Anyone know what the players reaction is to the Hazell firing....did he have a chance to talk to the players?...any statement from Hazell?
Anyone know what the players reaction is??
- Thread starter uncleboiler
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He told them he'd have to get MB to send him a tape to review before he could address them.
How about a quote from Burke? Need an update on how much fun he's having proving the Hazell doubters wrong.
How about a quote from Burke? Need an update on how much fun he's having proving the Hazell doubters wrong.
I've seen a lot of players tweeting pictures and thanking Hazel for recruiting them. Hazel seems like a great guy, just not that good of a coach.
A friend of mine has a son on the team. I'll see him at work tomorrow and am interested in hearing what the players think.
Parker said at the press conference that he passed along a message from Hazell to the players, so he didn't speak with the group directly. It's possible some guys have reached out to him since, but I don't know that.
Today will be our first chance to speak with players, and we'll have reaction on the site after practice tonight.
In another related note, it appears most of the commits appear to be solid or semi-solid with Purdue right now. I think they understood that Hazell had a good chance to be fired and committed more to the university and not the coach. Some had said they thought he was a good guy...which leads me to believe he didn't really ever make a solid connection with the players...which leads me to believe that is where some of the struggles come from (and honestly, former players that I know have echoed the same exact feelings). Hazell is a good man but appears to struggle with making a strong connection and selling his direction to young men. As most of pointed out, he would be a great assistant or associate HC...but not the leader of a major program.
Parker has always been the recruiting coordinator so it doesn't surprise me at all the commits would stick or that the players on the roster would be apathetic to the current situation. Freeman and Parker have always been the guys that had the bonds with the players. Too much CEO style coaching from Hazell.
I think we found the reason for why Parker was chosen as the interim HC. He may be able to hold off the defectives and pick up a few more commits prior to the announcement of the HC who can then meet the kids in person (or in Fleck's history, remove all the scholarship promises and start from scratch...talk about balls).
I am sure we will lose a few..............whoever the new coach is, he will have to pull a K-State and heavily recruit the JC level.
Yep, we may lose a few but the reality is that these are not 4 &5 star guys that will be snapped up by other programs. Most will stay because they're not going to get significantly better offers.
