Well for better or for worse this is now 100% JC's team.  No more excuses based on talent.

Now have two (three if Gapare is 2022) scholarships to use this offseason. 

Last edited by GW18 (3/08/2021 10:56 am)

This hurts, especially Battle, because he was a spectator's player. I really enjoyed watching him. Paar is not a surprise. He digressed to the point that he was looking more and more like a D2 player, so I'm assuming he'll transfer down to get more PT. Regardless of their motivations, they both seem like great kids, so I wish nothing but the best for them.

The foundation that we thought we were building is cracking. So maybe another year of "rebuilding" in the offing? Ugh.

While definitely a shock (at least for Jamison), gonna reserve judgement until we see who takes their spots. 

That really sucks.  Pressure now REALLY on JC to have a big, immediate impact recruiting class.   We had three prime time players this year (well, four good ones, but only 3 at any one time) and now one of them is gone and we presume Moyer is not coming back.  If JC can’t replace them effectively and get this talent - and depth - upgraded big time by year three, then we may need to make the coaching change before year four.   

As for Battle, it’ll be interesting to see where he goes (wonder if MN is in play, depending on who replaces Pitino).

I think he can go anywhere wants because his shooting will be at a premium. Even Calipari now realizes he needs shooters, not just the best athletes.

However, for his professional prospects, I hope he goes somewhere where they will let him become a complete player (as he was this year at GW) and not somewhere where the coach pigeonholes him as “just” a shooter and makes him be the stand in the corner guy, and doesn’t let him expand his game like he did this year despite the constant focus of defenses.

We should not be surprised that Battle is leaving. There is something seriously wrong with JC's leadership. I can't believe there is a program in the country that has had as many players leave as we have. We are Team Turmoil. What a mess. So JC's defenders can now say he gets another year of rebuilding because of all the players leaving.

 Right now I don't see how anyone can believe next season will be much better than the last two. Oh, wait. Here's progress: JC's first season: 0-3 vs. Fordham. JC's second season: 2-0 vs. Fordham. Maybe we can be 3-0 vs. Fordham next season. But then JC talks like winning isn't important. He says he is building for the future. Well, next season has to be the future. It's time for JC to cut the BS and start winning.  No more -- "I am just excited to be here. I am excited for our guys to just be playing basketball. " Just stop it. No one is excited to watch GW constantly loses games while players exit the program.

If JC can't win next season, GW has to let JC go. No way the program can afford five years of losing without the end result being no more than a few hundred fans in the stands and GW dropping  down to Division II or Division III.   I sure hope Tanya Vogel and anyone in the administration who cares is not happy with where the program is after two years under JC's leadership. And I hope they are telling him he has to win next season. 

So much for this season's  big three  leading GW into the top half of the A-10 next season. 

GW73, I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing with your post.

With regard to evaluating JC's performance and the progress of this program, we all know there are a select few voices that really matter.  JC's defenders can think what they want but there should be zero question that this team's progress ought to be under a microscope next season.  Personally, I would have said that this year ought to count but Covid and the strange circumstances surrounding the season resulted in a year that's very difficult to hold against JC.  Two transfers, or possibly more, does not grant JC any immunity in my book.

It is important to note that JC has run out of non-JC recruited players to leave the program.  Everyone who has left under his watch, with the exception of JNJ and I guess Ace Stallings, was recruited by MoJo or started by Lonergan before that

Where I am concerned about JC is that he openly talks about loving his players and forging connections with them.  I recall Maceo showing genuine happiness over JC's arrival, discussing how he was "buying into" JC's program.  Yet Maceo could not even stick it out through this season.  There is this feeling that JC falls in love with you, then finds a newer, younger version, and then falls out of love with you while falling in love with the new guy.  There is a fine line between wanting to improve your team vs. showing loyalty to your players.  Perhaps it was easy to be less loyal to guys you never recruited.  Again, that ship has sailed.  There's no more MoJo guys.

It is entirely possible that JC is one way when he addresses the media and is different behind closed doors with his team.  To the media, it's all about loving his team and feeling great about where we are and noting how the plan is working.  Then, you look at the record and have little choice but to question whether we are watching the same team.  Certainly, I would prefer a coach who is overly optimistic and positive to one who throws players under the bus.  Still, the subject of credibility is on the line where you keep consistently telling me it's lemonade when I know full well that's it's urine.

Rest assured, GW can go winless next season and JC will not be going anywhere.  Not with two years remaining.  It will be spun as he had a first year with lots of guys who weren't his recruits, followed by the bazaar Covid year, followed by a disastrous year.  The theme will be that we believe he can turn it around, code for we're not going to be on the hook for this much money.  

What makes this point in time so different than what has preceded the JC era is that our next roster will be one where JC wanted everyone on it.  He will have inherited nobody.  If he continues to recruit over players, as was the case with James, prompting JNJ to leave, he will be sending out one very bad message.  (And Rising or whomever can dress this up anyway they would like but at the end of the day, the guy who was expecting to start this season as the team's starting point guard suddenly wasn't.)  Loyalty needs to be a two-way street.  We've reached the point where JC needs to have faith in the players he brought in, and must find a way to cohesively coach this group.

 

I'll get some silliness out of the way first, if you look at the replies on Jeff Borzello's tweet about Battle transferring, you'll see fans already tagging Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Oklahoma State about Battle!! That would be funny if one of those coaches learned of Battle's transfer from seeing a notification from fans in their twitter feed.

Chase Paar isn't surprising, but Battle is surprising and could be a huge loss. I say "could" because with the high number of transfers each year, it's entirely possible that JC brings in more Bishop's, Moyer's and Lindo's from BCS schools who become immediate impact players at GW. I agree with you guys about Battle showing more than enough(he put up a lot better numbers than Savage and Jorgenson when they left GW) to transfer up, but FQ raises a good point about Battle being pigeonholed into a designated shooter(possibly off the bench) at a BCS school. JC allowed Battle to showcase an inside and outside game this year, and Battle may not have that type of opportunity if he transfers up, especially if he goes to an upper-tier BCS school. 

GW0509, that's an interesting comment from Mike Hall. You'd think the example of guys like Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Kawhi Leonard(to a lesser extent) would show college player that The NBA Will Find You!! You don't need to be at Kentucky, North Carolina or Duke to get noticed by NBA scouts. I wonder if someone approached M.Hall about transferring up(maybe to Illinois or DePaul) when he was an underclassman at GW?

Is Cristian swapping Brown for Paar? Seems like a bad deal if that is what it was down to.
Losing Battle is H.U.G.E.  He is a legit A10 starter and in another year or two would be the source of much curseing beneath one´s breath by fans of other conference foes (think Ahmad Nivens). I´d expect him to "transfer up".
Between the start of practices to before the conference tournament has even ended, GW has lost TNJr,, Jack and now Battle. I realize that the transfer rules and whatnot mean many, many schools will have roster turnover like a field being mechanically tilled, but can that much talent be drawn to GW in a single off-season after a 5-win season?