Just to help lay out some facts that we know right now.

Branch committed to Turgeon. Turgeon left, but after Kennedy was hired, Branch stayed committed.

A&M then joined the SEC. Branch appeared to tweet some dislike for the change, mentioning family primarily in the mid-West.

J-Mychal Reese, a highly rated 2012 PG signed with A&M, and then his father John Reese was added to the staff. Note: Personally, I always just kind of assumed Reese would often play the 2 and Branch the 1, but I could see how the situation could be interpreted different.

Branch was not starting, but was getting about 18 minutes per game. He was struggling some and the team as a whole had been struggling. Kennedy had mentioned in the Rice presser that Branch needed to show more consistency in practice.

2012 was a weak PG recruiting class. There were some Big 12 schools (Kansas comes immediately to mind. I know they missed on Reese, not sure who/if they signed a PG yet. If not, would not surprise me at all if we hear him interested going there) that could use a good PG out of that class. By leaving now, Branch apparently could play for his new team at conference in 2013 in the spring.

Branch went home for the holidays. Who knows who might have gotten (or been getting) into his ear.

Branch told Kennedy of the decision the day of the game yesterday. As far as I can tell, this was a surprise to the staff and other players based on tweets and Logan's comments.





[This message has been edited by Pumpkinhead (edited 12/30/2011 6:59a).]

Would like to hear Jamal's reasoning for leaving, but I don't think we ever will.

Good luck to him in wherever he goes.

If it's baylor in his ear, can we get them for tampering or tortious interference?

Combination of all of the above is probably why... It will be a very tough situation for him next year and he doesnt want to deal with it. He parents probably don't want their baby not lovIng the situation he is in either and fully supported him in this decisiOn. Bottom line, he is not man enough to deal with somthing in his life so he is running from it.

[This message has been edited by Aggiebob08 (edited 12/30/2011 7:06a).]

When the going gets tough, quit on your teammates.

So if you buy a silk suit and then it turns out to be wool, you should just man up and wear it?

Jamal, signed for up a different coach with a different system in a different playing venue. All 3 changed. That's not just an adjustment, that's a major fundamental change. And all of this happened AFTER he was already onboard, the SEC move coming after he was enrolled.

Hate to see him leave but this is not unusual. You guys might remember we have one of those "quitters" playing for us that came from Washington. That just proves most of this TexAgs viotrol is just a load ...

Turner played 2 seasons and then trasnferred AT THE END of his sophomore season. Branch quit 11 games into his freshman year. Huge difference. If he played out the entire season and decided it was best to transfer, then I would have wished him well. He completely ****ed this team over.

Turner did not quit on Washington. He played two seasons and felt he had run his course there. Not the same thing at all.

Quitting in the middle the season is NOTHING like transferring AFTER the season.

Why are a handful of posters COMPLETELY ignoring this?

Can that please be the last ridiculous Turner/Branch comparison? The situations are not similar.

He quit

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Turner did not quit on Washington. He played two seasons and felt he had run his course there.

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Love this TexAgs logic ... he quit but he lasted longer therefore it's not quitting.

I don't think Turner is a quitter, but I don't think Branch is either. If he leaves now he can play 2nd semester (conference) play next year for his next team. Otherwise he loses a full season.

AGAIN - major coaching change, major system change, coaching illness/future issues, major conference move

ALL of which happened after his commitment, most of which happened after he was on campus.

So, all of you rocket scientists, what about the players that are still on the court that have obviously quit?

Which sin is most worthy of being stoned: collecting a scholarship for just going through the motions or cashing in and moving on?

It is a very screwed up situation. Kennedy needs to step down. I think his health had a major impact on Jamal leaving.

I suspect some other coaches got into his ear about it too during the break.

Quitting is quitting. Whether it is at the end of the year or at a semester break.

There is way too little known about the facts for supposedly grown men to be acting like 12 year old girls over the actions of an 18-19 year old. Many of those whining about class and character of Branch are lining up to defend a criminal (someone who violated the trust of the school, his coaches, and his teammates with little regard for anyone) and want everyone to give him a second chance, even calling him (who did nothing but play a couple of seasons in football, never finished school, probably won't ever finish school, abused his scholarship and privilege, violated the Aggie Honor Code on an ongoing basis throughout his stay at A&M) an "Aggie".

Branch didn't lie, cheat, or steal, but there are a lot of Ag who apparently will condone those who do if they perceive the person doing the lying, cheating, or stealing will in some way help A&M win.

The guy is gone and that would reflect poorly on him, but the weenies on here are making themselves and who they represent look classless and childish. Neither party looks very good right now.

From Branch's stand point, he now can choose where to play based on which schools want him, rather than waiting until BK resigns at the end of the year, and Branch finds out who his new coach at TAMU is.

I wish he would have stayed and worked through everything. I think he has a lot of potential, but may not be quite as good right now as he thinks he is.

This is all very interesting. When a player quit on Billy Gillispie at UK, XL2Win and others torched the player as soft and a quitter. It was stated often that if players can't handle the coach's new system, they should take a hike.

Here, a kid quits after just 11 games, and XL2Win supports his decision to quit as simply being sold the wrong suit. I don't know the reasons that either kid left their respective teams, and neither does anyone on this board, but I find the contrasting analyses by XL2Win in these situations to be very interesting.

Maybe he'll explain his thought process.

I’m curious as to the locker room discussions and team meetings after the Rice loss and before the Christmas break.

During the Rice game, the team lacked energy and commitment in all phases. If I were the coach after that game I would probably lay into my players and tell them play hard and commit to the team/system or GTFO. I would tell my team to use the holiday break to examine themselves, their commitment, and their goals (team and personal). If you don’t want to be at A&M, then leave.

Well, that's a spin in the truest sense of the word.

I said studs wouldn't buy into BCG's bootcamp approach. I said that a team of studs were a LOT different than a team that had gone 0-16 in conference the year before. I also said that the work ethic of a lot of young recruits left something to be desired (that was true here too with Jordan).

This is a complete reversal of that scenario where the coach's approach is considerably more subtle than his predecessor. There is no comparison available in the conference movement which means he won't be playing in venues where his family can watch without major, expensive travel.

And I don't recall BCG having Parkinson's which rendered him ineffectual and a mere shadow of his former self.

Otherwise, a perfect comparison. Nice work. Spot on.

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if players can't handle the coach's new system, they should take a hike.

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And isn't that exactly what he did ???
Duh.

I see numerous assumptions in your post regarding Kennedy that aren't worth debating, since no one here knows the truth. I also remember your posts differently than you.

Thanks for the clarification, though. FWIW, it seemed that I was the one that suggested that elite athletes do not respond well to boot camp style coaching, and was shot down for those remarks. I didn't realize that you were saying that.

Of course you were the insightful one. No surprise there.

I know that I wasn't considered insightful at the time. Thank you for the belated compliment.

How is this a " system change " ? Coach turgeon loved to grind it out just as much if not more than what we are seeing now. Only thing I see deferent is lazy defense .

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I don't think Turner is a quitter, but I don't think Branch is either. If he leaves now he can play 2nd semester (conference) play next year for his next team. Otherwise he loses a full season.

AGAIN - major coaching change, major system change, coaching illness/future issues, major conference move

ALL of which happened after his commitment, most of which happened after he was on campus.

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Spot on.

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Hate to see him leave but this is not unusual. You guys might remember we have one of those "quitters" playing for us that came from Washington. That just proves most of this TexAgs viotrol is just a load

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Look, I dont disagree that that hate is a bit much......but that's just silly.

Transfers happen all the time. Quitting a couple hours before a game, mid-season doesnt.

They aren't the same.


(and fwiw- we have more than just 'one' transfer on this team)




[This message has been edited by AgGrad99 (edited 12/30/2011 9:49a).]

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Transfers happen all the time. Quitting a couple hours before a game, mid-season doesnt.

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If the kid has decided his future is not with this program, what's the point of waiting to transfer until the end of the season? You get to spend the rest of the season languishing on the bench because everyone knows you want to go, you aren't going to give it 100% in practice, and you lose half a season (including most of conference play and the tourney) at your new school. There is nothing wrong with a mid-season transfer.

If h had decided to leave bu or tu and come here, we would be praising his excellent judgement, defending his right to do what is right for him, his right to be happy, hi father's excellent guidance and judgement, etc.

We are being rather hypocritical here.

I would be wary of any kid bailing on his team 11 games into his freshman season.

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There is nothing wrong with a mid-season transfer

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didn't say there was.

But let's not act like transferring in the off-season is the same thing as surprising your team a couple hours before a game mid-season.

They are going to receive different reactions from coaches, players, and fans.

Poster on premium is saying branch notified kennedy in the afternoon yesterday before the game. And he did it by phone.

If true, Normally I would rant about doing such things that way, but we did fire sherman by cellphone while he was pulling into the driveway of a recruit...so branch was just following the aggieland policy it seems.

Funny edit to this. Live in panama and the president of the country actually fired one of his cabinet ministers recently over twitter. "Hey jose. You're fired. Tweet tweet". So I suppose there are always ways to handle things worse

[This message has been edited by pumpkinhead (edited 12/30/2011 10:31a).]

[This message has been edited by pumpkinhead (edited 12/30/2011 10:34a).]

Supposedly his dad notified the recruiting services before they notified Kennedy.

The coolest thing about this thread is that Pumpkinhead, easily the most even-handed poster on this board, lives in Panama.

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Thank you for the belated compliment.

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This is also not a surprise.

He had to quit before the end of December to be eligible to play with his next team at the beginning of 2013. There was no really good time to pull the plug over the next 2 days. Arky Tech wasn't a factor, so hanging around for 12 more hours would really make a difference? Particularly to TexAgs posters?