"Loyalty" expected from former players

[CYlent Bob]

I didn't want to add this to the Jake Sullivan/AAU thread because:

1. I don't know Jake Sullivan personally.
2. I don't know anything about his AAU team, or the personalities involved.
3. I really don't care. Nothing personal, but this whole controversy won't affect my life one bit.

What did catch my attention was a comment on that thread disparaging Jake because he apparently hasn't been deferential to ISU basketball enough and directed all his good players to be favorable to recruiting by ISU.

I want to say this without any animosity, and in a calm manner so that no one will get excited........If you think that Jake Sullivan should be obligated to talk up ISU to all his players, then you've got pig manure where your brains should be.

Jake Sullivan is not an agent of ISU basketball. He's an AAU coach who charges parents for coaching their kids in basketball. In this role, his first priority should be the best interests of the kid. OK, maybe he's a jerk who took too much influence from the worst that Natty Lite Larry threw at him, and maybe he DOES use the kids to promote himself. How does that make him any different from 99% of all AAU coaches?

If Jake Sullivan took direction from this portion of the fanbase and steered all his kids to ISU, he would have absolutely ZERO credibility left with the parents. After all, how can you tell if Jake honestly thinks that your child would be a good fit at ISU if he refers ALL the kids to ISU? And while being known as a "feeder program for ISU basketball" might appeal to the small market of people who are determined to have a child play basketball in Hilton above all else, how will this appear to parents who would be happy to see their child succeed at schools like Wartburg, Southern Illinois, Drake or even (GOD FORBID) Kansas?

And, considering my personal feelings about GMac's performance as the coach of ISU, I hardly consider an ex-ISU player/AAU coach who recognizes that the ISU MBB program was a "dumpster fire" during the last couple of years to be disloyal to the program.....more like he's....... Paying. Attention. To. Current. Events.

Like I said earlier, I don't care. I just don't like it when our fanbase starts acting like Hawkeyes or Jayhawks. We should be better than that.

[BryceC]

Who in that thread said he should steer kids to ISU? I think you're reading into some posts there.

[Wesley]

I thought it was interesting that Peter Jok was moving on to the other team. Was he the biggest name lost in the group of five?

[DaddyMac]

Good post Bob.

I also think that alot of people complaining about Jake - are doing so because he had the audacity to state that ISU might not be the best fit for Harrison Barnes. And that reason alone. There might be a few who've had dealings with Jake and might legitimately have issues. My guess is that number is relatively small.

[Cydkar]

Who in that thread said he should steer kids to ISU? I think you're reading into some posts there.

I think it was implied that Jake didn't push them towards ISU enough by some posters. That's how I read it and it looks like I'm not alone. Jake owes ISU nothing. He gave...we took. We gave...he took.

[CYlent Bob]

Who in that thread said he should steer kids to ISU? I think you're reading into some posts there.

It's there, but the person who brought it up later backed off the level of vitriol in a later post, so I don't feel the need to "call them out". I'm not really motivated to go back & cite an exact post number for you, but it IS there.

The thought that Jake should be an unquestioning agent for ISU out of gratitude just sort of rubbed me the wrong way, so I quick slapped this together & got if off my chest.

[cyclone13]

Who in that thread said he should steer kids to ISU? I think you're reading into some posts there.

I second to this statement. Almost everyone commented that the tone was unprofessional, but nothing said that he should steer kids to ISU.

[DRCHIRO]

The reason Jake Sullivan, a kid from Minnesota, is able to do his job in Central Iowa is because of Iowa State and what he did at Iowa State.

He is capitalizing on his name in an area where everyone in the basketball scene knows who he is.

Because of this, I do believe Jake should show a little loyalty to Iowa State because he would not be in the position he is in without Iowa State.

Should he try to funnel every elite althlete to ISU? Probably not, but I hope he is not saying anything bad about ISU either.

[BryceC]

That might be but IMO those are a small minority. I highly doubt anybody really expects him to funnel players. And plus, with his best players seemingly leaving him he probably doesn't have the influence some people think he does.

[cyclonenum1]

I didn't want to add this to the Jake Sullivan/AAU thread because:

1. I don't know Jake Sullivan personally.
2. I don't know anything about his AAU team, or the personalities involved.
3. I really don't care. Nothing personal, but this whole controversy won't affect my life one bit.

What did catch my attention was a comment on that thread disparaging Jake because he apparently hasn't been deferential to ISU basketball enough and directed all his good players to be favorable to recruiting by ISU.

I want to say this without any animosity, and in a calm manner so that no one will get excited........If you think that Jake Sullivan should be obligated to talk up ISU to all his players, then you've got pig manure where your brains should be.

Jake Sullivan is not an agent of ISU basketball. He's an AAU coach who charges parents for coaching their kids in basketball. In this role, his first priority should be the best interests of the kid. OK, maybe he's a jerk who took too much influence from the worst that Natty Lite Larry threw at him, and maybe he DOES use the kids to promote himself. How does that make him any different from 99% of all AAU coaches?

If Jake Sullivan took direction from this portion of the fanbase and steered all his kids to ISU, he would have absolutely ZERO credibility left with the parents. After all, how can you tell if Jake honestly thinks that your child would be a good fit at ISU if he refers ALL the kids to ISU? And while being known as a "feeder program for ISU basketball" might appeal to the small market of people who are determined to have a child play basketball in Hilton above all else, how will this appear to parents who would be happy to see their child succeed at schools like Wartburg, Southern Illinois, Drake or even (GOD FORBID) Kansas?

And, considering my personal feelings about GMac's performance as the coach of ISU, I hardly consider an ex-ISU player/AAU coach who recognizes that the ISU MBB program was a "dumpster fire" during the last couple of years to be disloyal to the program.....more like he's....... Paying. Attention. To. Current. Events.

Like I said earlier, I don't care. I just don't like it when our fanbase starts acting like Hawkeyes or Jayhawks. We should be better than that.

Two things:

1) Sullivan is running this business to make a living...period.

2) You can count on one finger the number of kid(s) that he has had in his business that would have been a difference maker at ISU.

[cyclone13]

The thought that Jake should be an unquestioning agent for ISU out of gratitude just sort of rubbed me the wrong way, so I quick slapped this together & got if off my chest.

On the other hand, I also agree with you that Jake should be unbiased if he wants to have a credibility. If he directs someone to a lousy team, he'll lose that credibility in no time.

[CYlent Bob]

The reason Jake Sullivan, a kid from Minnesota, is able to do his job in Central Iowa is because of Iowa State and what he did at Iowa State.

He is capitalizing on his name in an area where everyone in the basketball scene knows who he is.

Because of this, I do believe Jake should show a little loyalty to Iowa State because he would not be in the position he is in without Iowa State.

Should he try to funnel every elite althlete to ISU? Probably not, but I hope he is not saying anything bad about ISU either.

I would also hope that he's not "blowing smoke up their keesters" and lying to them about how ISU is a great program now (in the context of two years ago) and that a particular kid would be a GREAT fit at ISU when that's obviously not true. Because that would make him loyal to ISU, but a "worser" person than GMac, IMHO.

[khaal53]

I saw plenty of, "He's not loyal to ISU" or "He's no longer a part of the Cyclone family in my mind". I have yet to see the reasoning behind those opinions. Granted, you can hold whatever ridiculous opinion that you choose, but that doesn't make it any less ridiculous.

[chengyushen]

Agree with you

[CYlent Bob]

That might be but IMO those are a small minority. I highly doubt anybody really expects him to funnel players. And plus, with his best players seemingly leaving him he probably doesn't have the influence some people think he does.

Except for those people who said "he should funnel players to ISU'.