Smotherman Quit Ga St

[Wolegib]

http://purdue.247sports.com/Bolt/GSU-Basketball-Lose-Scholarship-Post-Player-106539237

he enrolled and never attended any practices and then quit. Anybody want to comment?

Did Georgia St pay for his classes?

 

[Do Dah Day]

If he enrolled and was "a scholarship athlete," then yes, they paid for his classes. Not that I know this exact situation, but it would be very odd if it did not fit the universal scholarship scenario.

 

[Statey]

Too bad for him. Guessing that in his suitcase he took with him some of the same problems that plagued him here. Where did you see he quit though... was that a different article?

 

[Wolegib]

Too bad for him. Guessing that in his suitcase he took with him some of the same problems that plagued him here. Where did you see he quit though... was that a different article?

same article. it said he didn't participate in any of their team practices. and it said he is no longer part of their program. To me, that says he quit and forced the coach to release him.

 

[bonefish1]

Man, this kid has been given a ton of opportunity. Hope he gets his head on straight.

 

[tjreese]

Man, this kid has been given a ton of opportunity. Hope he gets his head on straight.

probably need to just leave basketball and start cooking. It could be Cooking with Basil!

 

[Dakota Girl]

probably need to just leave basketball and start cooking. It could be Cooking with Basil!

Wasn't there a picture of him graduating from PU a couple weeks back?

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

Wasn't there a picture of him graduating from PU a couple weeks back?

 

[tjreese]

Wasn't there a picture of him graduating from PU a couple weeks back?

yes

 

[TC4THREE]

Wasn't there a picture of him graduating from PU a couple weeks back?

Thought I remembered seeing that too. Not sure it's fair for some here to assume that he doesn't have his head on straight just because he's not playing basketball. It could just mean that basketball is no longer a top priority for him and, if so, there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[Wolegib]

Thought I remembered seeing that too. Not sure it's fair for some here to assume that he doesn't have his head on straight just because he's not playing basketball. It could just mean that basketball is no longer a top priority for him and, if so, there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm quite sure he has his head on straight. however, he left Purdue on questionable terms. he accepted a basketball scholarship from Ga St. and he enrolled at the school, but never attended any practices. The article says they expected him to compete for a starting position. And now as school is about to start, they are left with a big hole, and most players they could have recruited have already either signed elsewhere or enrolled in fall classes.

To me, he let them down. if he had no intention of playing basketball, he shouldn't have accepted the scholarship, or at least notified them sooner of his intentions of not playing. I have to believe he made his decision long ago.

 

[TC4THREE]

I'm quite sure he has his head on straight. however, he left Purdue on questionable terms. he accepted a basketball scholarship from Ga St. and he enrolled at the school, but never attended any practices. The article says they expected him to compete for a starting position. And now as school is about to start, they are left with a big hole, and most players they could have recruited have already either signed elsewhere or enrolled in fall classes.

To me, he let them down. if he had no intention of playing basketball, he shouldn't have accepted the scholarship, or at least notified them sooner of his intentions of not playing. I have to believe he made his decision long ago.

I don't think you know nearly enough about the situation to make all the assumptions you make but lack of knowledge hasn't stopped you very often on this board so I'm not surprised that you're ready to pass judgment on someone without anything more than wild speculation.

 

[mathboy]

I don't think you know nearly enough about the situation to make all the assumptions you make but lack of knowledge hasn't stopped you very often on this board so I'm not surprised that you're ready to pass judgment on someone without anything more than wild speculation.

I know you are being hopefull about Basil, but I think Wolly has a point. We don't know nearly enough about the situation to pass judgement, but we can discuss the possible Impact of Basils actions. I'm okay with what Wolly points out. Basil very well have put this basketball program in a hole. He seems to be a young man who is struggling to pull his life together. I hope he manages, and this thing with Ga.St. Is just a misunderstanding.

 

[Wolegib]

I don't think you know nearly enough about the situation to make all the assumptions you make but lack of knowledge hasn't stopped you very often on this board so I'm not surprised that you're ready to pass judgment on someone without anything more than wild speculation.

You're right , I don't know all the facts about Smotherman's personal life. He left his high school to go to La Lum. He was part of a very highly rated class, that has had a lot of "personal" issues.

However, I do know a lot about college athletes and scholarships and discipline. And how colleges try to protect the athlete's privacy. . and how colleges disguise suspensions for academics and drugs etc., as minor injuries. My son is a division 1 college athlete. I also taught at several colleges/universities. I know a little more than I reveal.

I posted a link, and asked for comment. if you care to tell the real story - go ahead. I didn't make this story the news. I'm just speculating on it. Others are also speculating. I'm quite certain there is a story about every player that leaves Purdue. and every time one leaves, people speculate, and that speculation is usually spot on.

I didn't say drugs were involved. I said he quit. I said he let his team down. And I asked if being on scholarship, and enrolling, did the school pay for his classes?

TC4Three: You also pass judgement a lot with limited knowledge. You pass judgement on me - quite often! I provided no wild speculation? I just stated and provided the facts! no bias, no speculation about his personal life. just facts. Here's a fact for you: I' m also a Georgia College and State University alumni with an MSA in Management. I was kind of looking forward to Smotherman playing for us this year.

 

[TC4THREE]

I know you are being hopefull about Basil, but I think Wolly has a point. We don't know nearly enough about the situation to pass judgement, but we can discuss the possible Impact of Basils actions. I'm okay with what Wolly points out. Basil very well have put this basketball program in a hole. He seems to be a young man who is struggling to pull his life together. I hope he manages, and this thing with Ga.St. Is just a misunderstanding.

Well there may well be more information out there that supports this view but I still stand by what I said. Based on the information here, I think it's a bit reckless to draw the conclusions some have.

 

[TC4THREE]

You're right , I don't know all the facts about Smotherman's personal life. He left his high school to go to La Lum. He was part of a very highly rated class, that has had a lot of "personal" issues.

However, I do know a lot about college athletes and scholarships and discipline. And how colleges try to protect the athlete's privacy. . and how colleges disguise suspensions for academics and drugs etc., as minor injuries. My son is a division 1 college athlete. I also taught at several colleges/universities. I know a little more than I reveal.

I posted a link, and asked for comment. if you care to tell the real story - go ahead. I didn't make this story the news. I'm just speculating on it. Others are also speculating. I'm quite certain there is a story about every player that leaves Purdue. and every time one leaves, people speculate, and that speculation is usually spot on.

I didn't say drugs were involved. I said he quit. I said he let his team down. And I asked if being on scholarship, and enrolling, did the school pay for his classes?

TC4Three: You also pass judgement a lot with limited knowledge. You pass judgement on me - quite often! I provided no wild speculation? I just stated and provided the facts! no bias, no speculation about his personal life. just facts. Here's a fact for you: I' m also a Georgia College and State University alumni with an MSA in Management. I was kind of looking forward to Smotherman playing for us this year.

I don't know the story and I admit fully that I don't. That's why I don't draw conclusions and speculate things that might indicate questionable character. Maybe he has issues. Maybe he doesn't. To speculate that he does as an anonymous person on the internet AND based on the limited information presented.....it all seems pretty reckless to me.

As far as me passing judgment on you, there's two big differences. First, I pass judgment based on what you say here and I don't believe I venture off into speculating things about you personally that you don't bring to the conversation yourself. Second, you can attack me or vice versa and at the end of the day it has no real world consequences to either of us. It's very different than speculating things about a specific, identifiable person that could discredit their character on a public message board that absolutely anyone can see.

Again, there might be more information out there that supports your view. I certainly can't claim I know all the background on this story but based on what's here I just think it's poor form to make some of these assumptions here.

 

[Dakota Girl]

I'm quite sure he has his head on straight. however, he left Purdue on questionable terms. he accepted a basketball scholarship from Ga St. and he enrolled at the school, but never attended any practices. The article says they expected him to compete for a starting position. And now as school is about to start, they are left with a big hole, and most players they could have recruited have already either signed elsewhere or enrolled in fall classes.

To me, he let them down. if he had no intention of playing basketball, he shouldn't have accepted the scholarship, or at least notified them sooner of his intentions of not playing. I have to believe he made his decision long ago.

Why do you have to believe he made up his mind a long time ago?
How do you know what his intentions were? Did he tell you?
He simply may have come to the conclusion that it's time to start his real life and hoops is not part of it.
I don't know either but my automatic assumption is not one of negative intent.
Does that leave them in a bind? Probably. But that doesn't mean he intentionally screwed them over.

 

[Wolegib]

I don't know the story and I admit fully that I don't. That's why I don't draw conclusions and speculate things that might indicate questionable character. Maybe he has issues. Maybe he doesn't. To speculate that he does as an anonymous person on the internet AND based on the limited information presented.....it all seems pretty reckless to me.

As far as me passing judgment on you, there's two big differences. First, I pass judgment based on what you say here and I don't believe I venture off into speculating things about you personally that you don't bring to the conversation yourself. Second, you can attack me or vice versa and at the end of the day it has no real world consequences to either of us. It's very different than speculating things about a specific, identifiable person that could discredit their character on a public message board that absolutely anyone can see.

Again, there might be more information out there that supports your view. I certainly can't claims I know all the background on this story but based on what's here I just think it's poor form to make some of these assumptions here.

I'll just ask one quick question. What assumptions do you feel are being made about Smotherman ? and judging from past statements made by posters here, there are a lot of people here who know the inside story about his actions at Purdue before he left the team.

and while some posters hide behind an anonymous internet name, many do not, including the person who decided the story was newsworthy enough to publish on his site. I find it odd we don't talk much about others who have left the team. But Smotherman makes the headlines. this story wasn't a small tweet. 24/7 made it a headline story with pictures as if to encourage speculation.

 

[TC4THREE]

I'll just ask one quick question. What assumptions do you feel are being made about Smotherman ? and judging from past statements made by posters here, there are a lot of people here who know the inside story about his actions at Purdue before he left the team.

and while some posters hide behind an anonymous internet name, many do not, including the person who decided the story was newsworthy enough to publish on his site. I find it odd we don't talk much about others who have left the team. But Smotherman makes the headlines. this story wasn't a small tweet. 24/7 made it a headline story with pictures as if to encourage speculation.

You are speculating on the nature of his relationship with the Georgia State program. The story reveals he's not with the program but neglects to provide additional information as to explain it. I don't really think that speculating here on reasons that assign blame for him not being there is appropriate unless we have more information as to why he's no longer with that program. That's just my take on it but it's a free country, at least I think it still is at this point, and people can speculate here in ways to question the character of other people if they wish. I'll just say that I don't think enough was presented here to say some of the things that were said.

 

[Wolegib]

Why do you have to believe he made up his mind a long time ago?
How do you know what his intentions were? Did he tell you?
He simply may have come to the conclusion that it's time to start his real life and hoops is not part of it.
I don't know either but my automatic assumption is not one of negative intent.
Does that leave them in a bind? Probably. But that doesn't mean he intentionally screwed them over.

to make Dakota sue happy, I deleted half of this post - it was getting rather long.

Simple Question:
if you are a transfer to a basketball team, when would you start practicing with the team? in the fall? Summer? When did Spike start practicing ? the article said Smotheman NEVER practiced with the team. Don't most basketball players practice with the team in the Summer? or attend those non-binding workouts? I find the words never practiced with the team very odd.

Obviously, Smotherman has moved on, and basketball is no longer part of his life. the question is when did he make that decision? and when did he inform his coach? the announcement didn't come from him. It came from the school, GA St.

I'm not saying Smotherman intentionally screwed them over. but at some point after he left Purdue, his heart was no longer into playing college basketball. Simply put - he quit. He didn't quit on life. rather, he quit basketball and has moved on.

here is my speculation. it's very possible Smotherman went to GA St with the intention of playing basketball. But upon arrival, changed his mind and decided to focus on his new life and grad studies.. His coach told him to think about it over the Summer and he'd still be considered as part of the team. the Summer is over, and Smotherman hasn't changed his mind, and the coach now has an empty scholarship. that would explain why he didn't practice and why the announcement is being made now.

 

[Wolegib]

something additional to add. if you look at the GA State Rivals forum, this announcement took their fans totally by surprise, and their speculations are 10 times wilder than those expressed on this board, with some of them being edited/deleted.

 

[Dakota Girl]

to make Dakota sue happy, I deleted half of this post - it was getting rather long.

Simple Question:
if you are a transfer to a basketball team, when would you start practicing with the team? in the fall? Summer? When did Spike start practicing ? the article said Smotheman NEVER practiced with the team. Don't most basketball players practice with the team in the Summer? or attend those non-binding workouts? I find the words never practiced with the team very odd.

Obviously, Smotherman has moved on, and basketball is no longer part of his life. the question is when did he make that decision? and when did he inform his coach? the announcement didn't come from him. It came from the school, GA St.

I'm not saying Smotherman intentionally screwed them over. but at some point after he left Purdue, his heart was no longer into playing college basketball. Simply put - he quit. He didn't quit on life. rather, he quit basketball and has moved on.

here is my speculation. it's very possible Smotherman went to GA St with the intention of playing basketball. But upon arrival, changed his mind and decided to focus on his new life and grad studies.. His coach told him to think about it over the Summer and he'd still be considered as part of the team. the Summer is over, and Smotherman hasn't changed his mind, and the coach now has an empty scholarship. that would explain why he didn't practice and why the announcement is being made now.

Gee Wole you didn't have to shorten your quote on my account. Interesting that you shortened your quote by removing the part that conflicts with your current conjecture. The part that says he should not have accepted the scholarship and should have told them sooner of his intentions not to play.
So if as you said he never went to Ga St for summer ball and workouts or to enroll in classes. I would think that the coaching staff may have noticed. They might even have talked to him.
Now you are saying you think it was a joint decision between him and his coach for him to think about it over the summer.
Where's the problem with Smotherman?
Are you gonna talk in a circle again here or are you done?

 

[02Boilermaker]

Simple Question:
if you are a transfer to a basketball team, when would you start practicing with the team? in the fall? Summer? When did Spike start practicing ? the article said Smotheman NEVER practiced with the team. Don't most basketball players practice with the team in the Summer? or attend those non-binding workouts? I find the words never practiced with the team very odd.

I think a key part of being a grad transfer is actually being a graduate. The above picture was posted on the BoilerBall twitter page the day after Purdue's August 5 commencement ceremony. An article on the Georgia State basketball website says this (link): "Following a break in August and into September, the squad will start to prepare for its first exhibition game tentatively set for early November."

If he couldn't officially transfer there until after August 5th & the team was on break during August, I don't see any need to speculate or wonder why he never practiced with Georgia State.

 

[Wolegib]

I know a division 1 athlete who has quit his team several times, but his coach keeps talking him out of it. my so n has practiced off and on all Summer, but he's in a different sport., and did have some time off.

the article did say Smotherman enrolled in classes this Summer. So he was on campus, attended classes, but never practiced? Doesn't that sound odd to you? before making further assumptions/conclusions, I need more info /data. i.e. when do basketball players show up for summer practice?

the part I deleted were some background facts, we all know. Such as he committed/signed with GA St in April, 2017. they also signed a transfer from pitt in May.

and the words used by the GA state coach seemed almost as if they were spoken by Painter. Unlike Stephens, Martin, Scott and others who all announced they were leaving Purdue. the announcement about Smotherman was made by painter in that he didn't live up to team expectations, etc. Those words led to speculation Painter kicked Smotherman off the team. When another coach says almost the exact same thing and includes the words, he never showed up for practice , you tend to believe the same situation occurred.

but hey, there are many things that could have happened. One GA state poster said he was identified as a homeless guy living under a bridge. This announcement surely caught them by surprise.

My only question is when did Smotherman decide to leave the game? Was it this week? or was it 3 months ago? And I believe as I've informed another division 1 athlete, it's not fair to the coach or the team if you plan to quit, not to inform the coach or leave him hanging.

 

[Wolegib]

I think a key part of being a grad transfer is actually being a graduate. The above picture was posted on the BoilerBall twitter page the day after Purdue's August 5 commencement ceremony. An article on the Georgia State basketball website says this (link): "Following a break in August and into September, the squad will start to prepare for its first exhibition game tentatively set for early November."

If he couldn't officially transfer there until after August 5th & the team was on break during August, I don't see any need to speculate or wonder why he never practiced with Georgia State.

I can agree with this post. this would explain not practicing with the team. But if this is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, the n the initial article was wrong in stating he had enrolled in Summer classes at GA St. that statement led me to believe he spent all Summer at GA St.

I can believe he arrived this month and informed the coach he changed his mind this month. that would make sense.

 

[bonefish1]

Thought I remembered seeing that too. Not sure it's fair for some here to assume that he doesn't have his head on straight just because he's not playing basketball. It could just mean that basketball is no longer a top priority for him and, if so, there's nothing wrong with that.

I stand corrected and I extend a sincere apology to Basil and his family for my comments. I clearly didn't do my research and spoke without knowing the facts.
Having earned a degree from Purdue clearly shows he has his head on straight and is willing to work towards his goals. For that, he should be commended and very proud of that accomplishment. Being a "Graduate of Purdue" will take him far in life and hopefully he looks back on his time at Purdue, irrespective of basketball (although I'm sure he has some great memories with that as well) and knows he can accomplish whatever he sets out do.
Congratulations young man, and again, I apologize for my ignorant comment.

 

[BoilerAndy]

You're right , I don't know all the facts about Smotherman's personal life. He left his high school to go to La Lum. He was part of a very highly rated class, that has had a lot of "personal" issues.

OK, your statement that "He left his high school to go to La Lum" is incorrect. I have no idea about the accuracy of your multiple other personal comments about him. If they are as uninformed as this one, you should just stop. No one deserves to have other people just sit around and publicly make up stories about them.

 

[Wolegib]

OK, your statement that "He left his high school to go to La Lum" is incorrect. I have no idea about the accuracy of your multiple other personal comments about him. If they are as uninformed as this one, you should just stop. No one deserves to have other people just sit around and publicly make up stories about them.

I was incorrect about his attendance at La Lum. he graduated from Lawrence North. I don't believe that error was demeaning in any fashion..

my other comments were taken straight from published stories, articles and direct quotes from established media sources, and comments made on this forum. and I also quoted comments made on the Ga St forum. these are not my opinions/comments. I am just sharing what others have already shared and the media has published. .

https://www.hammerandrails.com/2017/1/29/14429402/basil-smotherman-leaves-purdue-basketball-roster

http://www.jconline.com/story/sport.../purdue-parts-ways-basil-smotherman/97211890/

http://purdue.247sports.com/Bolt/GSU-Basketball-Lose-Scholarship-Post-Player-106539237


http://georgiastate.247sports.com/Board/Georgia-State-Panthers-Message-Board-Forum-59462

 

[Indy_Rider]

Man, this kid has been given a ton of opportunity. Hope he gets his head on straight.

He was going in as a grad transfer, so just because his heart was into playing another season, doesn't mean much. Could be just ready to move on to the next part of life.

 

[Statey]

I'll just ask one quick question. What assumptions do you feel are being made about Smotherman ?

For starters, you've stated several times in this thread that "he quit" the team. The article doesn't state that he quit, rather only that is no longer on the team. Granted, if he didn't get dismissed, then he had to have quit... but the article didn't state that he wasn't dismissed. Since the article doesn't state who's decision this was, there's one assumption for you. In fact, when I asked you earlier where you saw that he quit, you even stated that you didn't know for sure and it was your inference based on the article! You do know what an assumption is, correct?

 

[Wolegib]

I believe it is better to say he quit to pursue other things in life than to post or assume the other possible reason for leaving the team!

 

[rgarlitz]

I hope he does well in life. That's more important than college basketball anyway.

And, hey, the dude has a Purdue degree, so it can't be all bad.