2012 NY PF Chris Obekpa (offer)

[Pruke]

Originally Posted by bearcats5

Mick apparently backed off:

Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein: Cincy backed off a bit in mid May. Johnnies stayed persistent @dcweisbrot: any idea why Obekpa chose stj over cincy?

Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein: UC backed off, had posts in program. Lavin kept chipping @welks303: what swung Obekpa to St J over Cincy? Anyone left for UC to get?

I wonder what led Mick to do this.

Could go back to Micks comments about getting kids with (paraphrasing) the right intentions. Talk of handlers, money, academic issues being rumored. It all started to stink a little for all the effort Mick was putting in. My opinion, only.

[JohnS67]

I’m very disappointed that we lost him. This is the second big man we lost to St. Johns (God’s Gift). This had been a disasterous recruiting year, with only one recruit (JC Rubles) and two scholarships to give. Given we’re a Big East school, coming off a good season, why can’t we recruit blue chip players, particularly big men?

[BearcatCJR23]

I'm not sure this situation had much to do with UC not being chosen. Multiple good sources tweeted last night that Mick backed off of Obekpa in May after he didn't sign during the late signing period.

Though I really wanted Obekpa and am kind of worried about the frontcourt this year, I respect Mick for his decision and sending a message in that if you aren't sure you want to be here, then he doesn't want you.

[cpawstoney]

St. John’s made a major score late in the recruiting game by landing 6-9 Chris Obekpa, a consensus Top 70 national prospect who gave the school a verbal commitment on Monday.

Obekpa, a shot-blocking phenom out of Our Savior New American (L.I.), was thought to be headed to Cincinnati before he pivoted and chose the Red Storm.

A source familiar with his thinking said that the brawl between the Bearcats and Xavier last season may have left Obekpa disinclined to go to Cincinnati.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/co...#ixzz1xaHCvyBS

[Best Body]

Originally Posted by JohnS67

I’m very disappointed that we lost him. This is the second big man we lost to St. Johns (God’s Gift). This had been a disasterous recruiting year, with only one recruit (JC Rubles) and two scholarships to give. Given we’re a Big East school, coming off a good season, why can’t we recruit blue chip players, particularly big men?

You are correct about this class, and I think this kid was the last opportunity to fix it. And I'm sure I'll get killed again for this, but I am not all that excited about last year's class, either. Hopefully the next couple of classes are stellar, or it will be very difficult to keep winning at the current level. As to why they've not been able to recruit blue chip players recently......we have to hope Mick can summon that inner salesman, going forward (hopefully he has one). I get the idea he and his staff put the time and effort in, but there is no "good try" in recruiting. They must start closing.

[OCASCM07]

I disagree that this was a disastrous recruiting class this year. Remember that until Octavius did something stupid only a month ago we only had one more scholarship to give after signing Rubles (who is a guard in a forward's body and the best JUCO big in the country remember Pete Mickeal?) and that scholarship was Obekpa's until yesterday. Corban Collins is still out there as well and is scheduled to visit later this month. With a need for another true PG because we signed two combo guards so far for 2013 he could still be a huge get for Cincinnati and right now we look like the best option that he is looking at. That leaves us room to recruit a bunch of bigs for next year's recruiting class.

And I'm still expecting a major contribution from Gaines next year.

[columbus_bearcat]

A source familiar with his thinking said that the brawl between the Bearcats and Xavier last season may have left Obekpa disinclined to go to Cincinnati.

huh? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've read about this. So whoever wrote this is saying that even though Obekpa visited the campus in February (I think?) and seemed to have a really good visit. In addition, UC seemed to be in the lead for several weeks, if not months, to land his services. Now all of a sudden he has second thoughts because of something that happened in December of last year? Seems a bit of a reach, doesn't it? Why even visit the campus if that incident bothered him so much. Stupid comment.

[CroninCrazy]

Originally Posted by columbus_bearcat

huh? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've read about this. So whoever wrote this is saying that even though Obekpa visited the campus in February (I think?) and seemed to have a really good visit. In addition, UC seemed to be in the lead for several weeks, if not months, to land his services. Now all of a sudden he has second thoughts because of something that happened in December of last year? Seems a bit of a reach, doesn't it? Why even visit the campus if that incident bothered him so much. Stupid comment.

X2


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[DMoney1080]

If Mick backed off there is a reason why....

Here's my 2 pesos on the matter

Mick recruits this guy hard for how many months, then backs off in May? Doesn't add up. What it does mean is that Mick saw something that didn't meet up with what he wants, and we should respect that as fans.

I hate the fact that Coach Cal, won a title last year, but let's face it, we know he is crooked and we know UK is. I'd rather be good and have a clean program then deal with that. Out of 300+ teams, 1 wins a national title every year. However, the last two years as a UC bball have been awesome. We've watched teams play hard, defend, and develop over the course of the year. I would gladly take a lesser developed kid, with great attitude than a guy like a Lance, any day of the week.

We should be happy that Mick backed off....how many kids transferred out of SJU last year or quit the team. Talent wise, they had it, but they didn't have any mental game to them. We are getting there, and we need to support the kids that do join this team and not worry about the ones that don't.

[Pruke]

It's obvious he didn't want to come here. Regardless of all the other noise associated with this kid and his eligibility, etc... - who cares.

He's St. John's problem, now.

[bearcats5]

Originally Posted by columbus_bearcat

huh? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've read about this. So whoever wrote this is saying that even though Obekpa visited the campus in February (I think?) and seemed to have a really good visit. In addition, UC seemed to be in the lead for several weeks, if not months, to land his services. Now all of a sudden he has second thoughts because of something that happened in December of last year? Seems a bit of a reach, doesn't it? Why even visit the campus if that incident bothered him so much. Stupid comment.

I'm guessing the source was Zagoria. He's the only one I've seen mention the incident in terms of connecting it to Obekpa's recruitment, and even he implied, in his piece that brought it up, that it was pure speculation on his part with no comments made by Obekpa or his handlers.

[Lobot]

Folks, this thread has 24 hour shelf life starting now. Get your posts in and opinions heard and let's close this thread and move on.It's over and we didn't land him. BTW been quite a while since we closed a thread. Complaints about this action can be PM'd to me.

[bobestes]

With all due respect, the story about UC backing off is probably a planted story by Cronin to save face.

[Pruke]

Originally Posted by bobestes

With all due respect, the story about UC backing off is probably a planted story by Cronin to save face.

I'll give Mick the benefit of the doubt on this one.

[Antonio]

There were plenty of rumors after signing day that the coaching staff was sick of the circus.

[weez1414]

Originally Posted by OCASCM07

I disagree that this was a disastrous recruiting class this year. Remember that until Octavius did something stupid only a month ago we only had one more scholarship to give after signing Rubles (who is a guard in a forward's body and the best JUCO big in the country remember Pete Mickeal?) and that scholarship was Obekpa's until yesterday. Corban Collins is still out there as well and is scheduled to visit later this month. With a need for another true PG because we signed two combo guards so far for 2013 he could still be a huge get for Cincinnati and right now we look like the best option that he is looking at. That leaves us room to recruit a bunch of bigs for next year's recruiting class.

And I'm still expecting a major contribution from Gaines next year.

Dont take this the wrong way I would love for Rubles to be the next Pete Mickeal. He averaged 16 and 10 in JUCO, so did Cheik. It just doesn't seem that hard to get 16 and 10 these days in JUCO. But best of luck to them all I hope he gets 20 and 10 for us. But to say he is the best big in JUCO I'll wait till i see him play D-1.

[London 'Cat]

One fact on which we can all agree is that Cronin does not comment publicly about recruiting. I suspect that we will never know whether Cronin backed off or not. And if he did back off, why. It seemed that Cronin was recruiting him up to the end, so I don't buy the backing off theory. He was attending Obekpa's games well after the season ended as reported by recruiting media outlets.

When Obekpa did not sign a LOI by the end of the late signing period, I feared the worst, which did materialize. Cronin remained in the conversation with top recruits the last few years. At some point, he'll start closing the deals, hopefully.

[Binturong05]

Originally Posted by DMoney1080

If Mick backed off there is a reason why....

Here's my 2 pesos on the matter

Mick recruits this guy hard for how many months, then backs off in May? Doesn't add up. What it does mean is that Mick saw something that didn't meet up with what he wants, and we should respect that as fans.

I hate the fact that Coach Cal, won a title last year, but let's face it, we know he is crooked and we know UK is. I'd rather be good and have a clean program then deal with that. Out of 300+ teams, 1 wins a national title every year. However, the last two years as a UC bball have been awesome. We've watched teams play hard, defend, and develop over the course of the year. I would gladly take a lesser developed kid, with great attitude than a guy like a Lance, any day of the week.

We should be happy that Mick backed off....how many kids transferred out of SJU last year or quit the team. Talent wise, they had it, but they didn't have any mental game to them. We are getting there, and we need to support the kids that do join this team and not worry about the ones that don't.

One of the more logical and cogent posts I've read on here in a long time. The dearth of emotion, which invariably leads to impulse suboptimal decisions, is refreshing.

I'm guilty of following this recruiting process pretty closely early on but as this dragged on it failed to pass the smell test in my opinion and I became concerned that UC might feel compelled to "play ball" the way too many other programs do - which is not what I expect out of my alma mater (at least not if they want me to remain a financial contributor of the athletic program).

I am pleased with Mick's decision. It's pure conjecture but I am convinced something will come out down the road that implicates wrong-doing in the Obekpa fiasco. And thankfully UC will be miles away from it all.

[Best Body]

Originally Posted by DMoney1080

If Mick backed off there is a reason why....

Here's my 2 pesos on the matter

Mick recruits this guy hard for how many months, then backs off in May? Doesn't add up. What it does mean is that Mick saw something that didn't meet up with what he wants, and we should respect that as fans.

I hate the fact that Coach Cal, won a title last year, but let's face it, we know he is crooked and we know UK is. I'd rather be good and have a clean program then deal with that. Out of 300+ teams, 1 wins a national title every year. However, the last two years as a UC bball have been awesome. We've watched teams play hard, defend, and develop over the course of the year. I would gladly take a lesser developed kid, with great attitude than a guy like a Lance, any day of the week.

We should be happy that Mick backed off....how many kids transferred out of SJU last year or quit the team. Talent wise, they had it, but they didn't have any mental game to them. We are getting there, and we need to support the kids that do join this team and not worry about the ones that don't.

If Mick backed off, it was bc he got the vibe from the kid that he wasn't coming to uc.

In contrast to being so brash as to mock lebron james from a benchwarmer position: One thing I remember about Lance was that he was supposedly coming to Cincinnati with this awful attitude, but then pretty much kept his mouth shut and played hard when he got here. Did he dribble himself into trouble too often? Yes. Was his shot great? No. But he was a freshman and had flaws bc in HS and AAU he could dribble around people at will. He was improving at the college game, and wouldve had a really good sophomore season had he returned for it. Not sure why so many on here want to point to him as some example as to why we shouldnt want any blue chip players to ever sign to play at UC again.

I'm sure UK is being closely scrutinized by the NCAA, given Cal's past. They won the natl title bc he has proven he can get kids to the NBA after a quick stop in college, and therefore had the most talent on his team. Not bc he cheated.

[blackattack]

As my uncle (who was an assistant coach to Ned Wulk at Arizona State for 10 years) once told me; there are certain programs out there that "if they want a particular kid, you're probably wasting your time recruiting that kid". Kentucky has had that reputation for years, so has Syracuse & Louisville. Might want to add St Johns to that list as long as Lavin is the coach there.