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PSU BBall: Rasir Bolton enters transfer portal

Going by the letter of many of the dumb NCAA rules, then yes, many teams cheat. But in terms of doing things to gain a competitive advantage I don’t think they do. Many of the NCAA violations on schools are for things that have nothing to do with getting them better players.

We will just disagree on this.
I do agree with the dumb NCAA rules part, but Stanford football, for example, was a "major violation" of more than $3,000 in impermissible benefits to a football player. Stanford did self-report, and the NCAA found no lack of institutional control, but I believe if it happened at Stanford, it can happen anywhere and almost universally does. The problem is there are so many violations, big and small, that the NCAA cannot catch them all. Stanford, for example, may have gone unnoticed if they did not self-report.
Last month the NCAA found evidence of "severe" recruiting violations in the Georgia Tech basketball program. Georgia Tech has yet to respond, and so I will not jump to conclusions, except to say the NCAA rarely serves notice of allegations they cannot prove. This is not the 1st rodeo for Tech, but most people would not think of them as a rogue school and yet they face possible sanctions.
That said, I am sure we both hope Penn State is not in the NCAA crosshairs.
 
I think Bolton has a lot of potential and it's a major loss for the program, but Chambers has the opportunity to use the portal to fill some positions of need himself moving forward. If things aren't working out, maybe he needs to bring a different approach.. maybe look for juco or grad transfers. Chambers needed a breakthrough season when he had the best athletes PSU bball has ever had and it didn't come. One tournament appearance really could've sold a lot of people including recruits that something significant was being built. At this point, there's nothing tangible that says Chambers has this program on the brink of success.
 
I didn't think Bolton would be the one to leave, but it was predictable that transfers were coming. It was obvious that Pat was only retained because he was in the first year of his contract. Predictably he will get fired after next season.
 
Supposedly his dad is saying that it’s not about basketball or academics, and it’s best to have a clean start... who knows what that is supposed to mean.
 
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i think Pat's a really stand up guy and has done as best he could. PSU basketball is a tough sell, no doubt and he brought some good players here. A few years ago our football program was given up for dead by a lot of people and look where we're at now. This is not rocket science, bring in an up and coming coach that relates to kids and know hows to motivate them, and pay him enough dollars to come here. We are PSU for goodness sakes. What a good athletic director could do for this school is mind boggling

Nate Oates from Buffalo was that guy, he’s now at Alabama coaching because that football school ponied up. Oates coached HS here in Michigan (and dominated, he left school stopped dominating) and has a ton of connections around the PSU region after his Buffalo experience under Hurley. PSU could have had him consider, they didn’t even try. He’s young, smart and relates to players like Franklin. Sickening he’s now south at Bama.
 
I guess Sandy cares more about wrestling and hockey and just figured that good enough for winter men’s sports. Basketball, meh to her. Unless it’s women who have history in hoops.
 
Sorry, but i’m tired of hearing about Chamber’s hands being tied by the budget, the BJC, yada, yada, yada. There’s are tons of mid major schools in the NCAA that don’t have the budget and all the positive intangibles that Penn State has.

Let’s look at say a Murray State, a school that has made the tournament 4 times during the Chambers era It’s a school in the middle of nowhere in KY. They play at an smaller, 8,600 seat, 20 year old arena. They spend less than $2 million on basketball, almost 3 times less than Penn State’s current spend. They also don’t play in a conference with its own TV network where just about every game is nationally televised.

Murray State is just one example of a school that has achieved consistent success in basketball, with less investment than Penn State. While we clearly need improvement made to the BJC and a larger operating budget, first and foremost we need a coach that can recruit a high level of talent to Penn State. Sandy, please, please, please spend some of that $5+ million of profit Penn Sate makes on its basketball program and go hire that kind of coach.
Apples to oranges. You have to look at schools like Bama and Nebraska who have no real history in hoops, well known as football schools, yet ponied up for coaches. He’ll, Id take Nebraska’s fired coach over Pat tbh.
 
Going by the letter of many of the dumb NCAA rules, then yes, many teams cheat. But in terms of doing things to gain a competitive advantage I don’t think they do. Many of the NCAA violations on schools are for things that have nothing to do with getting them better players.
You can’t be serious. College hoops is the pinnacle of shadiness in college sports. Getting kids to play there and having aids take tests for them to keep them eligible is a huge competitive advantage. In college hoops, if you aren’t cheating you really aren’t trying.
 
You can’t be serious. College hoops is the pinnacle of shadiness in college sports. Getting kids to play there and having aids take tests for them to keep them eligible is a huge competitive advantage. In college hoops, if you aren’t cheating you really aren’t trying.

This may or may not be true, but you can try without cheating. Penn State is definitely not even trying to try.
 
I think that’s comparing apples to oranges. PSU’s roster last year would be a top 2 or 3 team in the league and they would consistently be at the top of the Ohio Valley. I would also make an assumption that Murray St spends similarly to the other teams in the conference. MSU spends quadruple PSU so it’s all relative.

I disagree that it’s apples to oranges. Three consistent “excuses” for why Penn State is so bad are:

1. It’s hard to recruit kids to rural State College in “the middle of nowhere”. Murray State does it in the middle of nowhere. In KY.
2. No one wants to play in the BJC. Murray State’s building is smaller and it about as old at the BJC.
3. Penn State can’t succeed with our low budget for basketball. Murray State has had consistent success during the Chamber’s era spending approximately 3 times less per year.

Why is a school like Murray State able succeed while Penn State has not? It’s all about recruiting, game preparation, and in game coaching. We have to stop making excuses for this program.
 
I disagree that it’s apples to oranges. Three consistent “excuses” for why Penn State is so bad are:

1. It’s hard to recruit kids to rural State College in “the middle of nowhere”. Murray State does it in the middle of nowhere. In KY.
2. No one wants to play in the BJC. Murray State’s building is smaller and it about as old at the BJC.
3. Penn State can’t succeed with our low budget for basketball. Murray State has had consistent success during the Chamber’s era spending approximately 3 times less per year.

Why is a school like Murray State able succeed while Penn State has not? It’s all about recruiting, game preparation, and in game coaching. We have to stop making excuses for this program.
What people are trying to tell you in response is that Murray State plays in the Ohio Valley Conference and Penn State plays in the Big Ten. Murray State plays eighteen of its games against Ohio Valley Conference teams, and Penn State plays twenty of its games against Big Ten teams.

Do you legitimately believe that Murray State would win as many games as it won this year if it had played in the Big Ten?
 
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What people are trying to tell you in response is that Murray State plays in the Ohio Valley Conference and Penn State plays in the Big Ten. Murray State plays eighteen of its games against Ohio Valley Conference teams, and Penn State plays twenty of its games against Big Ten teams.

Do you legitimately believe that Murray State would win as many games as it won this year if it had played in the Big Ten?
No, but I also don’t think Penn State would have won as many games as Murray State did in the OVC this year. Would they have a better record than we did in the Big Ten, yea, probably. Would that better record have lead to an NCAA appearance, no, not likely.

My point is simply that a school like Murray State, which doesn’t have access to a national TV network, a much smaller alumni/fan base, no brand spanking new arena, very rural location, 1/3 the budget, etc can succeed year after year, Penn State can too if we have the right coaching staff. We need to stop making excuses for this staff and trying to convince ourselves that “next year is the year”.
 
With this past season's roster, Penn State would have been one of the favorites to win the OVC if we played in that conference. Murray State also benefited from a generational talent in Ja Morant, who was not ranked nationally as a high school senior. Would most PSU fans be satisfied if Murray State HC Matt McMahon was appointed to succeed Chambers next spring?

I just don't think comparisons to Murray State's success are all that relevant.
 
.....Let’s look at say a Murray State, a school that has made the tournament 4 times during the Chambers era It’s a school in the middle of nowhere in KY. They play at an smaller, 8,600 seat, 20 year old arena. They spend less than $2 million on basketball, almost 3 times less than Penn State’s current spend. They also don’t play in a conference with its own TV network where just about every game is nationally televised....

Probable just as easy to make the Tourny out of the B1G as it is from whatever Conference Murray State belongs?
 
I disagree that it’s apples to oranges. Three consistent “excuses” for why Penn State is so bad are:

1. It’s hard to recruit kids to rural State College in “the middle of nowhere”. Murray State does it in the middle of nowhere. In KY.
2. No one wants to play in the BJC. Murray State’s building is smaller and it about as old at the BJC.
3. Penn State can’t succeed with our low budget for basketball. Murray State has had consistent success during the Chamber’s era spending approximately 3 times less per year.

Why is a school like Murray State able succeed while Penn State has not? It’s all about recruiting, game preparation, and in game coaching. We have to stop making excuses for this program.

Murray State would get murdered year in and year out in the B1G. PSU has significantly better players and a program than Murray St. They play elite competition. Murray St would sell their sole to the devil to get into the B1G. Nobody envies their program. Nobody strives to be them. They are a cute story for a few days per year if they make the tournament. This year they had an elite NBA player that nobody wanted out of high school. They got really lucky to find him and that he turned into an absolute stud, something nobody could have predicted.

Chambers has brought in a handful of top 150 recruits. Again, budget is relative to the competition. Find me a P5 team to compare. If PSU budget was the same as MSU, they would have a high likelihood of making the tournament most years.
 
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Murray State would get murdered year in and year out in the B1G. PSU has significantly better players and a program than Murray St. They play elite competition. Murray St would sell their sole to the devil to get into the B1G. Nobody envies their program. Nobody strives to be them. They are a cute story for a few days per year if they make the tournament. This year they had an elite NBA player that nobody wanted out of high school. They got really lucky to find him and that he turned into an absolute stud, something nobody could have predicted.

Chambers has brought in a handful of top 150 recruits. Again, budget is relative to the competition. Find me a P5 team to compare. If PSU budget was the same as MSU, they would have a high likelihood of making the tournament most years.

Sorry, but I disagree with most everything you assert here. Penn State does not have significantly better players and a program than Murray State. If they played every year, Murray State would win a majority of the games.

You are also crazy to think that if Chambers had a budget as large as MSU, that we would make the tournament most years. The only way that statement is true is that if Penn State used a good portion of that budget on a new coach than can recruit top talent to State College. Just giving Chambers more money to spend isn’t going to improve the talent base, the game planning, or the in game coaching. It’s just not.
 
Sorry, but I disagree with most everything you assert here. Penn State does not have significantly better players and a program than Murray State. If they played every year, Murray State would win a majority of the games.

You are also crazy to think that if Chambers had a budget as large as MSU, that we would make the tournament most years. The only way that statement is true is that if Penn State used a good portion of that budget on a new coach than can recruit top talent to State College. Just giving Chambers more money to spend isn’t going to improve the talent base, the game planning, or the in game coaching. It’s just not.
I think when people say a larger budget is needed, it’s assumed that a good part of it would go to pay better coaches.
 
I think when people say a larger budget is needed, it’s assumed that a good part of it would go to pay better coaches.

You would think. But so far, that has not been the case. They have the money as the basketball program makes over $5 million in profit. So far we’ve not seen the athletic department reinvest any significant wmount of that basketball driven profit to “pay better coaches”.
 
You would think. But so far, that has not been the case. They have the money as the basketball program makes over $5 million in profit. So far we’ve not seen the athletic department reinvest any significant wmount of that basketball driven profit to “pay better coaches”.
I wasn’t referring to the athletic department.
 
Sorry, but I disagree with most everything you assert here. Penn State does not have significantly better players and a program than Murray State. If they played every year, Murray State would win a majority of the games.
We would have been favored over Murray St this season. Also in 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2014. You’re greatly overvaluing Murray St’s work in a very underwhelming OVC. Even this year, with Murray and Belmont, that conference finished 25th in Pomeroy and Sagarin because there are so many bad teams. People thought we had a bad performance beating Jacksonville St by only 15...they were the third best team in the conference.

Comparing PSU and Murray St is apples and watermelons.
 
We would have been favored over Murray St this season. Also in 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2014. You’re greatly overvaluing Murray St’s work in a very underwhelming OVC. Even this year, with Murray and Belmont, that conference finished 25th in Pomeroy and Sagarin because there are so many bad teams. People thought we had a bad performance beating Jacksonville St by only 15...they were the third best team in the conference.

Comparing PSU and Murray St is apples and watermelons.

Regardless, step one is getting a real coach.
 
Sorry, but I disagree with most everything you assert here. Penn State does not have significantly better players and a program than Murray State. If they played every year, Murray State would win a majority of the games.

You are also crazy to think that if Chambers had a budget as large as MSU, that we would make the tournament most years. The only way that statement is true is that if Penn State used a good portion of that budget on a new coach than can recruit top talent to State College. Just giving Chambers more money to spend isn’t going to improve the talent base, the game planning, or the in game coaching. It’s just not.

Murray St is not a better program than Penn State. We will have to agree to disagree...not sure if you’re a grad from there or what.

A bigger budget means Chambers is not the coach. If you pay $5+ million for a head coach, you will get an elite individual to come to PSU. Recruits would follow the coach. That’s how it works in college basketball.
 
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