Quadir Copeland/NC St

[rrlbees]

Here is the abridged version of the chaotic dymaics of that team the first year under Red.

• Red came in and wanted to instill some cultural changes, as a new coach
• Many of the players couldn't relate to Boeheim, and were enthusiastic about the change to Red -- a much younger coach who they could relate to better
• However, when Red made things more strict than under JB, several of the players chomped at the bit
• These were not BAD kids, not doing criminal stuff, but they were passive aggressive in the locker room to undermine his authority, and didn't do what he instructed many times on the court
• Outside of this group, the locker room also had one kid who was a true cancer, a goofball who got thrown off the team mid-season due to repeated incidents behind the scenes
• We had a group of kids who were "with the program" -- kids who were good students, worked hard / did what they were told, in JJ / Maliq / Jesse
• There were also a trio of kids who while not overtly disruptive, caused locker room problems due to not respecting Red and being increasingly defiant towards him -- Judah / Copeland / Bell
• The latter trio was not particularly fond of the former trio, and this led to on-court issues in terms of sharing the ball
• Copeland stopped going to class after December, and only later passed his classes due to a late push he made to get eligible to transfer
• At the end of that season, Red helped encourage some of those players to leave. Judah went to pursue his NBA dream, Copeland hit the portal, Benny was kicked off the team. Only Bell remained from that group
• The hope was that with the "bad seeds" gone, things would improve once Red got his OWN players, not ones he inherited from JB. Oops

I'm not sure the "issues" were all that serious. Using bell as the example, he is followed on social media by Judah and Copeland, but also by JJ and Maliq as well as other former players like Girard. He was popular and friends with all those guys. Had his on-court moments but was a good kid off it. Mike has a good article about him. He attended one of our tailgates and was a pleasure to speak with and very engaging. I don't doubt there may have been an incident, happens in all team sports, but I don't think it became anything serious.

 

[RF2044]

I'm not sure the "issues" were all that serious. Using bell as the example, he is followed on social media by Judah and Copeland, but also by JJ and Maliq as well as other former players like Girard. He was popular and friends with all those guys. Had his on-court moments but was a good kid off it. Mike has a good article about him. He attended one of our tailgates and was a pleasure to speak with and very engaging. I don't doubt there may have been an incident, happens in all team sports, but I don't think it became anything serious.

Agreed. That's why Bell wasn't pushed out like the others. But he was part of that triumverate of players who WERE more difficult

 

[rrlbees]

Agreed. That's why Bell wasn't pushed out like the others. But he was part of that triumverate of players who WERE more difficult

could definitely be a pita on the court. part of his problem was how hard he'd be on himself too. he'd get too frustrated. never seemed relaxed.