ↑4 years ago With URI's total Athletic budget at about $4.3 million, the buyout from Hurley and the NCAA credits is half that amount. Where is that money going?????

......my guess, spread out over the entire Athletics budget, a lil-this-lil-that......a general revenue increase that has no one any ability to point to anything basketball specific that anyone can see regarding basketball for fans to “see”......

My take on this is less cynical than some ... I think the family saw less growth than was expected over the course of the season, both skill wise and physically. My bet is that whatever high major he ends up at he will most likely red shirt to give him a year to grow into his body. Worked wonders for Obi ... schools with superior facilities will be willing and able to afford him that time.

URIRecruitingInfo wrote: ↑4 years ago I think we all know the family didn't visit in December and ask why haven't you built any new facilities in the last 6 months. The growth they were looking for was Toppin specific.

Do you think Cox told them he was soft?

And while we all doubt Toppin's perspective move to Kentucky ...
EJ Montgomery declared for the NBA draft today - he averaged 6 pts a game this year.
This makes the entire starting 5 for Kentucky now in the draft.

The Calipari marketing machine can add a lot of value to a kid.

His list says two things to me:
1) that tweet he had about not listening to his friends, family, etc... because they have different goals, means that maybe the family wanted him to stay at URI but he thinks that the poachers are selling him a better deal.
2) our program (talent wise) was in a better place than I thought since the P5s are poaching our best players.

I still trust Cox, but certainly need to see on court results and fast.

Oh man, he'll be riding the bench at Kentucky. I have no doubt Toppin is talented, but there is a sharp difference between the kind of talent I saw from E.C., Terrell, and even Dowtin as Freshman than what I saw from Toppin. Toppin at the moment is a slightly more well rounded Lamont Ulmer. He has athleticism and can hit the occasional 3pt shot, but he's got a lot of work to do before he is Kentucky/Duke/Top 10 ten team caliber. He's being sold a bill of goods for sure. He's not Obi. Maybe one day he could be, but not at this present time and likely not even next year.
He needs a guy like Cox to develop him, like Cox did with players as an assistant with Hurley. Big mistake. Big mistake in. my opinion. Only time will tell I guess. I wish the kid the best.

Wow surprised at that final 3 can’t see him choosing Kentucky

theblueram wrote: ↑4 years ago With URI's total Athletic budget at about $4.3 million, the buyout from Hurley and the NCAA credits is half that amount. Where is that money going?????

You are not even close on the expense budget for URI athletics. A year ago it was $12.5M for men and $8.5M for women. These are the numbers URI reported to the US Department of Education.

The Dude wrote: ↑4 years ago Oh man, he'll be riding the bench at Kentucky. I have no doubt Toppin is talented, but there is a sharp difference between the kind of talent I saw from E.C., Terrell, and even Dowtin as Freshman than what I saw from Toppin. Toppin at the moment is a slightly more well rounded Lamont Ulmer. He has athleticism and can hit the occasional 3pt shot, but he's got a lot of work to do before he is Kentucky/Duke/Top 10 ten team caliber. He's being sold a bill of goods for sure. He's not Obi. Maybe one day he could be, but not at this present time and likely not even next year.
He needs a guy like Cox to develop him, like Cox did with players as an assistant with Hurley. Big mistake. Big mistake in. my opinion. Only time will tell I guess. I wish the kid the best.

Not better than Ulmer! No!

reef wrote: ↑4 years ago Wow surprised at that final 3 can’t see him choosing Kentucky

I think Marial Madding had the same final list--------Make my point? Time will tell
!

Koch is right.

URI expects to be on a level with Dayton, VCU, and St. Louis, but spends nowhere near what they do.

Hell we don't even spend as much as Fordham!

As long as that gap exists, all we can do is hope for occasional success.

Thorr wouldn't come out and say this, but he has to know...if not he's delusional.

Hurley knew this...and that's why he's gone.

UD fan here - signed up after reading this thread. While I would've loved to have seen Jacob in a UD uniform, I think this whole thing sucks. Maybe it has something to do with Cox, maybe it doesn't, but it's discouraging watching kids with potential continually leaving A-10 schools for what they think are the greener pastures of the P5.

Hang in there - you guys have too good of a program to not bounce back from the blows you've taken over the last month.

Flyer94 wrote: ↑4 years ago UD fan here - signed up after reading this thread. While I would've loved to have seen Jacob in a UD uniform, I think this whole thing sucks. Maybe it has something to do with Cox, maybe it doesn't, but it's discouraging watching kids with potential continually leaving A-10 schools for what they think are the greener pastures of the P5.

Hang in there - you guys have too good of a program to not bounce back from the blows you've taken over the last month.

Welcome - great first post. I hope one day our program can approach yours for excellence.

One thing we have learned over the years is that people from Dayton, Ohio, are genuinely nice and pleasant people.

Dayton, Ohio, is oddly the place where the company called Cox Cable originated. Weird coincidence.

Yeah love those Classy Dayton fans as opposed to those crappy VCU fans

Yes, in general, the Dayton fans both here and in person, I've met, have been very respectful and gracious. Great fan base.

I know a couple here won't believe it, but I want Cox to succeed here too.

However he needs to straighten things out, in a hurry.

Some roster turnover these days is to be expected, but not at the level we're experiencing here.

DC_Rams wrote: ↑4 years ago

URIRecruitingInfo wrote: ↑4 years ago I think we all know the family didn't visit in December and ask why haven't you built any new facilities in the last 6 months. The growth they were looking for was Toppin specific.

Yeah, that’s why they think he’ll succeed at Kentucky. C’mon man.

I don't see a player/family being unhappy with the staff as devastating as you do. Plenty of good and even great coaches have bumped heads with young players and their families. Not even saying it was Cox, maybe it was the strength & conditioning program, maybe they didn't see Jacob getting the academic supports that Obi got at Dayton. I have no idea. But to say the family showed up months after their recruiting visit and said "where's all the new shit?", just doesn't make sense. Unless they were told a bunch of bs during the recruitment which would make their disappointment justified.

rhodyblue12 wrote: ↑4 years ago And while we all doubt Toppin's perspective move to Kentucky ...
EJ Montgomery declared for the NBA draft today - he averaged 6 pts a game this year.
This makes the entire starting 5 for Kentucky now in the draft.

The Calipari marketing machine can add a lot of value to a kid.

Declaring for a draft is irrelevant because you can just come back if you feel you won't get drafted, I believe the first year they had this rule & Kentucky had 5 starting freshmen just about their entire team declared because they could just come back to Kentucky to save face.

It is definitely possible that Jacob [and others] were told during the recruiting process, that program enhancements had been promised and would happen soon.

And then when they didn't happen when they were promised [and not likely in the near future either], could have caused problems with the players and their families.

I don't believe program enhancements would have kept Jacob....the sit out rule is a major factor...his brother's progression leads bigger time programs to think Jacob will progress the same way...he would be poached anyway...

...I believe Cox is using this situation to compel the university to give him the enhancements that were promised...kind of like DH interviewing for jobs he didn't want to get the school to boost it's commitment to basketball at Rhody...this is using the loss of Jacob to better the program by saying it was the reason we lost him...even if it wasn't

URI has great facilities as is, and the campus is being updated weekly. If a player gets to play at an arena like the Ryan, with a beautiful campus, sold out crowds and roaring student sections while defeating Alabama, PC, VCU and others while constantly being mentioned in the media for nearly being ranked and part of bracketology for weeks, and that player says its not enough? Then I don't want that player. Count your blessings.

Rhodymob05 wrote: ↑4 years ago URI has great facilities as is, and the campus is being updated weekly. If a player gets to play at an arena like the Ryan, with a beautiful campus, sold out crowds and roaring student sections while defeating Alabama, PC, VCU and others while constantly being mentioned in the media for nearly being ranked and part of bracketology for weeks, and that player says its not enough? Then I don't want that player. Count your blessings.

Unless that player is being told he can go play at a bigger arena that actually gets sold out EVERY GAME, with a campus where students actually live on the weekends, with a program that is ranked more than they are not, and makes the tournament more than they don't.

Listen, I love URI and talk it up to everyone I ever talk to but to think we are the "bee's knees" is crazy. We have a beautiful campus that is getting improvements every year (thank you Doc Dooley). Our basketball program is the best sport at the school and it is middle of the pack A10. We have to wake up at some point. This isn't the 80s or 90s any more. Carothers killed this school. Dooley has had to rebuild it. He has the foundation set strong right now, but that's all we have.

What's sad is that this economic disaster is likely to seriously deplete what little endowment URI has.

Tough times are ahead, and going to take a long time to get back to whatever passes for normal.

There is likely going to be a major contraction of the athletic dept.

phipsiGD'11 wrote: ↑4 years ago

Rhodymob05 wrote: ↑4 years ago URI has great facilities as is, and the campus is being updated weekly. If a player gets to play at an arena like the Ryan, with a beautiful campus, sold out crowds and roaring student sections while defeating Alabama, PC, VCU and others while constantly being mentioned in the media for nearly being ranked and part of bracketology for weeks, and that player says its not enough? Then I don't want that player. Count your blessings.

Unless that player is being told he can go play at a bigger arena that actually gets sold out EVERY GAME, with a campus where students actually live on the weekends, with a program that is ranked more than they are not, and makes the tournament more than they don't.

Listen, I love URI and talk it up to everyone I ever talk to but to think we are the "bee's knees" is crazy. We have a beautiful campus that is getting improvements every year (thank you Doc Dooley). Our basketball program is the best sport at the school and it is middle of the pack A10. We have to wake up at some point. This isn't the 80s or 90s any more. Carothers killed this school. Dooley has had to rebuild it. He has the foundation set strong right now, but that's all we have.

In terms of attendance we aren’t even close to selling out the majority of the games. As mentioned Dayton, PC, Alabama and VCU are the minority and we only see PC every other year and will not see anyone of Alabama’s quality in the Ryan Center for awhile. Dayton will be back to being a team on the cusp or outside the top 25 which won’t be enough to get the casual fan to games. The student turnout was awful for St.Louis which was a huge game. If we start off poor next year, which is a strong possibility, combined with a weak schedule we will be playing in front of 3000-4000 people in actual attendance and not the manipulated number.

Compared to the MAJORITY of schools out there, URI does pretty well, and thats my point.

Rhodymob05 wrote: ↑4 years ago URI has great facilities as is, and the campus is being updated weekly. If a player gets to play at an arena like the Ryan, with a beautiful campus, sold out crowds and roaring student sections while defeating Alabama, PC, VCU and others while constantly being mentioned in the media for nearly being ranked and part of bracketology for weeks, and that player says its not enough? Then I don't want that player. Count your blessings.

What are great facilities to you are not great facilities to others. Let's be honest, a Division 1 basketball player probably doesn't care much about renovated building/classroom or beautiful quad area.

They care about what can get them "to the next level."

They are looking at practice facilities, places dedicated to them 24 hours a day. Many of these facilities have state of the art gyms with the best workout equipment, multiple courts and several baskets always accessible at all hours of the day and night, elite equipment for rehabilitation (like cyrogenic chambers, recovery boots, etc.), and dedicated chefs who can help maintain quality meal plans consistent with workout regimens. That is in addition to the other major program benefits, like chartered flights, etc.

These are things that many may trivialize, but are very important to players and the perception of their development.

Some questions

Has Obi signed a shoe deal yet.....Which shoes support Oregon, Kentucky, and Iowa State?

I know Nike is Oregon...I don't know the others....

Trying to connect some dots that maybe don't connect....

Ramulous wrote: ↑4 years ago Some questions

Has Obi signed a shoe deal yet.....Which shoes support Oregon, Kentucky, and Iowa State?

I know Nike is Oregon...I don't know the others....

Trying to connect some dots that maybe don't connect....

No

Ramulous wrote: ↑4 years ago Some questions

Has Obi signed a shoe deal yet.....Which shoes support Oregon, Kentucky, and Iowa State?

I know Nike is Oregon...I don't know the others....

Trying to connect some dots that maybe don't connect....

All three are Nike.

This was posted on a Kentucky message board. This is what Jacob will be up against if he goes to Kentucky

"WE HAVE 10 PLAYERS ON THE ROSTER once Haarms comes aboard. 9 are top 40 recruits 7 are top 25 5 are top 15 2 are top 10 . Yep that screams desperation . Man I don't even know what to say to such stupidity. Please let that be sarcasm and it went over my head.

It is called filling out a roster just in case of an injury . People wish we would of done last year once Whitney left I bet."

Yea I just cannot see him going to Kentucky. He’d be at best their 8 man.

UK it is

hrstrat57 wrote: ↑4 years agoUK it is

You can't be serious.

Good luck kid but talk about riding the family name. Will be interesting to see his playing time.

Seriously? So UK has 5 top 15 players on the team, with 4 others that are top 40. Jacob would have started here next year. He is going to ride pine next year at UK.

Now I hope you all believe that there is NOTHING WE COULD DO TO KEEP HIM.

He got word when he left the kind of offers that would be available to him. Blinded by the bright lights.

Kentucky?

DC_Rams wrote: ↑4 years ago Now I hope you all believe that there is NOTHING WE COULD DO TO KEEP HIM.

He got word when he left the kind of offers that would be available to him. Blinded by the bright lights.

Sounds like tampering to me.

Hahahahahahahahhaahhaahhahahahahahahahahah

https://www.zagsblog.com/2020/04/15/rho ... e-schools/

Kentucky

Adam Zagoria Retweeted

Jacob Polacheck
@JacobPolacheck
One day after naming his top three, Rhode Island transfer Jacob Toppin has committed to Kentucky

theblueram wrote: ↑4 years ago

DC_Rams wrote: ↑4 years ago Now I hope you all believe that there is NOTHING WE COULD DO TO KEEP HIM.

He got word when he left the kind of offers that would be available to him. Blinded by the bright lights.

Sounds like tampering to me.

Tampering looks obvious as with Martin. But it will only get much worse after new transfer rule. A 10 type schools will be pouched left and right if they have anyone good. And the NCAA could care less , there will be no policing or care they only worried about P-5 and money. Like I said before just don't let an A 10 type school getting caught tampering they there will be consequences.

How