Remy asks for release

[Buesch N Chips]

"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target" ~Ashleigh Brilliant

It's funny. Some people do this with BU basketball. You already have your conclusions, and whatever happens, you shoehorn those events to fit your conclusion. To some people, everything negative that happens is a direct result of JL being fired, and to others, regardless of what negative things happen, NONE of them is a result of the JL firing.

[TPS1]

Imagine all the texts and calls Remy and his family received the minute the JL firing was announced. I'm sure they were told they could now easily get out of the BU commit that he played himself out of in his Sr. year.

Do people really think Les was wronged? I have never personally interacted with him so I am unbiased. Seems to me JL is a below average in-game coach. He was on borrowed time this year and the last place finish, technical fouls, and multiple losses to an awful ISU team were the final straw.

[Beninator]

One player's potential departure (whether expected or not) should be a criteria for selecting a new coach??? Puhleeeeease!!

We have currently lost two key players to next year's very good recruiting class. I think that Harris would need about a half a year or even a year to adjust to division 1 play, but he would have filled a huge need for us and would have had two more years after his adjustment year. IMO, had we been able to land a more experienced and known coach with our $700k- $900k /year salary, we could have had a greater chance to land one of the two key recruits who left. Specifically Remy. That being said, I think that Geno gets a pass for this year from a recruiting standpoint. But years 2, 3 and 4 are a different story.

[Buesch N Chips]

Imagine all the texts and calls Remy and his family received the minute the JL firing was announced. I'm sure they were told they could now easily get out of the BU commit that he played himself out of in his Sr. year.

Do people really think Les was wronged? I have never personally interacted with him so I am unbiased. Seems to me JL is a below average in-game coach. He was on borrowed time this year and the last place finish, technical fouls, and multiple losses to an awful ISU team were the final straw.

My only issue is firing a coach who is an alum, who does many things off the court exceptionally above average, and doing so because of a season where he lost arguably his two best players.

[JBinPeoria]

Nonsense. None of this would have happened if Jim Les had not been fired. Please, lets not try too hard to make continued excuses for the firing of Jim Les. It's not necessary. Even the most ardent Jim Les supporter has accepted the change and is OK with moving on. It's OK to admit that the "fallout" that some predicted has indeed happened. It simply is not reasonable to deny it.

DC: Nonsense.

JB: It is not nonsense. It is common sense. HS students try to get into the best school they can get into when applying to college. While many people base this on a school's reputation in that student's chosen major, college athletes base this on a school's reputation in that student's chosen sport. Common sense (and not fallout drama) dictates that it is in Remy's best interest at this time to choose the most reputable program of all the new options on the table.

DC: None of this would have happened if Jim Les had not been fired.

JB: Remy would not have an easy out if Jim Les were not fired. Therefore, he would likely have honored the LOI. However, if his sources tell him that more reputable programs are still interested...he would likely try his best at Bradley for one year and then transfer to one of these more reputable basketball schools like the Curry brothers did. Once again, this is in Remy's best interests.

DC: Please, lets not try too hard to make continued excuses for the firing of Jim Les. It's not necessary.


JB: My post had nothing to do with my opinion on the firing of Jim Les nor excuses provided on either side of the debate. My post simply mentioned the "coaching change" as a precursor for the two routes Remy could take given that he had a great senior year after signing with BU.

DC: Even the most ardent Jim Les supporter has accepted the change and is OK with moving on. It's OK to admit that the "fallout" that some predicted has indeed happened. It simply is not reasonable to deny it.

JB: If moving on means having no interest in the Fallout drama people keep posting about or people's over-emotional reactions, explanations or predictions about what has or what will happen with the program...then I have certainly moved on or skipped this stage of the grieving process althogether.

I am trying to provide people with a logical, common sense interpretation of Remy's decision, which seems to correspond to what is in the best interest of himself and his family. Coincidentally, this is exactly what Coach Ford advised him to do as well.

[BUfan14]

I would like to say I fully supported JL and I will fully support GF. Both have positives I really like about them. I did not say Les was wronged, I will never know, but I'm sure some of his players think he was for sure as only is natural.

I think there are many positives that come with Geno Ford. I also think there are negatives that come with firing JL. There will be in any firing, but JL did have great people skills. So does Geno it seems though, but he cannot instantly have connections for Bradley. It will take time and rebuilding to get those things back up, and that is the fallout. No one in any job is just going to step in and have everything how it needs to be, change takes some time. Again both coaches seem to have plenty of positives, and so far I like Geno a lot even as a big JL fan. But if you don't think there is negative in JL being fired you are stupid, we just are taking the chance the positive Geno will bring in the future is greater than the negative in getting rid of JL. We will see.

[SFP]

What a pissing contest I tell you!

RA left because he could and would have stayed if JL was coach and it is ridiculous to suggest he would have only played a year on the hilltop before leaving. Why he did not honor his LOI, is anyones guess, so let's just move forward and in a few years we'll be able to argue about coulda, wouldas!

[mexicobufan]

My plan is to support whatever players are wearing the BU uniform next year 100 percent. I would have supported JL being around next year but he is gone. I will support GF 100 percent as well and hope he turns out to be the best coach in BU history. I wanted RA to come to Bradley but he isn't so I plan on giving him no more thought after this post. My hope is that GF can do what he did with his team last year and that's win a title with just three players back. Can we now get on with supporting our current coach and players and wish JL and RA well. If JL and RA are not mentioned on this board again I would be a happy man. GO BU!!!!!!!!!!!

[lightsout]

My plan is to support whatever players are wearing the BU uniform next year 100 percent. I would have supported JL being around next year but he is gone. I will support GF 100 percent as well and hope he turns out to be the best coach in BU history. I wanted RA to come to Bradley but he isn't so I plan on giving him no more thought after this post. My hope is that GF can do what he did with his team last year and that's win a title with just three players back. Can we now get on with supporting our current coach and players and wish JL and RA well. If JL and RA are not mentioned on this board again I would be a happy man. GO BU!!!!!!!!!!!

Love it! Could not agree more great post.

[Da Coach]

DC: None of this would have happened if Jim Les had not been fired.

JB: Remy would not have an easy out if Jim Les were not fired. Therefore, he would likely have honored the LOI. However, if his sources tell him that more reputable programs are still interested...he would likely try his best at Bradley for one year and then transfer to one of these more reputable basketball schools like the Curry brothers did. Once again, this is in Remy's best interests.

Can anyone name examples of a kid who committed and signed in the early signing period and then asked out of his LOI after the season ended, and there was not a coaching change? I am not saying it has never happened, but it is extremely rare.
Please don't bother bringing up the Anthony Grundy example, I concede that was such a case. But that was almost 15 years ago, and Bradley refused to release him because they felt he was clearly tampered with by a powerful in-state school. I don't see anything like that happening if Jim les isn't fired.

[TheAsianSensation]

Unless the implication is that one of the main reasons, or the main reason, that Les shouldn't have been fired is because Remy was coming......I don't know why everyone is getting in a tizzy. And I don't see anyone making the argument Les should've been kept mainly to preserve the Remy Era at BU.

[JMM28]

Can anyone name examples of a kid who committed and signed in the early signing period and then asked out of his LOI after the season ended, and there was not a coaching change? I am not saying it has never happened, but it is extremely rare.
Please don't bother bringing up the Anthony Grundy example, I concede that was such a case. But that was almost 15 years ago, and Bradley refused to release him because they felt he was clearly tampered with by a powerful in-state school. I don't see anything like that happening if Jim les isn't fired.

Josh Harrellson at WIU is one that comes to mind. Similar situation to Remy but used "rumors of coach" firing. He did ok for himself even though WiU didn't release him.

[Bravesfan]

Nonsense. None of this would have happened if Jim Les had not been fired. Please, lets not try too hard to make continued excuses for the firing of Jim Les. It's not necessary. Even the most ardent Jim Les supporter has accepted the change and is OK with moving on. It's OK to admit that the "fallout" that some predicted has indeed happened. It simply is not reasonable to deny it.

I agree with you DC about the "moving on" part, but I will also add that I get the feeling that some of the same people here who predicted that a new coach would not affect player turnover are the same ones who are trying to persuade others to quickly "move on" without having to admit they were wrong. And that's what gets me ticked off. These people know in their hearts that losing two or three high quality players is NEVER a good thing!

Now even if Geno can land a couple of last minute solid recruits and get this team into contention as early as next season, you still run the risk of losing a program changing player like Abell in the same manner as when we lost Granger. I think Les would have potentially had at least one or two more NCAA Tournament appearances if Granger had stayed around. So yes, absolutely nothing good will come out of losing RA, though I do have confidence that Geno can stabilize things quickly enough.

However, if we have two or three rough years ahead of us, it would be VERY interesting here to see what these same people who told the rest of us to "move on" would be saying then!

[Bravesfan]

Imagine all the texts and calls Remy and his family received the minute the JL firing was announced. I'm sure they were told they could now easily get out of the BU commit that he played himself out of in his Sr. year.

Do people really think Les was wronged? I have never personally interacted with him so I am unbiased. Seems to me JL is a below average in-game coach. He was on borrowed time this year and the last place finish, technical fouls, and multiple losses to an awful ISU team were the final straw.

I'm sorry TPS1, but with no disrespect to GF who I think will be a fine coach here, I will continue to respect JL as a good coach, and if he had been given the chance with these new recruits and a full team coming back next year, I do believe he would have easily finished in the top 3 of the Valley, if not higher. Just because he never finished higher than 4th doesn't mean that he could not have done it next year with his most veteran team in a much weaker Valley conference.

And as I have stated here several times before, his 2006 team would have easily finished first in the Valley this past season. When a fifth place team earns a #13 seed in 2006 while a first place Valley team from 2011 does not even make the NCAA Tournament, that tells you something about just how strong the Valley was in 2006 and how good we were even as a fifth place team. So I know he would have done well next year considering how down the conference has been as of late, despite the NIT championship run by Wichita St.

[Bravesfan]

My only issue is firing a coach who is an alum, who does many things off the court exceptionally above average, and doing so because of a season where he lost arguably his two best players.

Thank you BNC! And I will add a coach who had a veteran team coming back, with several solid recruits, and a team that hopefully would be injury free. You don't fire a coach with that many good players coming back the next season without at least seeing how they would have performed, especially in a weaker conference.

Now had Les underachieved with a veteran, injury free team next year, then that would be the time a firing would have made more sense. But I feel Les got the shaft, and we will never know how good this team could have been next year with him coaching and all our recruits coming in.