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Message: [QUOTE="Flacusian, post: 1359387, member: 264"] This is hardboiled evidence that the program is already feeling the effects of the NCAA punitive actions. BJ is the kind of player that every program needs to have several of. A kid who has big upside and is going to stick around long enough to pay dividends to the program. I wish the best for Chris M but look at all the assets wasted on a kid who didn't really pay any dividends at all to the program. Getting kids like that is more often fools gold rather than gold and even when it is gold it is an exceedingly brief period of time that the program benefits. There is a long list of kids we've had who came here a lot less heralded but because they stuck around and improved they contributed to the program in increasingly significant fashion with each passing year. And the other often unmentioned factor is how they provide stability to the program. It's one thing if you are Kentucky and you can simply choose the pick of the litter year after year. They have so much talent its to the point of making a mockery of the concept of competition within Div. 1. But we aren't Kentucky, never will be. We do our best when we have a blend of program types who are on a trajectory of improvement throughout their extended (3 or 4) year stay at Cuse. Perhaps we are just on an unlucky streak with the past several seasons of guys leaving prior to their expected departure date. Hmmm. I don't think so. You make your own luck by the choices you make. I'm sure the texture of the mix which prompts these kids to leave early is a bit more complex than most people assume it to be. But at the end of the day you need stability in your program. We haven't had that recently and it's amazing that we have done so well up until this past season. It seems like our rolling of the dice is not so good as of late. We are looking at an amount of change that will test the strength of the program over the next 5 to 10 years. All of the projecting about next years team is going to be able to compete for a Chip were way to premature and obviously did not take into account the massive upheaval that the program is going through with respect to the NCAA sanctions, the significant departure of this past years team members, and a whole new set of youngsters coming in to be on a team that will not have the services of it's head coach during a significant portion of the season. All of this really makes me have a greater appreciation and value for those guys who have come here and given us their all for 2,3, and especially 4 years. Rak has definitely worked his way into a top spot in my Pantheon of great Syracuse Basketball valuable program contributors. Along with Scoop Jardine, Arinze, and going farther back, guys like Otis Hill who made final 4 a Syracuse household word by sticking around and playing his best ball as a senior in Orange. But... I guess part of it is just that college basketball has changed, and not for the better in my opinion. It's really a shame and when a kid like BJ ends up moving on because that's the best thing for him and the program... well I just have a hard time watching that happen. [/QUOTE]

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