'24 VA PG Ben Hammond (URI LOI ---> Virginia Tech)

[ramster]

Right who should standby their commitment? That’s just crazy talk! Nobody expects you to stand by your commitment in life if a better offer comes along! Kinda surprised contracts even exist! What an outdated concept. Why do we even have lawyers to make up all those useless contracts and courts to enforce them? Never mind that, when are these kids supposed to learn their word means something as other people are relying on you to do what you committed to do? When do they get to learn these life lessons? Yes, I know coaches move one to better deals, but they usually at least did the job they were hired for for at least part of their contract before bolting.

Head Coaches break their contracts while making multi millions of dollars.
Head Coaches can recruit over players coming out of High School. They can recruit over players via the Portal.
Finally, FINALLY the players are getting the ability to change schools when their HC recruits over them, or when the HC breaks his contract and takes another job while the new HC brings in players from his previous team recruiting over the former HC’s players, etc.

All the while the NCAA pockets huge money from Bowl Games, TV Contracts, etc and gives zero dollars to the players.

But let’s cash Ben Hammond.

Maybe we should respect his decision and maybe he returns to URI one day?

I actually was most frustrated as a URI fan when:
1. Sly Williams left early for the NBA
2. Lamar Odom left early for the NBA
3. Jacob Toppin left after Freshman year for Kentucky
4. Tyrese Martin left for UCONN
5. Ish Leggett left for Pittsburgh

Ben Hammond I had doubts he would come here even the day he signed the NLI

I’m actually surprised how many posters here are angry with Ben Hammond and expected he was going to be in a Rhody uniform in November.

With players changing teams in huge numbers why wouldn’t HS Juniors and Seniors do the same? In fact the top HS players often change HS’s and Prep Schools multiple times (for ssshhhhh $$$$ - don’t tell anybody)

[Jdrums#3]

Even worse now, Ramster, where “ theoretically” coaches could collude with players to leave a school for the highest bidder school or rather, the NIL collective representing the school.

Some common sense controls should be put in place on coaches and players because without controls it will only get worse, imho.

In the NFL, if you want to hire another teams HC coach you can trade for them. I guess it’s time for college sports institute trades for HC’s under contract and for pay for play players ? May as well have professional rules for a professional league, right ? I think it was NYG who half l-jokingly brought trades up months and months ago.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Even worse now, Ramster, where “ theoretically” coaches could collude with players to leave a school for the highest bidder school or rather, the NIL collective representing the school.

Some common sense controls should be put in place on coaches and players because without controls it will only get worse, imho.

In the NFL, if you want to hire another teams HC coach you can trade for them. I guess it’s time for college sports institute trades for HC’s under contract and for pay for play players ? May as well have professional rules for a professional league, right ? I think it was NYG who half l-jokingly brought trades up months and months ago.

I wasn't joking... Right now, there is no 'real' governing body to which all these teams belong, so no real rules. After enough of the haves get pissed off enough at the other haves for poaching their players and coaches, and cannibalizing themselves they'll come up with some ground rules. There will eventually be trades (players and coaches) and, at some point, something like a high school draft. The landscape is evolving quickly, I put the over/under on the existence of 'collectives' at 'less than 2 years' from now

[steviep123]

VT it is:

[adam914]

Best of luck at Va. Tech….but if it doesn’t work out we’ll be here!

[NYGFan_Section208]

Why'd he pick Rhody in the first place and what made him change his mind?

[Billyboy78]

Why'd he pick Rhody in the first place and what made him change his mind?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[NYGFan_Section208]

Why'd he pick Rhody in the first place and what made him change his mind?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Do you think he had a known $ offer here and it was beaten by a VT offer straight up? And that's the only reason?

[adam914]

Why'd he pick Rhody in the first place and what made him change his mind?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

How do you know that?

[ElmCityRhody]

Why'd he pick Rhody in the first place and what made him change his mind?

2 reasons:

1) the people who donated to the "RHODE TO EXCELLENCE" didn't achieve the goal of "EXCELLENCE"

2) the people who didn't donate to the "RHODE TO EXCELLENCE" are equally responsible, albeit they have more money in their pockets to spend on themselves or give to a more deserving charity to those in need

[Billyboy78]

Why'd he pick Rhody in the first place and what made him change his mind?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Do you think he had a known $ offer here and it was beaten by a VT offer straight up? And that's the only reason?

If Kenny was still here.maybe he could have talked him into staying? But I doubt it. He blew up his senior season and knew he could do better than us.

[ElmCityRhody]

Why'd he pick Rhody in the first place and what made him change his mind?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

How do you know that?

Hoe do you not know that ?

[Billyboy78]

Why'd he pick Rhody in the first place and what made him change his mind?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

How do you know that?

Common sense? Isn't that what they're all looking for now? It certainly isn't for playing time. And as I've said, I don't blame him. He should get as much as he can.

[adam914]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

How do you know that?

Common sense? Isn't that what they're all looking for now? It certainly isn't for playing time. And as I've said, I don't blame him. He should get as much as he can.

It could be. Or it could not be. Unless they come out and explain their reasoning we have no idea.

[ace]

The same people who can’t stop complaining about this team and how awful it is don’t want to see that a guy might have reasons he doesn’t want to play at URI that go beyond money.

NLIs have never been binding. Players have always had the advantage with them- if a school refuses to release a player from it, they’re the ones that look bad.

Recruit and develop your guys (yeah, it’s hard but that’s the job and they’re well compensated for it), get the program right again, and things start looking much better all around.

[NYGFan_Section208]

How do you know that?

Common sense? Isn't that what they're all looking for now? It certainly isn't for playing time. And as I've said, I don't blame him. He should get as much as he can.

It could be. Or it could not be. Unless they come out and explain their reasoning we have no idea.

I'm going with this..."we have no idea"

[STC]

My guess is he goes to a power conference, rots away on the bench for 1-2 years and then transfers down to mid major conference. A tale as old as time.

It’s all coming together…

Commit to power conference school
Completely blocked for minutes as a frosh
Enter portal in either 2025 or 2026

[NYGFan_Section208]

My guess is he goes to a power conference, rots away on the bench for 1-2 years and then transfers down to mid major conference. A tale as old as time.

It’s all coming together…

Commit to power conference school
Completely blocked for minutes as a frosh
Enter portal in either 2025 AND 2026

Fify

[adam914]

Common sense? Isn't that what they're all looking for now? It certainly isn't for playing time. And as I've said, I don't blame him. He should get as much as he can.

It could be. Or it could not be. Unless they come out and explain their reasoning we have no idea.

I'm going with this..."we have no idea"

Yup, exactly. Lots of assumptions being made about things we simply don't know.

[RIFan]

Isn’t that part of the deal with message boards…if it wasn’t you would have only a quarter of the posts or less!

[Billyboy78]

No, nobody knows for sure. But just put 2 and 2 together. He wanted to play for a better team (fact, VT is a better team), in a better conference (fact, ACC is a better conference than the A10) for more money (not a fact, but pretty obvious.) He was getting national attention all season receiving compliments from guys like Calipari, and was seen on national TV playing great basketball right before he decommitted. He's not going to the ACC to get more playing time than he would have at URI. Could it be he wanted to play closer to home? Possibly. But the way it played out all season doesn't suggest that. He blew up, plain and simple.

[adam914]

No, nobody knows for sure. But just put 2 and 2 together. He wanted to play for a better team (fact, VT is a better team), in a better conference (fact, ACC is a better conference than the A10) for more money (not a fact, but pretty obvious.) He was getting national attention all season receiving compliments from guys like Calipari, and was seen on national TV playing great basketball right before he decommitted. He's not going to the ACC to get more playing time than he would have at URI. Could it be he wanted to play closer to home? Possibly. But the way it played out all season doesn't suggest that. He blew up, plain and simple.

So in other words...it may not have been all about money and there may have been multiple factors in play...

[Billyboy78]

No, nobody knows for sure. But just put 2 and 2 together. He wanted to play for a better team (fact, VT is a better team), in a better conference (fact, ACC is a better conference than the A10) for more money (not a fact, but pretty obvious.) He was getting national attention all season receiving compliments from guys like Calipari, and was seen on national TV playing great basketball right before he decommitted. He's not going to the ACC to get more playing time than he would have at URI. Could it be he wanted to play closer to home? Possibly. But the way it played out all season doesn't suggest that. He blew up, plain and simple.

So in other words...it may not have been all about money and there may have been multiple factors in play...

All factors which led to more money.

[adam914]

No, nobody knows for sure. But just put 2 and 2 together. He wanted to play for a better team (fact, VT is a better team), in a better conference (fact, ACC is a better conference than the A10) for more money (not a fact, but pretty obvious.) He was getting national attention all season receiving compliments from guys like Calipari, and was seen on national TV playing great basketball right before he decommitted. He's not going to the ACC to get more playing time than he would have at URI. Could it be he wanted to play closer to home? Possibly. But the way it played out all season doesn't suggest that. He blew up, plain and simple.

So in other words...it may not have been all about money and there may have been multiple factors in play...

All factors which led to more money.

Probably. Still doesn't mean money is the only reason he changed his mind as your original comment stated. That's my only point.

[adam914]

Isn’t that part of the deal with message boards…if it wasn’t you would have only a quarter of the posts or less!

Sure. It just gets frustrating when it seems like every assumption that is made is an effort to make the players look bad.

[NYGFan_Section208]

So in other words...it may not have been all about money and there may have been multiple factors in play...

All factors which led to more money.

Probably. Still doesn't mean money is the only reason he changed his mind as your original comment stated. That's my only point.

I have no ideer, but I'm thinking his tires got pumped up so much that he considers himself a bigger fish than he 'was', and bigger fish play in bigger ponds.

[Billyboy78]

Isn’t that part of the deal with message boards…if it wasn’t you would have only a quarter of the posts or less!

Sure. It just gets frustrating when it seems like every assumption that is made is an effort to make the players look bad.

I'm not trying to make him look bad at all. I've said I don't blame him one bit.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Isn’t that part of the deal with message boards…if it wasn’t you would have only a quarter of the posts or less!

Sure. It just gets frustrating when it seems like every assumption that is made is an effort to make the players look bad.

I don't fault the players even a tiny tiny bit. As far as I'm concerned, they did not do anything to create this mess...until there's real rules, can't fault them on how they want to navigate through it. Everybody wants more cash-ola in their pocket...heck, it's why parents of non-stud athletes shop colleges for aid and scholarships...why should this be any different?

[Billyboy78]

Isn’t that part of the deal with message boards…if it wasn’t you would have only a quarter of the posts or less!

Sure. It just gets frustrating when it seems like every assumption that is made is an effort to make the players look bad.

I don't fault the players even a tiny tiny bit. As far as I'm concerned, they did not do anything to create this mess...until there's real rules, can't fault them on how they want to navigate through it. Everybody wants more cash-ola in their pocket...heck, it's why parents of non-stud athletes shop colleges for aid and scholarships...why should this be any different?

So, you say it is the money?

[adam914]

Isn’t that part of the deal with message boards…if it wasn’t you would have only a quarter of the posts or less!

Sure. It just gets frustrating when it seems like every assumption that is made is an effort to make the players look bad.

I'm not trying to make him look bad at all. I've said I don't blame him one bit.

Fair enough. The stuff that really frustrates me are all the posts we see from others about players being greedy, paid mercenaries, no loyalty, don't care about academics, its only about money etc. etc. I get people are frustrated but I just don't get taking it out on players and saying stuff like that. None of us really know the specifics of each situation but those types of things always seem to be the default assumption. It kind of makes our whole fanbase look bad in my opinion.

[Billyboy78]

Sure. It just gets frustrating when it seems like every assumption that is made is an effort to make the players look bad.

I'm not trying to make him look bad at all. I've said I don't blame him one bit.

Fair enough. The stuff that really frustrates me are all the posts we see from others about players being greedy, paid mercenaries, no loyalty, don't care about academics, its only about money etc. etc. I get people are frustrated but I just don't get taking it out on players and saying stuff like that. None of us really know the specifics of each situation but those types of things always seem to be the default assumption. It kind of makes our whole fanbase look bad in my opinion.

They should get whatever they can and take advantage of the system. It's the system that sucks, not the players taking advantage of it.

[adam914]

I'm not trying to make him look bad at all. I've said I don't blame him one bit.

Fair enough. The stuff that really frustrates me are all the posts we see from others about players being greedy, paid mercenaries, no loyalty, don't care about academics, its only about money etc. etc. I get people are frustrated but I just don't get taking it out on players and saying stuff like that. None of us really know the specifics of each situation but those types of things always seem to be the default assumption. It kind of makes our whole fanbase look bad in my opinion.

They should get whatever they can and take advantage of the system. It's the system that sucks, not the players taking advantage of it.

Agreed.

[McRam]

Isn’t that part of the deal with message boards…if it wasn’t you would have only a quarter of the posts or less!

Sure. It just gets frustrating when it seems like every assumption that is made is an effort to make the players look bad.

I'm not trying to make him look bad at all. I've said I don't blame him one bit.

I blame him for not telling us sooner. Can anyone deny that he tied our hands on other options !

[NYGFan_Section208]

Sure. It just gets frustrating when it seems like every assumption that is made is an effort to make the players look bad.

I'm not trying to make him look bad at all. I've said I don't blame him one bit.

I blame him for not telling us sooner. Can anyone deny that he tied our hands on other options !

Would've been nice, but he didn't break any rules...hate the game, not the gamer?
As far as "hand tying"...didn't Rhody already get two players better than him for the same position?

[Billyboy78]

I'm not trying to make him look bad at all. I've said I don't blame him one bit.

I blame him for not telling us sooner. Can anyone deny that he tied our hands on other options !

Would've been nice, but he didn't break any rules...hate the game, not the gamer?
As far as "hand tying"...didn't Rhody already get two players better than him for the same position?

No.

[McRam]

I'm not trying to make him look bad at all. I've said I don't blame him one bit.

I blame him for not telling us sooner. Can anyone deny that he tied our hands on other options !

Would've been nice, but he didn't break any rules...hate the game, not the gamer?
As far as "hand tying"...didn't Rhody already get two players better than him for the same position?

I did not say he broke any rules But, why did he not tell us sooner. After all, we were not his enemy!


Two players better- have we signed two tonight?

[ramster]

I blame him for not telling us sooner. Can anyone deny that he tied our hands on other options !

Would've been nice, but he didn't break any rules...hate the game, not the gamer?
As far as "hand tying"...didn't Rhody already get two players better than him for the same position?

I did not say he broke any rules But, why did he not tell us sooner. After all, we were not his enemy!


Two players better- have we signed two tonight?

What if he told URI in July he was reopening his recruitment?
Or August? Or September?

What if he reopened his recruitment in January? Or February?

Did he leave because the guy who recruited him to URI, Kenny Johnson, left for a better deal at Georgetown?

Likely a combination of reasons but Virginia Tech was his choice. Might not even end up being his final choice. Long way to September.

Good for him. Best of luck. Congratulations.

Players can enter the Portal up to May 1

Incoming Freshmen can drop their National Letter of Intent anytime. Sly Williams did it in September at the start of school as PC and URI fans well recall even to this day.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I blame him for not telling us sooner. Can anyone deny that he tied our hands on other options !

Would've been nice, but he didn't break any rules...hate the game, not the gamer?
As far as "hand tying"...didn't Rhody already get two players better than him for the same position?

I did not say he broke any rules But, why did he not tell us sooner. After all, we were not his enemy!


Two players better- have we signed two tonight?

Both Bassy and Lawrence (also guards IIRC) will both have better stat years than Ben. Are you really doubting this?

[Billyboy78]

Would've been nice, but he didn't break any rules...hate the game, not the gamer?
As far as "hand tying"...didn't Rhody already get two players better than him for the same position?

I did not say he broke any rules But, why did he not tell us sooner. After all, we were not his enemy!


Two players better- have we signed two tonight?

Both Bassy and Lawrence (also guards IIRC) will both have better stat years than Ben. Are you really doubting this?

Lawrence is a SG. Obviously. Bassy will put up bigger numbers at URI than Ben will at VT on opportunity alone. Would Ben have put up better numbers here than Bassy will here? We'll never know. Despite his size, I'd rather have Ben on defense and running a team. Bassy will score more, but in my opinion, that's not his job with this team.

[reef]

Will Ben start @ VT ? Do they have a returning point guard ?

[ramster]

I did not say he broke any rules But, why did he not tell us sooner. After all, we were not his enemy!


Two players better- have we signed two tonight?

Both Bassy and Lawrence (also guards IIRC) will both have better stat years than Ben. Are you really doubting this?

Lawrence is a SG. Obviously. Bassy will put up bigger numbers at URI than Ben will at VT on opportunity alone. Would Ben have put up better numbers here than Bassy will here? We'll never know. Despite his size, I'd rather have Ben on defense and running a team. Bassy will score more, but in my opinion, that's not his job with this team.

Lawrence started the 1st 23 games last season as Point Guard at #33 NET Nebraska when the HC moved him to coming off the bench as 6th man. Lawrence was 2nd highest in assists for Nebraska.
36% 3FG’s and 77% FTs
Paired with Sebastian Thomas and Miller will have 2 good passers and he could say 2 potential PG’s on the floor at once. The ball will move a lot more than it did this past season.

IMG_3465.png

[sbrand]

Ramster you are spot on. One more point. Some have penciled him coming off the bench here and that’s a nonstarter. He did not come here to play sixth man.

[sbrand]

And I believe the last 7 games he was shooting in the 50s from three. He is a great interior passer and converts on the break very well.

[Ramulous]

I don’t believe binding letters of intent were used during the Sly Williams era. He merely changed his mind on the train trip to Rhode Island.

[Billyboy78]

I don’t believe binding letters of intent were used during the Sly Williams era. He merely changed his mind on the train trip to Rhode Island.

Read Bob Terino's book. There's a great story about what happened there.

[ramster]

Ramster you are spot on. One more point. Some have penciled him coming off the bench here and that’s a nonstarter. He did come here to play sixth man.

Scott,

I think you meant to say he did NOT come here to be 6th man, right?

[sbrand]

Yes. If Fuchs develops his three we will be a great perimeter shooting team also.

[Jdrums#3]

I don’t believe binding letters of intent were used during the Sly Williams era. He merely changed his mind on the train trip to Rhode Island.

Read Bob Terino's book. There's a great story about what happened there.

78, could you share a synopsis of the story when you have time?

I haven’t read the book and am not able to get out and about much to go get one.

Also, does the god father have a business address where I can send him a request for one and money for the book and mailing?

[Billyboy78]

I don’t believe binding letters of intent were used during the Sly Williams era. He merely changed his mind on the train trip to Rhode Island.

Read Bob Terino's book. There's a great story about what happened there.

78, could you share a synopsis of the story when you have time?

I haven’t read the book and am not able to get out and about much to go get one.

Also, does the god father have a business address where I can send him a request for one and money for the book and mailing?

I will message you his e-mail.