I joined solely to respond to this message. I am not trying to stir the pot, but there was a lot that went on that wasn't reported. Also, please remember you're referencing an article written by TOB. It's only one side of the story.
TOB got suspended for stealing laptops. Another player was removed from the team. TOB also appealed SJUs ruling TWICE, and the NCAA sided with SJU TWICE. Do a quick search of the number of students who have left the program over the past 6-7 years. There have been a large number of students who wanted to leave the program, for one reason or another, and were given the opportunity.
I actually saved you the time and googled "SJU basketball transfer by year" and found an article titled "Phil Martelli's Transfer Mill Continues At Saint Josephs." Here is a quick snippet from the article (
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...continues-at-saint-josephs-pa-justin-crosgile) :
"Saint Joseph's (PA) has had a double digit number of transfers since 2005. A shocking number for any school, and a huge indication of the problems in Phil Martelli's program.
Here is a quick list of all the transfers that Saint Joseph's (PA) has had in the past few years:
[ ]Abdoulai Jalloh
[ ]Jordan Fowler
[ ]Alvin Mofunanya
[ ]Jawan Carter
[ ]Rockwell Moody
[ ]DJ Rivera
[ ]Chris Prescott
[ ]Temi Adebayo
[ ]Bryant Irwin
[ ]AJ Rogers
[ ]Dominic Rutledge
[ ]Justin Crosgile (?)"
Crosgile did end up transferring, as did Carl Baptist (Delaware) and Patrick Swilling Jr. (Tulsa). All of which played on the same 2010-2011 Hawks team with TOB.
There's clearly more to the story than what was reported. I have not been a fan of Phil's for the past 4-5 years (he was great this year), but I still felt the need to sign up for a UConn bball forum to defend him.
TOB is trash, as a human being, as well as a basketball player.
Here's another link referencing the number of recent transfers and the transfer situation (
http://www.examiner.com/article/martelli-not-to-blame-todd-o-brien-fiasco):
"Saint Joseph's will not reveal the reasons why they have refused to sign the waiver, citing privacy rules. In the SI.com piece, O'Brien said that Martelli became irate when he notified the coach of his intention to leave the program and enroll in a different school for graduate school. The question is, why was Martelli so upset over O'Brien leaving when he was probably either the 9th or 10th player in the rotation for the upcoming season?
Martelli has a track record of making sure players who may not fit into the program's plans or players who want to leave because of lack of playing time land on their feet. Recent examples of this include Chris Prescott (Saint Peter's), A.J. Rogers (Norfolk State) and Bryant Irwin (Furman). Those are players from the 2009-10 roster who have transferred to other Division-I schools, while Justin Crosgile from the 2010-11 squad is sitting out this year before he plays for Eastern Washington next year. The point is, Martelli does not typically hold grudges against players just because it doesn't work out at St. Joe's...
By the NCAA's own rules, O'Brien is not eligible for this waiver. It is there in black and white, yet the national media wants to villify Phil Martelli. The outrage should be levelled at the NCAA, not Martelli, who is the conveient scapegoat because O'Brien's relationship with the coach seemed to have broken down, much like it did with his coach at Bucknell. Does anybody sense a pattern here?" (This article is well worth the read in full, as I only grabbed snippets.)
Sorry to hijack the thread, but this story dragged our program through the mud for no real reason and still infuriates me to this day.
Wish you nothing but the best on Thursday night, and I hope for a well played (and well officiated) game.
The Hawk Will Never Die.