Maurice Harkless - SF - South Kent - Forest Hills, NY - ST. JOHN'S

This will be a non issue simply media stirring the pot

So the media cycle here is never ending.   It would've been great if Mark Fratto came out and said that this was all reviewed at the time Mo was recruited and he has been cleared by the NCAA instead of saying “St. John’s works attentively to be in compliance with NCAA legislation at all times, and we have been diligent with all of our incoming men’s basketball student-athletes,”

I interpreted that as "I'm not really going to give this the time of day. We're on top of it."

it's time for hicks to go.

You have to be kidding me with this stuff.

Why would we let go of Hicks now? After this year the two-year period where we can't recruit players that he was involved with ends. Then, in theory, St. John's should start to reap the rewards of his connections in the metropolitan area. Also, what would firing Hicks accomplish? If the NCAA determined that Harkless was ineligible to attend St. John's based on his connection with Hicks, would he become eligible if we fired Hicks after Harkless's commitment? Firing Hicks would also really hurt the program's relationship with the coaches in the NYC hs/aau community.

Coach Lavin knew of this rule when he hired Coach Hicks and hired him anyway because of the short-term and long-term benefits he would bring to the staff. For the program to turn his back on him now would be a terrible decision and one which I would be shocked to see Coach Lavin make.

Newsie, always the voice of reason.  LOL

Quote from: newsman13 on May 26, 2011, 01:13:54 PM

it's time for hicks to go.

You have to be kidding me with this stuff.

An absolute joke...Besides the fact that it wouldn't change anything and make anyone eligible to come to St. John's if he left today...It might work out the best for St. John's if all this ultimately leads to Kyle Anderson coming to St. John's....And Coach Hicks will add a lot to this program over time, both in coaching and recruiting...He is an outstanding person

hicks was brought in solely to attract quality recruits.

if his presence means we lose two players we couldn't even sniff at for the past ten years...then he should be making other arrangements.  there's just way too much gray area here. let's face it, we're not north carolina, ohio state or michigan where the ncaa powers that be look the other way.  we're cleveland state.

face it, erich barkley got suspended for borrowing a friend's later model year car...while they're doing documentaries on the fab five who lined their pockets with six figure dollars.

if hicks even winked at an aau kid, that kid is gone.  that's how the ncaa plays the game.

You have no idea why he was brought in, more importantly we landed the no. 2/3 recruiting class even without the benefit of getting Kadeem Jack or Rice player.

And assuming Hicks had no role on SJU at all we may not have landed Jack anyway (since his ties to SJU would be HICKS HIMSELF) and quite frankly give me a break on Momo, the guy is not the be all end all.

Not to mention the Momo thing just came up out of nowhere, totally unanticipated.  SJU knew the deal.

More importantly, 2012 is next year and the rule becomes a moot point.

You have no idea why he was brought in, more importantly we landed the no. 2/3 recruiting class even without the benefit of getting Kadeem Jack or Rice player.

And assuming Hicks had no role on SJU at all we may not have landed Jack anyway (since his ties to SJU would be HICKS HIMSELF) and quite frankly give me a break on Momo, the guy is not the be all end all.

Not to mention the Momo thing just came up out of nowhere, totally unanticipated.  SJU knew the deal.

More importantly, 2012 is next year and the rule becomes a moot point.

You're right Fordham, I'm in newsies camp when I say that at this point I have no idea why Hicks was brought in either?  Seems to have done more harm than good thus far.  What benefit are we reaping, especially now with Rice hs closing?  What will we reap in the future?  Just curious as you seem to be clear on it, but I'm not.

Quote from: fordham96 on May 26, 2011, 04:21:47 PM

You have no idea why he was brought in, more importantly we landed the no. 2/3 recruiting class even without the benefit of getting Kadeem Jack or Rice player.

And assuming Hicks had no role on SJU at all we may not have landed Jack anyway (since his ties to SJU would be HICKS HIMSELF) and quite frankly give me a break on Momo, the guy is not the be all end all.

Not to mention the Momo thing just came up out of nowhere, totally unanticipated.  SJU knew the deal.

More importantly, 2012 is next year and the rule becomes a moot point.

You're right Fordham, I'm in newsies camp when I say that at this point I have no idea why Hicks was brought in either?  Seems to have done more harm than good thus far.  What benefit are we reaping, especially now with Rice hs closing?  What will we reap in the future?  Just curious as you seem to be clear on it, but I'm not.

The benefits are the Gauchos.  The benefits are that Hicks I think is the only coach to win both PSAL and CHSAA city titles in history.  The only negative if you want to paint a negative is we couldn't get Jack.  Sanders was already committed to Cincy so thats moot.  2011 had no Hicks recruits.  This Harkless thing is a bunch of bull.  More holes than Swiss cheese in the reasoning pinning him to the Gauchos.  We can go right back into the game in 2012 with Hicks recruits.

To talk about Hicks hiring in a negative light is honestly ridiculous.

Quote from: fordham96 on May 26, 2011, 04:21:47 PM

You have no idea why he was brought in, more importantly we landed the no. 2/3 recruiting class even without the benefit of getting Kadeem Jack or Rice player.

And assuming Hicks had no role on SJU at all we may not have landed Jack anyway (since his ties to SJU would be HICKS HIMSELF) and quite frankly give me a break on Momo, the guy is not the be all end all.

Not to mention the Momo thing just came up out of nowhere, totally unanticipated.  SJU knew the deal.

More importantly, 2012 is next year and the rule becomes a moot point.

You're right Fordham, I'm in newsies camp when I say that at this point I have no idea why Hicks was brought in either?  Seems to have done more harm than good thus far.  What benefit are we reaping, especially now with Rice hs closing?  What will we reap in the future?  Just curious as you seem to be clear on it, but I'm not.

benefit: another coach who knows the area/ is representative of St. John's having a relationship with local AAU, but isn't particularly polarizing, who is smart enough to be an assistant coach on the bench unlike some other AAU guys who could have been brought in, who should have a good idea/ connections to the up and coming players in 2012 and beyond.

You hire a coach for his connections, true, but the NCAA rule is in place to keep the Scott Drews and Tim Floyds of the world from hiring AAU coaches to get John Wall (even if it didn't work). Unless Hicks costs the recruiting class Harkless - and I don't believe it will - what's missed out on? Kadeem Jack? Jermaine Sanders, who won't be an impact player next year?

Or, what Moose said.

Be easy people, Hicks is an asset.

Did all this Harkless AAU stuff come out in the papers this week AFTER Fordham wrote the post on JJ the other day asking about Harkless/Hicks after the whole MOMO thing. Maybe it was on the MOMO thread I think.

If so I guess these writers are reading this site now for info. Also then I blame Fordham for stirring all this up. Just kidding

This problem was born on these sites.  The writers read our posts on this conceren and generated an attention-grabbing story line.  If you think they are above this, you are wrong.  I've had writers try to get info from me and other students becuase we were the student representatives on the judicial affairs committee at school. 

This won't be an issue, but it really shows that we need to be careful what we put on here.

Can't take the foolishness no more.

And so this brother rise from the darkness to take on the Forces Of The False.

If y'all dont know what good Mo done so far, then y'all really dont follow the program like y'all claim. Lay it down on y'all sorry selves.

Who you think kept two players from mutinizing last year?
Who you think closed on two recruits? (Praise to Lavin, Rico, MD and AHF no doubt, but check the on campus visit).
Who you think made all them SF brothers at ease when two (maybe more) express they concern bout bein recruited over?
And who you think is layin the foundation for the NYC pipeline?

Glad I aint in the foxhole wit some y'all. Most successful times in a decade and y'all turnin on your own lickety-split. Shameful in the most extreme.

Oh yeah, I'm back.

-Choz4Life

Can't take the foolishness no more.

And so this brother rise from the darkness to take on the Forces Of The False.

If y'all dont know what good Mo done so far, then y'all really dont follow the program like y'all claim. Lay it down on y'all sorry selves.

Who you think kept two players from mutinizing last year?
Who you think closed on two recruits? (Praise to Lavin, Rico, MD and AHF no doubt, but check the on campus visit).
Who you think made all them SF brothers at ease when two (maybe more) express they concern bout bein recruited over?
And who you think is layin the foundation for the NYC pipeline?

Glad I aint in the foxhole wit some y'all. Most successful times in a decade and y'all turnin on your own lickety-split. Shameful in the most extreme.

Oh yeah, I'm back.

-Choz4Life

Good stuff, Choz!  Glad to see you back...Like I said on the Pelle thread, some of this ridiculous speculation is irresponsible and reckless

This isn't the NY Times. Anyone posting could be anyone. You'd be surprised to learn some of the people who have, but hopefully, you won't.

Did all this Harkless AAU stuff come out in the papers this week AFTER Fordham wrote the post on JJ the other day asking about Harkless/Hicks after the whole MOMO thing. Maybe it was on the MOMO thread I think.

If so I guess these writers are reading this site now for info. Also then I blame Fordham for stirring all this up. Just kidding

A good writer keeps track of the message boards. That's where loose lips spill rumors. So of course they're reading. Just as the players/ players' families read. This has come up on the sites a few times...

And don't blame Fordham. As I mentioned, someone directly tweeted the question about Harkless/ Hicks to Zags.

Also, nice to see you back, Choz.

Quote from: mjmaherjr on May 26, 2011, 05:27:31 PM

Did all this Harkless AAU stuff come out in the papers this week AFTER Fordham wrote the post on JJ the other day asking about Harkless/Hicks after the whole MOMO thing. Maybe it was on the MOMO thread I think.

If so I guess these writers are reading this site now for info. Also then I blame Fordham for stirring all this up. Just kidding

A good writer keeps track of the message boards. That's where loose lips spill rumors. So of course they're reading. Just as the players/ players' families read. This has come up on the sites a few times...

And don't blame Fordham. As I mentioned, someone directly tweeted the question about Harkless/ Hicks to Zags.

Also, nice to see you back, Choz.

If you recall on Redmen.com a few years ago Lawmanfan posted something that claimed to be from BE Commish Mike Tranghese and Dick Weiss ever so on top of the times wrote about it as if it really happened.

Can't take the foolishness no more.

And so this brother rise from the darkness to take on the Forces Of The False.

If y'all dont know what good Mo done so far, then y'all really dont follow the program like y'all claim. Lay it down on y'all sorry selves.

Who you think kept two players from mutinizing last year?
Who you think closed on two recruits? (Praise to Lavin, Rico, MD and AHF no doubt, but check the on campus visit).
Who you think made all them SF brothers at ease when two (maybe more) express they concern bout bein recruited over?
And who you think is layin the foundation for the NYC pipeline?

Glad I aint in the foxhole wit some y'all. Most successful times in a decade and y'all turnin on your own lickety-split. Shameful in the most extreme.

Oh yeah, I'm back.

-Choz4Life

Choz- you are probably the best person to ask this so how many times or how long did Harkless play for the Gauchos?