Faustdog said:First of all, I am 100% on the Ray bandwagon. It was time for Stans to go, and I hope Ray does very well. But...
There is a ton of spin going on right now. I have no doubt that everything you've heard, you did hear from people within or close to our athletic department. That makes perfect sense. But that does not mean the info is necessarily accurate.
When someone in a position of power leaves an organization, voluntarily or not, that person is likely to become the scapegoat for any potential problems the new hire has. This is especially the case if there is sympathy for the person leaving. That is what is going on here.
The truth of the matter is that Hood likely did have issues during the season. But also, all we have heard about him is that he is a high character guy. He waited until after speaking to the new coach to make his decision. It was Ray's job to make him want to stay. He was unable to do that.
Josh Gray has been asking for a release for weeks. Ray tried to talk him into keeping his commitment but couldn't. We then leak word that we are releasing Gray due to grades and off the court issues. If you actually believe this, then I don't know what I can say to you. We are not allowing him to sign with other SEC schools.
There is a ton of info leaking from our AD right now. It has a purpose, it isn't surprising, and it isn't different than what goes on in any other business. Our AD knows that the fanbase is not excited about this hire. They know that there is still remaining sympathy for the old coach. What would you expect the message to be?
Hood admitted Ray gave him his hardest workout probably ever. Ray proved right there he could make him a better player. My take is Hood believes he is too good for MSU now. A good year next year at State, and he's a possible 1st rounder but instead he wants to go sit out a year. He didn't give Ray a chance.