Agreed. He closed some games before his injury and would have been in the mix next year even if he came off the bench. But I also get wanting to start your junior year.
Roper
- Thread starter MotownMedilldo
- Start date
Agreed. He closed some games before his injury and would have been in the mix next year even if he came off the bench. But I also get wanting to start your junior year.
Of course he would have played more overall minutes if not injured.
But I find it hard to believe he would have averaged more minutes. He played 22.5 minutes per game in conference play.
My point is, if he is good enough to play 22.5 mpg in the B10 as a sophomore, why would he need to drop to a mid major?
To reply to my own post, Illinois had a freshman transfer last year to UCSB and he became a star. Kind of the model for NIL kid leaves and does well. Roper could do very well in a similar situation. Still bummed. Then again, he could just be shopping the portal for opportunities.
Yeah part of me is hoping he is shopping around and maybe we have an outside chance that he comes back to NU... that's a minority outcome though of course.
Berry would not have been playing as many minutes if Roper was available. But now he does not just have to navigate Berry but also Barhizer so he might have seen himself limited going forward, especially if Audige is back
Except we have tended to be on the wrong side of the portal with a lot more going out than coming in
Here's the scenario that would disappoint me most. Not saying it is the most likely, but it is certainly possible...
Roper is looking at next year. He sees that Barnhizer will be playing some 4 and plenty 3 because we have also have Martinelli and Hunger to play at the 4. Roper knows he was a starter for a good chunk of his freshman year. He is wondering if Audige is coming back. This is particularly concerning to him, as they are similar players (presumably Roper doesnt view Buie as a rival for playing time).
So even though Roper doesn't know if Audige is returning, he decides he can't stick around to find out, because he wants to play. So he decides to transfer.
The more likely alternative is that Audige has made it known that he is returning.
Roper is looking at next year. He sees that Barnhizer will be playing some 4 and plenty 3 because we have also have Martinelli and Hunger to play at the 4. Roper knows he was a starter for a good chunk of his freshman year. He is wondering if Audige is coming back. This is particularly concerning to him, as they are similar players (presumably Roper doesnt view Buie as a rival for playing time).
So even though Roper doesn't know if Audige is returning, he decides he can't stick around to find out, because he wants to play. So he decides to transfer.
The more likely alternative is that Audige has made it known that he is returning.
Speculation, of course, but because he might want to shoot the ball more.
Speculation, of course, but because if Audige and Buie stay, the reality is now that Barnhizer has leaped him in the pecking order.
I know this is a basketball board so we're all focused on the basketball reasons, but I tend to think there are personal reasons too. Maybe he was just unhappy at NU for any of hundreds of reasons that have nothing to do with basketball. For all we know, basketball is the only thing he liked at NU, but it wasn't enough for his personal growth and comfort.
I am generally in line with what you are saying although I view it more as hedging his bets. I suspect that CCC would allow him to come back especially if Audige and Buie don't come back.
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That may be true, but how many guys actually enter the portal and then "come crawling back." I suppose with NIL, it may be a way to get leverage with your current school, but it seems like a mild form of blackmail!
Who knows what drives these decisions... I will say this - I found the wording of Roper's twitter announcement to be a little terse.
"I would like to thank Coach Collins for giving me the opportunity to attend such a prestigious university."
It seems like it is missing the phrase "but ultimately its not for me."
I also found it odd that he didn't mention basketball at all. Normally when you thank the coach it isn't for getting you thru admissions - but thats how that sentence reads.
You are 100% right that it is not necessarily about basketball. We are all just speculating here and there's a good chance we will never know. We still have no clue why Simmons transferred last year. Could be family, could be not liking the chicks on campus, could be a million of personal things.
This brings up an issue that is on my mind all the time. As a grown *** man it feels silly that these kids don't think of their lives as being college students first. They are getting a free ride. 90%+ of them will not play ball after college, and 1/2 of the remaining will be done with basketball within a couple of years (I am getting those numbers out of thin air, but I am confident they are representative).
For every Law or Pardon who are still playing there are multiple McCintoshes or Craig Moores, who try to make it work for a couple of years after college and call it quits. And countless more who just never play anymore.
And yet, again making up numbers here, 90% of these kids see themselves as "basketball players" first. That's close to their entire identity. It usually swallows any sense of privilege and luck of attending a good college for free. And that's why there's a very good chance this Roper situation is about basketball.
I think that most college kids consider transferring at some point. Its natural. But for normal kids its not an easy process. But with the portal, one bad day and you can find yourself a new home.
The bigger issue we are seeing with NIL is the success of the Miami Hurricanes. That is a effectively a professional team. Them winning is going to make buy a title the next big thing. At the U it is funded by one alum.
Portal does not work out for everyone. Lot of d1 players end up at d2 or d3 schools. We tend to focus on the few that it does work out for and forget the others
Similar to players that opt early for the NBA, dont make it and end up struggling the rest of their lives. We forget the players that don't make it.
Even though we went back on Nance and Young, at least the will land on their feet and have good lives.
Similar to players that opt early for the NBA, dont make it and end up struggling the rest of their lives. We forget the players that don't make it.
Even though we went back on Nance and Young, at least the will land on their feet and have good lives.
Players having power shouldn’t and wouldn’t be an issue if the NCAA hadn’t made them powerless and taken advantage of them for more than half a century of big-time sports. This is just the pendulum swinging the other way, and we’re gonna have to deal with the tumult until the dust settles. But when one complains about where we are today, they may as well just come out and say they preferred students being exploited while the NCAA, coaches and universities made billions off their “amateurism,” because that’s the alternative. (And as we’ve seen with NIL, the market value of the players was always a hell of a lot more than a scholarship, books and a meager stipend.)
You view is very extreme. Yes coaches have made a ton of money off of college athletics and agree this is an issue. Universities have made money on money sports and invested back into the university. In my opinion giving this much leverage to the athletes at such a young age is most harmful to them
. I agree neither scenario is good. I do not believe that most NCAA athletes have been exploited.
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I think that's hugely unfair. I think there are many reasons why someone might prefer an earlier version of college football or college basketball compared to where we are today, while still agreeing that it was an unequal set-up and/or not preferring students be "exploited."
Its a question of what education is received (if any) and what is it worth... versus the profit made off the games and tv rights. I guess you could throw in food and shelter as benefits for the players!!!
For some schools, its exploitative. Northwestern is towards the other end of the spectrum.
Coaches get paid an awful lot compared to the rest of the faculty.
I hear you about young kids having a lot of power but 1) what we’re experiencing is a rubberband effect that would have been avoided if we’d normalized this decades ago 2) once money is involved it’s either a free market or one where labor is being abused, and as a proud union member, I see no difference between ADs, coaches, tv networks, vendors, sponsors and advertisers benefiting at the players expense and any other enterprise benefiting from unique and irreplaceable talent.
Yea but the time to attempt that earlier version where athletes weren’t exploited was *back then.* If fans wanted something other than this, we should have demanded it. But we didn’t, and like the NCAA, we reap what we sow. We just need to accept this is the price of inaction and wait for it to resolve itself. Otherwise we’re that divorced guy at the bar crying into his drink saying woulda coulda shoulda.
Are you not familiar with the transfer portal? We can bring new guards into the program to replace any departing guards. Fear not…the sky is not falling TheCL.
**** man, I didn't play a sport and even when I was ACTUALLY IN COLLEGE I barely thought of myself as a student first. C's get degrees!
Traditionally, yes. But these days, so many colleges are hiring adjunct teachers. The university equivalent of a temp worker. They have very little security.
Mean like back in the hood ole days before big money media contracts and just playing for school pride?
NCAA could stick to guns and find another route to bring back amateurism. I have suggested the availability of scholarships as an avenue. G league plus one of these little football leagues could do some help too. Bring back the rule that no first year student can play until enrolled for at least 12 months. Bring back the mandatory one year sit out rule for transfers, or make two years for extra depth.
This will run all the extremely gifted and very young athletes away from college. And if you do that, TV will shift to those other leagues and college will revert to truly amateur athletics. Games might be available only online, and only the best matchups will get TV time outside something very regional or local.
Interesting concept. Guess it depends: do you want high level athletics or school pride? As I type this out, I’m kinda leaning toward the latter. It’s nice to have NU guys playing professionally, but I really am only interested in watching them at NU.
Good response cuz that’s ultimately the thing - money. Money now drives everything in MBB and FB. That was not always the case nor happened overnight.
So those unhappy w current state of affairs have to accept to get old skool back would require sacrifices. So what’s more important BIGTV w every NU revenue game televised and professional players or amateur ball and getting most games on radio with a once in awhile on TV?
How many hours a day you spend shaking your fist at clouds, these days?
Players getting paid is good. Full stop.