Method Man said:

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Wasted opportunity to not hire him.

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hell, i dont know. i feel like while he is much better than BK, his career isnt very impressive and i hope we would reach higher when we have an opening.
if they had swapped roles after 2016 (RS to head coach, BK to asst or athletic dept mafia style "no-show" job) would the last 2 seasons have been better? if i am being honest, i think RS would have made maybe 1 NIT and 1 NCAA or maybe an NCAA play in exit and rd of 32 exit. i suppose the roster looking into 2019 might be better.

No reason to think we would've missed the tourney two seasons ago or not done better in regular season. Also, I think we recruit better.

http://www.wbko.com/content/sports/Reports-Bassey-commits-to-WKU-will-reclassify-485420651.html

Kid is supposed to be a stud. I think this will turn out okay for Wku and Stansbury. His last five star didn't work out so well.


Mikesyracuse1

I was told earlier this week that the deal was dead if they couldn't get him enrolled in summer school this week and reclassified. Both of those things are in place now.

Mikesyracuse1

Hop said:

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The kid has been school hopping. Hard to believe he graduated early...legitimately.

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Yeah, what I've read on the kid, he is a legit really good player and definite quality NBA prospect, but from what I read on his back story, he was brought over from Nigeria by some guy at like age 14 and went to a school in San Antonio along with a bunch of other international players the same guy had found, but was ruled ineligible due to improper benefits (and the guy who was handling him was then fired by the school), so then he went to some brand new basketball 'academy' up in Louisville that was in only its first or second year of existence and played a year there. And then managed to reclassify from 2019 to 2018 and now is enrolling in summer classes at WKU.

So at a first glance, there are some red flags in his back story that would typically lead one to think he would be a qualification risk, and maybe that is why this story is playing out at a place like WKU instead of a high major.

If he truly is eligible this Fall, looks like a really exciting player for WKU to root for.

I agree with hop.

Method Man said:

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Wasted opportunity to not hire him.

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Meh, we're all just clinging to the secret hope that someday we'll have a program that gives the same effort and has the same determination that the guys did under BCG. Bama fans sat there for 25 years waiting for Bear to walk through the door again...and darn them if it didn't happen. UNC only had to wait ~5 years for Dean Smith to come back. But who are we kidding...we're Aggies. We get 3 good years, and then wait 50 for it to return.

Oh, and I know - 2 Sweet 16's in 3 years.

Strangest situation. Why is he going there? And will be top five in this class, but most draft guys don't see him top ten in draft.

Quote:

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Aspire Academy, the Louisville-based prep school that has sent three players, including five-star center Charles Bassey, to Western Kentucky in the last two years, has cut ties with DeSales High School as well as controversial international recruiter Hennssy Aurantial.

That information comes from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, which should be somewhat concerning for Hilltopper fans but not as much of a red flag as this quote, from the President of Aspire, Roger McClendon:

"I don't think [Bassey] has a diploma from DeSales," said McClendon. "That doesn't mean he has not gone to summer school or some other way. I don't have that information."

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https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2018/06/26/charles-basseys-prep-school-president-i-dont-think-he-has-a-diploma/

That could be problematic.

LawHall88 said:

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Quote:

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Auriantal has brought at least 45 international high school basketball players to the United States in just the last five years, according to a KyCIR investigation. Many of the players he brings over enroll at three or more basketball prep academies in the course of their high school careers.

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Quote:

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Auriantal's recruiting methods have caused problems for some of these young men, including an NCAA investigation into a player that enrolled at WKU last year.

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Quote:

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Moustapha Diagne was benched for half the season while the NCAA investigated his relationship with Auriantal. He was eventually cleared and is playing for WKU currently.

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Quote:

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Bassey is the third player connected with Auriantal to enroll at WKU since 2016.

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We'll see if Bassey can avoid Diagne's fate.

Rick Stansbury doubles down...

Why shouldn't Stansbury be on the edge....hell look at Sean Miller, Arizona, and Ayton

http://www.wbko.com/content/sports/BISHOP-Bassey-Watch-Part-V--Hiring-Auriantal-may-be-a-calculated-risk-but-its-still-a-risk-487657541.html

Ryno01 said:

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Why shouldn't Stansbury be on the edge....hell look at Sean Miller, Arizona, and Ayton

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The number thrown out there on Ayton was only a 100K payment. Stansbury paying Auriantal 200K job to get Bassey. Inflation! As the articles say though, this kind of recruiting technique is being used all the time.

94chem said:

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Method Man said:

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Wasted opportunity to not hire him.

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Meh, we're all just clinging to the secret hope that someday we'll have a program that gives the same effort and has the same determination that the guys did under BCG. Bama fans sat there for 25 years waiting for Bear to walk through the door again...and darn them if it didn't happen. UNC only had to wait ~5 years for Dean Smith to come back. But who are we kidding...we're Aggies. We get 3 good years, and then wait 50 for it to return.

Oh, and I know - 2 Sweet 16's in 3 years.

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More than BCG !

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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94chem said:

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Method Man said:

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Wasted opportunity to not hire him.

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Meh, we're all just clinging to the secret hope that someday we'll have a program that gives the same effort and has the same determination that the guys did under BCG. Bama fans sat there for 25 years waiting for Bear to walk through the door again...and darn them if it didn't happen. UNC only had to wait ~5 years for Dean Smith to come back. But who are we kidding...we're Aggies. We get 3 good years, and then wait 50 for it to return.

Oh, and I know - 2 Sweet 16's in 3 years.

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More than BCG !

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way more 8th place or worse under 0.500 conference finishes with no postseason than BCG, too

We all loved BCG in his time here. He chose to leave. I wish BCG nothing but the best personally and in his career. However, it should be stated that we are probably lucky that he left voluntarily or the things that came to fruition with him at Kentucky and Texas Tech would have occurred here and it would have ended in a very ugly manner.