2012 NY PF Chris Obekpa (offer)

[OCASCM07]

Relax everybody. We all want him here but bashing the kid for not making a decision yet is a mistake. Some of us remember how bashing Mick killed us in recruiting players like Marquis Teague and Kemba Walker who were really close to signing. Now that bashing Mick is no longer an option that is taken seriously let's not start bashing the players because they are taking their time to make the best decision FOR THEM.

[columbus_bearcat]

He's wanted to make the announcement on May 7 (his mom's birthday) from day 1. That has never changed.

[righthook]

Originally Posted by bearcatdoggie

Seriously, make up your mind! I wish we had another recruit that was similar but rated somewhat lower, I would go ahead and offer that guy the scholarship. The longer this goes on the more concerned I am about the player being committed to the team, and staying beyond year one. I know it's a tough decision, I get it, but at somepoint you have to go one way or the other.

Its a little annoying but in the end I would rather him take his time making a decision that he really wants to be here rather than making a quick decision and deciding to transfer mid year.

[bearcats5]

Yeah, no need to grow impatient. I actually feel the opposite about his wait--the longer he's waited, the better it appears for us because of what the competition has been doing. It's seemingly becoming more and more clear that St. John's thinks they're out (down to one scholarship now and appear to be focusing on Chandler and Nolan--also, haven't seen their name mentioned much, if at all, over the past few weeks in terms of being at his games, like Mick has). I take that as a good sign, as it was thought, for some time now, that it would come down to us and them. That's not to discount them, just saying that I feel good about their recent trend possibly helping us with Obekpa. Oregon is interesting, as there appears to be conflicting reports, as mentioned in this thread. I guess we'll find out who's right between Chad Brendel and Adam Zagoria this week. Still, at this point in time, I would be surprised if Obekpa wasn't a Bearcat.

[GoBearcats31]

Originally Posted by OCASCM07

Relax everybody. We all want him here but bashing the kid for not making a decision yet is a mistake. Some of us remember how bashing Mick killed us in recruiting players like Marquis Teague and Kemba Walker who were really close to signing. Now that bashing Mick is no longer an option that is taken seriously let's not start bashing the players because they are taking their time to make the best decision FOR THEM.

Bash is a strong word. Two people being impatient and wanting him to make a decision (because no one else is contributing to off-season basketball chatter) is not bashing. This is like when I do a fantasy baseball draft and use my full 90 seconds on a pick and other people are saying (60 seconds in), "Come on, pick already!"

Marquis Teague just won a national championship and is a first round draft pick. I highly doubt some bashing on this forum drove him to play for Calipari and UK and not for UC. I bet he was thinking, "Gee, I really want to go to UC but a few fans on their message board are bashing Mick. I guess I'll resort to my back up plan and follow in the footsteps of Rose, Evans, Wall and Knight."


So maybe you guys need to relax. We are all anxiously waiting and know the decision will come when it comes. No one is being irrational, just posting message board-like commentary on a ... wait for it... message board.


Go Bearcats!

[Ran513]

Agree with every word , except the recruits and message board stuff. Not the OP personally, but comments made on this board has absolutely cost us some recruits period. Choosing not to believe something doesn't make it not true. We can go back and forth all year about it and get nowhere, but message boards have an impact.

[Best Body]

Originally Posted by Ran513

Agree with every word , except the recruits and message board stuff. Not the OP personally, but comments made on this board has absolutely cost us some recruits period. Choosing not to believe something doesn't make it not true. We can go back and forth all year about it and get nowhere, but message boards have an impact.

I'm not even sure if I believe any recruit has ever actually even visited this site. If you are going to state this and have anyone take it seriously, some sort of evidence would be useful. If you can provide it, I certainly believe we will all be much more careful about what we post, but until then it just sounds like a huge reach.

[OCASCM07]

Originally Posted by Best Body

I'm not even sure if I believe any recruit has ever actually even visited this site. If you are going to state this and have anyone take it seriously, some sort of evidence would be useful. If you can provide it, I certainly believe we will all be much more careful about what we post, but until then it just sounds like a huge reach.

The last that I remember being posted was from the winter of '09/'10 to find where this is referenced that recruits and their parents look at the fan message boards which was directly from Mike Thomas' office and that's when BCN started banning people left and right for not being civil....dark times.

[Antonio]

Curious as to what you guys would rather have, a verbal commit like recent football recruit Dennis Norfleet, who backed out of his verbal commitment to Cincy 11th hour when his preferred team (Michigan) came calling or a guy who waits to even verbal to a school because he's hoping to sign the best offer?

I know football and hoops are different because the class sizes are huge and verbal commitments do little to stave off the sharks among other reasons, but I'd rather be in the situation we are with Obekpa (in the hunt) versus having him as a verbal to us who had not signed yet.

I have no reason to believe Obekpa is waiting for Kentucky or someone like that to come calling. But if he is, at least he's had the decency to tell UC he's merely considering us as an option instead of having us count on him.

If a big school swoops in and "steals" Obekpa, I will be angry. But it won't be with Obekpa. I'll be angry at the "haves" of the sport and disappointed he won't get center stage (look at the growing city-wide adulation for SK) in Cincy versus just another cog in a machine somewhere else. Ultimately though, at least he's had the decency to make it crystal clear he's just weighing UC an an option.

Again, I know the sports are different, but I much prefer this to the football verbal commits who back out 11th hour.

[levydl]

Originally Posted by bearcatdoggie

Seriously, make up your mind! I wish we had another recruit that was similar but rated somewhat lower, I would go ahead and offer that guy the scholarship. The longer this goes on the more concerned I am about the player being committed to the team, and staying beyond year one. I know it's a tough decision, I get it, but at somepoint you have to go one way or the other.

One of the dumber comments I've read about this recruitment. You're reading way too much into a kid deciding where he wants to go to college.

[Lobot]

Originally Posted by columbus_bearcat

He's wanted to make the announcement on May 7 (his mom's birthday) from day 1. That has never changed.

^^^THIS...................

[OCASCM07]

Originally Posted by Lobot

^^^THIS...................

So what you're saying is I need to go to Church on Sunday for hopefully a Monday commitment?....I'll do it.

[bearcatdoggie]

Originally Posted by levydl

One of the dumber comments I've read about this recruitment. You're reading way too much into a kid deciding where he wants to go to college.

sorry if what I said earlier appearred as bashing, that wasn't my intent. Sometimes things written are taken differently than when they are actually heard in person. I'll admit that I'm probably thinking out of frustration that there hasn't been any word yet, and that I do wish he'll be a Bearcat soon, I was just thinking if it were me I would have made a decision because I wouldn't want to be squeezed out from a school I wanted to attend. That said, I'm not him, and he's thinking about it in his own way. Soon he'll decide,
if he's a Bearcat, that will be great. If not, I'll wish him well where ever he decides to go.

[OCASCM07]

Originally Posted by bearcatdoggie

sorry if what I said earlier appearred as bashing, that wasn't my intent. Sometimes things written are taken differently than when they are actually heard in person. I'll admit that I'm probably thinking out of frustration that there hasn't been any word yet, and that I do wish he'll be a Bearcat soon, I was just thinking if it were me I would have made a decision because I wouldn't want to be squeezed out from a school I wanted to attend. That said, I'm not him, and he's thinking about it in his own way. Soon he'll decide,
if he's a Bearcat, that will be great. If not, I'll wish him well where ever he decides to go.

I won't if that somewhere else is OSU, UK, UL, XU, SJU, Arizona or any other current, future, or previous BEast school in that order.

[Best Body]

Originally Posted by OCASCM07

The last that I remember being posted was from the winter of '09/'10 to find where this is referenced that recruits and their parents look at the fan message boards which was directly from Mike Thomas' office and that's when BCN started banning people left and right for not being civil....dark times.

If that came from Thomas's office, there may be a some truth to it. On the other hand, they may just have been attempting to censor criticism of the coach at the time. Or most likely, their office feared that maybe, possibly, recruits or there parents would check out some of the bearcat sites.

Was there any specific mention of this site (not just asking ocascmo - anyone that knows)? or was the concern at lair or on the enquirer uc area, etc.?

What recruit(s) (if applicable) were rumored to have been lost bc of BCN? I think if that were the case, someone from UC would likely have directly stated this to a mod to share to the group.

Also, if a player doesnt have thick enough skin to completely shrug off and ignore message board nonsense, does he emotionally have what it takes to be a big time college athlete?

[Ruckle]

Originally Posted by Best Body

If that came from Thomas's office, there may be a some truth to it. On the other hand, they may just have been attempting to censor criticism of the coach at the time. Or most likely, their office feared that maybe, possibly, recruits or there parents would check out some of the bearcat sites.

Was there any specific mention of this site (not just asking ocascmo - anyone that knows)? or was the concern at lair or on the enquirer uc area, etc.?

What recruit(s) (if applicable) were rumored to have been lost bc of BCN? I think if that were the case, someone from UC would likely have directly stated this to a mod to share to the group.

Also, if a player doesnt have thick enough skin to completely shrug off and ignore message board nonsense, does he emotionally have what it takes to be a big time college athlete?

There were rumors on this board when we were recruiting Marquis Teague that his dad frequented this site, and was unhappy with all the negativity toward Cronin. As far as I know that could be total BS, but it does seem possible.

[KY Bearcat]

Hey everybody, I've been out if the country for the last 2 weeks...has anything significant happened with Obekpa? Is the general consensus still positive about our chances of landing Chris?

[Lobot]

Originally Posted by Ruckle

There were rumors on this board when we were recruiting Marquis Teague that his dad frequented this site, and was unhappy with all the negativity toward Cronin. As far as I know that could be total BS, but it does seem possible.

Not BS. Another board's admin privately emailed me and asked us to clean things up specifically because of Marquis Teague. The original request came from the AD's office. We were not the only board having the issue however so to say BCN lost UC a prime recruit may or may not be accurate. I frankly don't now if Teague's father read this particular board.

You have to remember that ANYONE with a few exceptions can read the board without being a member or poster. There's generally anywhere between 50 - 100 guests browsing the board during peak hours.

If you think that recruits/parents/coaches etc. don't read message boards, you're wrong and that's a fact as far as this board is concerned because Jason Maxiell's mother used to be a regular contributor.

[CroninCrazy]

Originally Posted by Lobot

Not BS. Another board's admin privately emailed me and asked us to clean things up specifically because of Marquis Teague. The original request came from the AD's office. We were not the only board having the issue however so to say BCN lost UC a prime recruit may or may not be accurate. I frankly don't now if Teague's father read this particular board.

You have to remember that ANYONE with a few exceptions can read the board without being a member or poster. There's generally anywhere between 50 - 100 guests browsing the board during peak hours.

If you think that recruits/parents/coaches etc. don't read message boards, you're wrong and that's a fact as far as this board is concerned because Jason Maxiell's mother used to be a regular contributor.

...and Kirkland's brother.

[BearcatAlum1]

Recruits/family members/AAU coaches/HS coaches do read message boards. Facts folks.

All of them don't, but some of them do.