Perils of the Portal - Kentucky player asked to transfer

[Gamecockfan77]

1. We don't know exactly what Brooks told her or what her options were.
2. We do not know what her level of participation or attitude was in practice and don't know her relationship with the coaches.
3. A coach is reasonably entitled to choose his own players and is well within the bounds of ethics and honesty to tell a player whether he thinks she will play or benefit the team by not playing and even to encourage transfer.

 

[Vowelguy]

Wait, what? There ARE SEC teams you root for? Wow, who knew….

Vanderbilt: the official SEC team of the Boneyard TM

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I bet she has a video out there saying she chose said school because...it felt like family. In this case...the Manson family.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Vanderbilt: the official SEC team of the Boneyard TM

Apart from Shea, whICH is reason enough, are there a lot of other likeable contenders to pick from? Abstractly, I'd pick Dawn, but she has been too much a thorn in the Huskies side in recent years, and otherwise there's no other head coach in the conference that I find particularly likeable or endearing. Worthy of respect, yes. But not fun to root for.

 

[Vowelguy]

Apart from Shea, whICH is reason enough, are there a lot of other likeable contenders to pick from? Abstractly, I'd pick Dawn, but she has been too much a thorn in the Huskies side in recent years, and otherwise there's no other head coach in the conference that I find particularly likeable or endearing. Worthy of respect, yes. But not fun to root for.

I like Vic
Don’t mind LSU

 

[WBBTakeover]

1. We don't know exactly what Brooks told her or what her options were.
2. We do not know what her level of participation or attitude was in practice and don't know her relationship with the coaches.
3. A coach is reasonably entitled to choose his own players and is well within the bounds of ethics and honesty to tell a player whether he thinks she will play or benefit the team by not playing and even to encourage transfer.

Sorry, but we're past the "give him the benefit of the doubt" stage when it comes to Kenny Brooks. If this was a one off situation, fine. But it's part of a greater pattern of behavior that has followed him from two other stops.

This is who he is. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time (Maya Angelou).

 

[Frankus]

There has got to be some balance brought back to this. I'd call it semi pro basketball but college stars, who are high potential WNBA draft picks, are making more money in college than their first year as professionals. And other less coveted players are making more playing college basketball than they would make their first job out of college. This is a structural mercenary system.

 

[CardsWBBfan]

Vanderbilt: the official SEC team of the Boneyard TM

1. We don't know exactly what Brooks told her or what her options were.
2. We do not know what her level of participation or attitude was in practice and don't know her relationship with the coaches.
3. A coach is reasonably entitled to choose his own players and is well within the bounds of ethics and honesty to tell a player whether he thinks she will play or benefit the team by not playing and even to encourage transfer.

I’ll start by saying I’m biased. I’ve followed Cass’ basketball career since middle school. As such, I’ve become friendly with her family.

Cass is the daughter of a Coach. She has a high bball IQ. She’s a gym rat. First one in the gym, last to leave. She was a team captain this past year. While never playing the minutes she might have wanted, she has completely accepted her role. Ocassional minutes. Great defender. When she got in you would often see her taking a charge. She would be brought in some time specifically for her defense or to shoot FT’s.

She is the definition of a player embracing culture, being an excellent teammate. She graduated with her degree this past December ( 2.5 years), and will be starting PT school in the fall. The PT school admission process has been rigorous, and started last fall. To be able to transfer and get admitted to another PT was not going to happen for the Fall. Additionally, the only other PT program in KY is in Louisville at Bellarmine.

Cass was/is a fan favorite. She grew up in the eastern KY Mountains and has a huge following. Much like any rivalries, the State of KY is divided into Louisville vs KY fans. Eastern KY folks are heavy, heavy KY fans. This is a huge slap in the KY fanbase’s face.

Final two points about Cass is she is getting married this summer. She literally met with the staff to know their workout schedule this summer and planned her wedding around it. By all accounts, she is committed, and thought KY was too. Finally, the PT school worked with her to balance her schedule to account for playing. Everything was in place.

Everyone realizes that Brooks can do what he wants with his roster. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. It’s beyond classless and a slap in the face of a player that has been unyieldingly loyal, at a time when loyalty is severely lacking. With 7 open roster spots, and Brooks history of playing 6-7 players, I can not see a world where he would get 8 additional high quality players. Even if he did, all the intangibles she brings to the program can’t be quantified. She’s a stud, in terms of a role player.

Brooks brought to KY a bunch of red flags, in my opinion. This is one more example of his questionable ethics. Keeping his daughter on scholarship, without the history Cass has, is the final slap in the face to Cass, the family and to KY fans who adored her.

But, I’m biased.

 

[TheFarmFan]

I’ll start by saying I’m biased. I’ve followed Cass’ basketball career since middle school. As such, I’ve become friendly with her family.

Cass is the daughter of a Coach. She has a high bball IQ. She’s a gym rat. First one in the gym, last to leave. She was a team captain this past year. While never playing the minutes she might have wanted, she has completely accepted her role. Ocassional minutes. Great defender. When she got in you would often see her taking a charge. She would be brought in some time specifically for her defense or to shoot FT’s.

She is the definition of a player embracing culture, being an excellent teammate. She graduated with her degree this past December ( 2.5 years), and will be starting PT school in the fall. The PT school admission process has been rigorous, and started last fall. To be able to transfer and get admitted to another PT was not going to happen for the Fall. Additionally, the only other PT program in KY is in Louisville at Bellarmine.

Cass was/is a fan favorite. She grew up in the eastern KY Mountains and has a huge following. Much like any rivalries, the State of KY is divided into Louisville vs KY fans. Eastern KY folks are heavy, heavy KY fans. This is a huge slap in the KY fanbase’s face.

Final two points about Cass is she is getting married this summer. She literally met with the staff to know their workout schedule this summer and planned her wedding around it. By all accounts, she is committed, and thought KY was too. Finally, the PT school worked with her to balance her schedule to account for playing. Everything was in place.

Everyone realizes that Brooks can do what he wants with his roster. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. It’s beyond classless and a slap in the face of a player that has been unyieldingly loyal, at a time when loyalty is severely lacking. With 7 open roster spots, and Brooks history of playing 6-7 players, I can not see a world where he would get 8 additional high quality players. Even if he did, all the intangibles she brings to the program can’t be quantified. She’s a stud, in terms of a role player.

Brooks brought to KY a bunch of red flags, in my opinion. This is one more example of his questionable ethics. Keeping his daughter on scholarship, without the history Cass has, is the final slap in the face to Cass, the family and to KY fans who adored her.

But, I’m biased.

Seems like the kind of "bias" that is earned through commitment, loyalty, and personal investment, so hardly need to apologize . And thanks for sharing this - my gut told me something was really off even at the surface level, and everything you say confirms that gut. If there's karma and justice, Cass will land in her feet and Brooks will have seen his ceiling with his program this season. These are the kinds of stories that are very rapidly turning me off of WCBB and towards the W, where there are rules, player protection, and a brighter spotlight on questionable staffing decisions.

 

[packwrap]

Thanks cardsfan for all that info. I will watch Kentucky roster with interest and I hope Cass lands in a good situation in her next move.

 

[Wildcatfan3]

Where is the outrage for Saniah Tyler, who is also a senior that stayed on one year for Brooks after Elzy got fired. She is in the same boat as Rowe as well, but you don't hear anything about her cause she's not from Kentucky. So if Brook decided to let Rowe stay to keep fans happy, but not Tyler how does that look?

 

[WBBTakeover]

Where is the outrage for Saniah Tyler, who is also a senior that stayed on one year for Brooks after Elzy got fired. She is in the same boat as Rowe as well, but you don't hear anything about her cause she's not from Kentucky. So if Brook decided to let Rowe stay to keep fans happy, but not Tyler how does that look?

Well, that's one reason...

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Where is the outrage for Saniah Tyler, who is also a senior that stayed on one year for Brooks after Elzy got fired. She is in the same boat as Rowe as well, but you don't hear anything about her cause she's not from Kentucky. So if Brook decided to let Rowe stay to keep fans happy, but not Tyler how does that look?

Perhaps there would be more outrage if it was known that she was asked to leave and wanted to return. I believe the biggest key is that the people in Cassidy's circle has made it abundantly clear that she only wants to be a Kentucky Wildcat and felt blindsided.

I said this before, I personally believe this happens all the time and generally gets swept under the rug. The biggest difference is that someone is actually calling it out for once. Is it unfair for Brooks, to some degree I believe so, but his having multiple players/families having similar stories is whats giving this incident more legs.

 

[JoePgh]

Given that (as Nan notes) NCAA scholarships are for one year and are subject to annual renewal, I don't see any ethical problem with a coach deciding that a particular player simply isn't good enough to make the cut next year, even though she made the cut this year. Coaches, after all, are assembling a roster to win games and championships. And players should know that the coach has made no contractual or moral commitment to maintain their athletic scholarship for more than one year.

It's true that rather than just non-renewing, a coach may tell a player that they are down on the anticipated depth chart for the upcoming year, and (barring injuries) are unlikely to see much playing time. Most players will find it unappetizing to stay after they hear that message, and will leave on their own. But some may choose to stay anyway, because of academic pursuits or simply because they enjoy the company and friendship of their teammates. If a better incoming player needs to take the scholarship slot of one of those players, then it is within the coach's proper purview to non-renew that player's scholarship. Especially in the world of NIL, WCBB is a business, and players should expect teams to be run that way.

Without naming names, I don't think that all of the UConn players who left for the transfer portal in recent years were acting entirely on their own volition. They may have received some level of encouragement from the coaches to look for opportunities to play elsewhere.

 

[bschwartz]

Geno has said multiple times if players want to be treated like professionals with the money and all of it, they could/should be able to be fired. I am sure it has happened at UConn before. I guess the question is whether they are kids or adults? I see them as adults, business owners of their own image, in this new world. They are free agents each year. I’d feel bad for a kid. Adults get fired every day. Adults have to move on. Sounds like she is handling it maturely. Hope she is successful at PT school.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Geno has said multiple times if players want to be treated like professionals with the money and all of it, they could/should be able to be fired. I am sure it has happened at UConn before. I guess the question is whether they are kids or adults? I see them as adults, business owners of their own image, in this new world. They are free agents each year. I’d feel bad for a kid. Adults get fired every day. Adults have to move on. Sounds like she is handling it maturely. Hope she is successful at PT school.

If you're going to go this route, then you'd need to sign students to contracts rather than NLIs and clearly delineate their roles so that they can be fired with cause (because I don't think that they're going to go for an environment where they can be fired without cause).

 

[BRS24]

If Brooks' daughter is on an athletic scholarship, why can't she give it up, and then perhaps gets either in state tuition and/or a faculty discount? There were probably a few ways to deal with this "situation"

 

[adamspt2]

I can't say for absolute certain but I am under the impression that his daughter is not on an athletic scholarship.

 

[packwrap]

Given that (as Nan notes) NCAA scholarships are for one year and are subject to annual renewal, I don't see any ethical problem with a coach deciding that a particular player simply isn't good enough to make the cut next year, even though she made the cut this year. Coaches, after all, are assembling a roster to win games and championships. And players should know that the coach has made no contractual or moral commitment to maintain their athletic scholarship for more than one year.

I'm usually very neutral on this subject, not getting emotional about disloyalty by players or coaches. I also became a Brooks fan this year watching his interactions with Amoore and her family, and developing the post player Silva.

Now, I'm more dubious as Silva is leaving and the decision with Cass is questionable.

A coach who is close to the players would certainly know the effort and planning it took for her to get into a DPT program, and how the school would work around basketball to help her get through year 1 of a 3 yr program, while playing SEC basketball.

A player like Cass who may not get many game minutes, can still be huge as the 15th player on the roster, just by being there every day to fill out drills and teams at practice and scrimmages. The 15th scholarship has often been used to reward walk ons at UConn, or recently at TCU, who bailed out short rosters.

Brooks gets judged on this one by what his roster ends up looking like. Does he really end up with full 15? Is the 15th so good that they should have dumped Cass?

Lastly, if coach Brooks knew be was going to cut bait with the end of the bench, why didn't he communicate this earlier, so Cass wouldn't waste the effort applying to DPT at Kentucky?

No matter how this works, it certainly shows Brooks is tone deaf. Cass on team all season while doing year 1 of DPT is a fantastic student/athlete feelgood story!
Dumping her makes him look like the grinch.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I still take the position that we don't know both sides of the story.

But this is a professional sport where players will get paid salaries. We aren't taking about little league and everyone gets to play.

These are select teams and UK has met every reasonable expectation of what it promised this person when it recruited her.

Being a good person or wanting to hang around the team isn't a complete justification for being entitled to stay on the roster.

She would take up time and resources that are better spent on someone else perhaps the coaches think and that's an entirely adequate reason, if that was reason, for not asking her back.

 

[packwrap]

I still take the position that we don't know both sides of the story.

But this is a professional sport where players will get paid salaries. We aren't taking about little league and everyone gets to play.

These are select teams and UK has met every reasonable expectation of what it promised this person when it recruited her.

Completely agree with all you said as facts.

Still - big spending pro team TCU, used their 14 and 15 scholarships to reward their walk ons. The 'under frogs' became a nice story for TCU.

Most teams including Kentucky really only play 7-8 players in games. Having too much talent on a 15 player roster, only leads to frustration and future transfers for more playing time.

Still - communication could have been much clearer and more timely in this case.

Coach really didn't know his player was applying, accepted to DPT? I hadn't even mentioned this earlier but same $milion dollar coach is using a similar end of bench scholarship for his daughter???

I will eagerly scrutinize the 14th and 15th spot on 25-26 Kentucky roster.

 

[Fossil]

Um Rowe was a starter on the worst team in the conference. She didn't play this year cause Brooks brought in talent that finished fourth in the SEC. This decision has zero impact on basketball itself, it's just more of a bad PR situation that was probably avoidable. Brooks has no promises to any of the players he didn't recruit or hand out a scholarship to.

No, but the school did. If he didn’t want her on the team, he should at least pay for the rest of her education if she wants to step down from playing basketball at his request I just think it’s really crappy that a new coach comes in and actually asks a player to enter the portal, especially after watching that video new opinion of Kenny Brooks. It may be a business but they’re still young adults that were offered a scholarship to play basketball a game. i’m sorry for the Kentucky fans, but I hope karma comes back to haunt him and he never has a good team again.

 

[Fossil]

I think the issue people have is that Brooks’ daughter Gabby is on scholarship despite being no better than Rowe. It’s pretty clear nepotism. Asking a player to leave is also just… it doesn’t look good for Brooks given his history.

And given the fact that Rowe is home grown Kentucky kid. Shameful.

 

[Forego]

But Kenny must be a really good coach. After all he finished fourth in the voting for the AP Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year. And, we all know how objective, thorough and consistent the AP voters are.