2016-17 Season

[Ruckus]

I am sure playing time or the relative lack thereof factored into some of this transition. Neither Tucker played much after mid season. I am kind of disappointed both players of leaving as most of us had high hopes that they would immediately contribute and were highly touted. That didn't happen. Best of luck to them but I doubt they will get the same quality of education,coach or program in their new gigs.
I never like to see kids transfer although sometimes it is unavoidable.

[Terrier13]

Yeah that's definitely very frustrating. We've been lucky to have freshmen step up and deliver in the past but it would be so much better if we could redshirt and develop players so, by the time they're seeing the court, they've had a year or two in the system instead of only a few months. Obvious caveat for players with academic concerns or they don't fit with Wofford but it may be short-sighted on their part to transfer from Wofford to Random State University where they have to sit out a year and won't get the same level of education. Choosing Wofford is a 40 year decision, not a 4 year decision- I hope the young men weigh this carefully rather than focusing on playing time alone as very few players at this level are able to make a sustained career playing professionally, especially if they're unable to make the rotation as a freshman.

[woffordgrad94]

Sometimes I think we don't do enough redshirtting. Then again, redshirts would hamper our depth too much in some cases. It's a tricky situation.

[lawdog]

As our recruiting has gotten more successful and PT more competitive, it is more common to have recruits transfer. No competitive bball program is immune from that. I too wish the Tuckers a happy landing, but really like our talent that is returning next year.

[boulder3m]

If you follow the most successful basketball programs in the country there are lots of transfers for any of the possible reasons. Playing an NCAA sport and keeping up with the work load a school like Wofford requires is not easy, and if you couple that with a lack of playing time kids look for the easy way out.

[Atldog7]

Or validation elsewhere. It is not easy going from being the stud on your HS team to riding the pine in college. It takes a mental adjustment that you may have to work that much harder to play in college where it came pretty easily for some in HS. Same thing happens in the pros. Look at how many stud college players do not translate to the NBA. The flipside is that some guys just want to be on the court. And if they can't do it at this level then transferring may be the right thing to do. Without knowing the specifics, probably not a lot of reason to speculate but this is not new even for us as McKnight and the kid from Gaffney come to mind. I wish them well. Wofford may not be for everyone and maybe that's why they are leaving.

[boulder3m]

The dirty little truth is that the biggest and best programs like to "run off" the recruits that turn out to be busts. Look at Duke, for example. K runs off players every year to make room for new recruits. He only plays 6-8 players regularly, and when you have 10 High School All Americans there are going to be some unhappy campers on the bench, regardless of the hype. It's not a big deal, and is certainly no cause for concern. Our coaching staff seems to also love to have the good kids who may not play so much in the games but are willing to do whatever is necessary for the good of the team. In 30 years our biggest stars from this year's team may be guys who played very little, but became very successful in life. Would you want your son to be on a Wofford team with the coaches we have? I sure would!

[youngterrier]

Now that I think of it, I notice a pattern that happens whenever we have a young team, which is this year.

From November to January young guys get into the rotation, but we "figure it out" by mid January and start to play our best ball (notice how in our first and third Socon championship runs we put together a streak starting in December/January).

We then hear about some players transferring for playing time or other reasons. Indiana Faithful comes to mind.

So this isn't something I lose sleep over. I'll start being concerned when more than one sophomore or junior leaves the program.

As far as I'm concerned, the fact that we have some players transferring when the bench is pretty deep tells me that there's more confidence what we have coming back than what meets the eye. Maybe this decision by the players was slightly impulsive (not getting playing time and IMMEDIATELY wanting to transfer), but I would like to think it may be something more, that being that the players recognize that the line up is what it is and it's of low probability they'll be able to alter it.

[lawdog]

I suspect we are in the market for a late recruit, if someone with genuine promise comes to our attention. With the new arena opening and with a talented group on board already, we would be an attractive option for the right prospect. Stay tuned.

[boulder3m]

ETSU, as predicted a 13 seed. This team has a chance to advance. Would be great for our league for a team to do what Davidson and Mercer have done.

[woffordgrad94]

ETSU, as predicted a 13 seed. This team has a chance to advance. Would be great for our league for a team to do what Davidson and Mercer have done.

On one hand, I agree with you. It would be good for the SoCon if ETSU could have some success in the tournament. And I like that fact that it means more money for everyone if they do well. On the other hand, this is a school that does not like our team OR us. A couple of years ago when we won it they told me that if a team like Chattanooga or WCU made it they could have a beer with those fans and root for those teams, but that they could not do that with us or Furman, despite the fact that they don't really KNOW me- I might buy them beers all day and anytime you buy someone a beer you make a friend. But I digress. So since they didn't root for us, I find it difficult to root for them. So considering everything, I will take the middle ground and not give a darn about them whatsoever. If they win they win, and if they lose they lose- it's all the same to me.

[woffordgrad94]

After the comments Jim Boeheim made about not liking the ACC Tourament being in Greensboro pissed some people in that city off, Syracuse now plays UNCG in the NIT! I think the NIT selection committee had a sense of humor. Go Spartans!

[lawdog]

UNCG/Syracuse NIT game is on ESPN tonight 3/14 at 7 pm. Syracuse has not played well away from home. UNCG has a chance.

[boulder3m]

That game has been postponed because of the threat of snow (sounds like the South, huh?) until tomorrow night.

[woffordgrad94]

That game has been postponed because of the threat of snow (sounds like the South, huh?) until tomorrow night.

As I am up here in Oswego, NY for a nuclear plant outage, I can tell you that it is a lot more than a threat. There is over a foot of snow on the ground now and it is still snowing hard, with high winds and low wind chills. No ome in tehir right mind would go out for a basketball game tonight...they are 100% in the right to postpone it!