Immediately eligible transfers still available

Stars Position Name Class Ht Wt Previous School
2 --- C --- William Brooks --- RS FR --- 7-0 --- 215 --- --- Texas-Rio Grande Valley
3 --- C --- Chad Rykhoek --- RS SR --- 6-11 --- 230 --- --- Baylor
2 --- PF --- Marvin Jones --- RS SR --- 6-10 --- 205 --- --- Kent State
2 --- PF --- Skylar Scrivano --- RS SR --- 6-10 --- 233 --- --- Saint Joseph's
3 --- PF --- Charles Buggs --- RS SR --- 6-9 --- 220 --- --- Minnesota
3 --- PF --- Kaileb Rodriguez --- RS SR --- 6-9 --- 225 --- --- Nevada
2 --- C --- Aaron Scales --- RS SR --- 6-9 --- 260 --- --- Cleveland State
2 --- PF --- Scott Sill --- RS SR --- 6-9 --- 215 --- --- Delaware State
2 --- PF --- Johnny Zuppardo --- RS SR --- 6-9 --- 235 --- --- Mississippi State
3 --- SF --- Paris Bass --- RS JR --- 6-8 --- 185 --- --- Detroit
2 --- PF --- Antonio Bishop --- RS SR --- 6-8 --- 220 --- --- Prairie View A&M
2 --- PF --- Maurice 'Mo' Jeffers --- RS SR --- 6-8 --- 215 --- --- Delaware
2 --- PF --- Justus Stanback --- RS JR --- 6-8 --- 220 --- --- IUPUI
2 --- PF --- Kellen McCormick --- RS SR --- 6-7 --- 200 --- --- Western Michigan
2.7 --- SG --- Jodan Price --- RS SR --- 6-7 --- 170 --- --- Eastern Michigan
3 --- SG --- A.J. Astroth --- RS SR --- 6-6 --- 200 --- --- Towson
2 --- SF --- Teslim Idris --- SR --- 6-6 --- 200 --- --- Savannah State
2.7 --- SF --- Kelvin Amayo --- RS SR --- 6-5 --- 205 --- --- Iona
2 --- SF --- Khaliq Bedart Ghani --- N/A --- 6-5 --- 205 --- --- Yale
2 --- SF --- Lawrence Brown --- RS SR --- 6-5 --- 210 --- --- Mercer
2 --- SF --- Evans Ganapamo --- RS SR --- 6-5 --- 185 --- --- New Orleans
2 --- SG --- Dusan Langura --- RS JR --- 6-4 --- 210 --- --- Mississippi Valley State
2 --- SG --- Reggie Patterson --- RS SR --- 6-4 --- 168 --- --- Mississippi State
2 --- SF --- Parker U'u --- RS SR --- 6-4 --- 205 --- --- San Diego State
2 --- SG --- Karon Waller --- SR --- 6-4 --- 205 --- --- Binghamton
2 --- SG --- DeAndre Harris --- RS SR --- 6-3 --- 191 --- --- North Texas
2.3 --- SG --- Brendyn Taylor --- RS SR --- 6-3 --- 195 --- --- Santa Clara
2 --- SG --- Tristan Thomas --- RS SR --- 6-3 --- 190 --- --- USC Upstate
2 --- SG --- J.J. Butler --- RS SR --- 6-2 --- 185 --- --- Lipscomb
2 --- SG --- Cartee Pettis --- RS SR --- 6-2 --- 180 --- --- Jacksonville
2 --- PG --- Giovanni McLean --- RS SR --- 6-1 --- 205 --- --- Quinnipiac
2.3 --- PG --- P.J. Hardwick --- RS SR --- 5-10 --- 170 --- --- Arkansas State
2 --- PG --- Cameron Fowler --- RS SR --- 6-0 --- 165 --- --- Niagara

I'm starting to get nervous with the respect to the size of NU for the 16-17 season. Looks like we may be the smallest squad in the MAAC.

With Casey at the helm , it's Groundhog Day in that we find ourselves scrambling for players every year like clock work into the summer months . Quite frankly there's usually a reason why a player is still unsigned by July , you may get lucky occasionally but most times you're signing fringe talent . I've never seen a coach so in over his head with ALL areas of being a head coach .

Some of these immediately eligible guys are really quite talented but have baggage. 6-8 Paris Bass, for example, averaged almost 19 ppg at Detroit Mercy and has drawn NBA interest but is radioactive with problems of all sorts...he was actually kicked off the team for failure to attend class, getting into a shouting match with the head coach and other delightful bad habits. But if he could be brought under control Bass would be a game changer for some lucky mid-major.

This guy, Justus Stanback, is an immediately eligible junior. He looks like a better version of Justin Satchell.

The problem with the transfer lists that always appear on this forum, is that Niagara never goes after any of those guys. Although I appreciate the time and effort guys put in, to list the transfers, it appears to be a waste of time. Casey, et al, never seems to pursue any of them. At least as far as I can tell.

A lot of these kids, imo, are headaches. I think my Spartans are nuts for pursuing Taurean Thompson. He's visited us, the 'Cuse, and the Hall, and as we are approaching July, has still not made a decision where to go. We would have been better off pursuing a talented JUCO big as an addition to Schilling, Goines and Ward. I think Thompson may not be right. Let him be some other schools problem. For Niagara, its the same thing. We had a potentially great player in Reid, but in the end it wasn't worth all the time and trouble Casey went through to recruit him. The kids change schools today like their changing their underwear. One day its here, the next its another place. Ah for the good 'ole days of stability and school loyalty.

Admin wrote:

Some of these immediately eligible guys are really quite talented but have baggage. 6-8 Paris Bass, for example, averaged almost 19 ppg at Detroit Mercy and has drawn NBA interest but is radioactive with problems of all sorts...he was actually kicked off the team for failure to attend class, getting into a shouting match with the head coach and other delightful bad habits. But if he could be brought under control Bass would be a game changer for some lucky mid-major.

I'm very familiar with Bass. He is likely to play overseas.

NUSuperfan wrote:

The problem with the transfer lists that always appear on this forum, is that Niagara never goes after any of those guys. Although I appreciate the time and effort guys put in, to list the transfers, it appears to be a waste of time. Casey, et al, never seems to pursue any of them. At least as far as I can tell.

We don't know for sure that Niagara isn't pursuing any of the eligible transfers out there. It could be Casey's working the phones like crazy but can't find anybody interested.

Admin wrote:

NUSuperfan wrote:

The problem with the transfer lists that always appear on this forum, is that Niagara never goes after any of those guys. Although I appreciate the time and effort guys put in, to list the transfers, it appears to be a waste of time. Casey, et al, never seems to pursue any of them. At least as far as I can tell.

We don't know for sure that Niagara isn't pursuing any of the eligible transfers out there. It could be Casey's working the phones like crazy but can't find anybody interested.

Every coach works hard to recruit players , at some point you have to start delivering . Trying to recruit in July for the upcoming season is a recipe for disaster . The recruiting cycle for Casey seems to be no different than when he first took over and was forced to scramble for players . Does this joker ever learn from previous mistakes ?

As I said, due to the lack of ANY morsel of info from NU, it seems to me, and again, I only mean appears to me, that Niagara doesn't go after the guys on the lists. I didn't mean what I posted in concrete terms. As an example, I know what's going on with MSUs recruitment because we're given as much info as legally and NCAA allowed. I know who we are recruiting and when a kid is going to visit, is visiting, and has visited the campus. Its very exciting to be given a heads up by news outlets, the athletic department and alumni association about whats going on regarding our student athletes.That excitement is non existent re: Niagara. It makes all the difference in the world from a support perspective. Its easy for me to support MSU because they care about its students, alums and fans. Forget comparing apples and oranges here, the Niagara admin makes it very difficult for all but a few of us to remain supportive. More info comes out of North Korea than NU, if you get my drift.

NUSuperfan wrote:

.... the Niagara admin makes it very difficult for all but a few of us to remain supportive. More info comes out of North Korea than NU, if you get my drift.

I can't disagree with that observation, and it's really ironic because Simon Gray started off his previous 3-part video explaining to his audience how he and Steve Butler are always looking for ways to improve NU's communication...it's really not that hard, Simon. Hire a coach who understands what it means to relate to the fans.

I agree Tom, but me thinks it goes beyond Casey. I believe that he's probably allowed to say more but doesn't, however, for the most part he's got a puppet master above him. I think Gray has a muzzle over his mouth and that all of this goes right to Fr. Maher. Niagara could have been and should be so much more. I was honored to have taught there, and couldn't love that place anymore. It hurts to see the Niagara basketball & hockey unallowed to be the best it can be. Its certainly the antithesis of the motto of the SUNY system of wanting its students and programs to be the best they can be. Niagara seems to discourage that, and I have never been able to decipher why. Although when I taught there, I saw and experienced ,first-hand, parallels to what's going on with basketball and hockey at the school.

Even though Jack Armstrong had a less than stellar record as head coach , he is looked upon fondly for his efforts in engaging fans and promoting the program . I totally agree with Superfan , Casey's silence is by design , it is not a directive from the administration . His lack of communication and engagement keeps making the program irrelevant by the day . He hasn't one strong quality that one looks for in a head coach . From coaching , communicating , recruiting , and to representing the university , he has been a total disaster . A real lightweight that has no business being a head coach at the DI level .

Truthful wrote:

....Jack Armstrong had a less than stellar record as head coach , but he is looked upon fondly for his efforts in engaging fans and promoting the program .....

Even though I thought removing Jack Armstrong was the right decision at the time, I'd take him back in a heartbeat now. Jack was a very likable guy who was all over the airwaves from "The Jack Armstrong Show" to almost daily visits on local radio stations. Mr. Casey, on the other hand, makes no effort whatsoever to reach out to the fans and has the personality and people skills of a robot.

It really is. Some of the great programs I grew up admiring are now mediocre or less. Included is our Niagara. Many of the others were eastern and national powers such as Holy Cross, La Salle, Duquesne, Loyola of Chicago, San Francisco, Texas Western (now El Paso), and the list goes on. BUT, out of all of them its Niagara that has DELIBERATELY stifled and muted its own program. As small a school as NU is, it could have been so much more in basketball, and in hockey. It is antithetical to human nature to stifle growth and development. especially, when basketball and hockey can uplift school spirit, revenue, community fan support, media coverage, general student recruitment, and so much more. What I have witnessed in my  56 years of Niagara basketball is the deliberate suppression of advancement. Is it because the Vincentians don't want any other sister school to supercede St. John's ?  I don't know ! For years DePaul was a national basketball power. Niagara had a few moments in the '50s, '60s, very early '70s, and more recently  (regionally) under JAM. St. John's had been a perennial regional/national power for decades until recently. But as soon as Niagara started to beat them, they stopped playing us. So now all 3 of the Vincentians reflect mediocrity or worse. There's a pattern supporting my thesis that St. John's is the GOLDEN CHILD whereby DePaul and NU are the little sisters, and should not be allowed to supercede St. John's. Whatever the reason for the lack of Vincentian support of Niagara athletics, it still smells fishy to me.

NUSuperfan wrote:

...Whatever the reason for the lack of Vincentian support of Niagara athletics, it still smells fishy to me.

I'd have to say incompetence is the main reason for the Vincentian demise... to say it was by design would suggest planning, strategy and execution.

Call it what you want, but for me its by design. A hiccup here or there over the years is one thing, but this has been going on for well over 50 years. From not signing the All Americans who wanted to play with Murph at NU, to the Big East joke, to JAM, and now to Casey. In hockey, from all the promises of bringing top flight hockey and its concomitant benefits, to a half of an arena, to the losing of a top notch coach, to what we have now. And those are only the highlights. Those of us who have grown up with NU athletics know what's what, even if we don't know all the particular Hilary Clinton type lies and deception.

The whole program is a giant roulette wheel and going in circles.

My biggest fear is that we win 8 or more games and a lifetime contract is extended.

Mike, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and smells like a duck. . . its a DUCK ! Casey will not be fired until the pressure is so great that Maher and Co., can no longer deal with it. When will that happen, God only knows, and he's not talkin', and Casey's not walkin' !

The big question is, how much pressure is necessary to fire him, as the Vincentian's usually don't collapse under ordinary pressure. For Maher and the Vincentian's, the price is right, and they don't really care about wins and losses.

Unfortunately Supe, I think you are right.