This caught me completely off guard. Wish him well.
Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Statement pic.twitter.com/kiHtPABPRl— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) September 14, 2017
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IIRC, there was talk over the summer of him leaving, but I feel like he had been convinced to stay.
Not great, Bob.
welp... the PT sell for 4s and 5s just got a LOT easier
Sy you later!
I Sy what you did there
leg anyway
So now I see a connection with Nick Fullard receiving a full scholarship yesterday...
Doug beat me to it
Please ban pickup games.
Blackshear and Fullard (who has yet to suit up for us) are our only guys over 6'6" currently on the roster.
Buzz needs some bigs.
via GIPHY
He couldn't have done this at a worse time. Leaves Buzz and the team with pretty much no options. He should have left right after last season like it was rumored he wanted to. This doesn't feel right. Feels like a big middle finger to the staff and to his former teammates.
really bad timing.
I hope Fullard can play and that the freshman is the next Barkley..
PJ Horne from his tape strikes me a Buzz warrior type who will surprise us. Hope he's the 6-7 I've seen listed here and there. I would not be surprised to see him hit the floor at 230 after a summer on campus.
Interesting that you mention Barkley. I remember watching the NCAAs back in the day when you had to stay up late to see the games. At the time, the announcers called Barkley "Food World". I woke my poor wife up and begged her to watch this guy. She wouldn't, but I did. Been a fan ever since.
I remember when Barkley performed a Chaos Dunk in Manhattan, killing everybody in attendance except him and his son Hoopz.
I don't want to trash the guy, but he averaged 3.2 points and 3.5 boards at a DII school, I'm not sure how much we can rely on him for major minutes.
Horne? I thought he's a HS recruit from SC or GA.
......sigh
It's pronounced "see"
I Sy...thanks for the correction
Ok, maybe C+.
Dammit! What's up with that? Did he just not like it here? I literally saw him walking around campus probably about a week ago.
247 has a free to read bolt up with some info from the insider over there. You can go over there and check it out if you want. The comments from Chris Arvin on the article has more explanation as he answers some community questions.
...Could you just inform us?
Per Arvin on that thread - Sy was gone after the season. The coaches knew it, the team knew it, the insiders knew it, but he just didn't make it official. Apparently, there were some off the court disagreements between him and the coaches over the past year where the relationship just wasn't going to repair. The speculation here is that the timing of this was the last 'f-you' to the coaching staff, knowing that anyone we bring in now won't be eligible until January, essentially making it impossible to replace him. While he technically won't be eligible to play until Jan 2019 now, he's going to file for an exception to play earlier.
Also, Fullard was always going to get his scholly. Sy's transfer didn't impact this at all.
Moving on from a situation is fine but burning bridges is never a good option. There is so little to be gained from this type of behavior.
This goes for almost every aspect of life.
Not taking constructive criticism is seldom fine.
This goes for almost every aspect of life.
Doesn't the coaching staff hold the leverage in renewing his scholarship? If they knew he was gone I would think they would just not renew the scholarship for this year allowing them to recruit someone to fill that spot.
Fullard got LeDay's scholarship, so I guess we have 1 more available to award a walk-on.
The only reason I didn't is because it was a free article and I didn't want to take page views away from the writer.
WTF?
You have to recruit them, and keep them, and keep them healthy.
It's a tall order.
CRIPES!!! This should be front page news! A player at the thinnest position leaving, really bad news. I really liked Sy's potential too. Turrible news.
Please let Chris Clarke be ready, pleaseeee
Well my expectations for this season just went way down. What's the opposite of skyrocket?
LOLUVA football.
Cassell is built over an Indian burial ground. It's the only explanation.
To be fair, that's a bit ridiculous of a header. 9 of those 12 players I think weren't recruited by Buzz
As Urban Meyer just said to Tom Herman, when you are hired they are all your players.
No offense to some of those players, but a fair amount of them left because they simply weren't gonna cut in Buzz's system or weren't ACC quality talent.
Eh disagree a bit there. The only guys who I thought left because they weren't ACC caliber were Kirby and Mueller. The rest could all at least contribute a bit, though I could be forgetting someone.
Whoa whoa whoa, Malik Mueller kicked ass in year one of Buzz
I mean, he shot the ball well but he was essentially a 6'3" forward and he couldn't guard a soul. He played hard but he was basically a worse version of Ty Outlaw.
Eh that's a different context, I believe Meyer was saying you can't blame losing on them. 5 guys transferred before Buzz even coached a game.
Isn't it said the first recruiting job for a new hire is the guys already on the team?
From what I have heard it's not uncommon to run kids off to free up scholarships for better players... not saying I'm a fan of that, just that it's a thing
So we should have an equal number of better players replacing them then, right?
Not necessarily. But that's the idea.
Sure, but it's a true statement that Buzz has had a difficult time holding on to players.
And some of them certainly had the talent to help.
It's a nice sentiment but it's not the same situation. Football gets 85 scholarships. Basketball gets 13. Also basketball players can usually contribute sooner. Therefore in basketball a coach can essentially turn over the roster immediately and not sacrifice too much.
I think we all know that Buzz's coaching style is...well, let's just say unique. He seems to be the type of guy who tells everyone how it's gonna be and that if they don't like it they can leave. I think at least a few of these transfers are players who just weren't buying what Buzz is selling. He's not going to pamper any individual player.
ahhhhh.......millenials... or the ones after them
to their credit some want the feedback... others don't have the constitution to allow the feedback to make them better
kid was an outside shot for NBA, legit shot for overseas ball... putting fingers in ears means i'll see him playing the teenagers in the park
I even heard he had put on some serious muscle mass
Not good
I guess Buzz prefers Java over Sy++
.... take your damn leg
Haha! This killed me, take your leg!
4 guard lineup!!!
Oh for fucks sake...
Isn't Sy a mid year transfer? Meaning he won't be eligible until Spring 2019? So essentially he could have to sit 2 years before playing.
Are there still schools on the quarter system where he could enroll this fall?
I see we still freak out over lack of bigs. Sigh.
Good luck to the Khadim. Could be a heck of a player for a blue-blood mid-major program. Just not up to ACC level and not a system fit for Buzz.
Why shouldn't we?
If you're gonna criticize how other people react, don't. Or if you must, at least tell us why you think it's not the right response.
I've posted this plenty of times, but I'll say it for those who haven't seen it. Buzz has literally never had a true center contribute major minutes on any of his good teams. Ever.
We throw out "size" as if it's a one category fits all. We don't need "size." Johnny Hamilton had size. Satchel Pierce had size. Sy had size. Neither of the three were that much effective. Obviously Sy was the better of the three I've mentioned, but they simply aren't a scheme fit for what Buzz wants to do.
While Sy was able to be good in small chunks, he was never in serious contention for serious minutes. Why? He had no outside game. We need more players like Blackshear...which are so tough to find. We're so lucky to have KJ. If he's healthy, he is an All-ACC caliber talent. Especially on this team with so many perimeter shooters and explosive guards to surround him.
We almost have to play small ball because of who we are. That's why Buzz is so great for a school like Virginia Tech. He finds guys that fit his system (OKGs) and then gets the most out of them. We aren't getting one and dones. It's much easier to find a 6'6 wing and go small ball with guards, quite simply because there are more available. A 6'10 guy who can stretch the floor and contribute enough on the low block to have a true dual-threat attck (Blackshear) are really, really tough to find, and the ones you do find end up at Dook, Kansas, ect.
Look at the Buzz players in the NBA: Jimmy Butler, Jae Crowder, Wesley Matthews. Notice a pattern? Buzz doesn't need prototypical centers. They're a nice thing to have for a few minutes a game to spell some guys or switch up the pace. That's it.
It's our DNA. Embrace it and learn why I'm saying this. Fear not TKP. It's okay. Trust me. Much more concerned about Outlaws' injury and Leday 2.0 transferring than losing Sy. I liked him. I think he can be really good, but it's just not the right "on the court" fit for him. I hope he goes somewhere where he can play 25 minutes a night and make the NCAA Tournament. From all accounts, seems like he's a good kid and really wants to learn and be the best.
Buzz might not use a prototypical center much but I think you're kidding yourself if you don't see a potential issue going into a season with one experienced player over 6'5" (who just missed all of last season with an injury). If something happens to Blackshear it would be extremely difficult to matchup with any teams that have an offensively talented big man.
I don't think he is saying he is not concerned about that. Seems he is saying by scheme Buzz has never used size in the middle as a make or break success factor. And if we follow the way he develops his scheme we should focus our concern more on the recruits that come and go that fit Buzz's historically important player type.
I know little about basketball overall but I believe that's his point.
Buzz didn't historically play in the killing floor of a conference we're in.
The Big East he played in at Marquette was the best conference in basketball. The quality of the mid-tiered teams was crazy, and the top teams were national title contenders.
While I get what you guys are saying, the height disadvantage of VT is a weakness that good teams can turn to their advantage. See: Florida State results from last year - they have height. We shouldn't overreact, but it's a valid concern. Buzz punches above his weight class, and VT has very talented guards, but it's not in our DNA that we can't have talented bigs on the team.
If Buzz can get a talented big, he'll be doing that. He's demonstrated through his recruiting that he thinks it's important, even as he has demonstrated through his playing time that he values skill above all.
I don't really know why we lost Sy, but we sort of needed him, or someone like him. Maybe someone better than him.
One thing to note about both NC State and Florida State games they both excel at what we struggle with: NBA guard + big front court. If there is only one of the two, we're okay, but when both are present, that is where we really struggle.
Would I like height? Sure. But if it's between a 6'10 player like Sy or another player like Outlaw or Bibbs...I'm taking the guard every day of the week with an empty scholarship.
Nick Fullard (6'10" Center) got a scholarship just before the Sy announcement.
In Buzz we trust.
Edit: corrected height...
Being a 5'10" center is why I quit basketball.
It's also why I normally don't post at 3 am...
The Big East won 3 National Championships while Buzz was at Marquette, and he still made the dance 5 straight times. It may not have been what the ACC is right now, but it's not like he was coaching Butler
And it's also a chess match. Buzz throws out 5 guards, or four guards and a player like Horne who plays bigger than he is, that makes the opposing coach wonder: do we match and take our bigs off the floor, or sit in a zone and let them torch us from the outside.
Your talkin g about this in a way that makes it all about offense. It is good to have a body to defend big guys when we run into them. NC State and Florida St showed this.
Our zone needs more work for situations like this. Sy would have been nice to have for a few minutes to go two bigs here to match them for a moment, but I'm not worried about NC State or FSU this season.
I met Buzz and for to talk to him 1 on 1 for a little while at a Hokie Club event a couple weeks after he was hired and literally the first thing he asked is if I knew and 7 foot tall players with skill. And there really want a joking tone to his ask, so while he might have ended up with only guard heavy lineups, that's not exactly his ideal, and would much rather have guys like Sy to contribute down low.
Skillful 7 footers are one and dones. We aren't getting them.
That's fair, and I would agree with that statement.
I don't follow our basketball recruiting that closely, but if I were Buzz, I'd be recruiting frontcourt guys in the 6'9ish range with a little bounce who project to be willing & capable screeners. Given the signings of Blackshear & Sy, it appears as if he really is looking for skilled big men, which are just going to be harder to find when you're the coach at VT.
With the playing style he's operating, I don't really see anything wrong with recruiting frontcourt guys who may not be the most skilled but will set screens and aren't stiffs on the defensive end. They're also not as rare as skilled big men. The ideal of that player type is Daniel Ochefu, who was an extremely vital part of Villanova's title team. He's the kind of player that would excel in Buzz's system. Good defender & rebounder, set great screens, but still could make rim runs or get garbage buckets.
It was an exaggerated statement, but the message was still the same. VT was lacking in size then, just as it is now, and he addressed that first and foremost, before even talking about skill. You don't need to get a bunch of 7 footers with skill to win, but you're going to struggle if your opponent is consistently taller and stronger. We need tall bodies down low to clean up the boards and create matchup issues that our guards can exploit. We could have had that this year with Sy, Blackshear, and Fullard. We might still have that with Blackshear and Fullard, but the task is going to be much tougher. If we ever want to make a serious run in the NCAAT, and that's why we're paying Buzz legitimate big dollars to coach here, we need those bodies down low. We seemingly don't have a problem bringing them in, we just now need to keep them when they get here.
Leg for the insightful reply and I apologize for my tone last night, #drunjTKP always has mixed results for me.
I didn't take it negatively. I should have posted it with the original comment, but was at work and didn't get the time.
Buzz has some strict standards. Khadim prolly didn't want to play by the rules.
He is a great coach, but I can see his style of coaching being pretty abrasive. I know he is a deeply religious man, and he seems to heavily incorporate that into the culture he is building. I can imagine that being slightly off-putting for some people.
Exactly. Specifics certainly don't need to be discussed. But in broad strokes, any sort of intense cultural impositions will me met with resistance. It happens with many coaches around the country.
Oh fuck all the things. I had high expectations for Sy this year. Ughhhhhh
Same here. I wanted him to continue to develop and get some more minutes. He showed spots where the future could be seen. Alas, I wish him luck wherever he ends up, and if he was really going to lose his scholarship, I can't blame him for leaving.
Where does anyone say he was going to lose his scholarship? The closest thing was a suggestion that we could have used his scholarship as leverage if the coaches thought Sy planned on leaving the team (for the record I am fully against that idea)
Where did you get the idea he was going to lose his scholarship? We already had an extra floating around (the one that was awarded to Fullard). With Sy's departure we'll be rolling 12 deep this fall. (technically 11 deep because Fullard is pretty much a walk-on in terms of contributions we can expect from him).
We really need to land some tallish players in the 2018 class.
Missed that we had a floating, misread a comment above, etc. My bad.
So we have space for MJ Walker, right?
/s, if necessary
Oh FFS. This is just getting dumb. At this point, the only way we're gonna be able to keep bigs on our teams is if we train 6'4" guards to play on 6 inch stilts.
Your ideas are intriguing to me.
I'll take "What Would Harbaugh Do" for $500, Alex
Think these guys have any eligibility left?
/S
Invent the future
Looks like we may be doing this again this year. Sy looks to have left the program again:
Sy Leaving
via GIPHY
What a strange offseason Bball.
Dammit, the Agents are onto us