2018-19 MBB Open Thread

[BCPanther]

Why is he suspended?

He's a JUCO non-qualifier. Basically he can't participate in team activities until he passes a certain number of University credit hours r
or gets his GPA over a certain point (2.8 if memory serves). The NCAA considers it a suspension but it's much more like an academic break. He hasn't caused any issues as far as I've heard. This is just, more or less, a failure of the Alabama public school system.

I still believe he plays for us in the future.

[06panther10]

I did not know that an actual suspension from team activities could be administered by the NCAA due to academics. That seems wrong.

[CyCarp]

He's a JUCO non-qualifier. Basically he can't participate in team activities until he passes a certain number of University credit hours r
or gets his GPA over a certain point (2.8 if memory serves). The NCAA considers it a suspension but it's much more like an academic break. He hasn't caused any issues as far as I've heard. This is just, more or less, a failure of the Alabama public school system.

I still believe he plays for us in the future.

Interesting, I never would have thought that would be considered a suspension. Sounds like the kid has been through a lot, hopefully he succeeds, being at UNI is a great opportunity for him.

[Schack]

I have received my mens BB season tickets but not my parking passes. Anyone know when to expect the parking passes?

[clenz]

I did not know that an actual suspension from team activities could be administered by the NCAA due to academics. That seems wrong.

Only for incoming players.

This is the NCAA’s version of not allowing a kid to go D1 out of high school due to grade issues keeping them out of the clearinghouse. Can’t keep a kid with an AA/AS from going D1, so they just won’t let the kid be a part of the team at all (which actually seems detrimental to potential development of good habits) until some specific criteria are met.

As BC has laid out, and we’ve covered before, it sounds like it’s an issue stemming back to HS and Alabama not being accredited/open about what kids are doing in HS for credits. He might have had a lower GPA in ICCCC (no idea and I sure as hell will not accuse him of that) that could cause this. However, based on what I’ve heard it’s not as much that as it is other issues regarding credits.

It also hurts Croft in that a number fans on here weren’t real excited about him anyway, and Jake being forced to say he is suspended from all team activities indefinitely certainly won’t help his “image” in the eyes of those fans, regardless of the facts of the situation.



Jake also said the staff knew about this from the very beginning and this situation isn’t a surprise to them at all. Which some here seemed to think it was - and was the basis for turning on Croft from before he got on campus. Jake, and staff, heavily vetted the kid from the start and believed he was worth bringing in, not just as an athlete that could benefit the team, but as a student and young adult that could benefit from what UNI can offer him.

[PanthersMBB]

If he is suspended wouldnt you think he did something wrong outside of basketball? I have no knowledge with how juco rules work but sure seems like he should be able to practice and in this case he can’t. Sure would make us think some mishap took place.

[clenz]

If he is suspended wouldnt you think he did something wrong outside of basketball? I have no knowledge with how juco rules work but sure seems like he should be able to practice and in this case he can’t. Sure would make us think some mishap took place.

100% not what happened.


There are two types of “non-qualifier” out of JUCO. One allows participation but not playing. One doesn’t allow participation - the idea is to force them to only focus on academics.

Jake confirmed that yesterday. They knew this would be the case from day 1. The NCAA calls it a suspension, so Jake is forced to is forced to use that term.

Thats exactly the tyoe of post, ignorance and thought process that I was talking about with people turning on him.

[unipanther2154]

If he is suspended wouldnt you think he did something wrong outside of basketball? I have no knowledge with how juco rules work but sure seems like he should be able to practice and in this case he can’t. Sure would make us think some mishap took place.

It seems pretty clear what the issue is and hopefully he's only "suspended" for this first semester and gets all those credits figured out. The basketball development side isn't even a concern at this point. Get this kid set up academically where he can succeed in college. If that staff was that excited about his play on the court then that will work itself out whenever the academic part is satisfied.

If he's suspended for the year that obviously sucks for development and team bonding but this has always been a program full of kids with good character. He'll have guys around him supporting him through this process.

[PantherFan]

Does "suspended" mean he cannot have any contact with the basketball program until he has the academic issues resolved? Or does it mean he can't participate in basketball activities but can still make use of the academic support services the athletic teams provide? If it is no contact (which I can't imagine, but it is the NCAA), that's one of the dumber things I've heard of.

[BCPanther]

Does "suspended" mean he cannot have any contact with the basketball program until he has the academic issues resolved? Or does it mean he can't participate in basketball activities but can still make use of the academic support services the athletic teams provide? If it is no contact (which I can't imagine, but it is the NCAA), that's one of the dumber things I've heard of.

He can use all academic resources available but can't have any basketball related contact.

[orangetennis]

Only for incoming players.

This is the NCAA’s version of not allowing a kid to go D1 out of high school due to grade issues keeping them out of the clearinghouse. Can’t keep a kid with an AA/AS from going D1, so they just won’t let the kid be a part of the team at all (which actually seems detrimental to potential development of good habits) until some specific criteria are met.

As BC has laid out, and we’ve covered before, it sounds like it’s an issue stemming back to HS and Alabama not being accredited/open about what kids are doing in HS for credits. He might have had a lower GPA in ICCCC (no idea and I sure as hell will not accuse him of that) that could cause this. However, based on what I’ve heard it’s not as much that as it is other issues regarding credits.

It also hurts Croft in that a number fans on here weren’t real excited about him anyway, and Jake being forced to say he is suspended from all team activities indefinitely certainly won’t help his “image” in the eyes of those fans, regardless of the facts of the situation.

Jake also said the staff knew about this from the very beginning and this situation isn’t a surprise to them at all. Which some here seemed to think it was - and was the basis for turning on Croft from before he got on campus. Jake, and staff, heavily vetted the kid from the start and believed he was worth bringing in, not just as an athlete that could benefit the team, but as a student and young adult that could benefit from what UNI can offer him.

To be fair, bringing in JUCO transfer recruits from non-traditional UNI recruiting geo's has happened several times before and ended up not working out. Not to say anything about this situation or this young man one way or the other, but to imply that we should all blindly trust it just because this staff has vetted the kid is preposterous. I really hope it works out but Jake's JUCO transfer history is far from flawless.

[CyCarp]

To be fair, bringing in JUCO transfer recruits from non-traditional UNI recruiting geo's has happened several times before and ended up not working out. Not to say anything about this situation or this young man one way or the other, but to imply that we should all blindly trust it just because this staff has vetted the kid is preposterous. I really hope it works out but Jake's JUCO transfer history is far from flawless.

I think a lot of what the bolded statement is referring to is the suspension. Nothing that has happened is unexpected by the coaches and coaches feel it's worth giving him a shot. I feel like a lot of our other JUCO guys haven't worked out because work ethic, that is yet to be seen.

On another note, if Croft gets his grades/credits when they need to be in the first semester, can he return to the team after?

[BCPanther]

I think a lot of what the bolded statement is referring to is the suspension. Nothing that has happened is unexpected by the coaches and coaches feel it's worth giving him a shot. I feel like a lot of our other JUCO guys haven't worked out because work ethic, that is yet to be seen.

On another note, if Croft gets his grades/credits when they need to be in the first semester, can he return to the team after?

No, he has to sit this year.

[clenz]

To be fair, bringing in JUCO transfer recruits from non-traditional UNI recruiting geo's has happened several times before and ended up not working out. Not to say anything about this situation or this young man one way or the other, but to imply that we should all blindly trust it just because this staff has vetted the kid is preposterous. I really hope it works out but Jake's JUCO transfer history is far from flawless.

But the JUCO from Arkansas this year is fine and has no worries?

UNI has had multiple kids - including this years roster - from Texas. No issues with Isaiah or Deon, but they were from outside our recruiting geo. This board, myself included, were all about Reaves getting to campus - another kid from Arkansas that would have been a transfer that “had issues” at his previous school. The difference is Croft’s issues are credit related (and every account has him being a wonderful personality) whereas the reason Austin was looking to transfer was clashing with a coach (a personality thing).



Miles is from our Geographic footprint, but he played at 2 JUCOs before landing here. No one has an issue with him.

de Souza was from Brazil, and played JUCO in Florida. Not a single word was said about him being here. If Alabama is outside our footprint then Brazil and Florida sure as hell are.

We were Jordan Ashton’s 4th school in 4 years. Just because the kid is from Iowa absolved him from why he jumped around like that? Being from Iowa (and remember he was a JUCO kid) means maybe it wasn’t him as the reason he jumped around like he did, and maybe there wouldn’t have been reason to be wary of it?

Washpun and Jesperson were transfers. No one had an issue with them? Why? Because it wasn’t JUCO? Both had a chance to pick us out of HS and didn’t. We should just behappy to be a fall back/safety home sick school?

Ali wasn’t from Iowa. He’s a first generation American, of Iranian decent, born and raised in Pullman Washington that didn’t move to Iowa until he was a junior in high school. He then played at 2 JUCOs before landing at UNI. I can’t imagine anyone is too upset with him playing here. Imagine Croft having that background.

The one single JUCO that has spoiled UNI fans on JUCOs was actually from our footprint - Chicago - and played JUCO in Iowa.

On the flip side - kids Jake recruited out of HS


Jevon Lyle picked UNI right out of HS. He didn’t work out for reasons you’re scared of Croft.

Chris Olivier picked UNI out of prep school. He didn’t work out for reasons your scared of Croft.

BJ Ray picked UNI out of HS and didn’t work out for reasons you’re scared of Croft.

Jon Montgomery picked UNI out of HS and didn’t work because of why you’re scared of Croft.

There is over a dozen of guys like Drew Lundberg, Josh Molstead, Adam McDermott, and Matt McDougall they picked UNI out of HS or transfered in and that didn’t work out.

I have a pretty strong guess as to the handful of reasons people are against Croft being here.

Again, it’s not like Jake didn’t know this was happening. He’s said from the start he knew it was. They vetted him at ICCC. They were done taking players and then decided to take him. If Jake didnt have reason to believe he wouldn’t benefit the team and benefit from being here he wouldn’t have taken the “risk” and tiednuonthe hours of the compliance office to get him in and cleared. People were pissed at Croft when this first came out because “Jake was counting on him to play”, even though Jake never said that and has confirmed they knew from day 1 this was going to be the case. Every single thing I’ve heard of Croft is he is one of the most polite and nicest kids we’ve had. He isn’t what people are assuming he is - deny those thoughts all you want, it’s ptetty clear where the root of concerns on this board are. If he was, Jake wouldn’t have recruited him here. It’s amazing all these other kids that bounce around from JUCOs and D1s are all fine and dandy and no reason not to trust Jake. But the 2 JUCOs (one after the fact) that don’t fit the traditional UNI/state of Iowa mold all of a sudden become a worry. This “suspension”, which Jake knew of from day 1 is also somehow proof of a character issue and related to that - it simply cant be because of NCAA rules that Jake knew about from day 1.

Its also pretty crazy to me that myself and BC, who are the two constantly painted as negative and hurting UNI with what we say, are the only two telling people to give a 19 year old that comes from a pretty rough area a chance. A kid who hasn’t even been on campus for 2 months is being written off - hell, he was before he got on campus. That’s simply amazing to me. Its not even about him contributing on the court. It’s about him having 3 years at UNI to create a better situation for his life going forward.

Maybe he wont work out. Maybe every thing I’ve heard about him is wrong. Even if so, it won’t be because he was a transfer from outside of our geographical footprint

[CyCarp]

Its also prettu crazy crazy to me that myself and BC are the two constantly painted as negative and hurting UNI with what we say are the only two telling people to give a 19 year old that comes from a pretty rough area a chance. A kid who hasn’t even been on campus for 2 months is being written off - hell he was before he got on campus. That’s simply amazing to me. Its not even about him contributing on the court. It’s about him having 3 years at UNI to create a better situation for his life going forward.

I think (and hope) this is wrong. Most of us didn't fully know the situation, and media simply reported that he's suspended with no explanation. That just didn't sound good. Yes there are a couple people here who seem to doubt what you and BC say, but I think most of us trust it and want the kid to be successful - and not just in basketball. Myself, I enjoy your and BC's posts. At the end of the day, based on what you guys say about his hometown Croft probably needs the fan support more than anybody else. Let's just hope he gets his academic issue figured out and is able to stick around.