Amir is leaving st. john's

To me "sustained success",as SL often references, implies establishing a core group not too vulnerable to sudden change. Imo, it reflects a team that reloads, not rebuilds every year or two. I am not implying we should be top 20 every year, but be competitive with a chance to rise to that level. Next year should be fun, but should also give us a sense where the program is. Can we achieve Coach's desire to have a competitive, sustainable program? 2014 and 2015 recruiting, transfers will tell the story. Hopefully next season is a springboard to such success.

This is paultz bringin the wisdom to the forefront.

Amir had a great attitude and gave everything he had out on the court. You can't ask for more than that.
 
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Kind of sucks.

My thoughts exactly. 

Good luck to Amir, good kid with a big heart and always represented St. John's well from the start. I was really pumped when we got him, unfortunately it didn't really pan out.

I guess I'll ask, is there any chance this has anything to do with Jordan or another '13 recruit?

A completely serviceable player.  Especially with Dom and Karr's propensity to pick up fouls. Neither Felix nor Jones fills that backup role adequately.  A loss for the program no matter how you slice it.

I liked Amir's character, at least what he exhibited during his time to make the team after initially not qualifying, and after joining the team, the enthusiasm and intensity that he brought to the team during his freshman year.  This year, he seemed to lack the physical explosiveness he had last year and he appeared to be lost at times on the floor.  Still, he represented the program well, and I hope to see him pitching in the majors in a few years.

Amir's intensity and aggressiveness paid off initially and he contributed to the team through his rebounding and layups underneath.

Once the defense learned that Amir was a left-handed one-shot player he became ineffective offensively except for his rebounding.

That's when some of Amir's eye-popping fundamental mistakes began to make him a conspicuous liability out there.

He has a great attitude and I would love to be on his team in a pickup game but he failed to show the improvement necessary to compete at this level.

Great attitude, great work ethic,  great athlete.  But that's his blessing and curse - he's a kid who NEEDS an intensive offseason non-stop HOOPS development program in order to improve his game.  But he's got a million reasons to dedicate that attitude, work ethic and athleticism for 6 months a year to Baseball.   Six months a year IS time to make great strides for a pitcher - where practice time is limited anyways by restrictions to amount of repetitive stress on a pitchers arm.  But it guarantees a pretty flat line on an improvement curve in hoops.   As we've seen, just on his athleticism, Amir can be a contributor off the bench to a winning team in a high-end conference. He could even be a starter and major contributor at a mid major.  And I love the kid.  But St. Johns will possibly be better off in the long run giving his 20 minutes a game  the next two years to a player who COULD still develop into a starting level Big East player.

Just my 2 cents.

No mention anywhere but I hope he is finishing the semester.  Again with "transfer rules", he has to sit out a year-so why not find out what he really has as far as Baseball potential and spend the transfer year with the Reds under their tutering.  Then he can make an informed decision as to where to "major" like any other sophomre.  If he uses this year off the court properly, he can honestly evaluate his future. 

As someone who spent time with Amir in the classroom, he is a great kid and had a successful two years here. He is not leaving St. John's with animosity or because he hates the coach or teammate or something. He want's to play basketball for as long as he can before he has to commit to baseball full time. If he wants larger minutes this is no longer the program for him. I respect everything he's done and will do. I will forever be a fan of his.

With Gift, Hooper and Sanchez being added to the mix next year it will be easier to distribute minutes for Lavin anyway. Just wish him the best and move on. This is not a back breaking decision.

He is not leaving St. John's with animosity or because he hates the coach or teammate or something. He want's to play basketball for as long as he can before he has to commit to baseball full time.

Sitting out a year seems an odd way to accomplish that.

Quote from: HowCouldUBeSoHarkless on April 03, 2013, 01:24:38 PM

He is not leaving St. John's with animosity or because he hates the coach or teammate or something. He want's to play basketball for as long as he can before he has to commit to baseball full time.

Sitting out a year seems an odd way to accomplish that.

He could redshirt.

Quote from: Foad on April 03, 2013, 01:30:45 PM

Quote from: HowCouldUBeSoHarkless on April 03, 2013, 01:24:38 PM

He is not leaving St. John's with animosity or because he hates the coach or teammate or something. He want's to play basketball for as long as he can before he has to commit to baseball full time.

Sitting out a year seems an odd way to accomplish that.

He could redshirt.

I think what foad is getting at is that the reds won't want to sit around and wait for him to do a 5th year of college before he dedicates his life to baseball. So he might not be able to play all four years depending on the pressure the reds put on him.

Quote from: HowCouldUBeSoHarkless on April 03, 2013, 01:32:43 PM

Quote from: Foad on April 03, 2013, 01:30:45 PM

Quote from: HowCouldUBeSoHarkless on April 03, 2013, 01:24:38 PM

He is not leaving St. John's with animosity or because he hates the coach or teammate or something. He want's to play basketball for as long as he can before he has to commit to baseball full time.

Sitting out a year seems an odd way to accomplish that.

He could redshirt.

I think what foad is getting at is that the reds won't want to sit around and wait for him to do a 5th year of college before he dedicates his life to baseball. So he might not be able to play all four years depending on the pressure the reds put on him.

Reds paid for college as part of the deal.  Thats a 4 yr commitment.  As for the extra year?  I don't know.

The Reds knew he was gonna play basketball when they signed him. Yes, maybe the fifth year would be a problem. But maybe not. Dude is 19.

Has StJ BBall issued a farewell statement on Amir yet or waiting for another shoe to drop? Maybe I missed it.

In the past I agreed with those posters who said when Amir signed that he was a high major player with enormous potential and an important piece of the puzzle.

Last year I agreed with those posters who waited with bated breath last December for Amir to qualify and who "couldn't wait to see him in red and white," who "always want kids like [Amir] as part of our program and school" and who said "Just flat out love this kid's attitude" because of the hard work he had done to qualify.

Now I agree with those posters who think that Garrett was garbage now that he's leaving and that he is not a BE player. Hopefully this frees up playing time for Jones and Balamou and other players who got no playing time this year - obviously Lavin felt compelled to play Garrett instead of them out of loyalty. Anyone who doubts about Lavin's character should note that his loyalty extends to telling Garrett up front that it was in his best interest to get out, whereas a less honest coach would have kept Garrett on the bench as insurance if Balamou or heaven forbid David Lipscomb went down. Plus this frees up a schollie. So this is a win win win win win win situation.

I also agree with the poster who said that anyone who questions this or anything else that happens under Lavin is pining for Norm Roberts and wants him back as coach. That is a very compelling argument and that poster is very smrat. I agree with him that other than saying how cool Lavin is and what nice hair he has all you Negative Nellies should just shut up.

There's even more waffling on interweb college basketball forums than in big time politics.

Thank you Amir for your valuable contribution to the program.  Best of luck to you always!

Maybe Andy Enfield will want him at U$C.   Amir seems to fit the way FGCU played - and it would have Amir playing back home in LA.

Maybe Andy Enfield will want him at U$C.   Amir seems to fit the way FGCU played - and it would have Amir playing back home in LA.

I can see that and thought the same thing last night.

Classes should be starting today following Spring Break.

Will be interesting to see if D'angelo is back in classes, as well as the other guys.