Reynolds article on Billy Baron

[Essam]

In this Mornings Journal thing he forgot to tell us about BB. Canissus lost to Notre Dame and their record is 8 wins and 5 losses.

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... rrived.ece

[15 Year Lurker]

Did he accidentally leave in a "the sounds of gunshots were just a jumpshot away" or did he remember to delete it from his template?

[section(105)]

My Mother said; that if I can't anything nice about BB and Pops to say nothing at all....

[rodfromcranston]

Reynolds failed to mention Billy looking Hurley in the eye and telling
him, "I'm all in!".
He also failed to mention, Billy bailed on the program after the spring signing period,
leaving Hurley shorthanded all season.

[NJ03]

Reynolds failed to mention Billy looking Hurley in the eye and telling
him, "I'm all in!".
He also failed to mention, Billy bailed on the program after the spring signing period,
leaving Hurley shorthanded all season.

I'll give Billy a pass on this one. Was def an awkward and unusual situation and I think there were other opinions pushing him out of Kingston. Would have loved to have him though. No doubt we'd be a different team now.

[ramfan85]

He was probably upset that Hurley wouldn't let him wear an extra small game jersey.

[rodfromcranston]

"He was probably upset that Hurley wouldn't let him wear an extra small game jersey."
I always thought that was laughable.

[Rhody72]

This season at Canisius is all about daddy showcasing Billy. Just as it was with Jimmy at URI.

Bunky has trouble evaluating character. Billy stiffed URI twice. Then again, Bunky got to love it twice.

Billy could turn into the next Michael Jordan and I would have no regrets with seeing Billy and his Dad and his Mom out of here. The three are frauds. However, I think highly of Jimmy.

[Obadiah]

Rather harsh, 72.

[STC]

Nah 72 is on point.

[seanmc94]

"He was probably upset that Hurley wouldn't let him wear an extra small game jersey."
I always thought that was laughable.

Jealous?

[seanmc94]

This season at Canisius is all about daddy showcasing Billy. Just as it was with Jimmy at URI.

Bunky has trouble evaluating character. Billy stiffed URI twice. Then again, Bunky got to love it twice.

Billy could turn into the next Michael Jordan and I would have no regrets with seeing Billy and his Dad and his Mom out of here. The three are frauds. However, I think highly of Jimmy.

Stiffed URI twice? Maybe my memory is fuzzy, did he verbal? Virginia was a better basketball school. He took his shot and missed. Came back and tried to save his dad's job. After that, he made some mistakes. Tough to judge a kids character when family is involved.
I'm sure if he had a rewind button, things would go different
Nobody's perfect. Especially at 19

[section(105)]

"Show casing" him? For what exactly?.....just asking...

[rodfromcranston]

Jealous? What an asinine statement.
Oh, and smartass, why are you even posting on this. It's not a PC
issue.
Billy verbaled and changed his mind to go to Virginia.
He's screwed URI twice.

[Rhody72]

105, a basketball career overseas.

[RF1]

Billy Baron Timeline

Initially verbals to URI Oct-2009
Billy Baron has chosen to follow in his brother Jimmy's footsteps and play for his Dad at URI according to a report by the Providence Journal's Paul Kenyon today. Kenyon quotes Billy confirming this news with the following words about URI:

"I love this place. In fact I'm here in the gym right now," he said by phone Saturday night. "I'm doing a Jimmy Baron. I'm playing in the dark. I've been here since I was 10 or 11. This is where I want to be."

Signs LOI to Virginia Mar-2010
"I'm blessed to have the father I have and the family I have to give me the opportunity to reach the decision I made and go for the best opportunity,' Baron said. "Virginia is one of the best academic schools out there, along with being in the ACC. The facilities, the people around there, everything was tremendous when I went."

Baron leaves Virginia and transfers to URI Feb-2011
The timing of Baron's decision to depart the Virginia program came as a surprise to the Cavaliers' staff, according to a team source who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. The source said Virginia coaches figured that since the second semester already had begun, if Baron was going to transfer he would do so at the conclusion of the academic year.

Billy Baron recommits to URI and Coach Hurley Mar-2012
“I’m staying here,” Baron said when asked of his future plans after Hurley’s introductory press conference at Keaney Gymnasium. “As of right now, I’m all in. I really wasn’t planning on going anywhere else. This is my home, and I wasn’t going to let anyone take it from me.”

“I want to play basketball here at the University of Rhode Island,” he added. “As tough as it might be, you’ve just got to grow up. You’ve got to be mature about it and you’ve got to be a man. I’m looking forward to getting after it with my teammates and Coach Hurley.”


Baron departs URI Jun-2012
Junior guard Billy Baron has left the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball program.

Baron, the son of former Rams head coach Jim Baron, appeared in 20 games last season. He averaged 13.0 points and 4.4 assists.

“We wish Billy the best as he continues his college basketball career,” new Rhody head coach Dan Hurley said in a statement. “We think the world of him as a player and a person.”

Baron to enroll at Canisius and play for father Jul-2012
For the second time in his playing career, Billy Baron will follow his father to a new program.

Two months ago Jim Baron was let go at Rhode Island. He’s the new coach at Canisius and Billy will play for him there, CBSSports.com reports. Previously, the son left Virginia midway through the season to join his father at Rhode Island.

[Rhody72]

Sean, there was no reason for Billy to sign an LOI to attend URI as there was no reason for Jimmy to sign one. Even when Billy was at URI, he was not on scholarship. He took the free tuition which was Dad's employee benefit. He gave a verbal to his dad and his dad's employer. You can't compare Billy's verbal to others where the dad is not the head coach. You only sign an LOI when a scholarship is involved.

Also, Billy misled (ie. lied to) DH until his dad received word verbally from the NCAA that Billy's transfer request when filed by Canisius would not require sitting out a year which would have resulted in a loss year of eligibility under the 5 year rule. (Billy used up one year of the five when he transferred to URI.)

[seanmc94]

My bad, I didn't realize he had ever verballed.

Rod, you know you're jealous of Billy's "smedium" jersey.

[reef]

Nice to see him playing well looks like he may have a career overseas

[Rhodyfan22]

Come on now. Its been well documented that UVA coach Tony Bennent flew out to see Billy to and get him to switch his verbal to UVA. Its been said that TB told him he would have the keys to the Car right away.

Now as much as Billy may or may not loved URI, an ACC school on the rise with a new coach offered him something most only dream of.


As a true freshmen, I don't think he was ready. But now after all he has gone through, I think he is one of the best point guards in the nation. Ask Fran Dunphy, Jimmy Patsos, Bobby Hurley who all praised him in the post game press conferences how good he is.

If you put Billy on this team last year. I'd be willing to bet alot that they win alot of those games vs Seton Hall, Temple, Bonaventure, Fordham, Butler. The list goes on.

You need to take a long hard look in the mirror if your bashing if for leaving. I believe he wanted to stay, but that was because he already sat out. Once he knew he would most likely get a waiver, he was gone. How could he stay? He was set up to fail. There was no way he could succeed for a rebuilding team.

[Rhody72]

Coaches always praise other coach's sons.

[Keaney.Blue]

This is an anonymous message board so I'll take peoples' responses with a grain of salt, but understand that Billy was under a lot of pressure from different people to make or not make the decisions he made regarding his basketball career. I don't envy his situation at all.

He's a tremendously hard worker (even more work ethic than Jimmy in my opinion and I've been around both) and a great person. It's a shame we lost him, but I don't blame him for going to UVA first and transferring to Canisius afterwards, especially considering the situation he was in. Give the kid a break.

[SGreenwell]

This is an anonymous message board so I'll take peoples' responses with a grain of salt, but understand that Billy was under a lot of pressure from different people to make or not make the decisions he made regarding his basketball career. I don't envy his situation at all.

He's a tremendously hard worker (even more work ethic than Jimmy in my opinion and I've been around both) and a great person. It's a shame we lost him, but I don't blame him for going to UVA first and transferring to Canisius afterwards, especially considering the situation he was in. Give the kid a break.

Kind of skew more toward this mindset than the idea that he's some mastermind out to intentionally screw over the fan base. I made plenty of poor decisions in my late teens and early 20s, and none of them had the pressure attached to them that most of the calls Billy Baron had to make. I imagine that if and when he's interviewed about it when he's 30 and with some hindsight, he would also probably express reservations about how the first couple years of his college career played out.

[adam914]

Agree with the last two posts. Well said guys.