Saturday, August 23, 2008

Here we go again

This topic seems to pop up once or twice a month. I talked to Dr. Boston on Saturday regarding Herb Pope. The fact of the matter, as I understand it is that Pope is enrolled at NMSU and has not been granted a release, as some rumors have suggested. Dr. Boston made a good point saying that at one point, Wendell wasn't on the team and now he's back so roster movement is always possible in all sports. His feeling on Saturday was that Pope will be on the court this season, but the young man is also dealing with personal matters in Pennsylvania.

That's all I know at this point, but I'm sure it will always be a question mark considering he is the highest profile athlete at NMSU and the basketball team will go as far as he takes them, whether he is happy or not.


I also wanted to respond to a couple other questions.....My understanding is that the Menzies has at least three candidates for the strength and conditioning coach opening and that interviews are ongoing. Regarding Clyde VAughn, Menzies was hoping to reorganize his staff while creating a position for Vaughn. As you know, the powers that be shot it down and now Menzies has Matt Grady to replace.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Granted a release from what? Is this still about last years transcripts? Let us know.

Jason Groves said...

Granted a release from the university as everyone seems so worried about.

Anonymous said...

I know this, neither Pope nor Gipson have been seen around campus and classes did start on the 21st.

What surprises me, as a student and a fan, is how our basketball guys just come and go as they please. The disciplined approach of "we all do this for the good of the program" and "no one person is more important than the team" doesn't seem to apply to this program. Kids come, kids go and we never know just who will wear a uniform and represent us, the NMSU community.

I'm just amazed about how that all works and a few guys get treated better than the others. If our home boy Gordo would pull some of that stuff they probably would send him packing. Maybe that's why they lost when it really counted last year. Lack of discipline is their downfall.

Jason Groves said...

Great post anon 503. I believe both of those players are in their respective home turf currently.

Pope is by far the highest profile athlete to come to NMSU. I'm also confused why any university remains so loyal to an athlete when they obviously don't feel the same way, but you look at Pope's NBA potential and I guess it makes sense that they give him a little more freedom to take care of whatever he needs to take care of. The bottom line about Pope though, is he is a solid student and he's their best player, so from a student athlete performance wise, he's been ideal. It's only during the offseason where his focus might start to focus back east.

Anonymous said...

Good stuff here jg. Keep us informed on the status of these talented guys. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Any word on Herb Pope or Jonathon Gibson's whereabouts? Do you think these guys are gonna be in uniform this season?

Anonymous said...

I try not to take this personally, but I want so bad to get behind this team, only to find out they may or may not be into it themselves.

I want nothing more than for my alma mater to make the Sweet 16 someday, and the talent level that Menzies is capable of bringing in may get us there.

It's too bad these guys don't believe in the program or themselves as much as we do. I understand these guys need to put themselves in the best possible scenario to make it to the next level, but I also know that if they put in 2 or 3 good years together, this team and these players can make a splash. If all goes well, some of these players can play abroad or even the NBA/NBDL. The WAC gets them enough exposure to let their talent do the talking.

We just need to get across to these guys that we believe in THEM to get us there. We need to get back to the point where a commitment to play is a commitment for 4 years....not until the coaches recruit somebody that may get some of "my" minutes.

Anonymous said...

one and done... the NCAA does a terrible diservice to student athletes accross the country.

Should make it a baseball thing where you get to either commit and go all in to get drafted out of highschool, or, instead, you MUST complete three years of college.

Its to tragic that because the NCAA is a buch of morons all they have done is created a wannabe NBA development league. Pope is an amazing talent, but he has no business being here... Love him and want to root for him, but I'll take Davidson as my sweet 16 sleeper instead.

"College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old;"
-MLB.com draft elgibility

Anonymous said...

There is an aricle that Herb Pope possibly might transfer to Seton Hall

Jason Groves said...

Yep...there is a link on Teddy's blog. We are looking into it as best we can, but obviously it's tough to get information regarding such a high profile player.

Anonymous said...

Tell me. How in the world can these guys miss the first three weeks of school and expect to play? What are these "so called" leaders showing their new and younger teammates. Great examples of being selfish and self-centered.

I saw the articles of Pope shopping himself around. Are you freaking kidding me? Some of us pay a lot of money to come to NMSU and these idiots bitch about students not coming to their games!

It amazes me how the Athletic Director thinks that is ok! Whatever happened to Loyolty and committment to the program and university that gave them the opportunity.
These guys are just laughing in our faces!

There's more than winning a game in life. Let's send them down the road and as one person posted, let's get the kind of guys that are playing for Davidson, Butler, Gonzaga and U of San Diego!

Anonymous said...

First three weeks? He missed the first week. And it happens. I got a friend who's internship caused him to miss a few days last semester. One week in most classes is not difficult to make up.

Anonymous said...

I just heard that Herb Pope is 100% an Aggie. This is coming from the same guy who posted about him transfering if the NCAA granted his hardship.

Anonymous said...

I just heard that Herb Pope is 100% an Aggie. This is coming from the same guy who posted about him transfering if the NCAA granted his hardship.

Jason Groves said...

I think Boston thinks Pope will be back, but he said the university will allow him to transfer if he gets a hardship waiver and can play. How common are these waivers? I have no idea. Perhaps if you read between the lines, that may mean that it's not that common and maybe Herb's case will be difficult to attain that waiver.

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I think that Herb wants to leave he should. I remember when he signed and there were stories done about him in the paper he said that he chose to come here because it was far away. Far away from all of the trouble that was in his home and he would be able to escape that here. Now, the biggest reasons for him leaving are to go back to his family. I think that if you really want to help your family you stay and endure what you committed yourself to. By staying here you avoid putting yourself in a situation where you might get shot again and place less stress on those who care about you. You can focus on achieving your dream of being in the NBA without worrying about the streets or anything like that. But we cant make that decision for him and if he eventually transfers then oh well. It just keeps showing that skills on the court dont always reflect skills off the court.

GS

Anonymous said...

Gibson is here. Hes been here most of the week. Herb was good while he lasted but now its time to move on. I wish him the best!! I mean with or with out him we still have a young team. Thats will hurt the aggies a lot. I wish them the best. Also dont blame kids for leaving college is a business dont think other wise. If you have ever left a job you have no right say anything about college athletes looking for better situations. If you liked hawkins, iti,fred,or Steward then ur a hipacrat!!! Think bout it...
Rain Man 2008