Connor Hickman enters portal

[BUfan17]

You transfer to a school that you won’t start is puzzling to everyone. You leave a team that’s on the verge of the NCAA tournament bid. Hopefully he gets what he wants and it wasn’t a fall back plan. Grass may look greener but doesn’t always make you happier.

That is my take as well. Cincinnati has some really good guards already as we saw in the NIT game.

He'll play but he'll be competing for a starting spot. Might be quite the difference from Bradley where he was a guaranteed starter and basically had a green light to shoot.

[bradleyfan124]

You transfer to a school that you won’t start is puzzling to everyone. You leave a team that’s on the verge of the NCAA tournament bid. Hopefully he gets what he wants and it wasn’t a fall back plan. Grass may look greener but doesn’t always make you happier.

Yes. Just ask Zek Montgomery.

[Peoria_bradley_fan]

Anyone else see the reshare by Burch of Hickman announcing Cincy? By the time I clicked into it, it has disappeared. I won't summarize it because I don't exactly recall what it said but it was very unfriendly. Seemed like he was very upset/hurt that Hickman left. I'm sure Coach made him take it down. Maybe someone else has some insight.

I think we forget that these guys get real close and it's hard for them all as well to lose their friends. This response wasn't exactly excusable, but it's clear he felt hurt and/or betrayed.

[carter]

Anyone else see the reshare by Burch of Hickman announcing Cincy? By the time I clicked into it, it has disappeared. I won't summarize it because I don't exactly recall what it said but it was very unfriendly. Seemed like he was very upset/hurt that Hickman left. I'm sure Coach made him take it down. Maybe someone else has some insight.

I think we forget that these guys get real close and it's hard for them all as well to lose their friends. This response wasn't exactly excusable, but it's clear he felt hurt and/or betrayed.

That's a good point.We know how us as fans feel so you can imagine how their teammates feel when someone leaves.Its hard to say 'Once a brave,always a brave' anymore with the way things are with players can just leave year after year.

[walkon]

Are you referring to the twitter account that bills itself as a Demarion Burch "burner" account? Some posts that sound like you have described came from that account and are still up, but it clearly is not Burch. In fact, it formerly hailed itself as a Hickman burner account before he left.

[Da Coach]

Are you referring to the twitter account that bills itself as a Demarion Burch "burner" account? Some posts that sound like you have described came from that account and are still up, but it clearly is not Burch. In fact, it formerly hailed itself as a Hickman burner account before he left.

Yes, this is Demarion's real twitter account - https://twitter.com/BurchDemarion
This is the phony account that calls itself "demarion burch burner"- https://twitter.com/LazyHotTakes

This tweet by the phony account is probably the one that Peoria_bradley_fan saw - https://twitter.com/LazyHotTakes/sta...35375785767419

[Dubl R 1]

I really don’t understand this move. I believe at some point in his life Connor will really look back and regret this decision.
Throwing away a chance to play in the big dance with the team that recruited you and gave u a shot.
Throwing away being a member of the thousand point club at BU.
Throwing away a chance to be All MVC.

All for to be this to Cincy fans:

”remember that guy we got from Bradley?.. yeah but I can’t remember his name”

That’s my take. Good luck Connor.

[Stryker]

I really don’t understand this move. I believe at some point in his life Connor will really look back and regret this decision.
Throwing away a chance to play in the big dance with the team that recruited you and gave u a shot.
Throwing away being a member of the thousand point club at BU.
Throwing away a chance to be All MVC.

All for to be this to Cincy fans:

”remember that guy we got from Bradley?.. yeah but I can’t remember his name”

That’s my take. Good luck Connor.

$$$$. Hope he got a bag to make it worth it, because like you are saying, it doesn't really seem like that great of a move overall.

[bradleyfan124]

I really don’t understand this move. I believe at some point in his life Connor will really look back and regret this decision.
Throwing away a chance to play in the big dance with the team that recruited you and gave u a shot.
Throwing away being a member of the thousand point club at BU.
Throwing away a chance to be All MVC.

All for to be this to Cincy fans:

”remember that guy we got from Bradley?.. yeah but I can’t remember his name”

That’s my take. Good luck Connor.

I totally agree. Money will be fleeting but the memories could have lasted forever

[Da Coach]

We should be happy for Connor that he is doing what he wants to do instead of second guessing his decisions without even knowing anything about the situation or his reasons. I've talked to his family and his family, his coaches, and his teammates are all happy for him and support his decisions.

[LittleBrave]

We should be happy for Connor that he is doing what he wants to do instead of second guessing his decisions without even knowing anything about the situation or his reasons. I've talked to his family and his family, his coaches, and his teammates are all happy for him and support his decisions.

Good to know! I think to be fair, those who are questioning his decision are being respectful about it. I hope we see Hick have a great season and more importantly, get sufficient PT and a chance to play in the NIT again at least.

[Tommy]

I'll be rooting for Hick to do well, but I hope we get another chance to play Cincinnati and I hope we destroy them.

[ihatetea]

Like they used to say, don’t hate the player hate the game. I always liked college basketball for the team identities that could be built. Players grew together, fan bases embraced them, programs played specific styles. Now teams change personnel every year so developing chemistry is difficult. Most teams play the same style because you can’t teach whole systems and it’s easier to recruit transfers if you do what everyone does.

And I can’t blame the players at all. I fully believe they deserve a bigger piece of the pie than they used to get. Coaches could change schools at will, why not the kids too? Even if you disagree with them changing Willy nilly, they’d be foolish to not take advantage of the rules in place. Imagine one of these players was your son: you’d want him to get what he can. Most college players won’t be able to earn much money from basketball in the future, so do it now. I know danya Kingsby hasn’t been banking money from basketball lately (not meant to be a shot at him, he’s a nice man). Even if your degree is a little screwy and you need another semester, hopefully you will be more than comfortable financially for that.

something needs to be done, maybe two-three year commitments be more standard. Or one free transfer , then one year sit outs. But I’ll never be mad at players for doing what’s best for them.

[Tommy]

Like they used to say, don’t hate the player hate the game. I always liked college basketball for the team identities that could be built. Players grew together, fan bases embraced them, programs played specific styles. Now teams change personnel every year so developing chemistry is difficult. Most teams play the same style because you can’t teach whole systems and it’s easier to recruit transfers if you do what everyone does.

And I can’t blame the players at all. I fully believe they deserve a bigger piece of the pie than they used to get. Coaches could change schools at will, why not the kids too? Even if you disagree with them changing Willy nilly, they’d be foolish to not take advantage of the rules in place. Imagine one of these players was your son: you’d want him to get what he can. Most college players won’t be able to earn much money from basketball in the future, so do it now. I know danya Kingsby hasn’t been banking money from basketball lately (not meant to be a shot at him, he’s a nice man). Even if your degree is a little screwy and you need another semester, hopefully you will be more than comfortable financially for that.

something needs to be done, maybe two-three year commitments be more standard. Or one free transfer , then one year sit outs. But I’ll never be mad at players for doing what’s best for them.

Here's the issue with your statement: the piece of the pie the players are getting isn't coming from the NCAA or their affiliates, it's coming from 3rd parties. So technically, they still aren't getting a piece of the pie, they are getting a piece of A pie, but it's from another restaurant! What other industry has workers being paid by entities other than the one they are working for? There may be other examples, but I can't think of one. This is the problem - there is no penalty for bad decisions as the financial burden lies wholly on what ends up being fans of the program (NIL).

Seems like a really bad system, but somehow the NCAA pulled off the biggest scam of all time. Correct me if I am not understanding it fully, which is entirely possible.

My opinion is the schools should have to deal with the players directly, whether it be paying them as an employee or having them sign contracts. The contract idea seems like it would be the best, as that would lock both the school and player in to some type of agreement. If these P5 schools want to pay a kid $1M to come play for them, go for it, but don't let them off the hook if the kid ends up being a bust. As it stands now, there is no penalty for the schools or their teams if they make poor decisions. They just dump the ones they don't like and go grab another mid-major that performed at a high level then next time around.

The whole thing is infuriating.

[ManMythLegend]

Here's the issue with your statement: the piece of the pie the players are getting isn't coming from the NCAA or their affiliates, it's coming from 3rd parties. So technically, they still aren't getting a piece of the pie, they are getting a piece of A pie, but it's from another restaurant! What other industry has workers being paid by entities other than the one they are working for? There may be other examples, but I can't think of one. This is the problem - there is no penalty for bad decisions as the financial burden lies wholly on what ends up being fans of the program (NIL).

Seems like a really bad system, but somehow the NCAA pulled off the biggest scam of all time. Correct me if I am not understanding it fully, which is entirely possible.

My opinion is the schools should have to deal with the players directly, whether it be paying them as an employee or having them sign contracts. The contract idea seems like it would be the best, as that would lock both the school and player in to some type of agreement. If these P5 schools want to pay a kid $1M to come play for them, go for it, but don't let them off the hook if the kid ends up being a bust. As it stands now, there is no penalty for the schools or their teams if they make poor decisions. They just dump the ones they don't like and go grab another mid-major that performed at a high level then next time around.

The whole thing is infuriating.

This, all of this. The pundits (looking at you Jay Bilas) and fans who say "they're finally getting a piece of the pie" are full of it. They're getting paid by collectives that get exactly ZERO dollars from the NCAA or institution they partner with. It's a broken system. Meanwhile the NCAA is still making billions.