Dudley,
They were saying on another Board they heard you said that you expect Macon to leave and Barford to stay. Is this true, if so, have you been hearing something or just giving your opinion on how you think it plays out?
Little bit more than just saying whether they will go or stay.
What I said Friday basically was this:
I am told there are two different camps around Daryl - one that believes it best for him to come back and another that thinks it is ok for him to start playing professional overseas and earning $$$.
I’m told that the leaving section is winning right now, but that no final firm decision had been made.
As for Jaylen, I am told that he plans to be back after he gets his input back from the NBA.
May 24 is the date you have to pull your name out.
Cool thanks for clarification. I guess we’ll know know everything for sure in a few weeks.
Also, FWIW I read an article in Tennessee that did an interview with Barford. He was saying his dream is to go to the NBA, but right now he’s focusing on his senior year and getting better. Also, I know he retweeted a fan that said he will be back next year and just wants to get feedback.
As far as Daryl, I hope he lets the staff know for sure soon, because if he does leave I’m sure that would help them with recruiting, not only does it give another scholarship to work with, but it’s freeing up 25 MPG that they can sell in their recruiting pitches. It would suck if he decided last minute he’s going to stay in the draft and we miss on quality recruits because of it, and end up having an extra scholarship because all the quality players had already made decisions.
Seems to me that if he wants to go overseas as a default if NBA is a no go, he could make that decision today and not leave Mike hanging. The fact that he has not done that, says that he is not sure. Which means it will come down to mid May timeframe and leave Mike hanging.
I am sure if that happens, some will criticize Mike saying that in these days he should be prepared for that. But they just don’t realize how difficult it is to do a one to one replacement in talent and experience at such short notice. Or they do understand it and this is just a reason to take a shot.
And yet every big time program goes through this same thing. Arkansas isn’t unique in this. Mike Anderson is paid a lot of money to coach and assemble this team. If we think we are headed in the right direction as a program, this will become even more commonplace.
LOL what in the world are you talking about dude. You really go out of your way to always try to find something to criticize CMA about. He’s the coach here and doing a great job, deal with it.
Yes, this will happen and does happen to successful programs. But the program usually also suffers a down year when it happens, unless you are a Kentucky or Duke or an elite school like that. And when that happens, some fans like me will understand why it was a down year and some fans will criticize the coach.
I don’t know which one of those fans you are, but what would you do right now if you were Mike Anderson? Now remember, you cannot get by saying that he should oversign and numbers will just work out. Because it takes two to tango and there has to be someone like Macon willing to sign fully understanding the risk of Macon not leaving.
Huh? I’m saying that the better players we get, the more early defections we’ll have.
[quote=“PJHawg”]
Yes, this will happen and does happen to successful programs. But the program usually also suffers a down year when it happens, unless you are a Kentucky or Duke or an elite school like that. And when that happens, some fans like me will understand why it was a down year and some fans will criticize the coach.
I don’t know which one of those fans you are, but what would you do right now if you were Mike Anderson? Now remember, you cannot get by saying that he should oversign and numbers will just work out. Because it takes two to tango and there has to be someone like Macon willing to sign fully understanding the risk of Macon not leaving.
[/quote]I can’t possibly answer that question without having the information that Mike has.
My bad I had to re-read what you said. I thought you were trying to say CMA not knowing what players were going to do was going to be common. I may have jumped the gun on you there, just from your prior posts, you’re not known as the biggest CMA fan.
True. I am a fan of programs, not coaches. Once we start elevating coaches above the program then we end up with hero worship.
That said, I look forward to you pointing out where I have called for CMA to be fired. Questioning and being skeptical are actually healthy.
I haven’t said anything about you saying anything about CMA getting fired. Sounds like something you may have talked to someone else about in another thread. I simply said you’re known for not being CMA supporter, and I apologized for taking what you said out of context in your first post, but in my defense you do say something negative about CMA in almost every thread, so it’s easy to take one of your backhanded compliments as an insult.
And as far as hero worshipping. I don’t worship anyone but God. I’m a fan of the coaches, players, and the program. I want everyone to succeed. I’m not going to sit around and be negative most of the time, while claiming I’m a “program supporter” and “skeptic.” And I don’t know who told you complaining all the time is healthy…
Not speaking to anyone specifically, but generally.
As a reporter, questioning and being skeptical is a trait that is well-served.
But - as a reporter or a fan - I don’t think it is healthy to be overly skeptical of everything.
Blu, I agree with the “hero worship” it happens all the time. Penn St is a great example, Paterno was the program, it took a horrific incident to get rid of him. Baylor is another example. FSU and OU have been pretty bad the last few years, and no one can touch Cal or Saban, I bet Duke couldn’t get rid of Coach K unless it was a MAJOR issue. I agree with him on the “fan of the program” not the individual.
Edit: I understand what you’re saying about cheering and wanting everyone to succeed. While here I want CBB, CMA, and Van Horn to succeed, but if they leave (not fired) then I want them to lose. If they’re fired (like Dykes), I look at why and kind of feel sorry for them, in Jimmy’s case it seems like he was in a no win situation. I think Tubby at Memphis will pay the price next year (just an example, I think he is trying to do the right thing, but it’ll cost him his job).
As with most everything else, we are going to have to agree to disagree. Questioning and complaining are different things. I was in full support of CMA being hired. I am in full support of CMA being the current head coach.
If the Hogs had not made the tournament I think firing CMA would have been appropriate because one dance in six years should not be accepted at UA (IMO). Fortunately we don’t have to worry about that. I make no apologies for questioning the direction of the program after a blowout in Stillwater, a loss in Columbia, a loss at home to Miss State and an ugly, ugly loss to Vandy at home. I wasn’t alone in questioning the direction of the program.
I have never (to my knowledge and feel free to fact check, I’ll own it) said anything negative about CMA.
Questioned his desire to play man to man and full court press when it seemed we were better suited to play zone? Yep.
Wondered about his ability to land in state recruits, i.e. Goodwin, Monk and Allen? Indeed.
But to insinuate that I hold anything, but respect for Mike Anderson is inaccurate. I don’t care much for how Bret Bielema conducts himself. I find him disingenuous at times and think he is woefully overmatched in the area of recruiting, but I sure as heck am rooting for him to prove me wrong.
With Mike Anderson I find him to be a mountain of man, from what I have gathered, and hope the results continue to improve.
You sure do a lot of “questioning” throughout the year.
On that we definitely agree. My science background I suppose.
Anyways, I think we derailed the thread, again that’s my bad. Like you said we’ll agree to disagree we’re all hog fans, I must admit I get fired up discussing the hogs hope you didn’t take anything personal and wps!
There is nothing the coach can do anywhere if he doesn’t know how much playing time he has to offer to recruits right now. If that is a major/deciding factor for a prospective recruit, the recruit may not want to wait and miss out on his second choice as well while Macon is dithering. There are only so many players available this time of year that have a prayer of replacing a significant proportion of Macon’s production, and those players have a lot of options that may not have a lot of separation in their minds. It’s just a fact of life.