MG14 wrote:

This off-season has been brutal. Lost our two best players to the portal (including one to an in-conference rival) and our ex-top recruit of all time goes to a different in-conference rival.

 "our ex-top recruit of all time" ... Seriously? SMDH

Like a brand new restauarant that opens in the same shopping center as a town's best restaurant so that it may accommodate their overflow, I think GW should consider opening an Amherst office.  Between the players leaving UMASS because they figured to have more playing time and the players that leave because they can no longer stand the site of Frank Martin's face, it would be efficient to have a GW rep closeby to sign their eventual transfers.

MG14 wrote:

GWRising wrote:

MG14 wrote:

This off-season has been brutal. Lost our two best players to the portal (including one to an in-conference rival) and our ex-top recruit of all time goes to a different in-conference rival.

 "our ex-top recruit of all time" ... Seriously? SMDH

Unless I'm mistaken that isn't wrong. We knew he wasn't coming here for a while but the fact that went to another A10 school hurts. No denying that

Allen Iverson anyone? Dan Gadzuric or Jordan Crawford ring a bell? Trust me, Gapare is not near the top of the list of missed recruits.
 

Poog wrote:

Bigger question: will Gapare be a Minuteman when UMass comes to the Smith Center in the second semester?

Given his history, he may be the truest Minuteman of all, in that he is only there for a minute.
 

You are correct about AI .... Allen did not verbally commit. Crawford had given a silent verbal but apparently couldn't be admitted initially (similar to Gapare) as did Gadzuric early but then UCLA got involved. My understanding was that GW brought Gadzuric over here just as they did Yinka but there was an "understanding" he was coming to GW. So I count him. They eventually lost him to UCLA.

Nigel Johnson was another who ended up at Kansas State I believe.

By the way, my understanding is the issue with Gapare is not qualification it is admittance. Another case of a player who could not be admitted to GW going within the same conference. 

Finally, we will see but my other understanding is that Gapare is not all that some have built him up to be. He might be a solid player eventually but I don't believe he is a pro at least at this point.

In any event, no use crying over a ship that has sailed. Hopefully, Coach Caputo can find better.

Finally, I'll give some of you another name who would have played at GW had he not gone pro ... Dirk Nowitzki. 

Last edited by GWRising (8/10/2022 1:47 pm)

Rising is spot on-time to move on from Gapare.

jf wrote:

   There are posts all the time here about how Frank Martin landed another recruit (no doubt motivated by the charms of Amherst, Mass and the easygoing Martin's own personal warmth) after recruit after recruit, just this spring and summer. Doesn't it seem, hopefully humorously, like he has some sort of Lurch exception to have a 20-plus person roster?
 

He was definitely helped by the fact that Matt McCall was a lame duck and so there were a bunch of open scholarships since McCall had no recruits for 2022. 

He also ran off a bunch of guys.  There were probably 1-2 times this offseason where their roster was full and then "suddenly" a holdover would decide to transfer out or not come back for their extra Covid year.

I remember when UMass was in the running for the Diaz twins they only had 1 open scholarship but I was assured by their fans they'd "find a way" to get both brothers to attend.  Ended up not mattering obviously.

Even if Gapare had come here, he would be nowhere near our top recruit.  We’ve had multiple top 50 guys (Shawnta was top 20, Ngongba was top 40 iirc).  Ricky Lucas was top 60, JR Pinnock was top 60 on some lists.  Yinka came with a lot more hype than Gapare came with.  So did Omar and Maurice Rice. 

I wanted to see Gapare here, but let’s not get carried away with this. 

Also, does anyone know if academics (admitting people with foreign transcripts) is a factor in why he didn’t come?

Free Quebec wrote:

Even if Gapare had come here, he would be nowhere near our top recruit. We’ve had multiple top 50 guys (Shawnta was top 20, Ngongba was top 40 iirc). Ricky Lucas was top 60, JR Pinnock was top 60 on some lists. Yinka came with a lot more hype than Gapare came with. So did Omar and Maurice Rice.

I wanted to see Gapare here, but let’s not get carried away with this.

Also, does anyone know if academics (admitting people with foreign transcripts) is a factor in why he didn’t come?

I agree that he was not the top recruit but I read the statement to mean the top recruit who bolted from us.

Academics 100% the reason.

GWRising wrote:

I do think Admissions made it very difficult on the kid though more difficult than it needed to be. I don't think he was 100% ready for GW but he shouldn't be able to be admitted to another school in the conference and not GW. Two separate issues.

GW is NOT in an athletic conference with academic peer schools. I do not want GW´s admissions office to hold potential students to the same standards that URI, umASS or VCU hold their students to (even if they can drop a double-double on ranked opponents).
If you want to cheer for clodheaded jocks, College Park CC has tickets available most nights. The day we let highly-paid, shoe company-sponsored coaches choose who gains admission to The George Washington University instead of (allegedly) trained academic professionals is the day our very expensive diplomas become very expensive toilet paper.