Trevor Lacey Transferring

I wished I knew what CAG was trying to accomplish with the roster. It would certainly make it easier to continue to support him...

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TIDE-HSV said:

I do have a little bit of inside knowledge about the situation, but I have to step sort of gingerly around the issue. The fact that TL hadn't decided to transfer until after a meeting this AM with Grant says worlds. The meeting didn't go well and convinced TL that Bama was not the place for him. I understand that Hipsher has been sort of a buffer between Grant and the players and he's gone. Grant's personality can have some very sharp edges. TL still leans heavily on his HS coach, Jack Doss, for advice and Doss will be probably the one helping him look for a destination. I understand he'll be looking at the B1G and ACC. There's no way this can't shorten Grant's fuse a bit and warm his seat a bit more. I've said it before that this next season will decide his tenure. I think that's become even more obvious. One of the first things CBB did was promote Wendell out. I don't think he'll have unlimited patience with Grant. I don't think he'll wait for Grant to hang himself like Gottfried did...

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In fact, CBB can make a lasting imprint on Alabama Athletics by improving college basketball which we should have the capacity to compete like other top-tier football powers these days. CMM left a pristine college football product and improved almost every other NCAA sport. Basketball is the one area where Bill Battle can make his mark.

With that said...two starters depart in one offseason and the program is stuck in the mud around the 20-win mark. Grant had better win next season or I suspect Battle is going to make a regime change.

rgw said:

In fact, CBB can make a lasting imprint on Alabama Athletics by improving college basketball which we should have the capacity to compete like other top-tier football powers these days. CMM left a pristine college football product and improved almost every other NCAA sport. Basketball is the one area where Bill Battle can make his mark.

With that said...two starters depart in one offseason and the program is stuck in the mud around the 20-win mark. Grant had better win next season or I suspect Battle is going to make a regime change.

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I agree with you, where I wouldn't have a few weeks ago. We've lost too many players the past couple of years for it to be coincidental, and unless there are some major strides next year...I think the run is over. As I said in my post, I still like our team minus Gueye and Lacey. We have a ton of talent still returning, and a few capable guys coming in. If Key is as good as advertised, and the bigs are at least close, then we should be okay... I wish there were a way Tarrant could petition to play immediately...

Trevor should make the decision he thinks is best for his goals.

But I'll say this: His high school coach did him no favors when he described Trevor as the best player ever produced in Alabama. The statement was ridiculous to begin with, and it fed ridiculous expectations for the family and, perhaps, the player.

I suspect Grant may have told him that he will be sharing minutes with Retin, and the coach may have dwelled a bit on TL's lack of explosiveness, mediocre ball-handling and failure to develop a mid-range game. He's a solid player and seemed to play hard. But RO's ceiling is much higher.

We'll get those points from other players. But given Doss' prominence, and the hoopla surrounding Trevor's signing, this won't help our chances with other big-time kids.

Grant just lost a year off whatever grace period he has left.

Nobody said anything about one and done. If you were told during Lacey's recruitment, especially given the suitors, that he'd be gone after 2 years, I doubt you could find anyone who would've thought he would leave for another program.

tide13 said:

Nobody said anything about one and done. If you were told during Lacey's recruitment, especially given the suitors, that he'd be gone after 2 years, I doubt you could find anyone who would've thought he would leave for another program.

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And I remember seeing him for the first time in a college game and being stunned by his lack of quickness and erratic shot. If he works hard he can be a solid player, but he'll never be great.

CrimsonEyeshade said:

And I remember seeing him for the first time in a college game and being stunned by his lack of quickness and erratic shot. If he works hard he can be a solid player, but he'll never be great.

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Again, missing the point... He chose us over Kentucky and Kansas (and others...). The point was, at the time he signed with us, the liklihood of him leaving 2 years later for another program would have seemed remote at best. Wasn't meant as a slight to the kid.

And, while I've watched basketball for quite a number of years, I don't have the capability of assessing the skill level of any player after one collegiate game...

TIDE-HSV said:

Provided we hold on to them...

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My fear is Pollard and Jacobs leaving... Jacobs seemed to regress after a solid freshman year and Pollard didnt play up to the hype that surrounded him. I understand a lot of Jacobs was his own doing but, Pollard can't be happy in this offense. Releford really can't leave seeing he has 1 year remaining and I can't see him wanting to sit out 1 year unless he can graduate early and pull the grad school card. I don't see him going pro.... I almost think if 2 of those 3 did jump ship CBB would be forced to make a regime change.

tide, I understand your point. But regardless of who recruited TL, he was never the player he was billed to be. That, I suspect, put all of this in motion.

Apparently, some of the kids and their families believe Grant is compromising burgeoning NBA careers with his style of play. Let's assume TL, our most heralded recruit, falls into this camp.

Can you imagine the reaction of a kid who believes he should be playing for cash being told by his coach that he could be playing fewer minutes in his third collegiate season? Talk about a collision of conflicting realities.

You're right. Two years ago, we all thought we had signed the next Daryl Griffith .... But eventually the hoopla dies down and kids have to play.


QUOTE=tide13;2149124]Again, missing the point... He chose us over Kentucky and Kansas (and others...). The point was, at the time he signed with us, the liklihood of him leaving 2 years later for another program would have seemed remote at best. Wasn't meant as a slight to the kid.

And, while I've watched basketball for quite a number of years, I don't have the capability of assessing the skill level of any player after one collegiate game...[/QUOTE]

Grant is a solid coach, but he finds a way to take the joy out of the game. Until he figures that out, his program will continue to underperform.

CrimsonEyeshade said:

Trevor should make the decision he thinks is best for his goals.

But I'll say this: His high school coach did him no favors when he described Trevor as the best player ever produced in Alabama. The statement was ridiculous to begin with, and it fed ridiculous expectations for the family and, perhaps, the player.

I suspect Grant may have told him that he will be sharing minutes with Retin, and the coach may have dwelled a bit on TL's lack of explosiveness, mediocre ball-handling and failure to develop an inside game. He's a solid player and seemed to play hard. But RO ceiling is much higher.

We'll get those points from other players. But given Doss' prominence, and the hoopla surrounding Trevor's signing, this won't help our chances with other big-time kids.

Grant just lost a year off whatever grace period he has left.

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Excellent analysis of TL.

257WBY said:

Grant is a solid coach, but he finds a way to take the joy out of the game. Until he figures that out, his program will continue to underperform.

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Coach Saban demands a lot from his players but he seems to give a lot in return. Coach Grant also demands a lot but does he give anything back?

Sorry, TL and NBA just never came together in the same zip code for me. The more I saw him play the more I felt correct about that. I wish him luck and hope to see a more positive turnaround next year. Seems like this surprised some of the other guys.

TIDE-HSV said:

Provided we hold on to them...

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That is a concern especially given that it does not appear we will sign any more players this year or bring in any more transfers that can be ready to go this coming season.

WylieTexasTider said:

Yep.. Time for the Grant bus to move on... The players apparently are not onboard with his style. At some point you have to say the problem is with the head chief, not the indians...

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If a coach meets with a player and tells him what he needs that player to do in order to make the team better and that player doesn't agree with it and thinks only about what's best for himself individually then it's not time for the coach's bus to move on, it' time for the player to get on a bus elsewhere.
The coach runs the team, not the players, and hopefully that's the way it will always be.

Alasippi said:

If a coach meets with a player and tells him what he needs that player to do in order to make the team better and that player doesn't agree with it and thinks only about what's best for himself individually then it's not time for the coach's bus to move on, it' time for the player to get on a bus elsewhere.
The coach runs the team, not the players, and hopefully that's the way it will always be.

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The transfers are a reoccurring theme EVERY off-season. This year, neither Moussa nor TL were considered "problem" players and both were major contributor. I'm not going to fault a player who gave us two quality years with no issues and doesn't see any hope for the next level if he stays here. College sports is both about the team AND you.

Needless to say, something just doesn't seem right with this program.

I don't want to lay the blame entirely on Lacey, but clearly there is a disconnect between how he and his people (family, coaches, etc.) thought about things relative to how CAG wants to do things.