Not sure I beleive this. After all the reporting nationwide for weeks he was going to SLU, the team was "blindsided" when he said he was leaving? I mean, if he flat out said to the team in black and white he's not leaving no matter what, then yeah he lied and they can feel blindsided. But knowing the whole time he's leaving why would he risk alienating the entire team--especially since presumably he wants to take some of them with him?
As the hours go by this whole thing is getting less and less relevant and will fizzle out, Angie/Deb will promote Graves or hire someone else, the portal will be busy with incoming and outgoing Sycamores, and that'll be that.
As others have said, it can be both. I thought he was gone as soon as he started following the SLU guy on Twitter. I never wavered in my belief he was taking that job. I was not blindsided when he left. But, I was not in any conversations with him. I fully believe that what is being reported is true and that he was telling people he hadn’t made up his mind or that he was staying. So just because you or I or anyone from the outside thought it was obvious doesn’t mean people on the inside couldn’t be blindsided.
It could be he knew he wasn’t taking any of his assistants with him so he was telling them what he needed them to hear. It could be he didn’t tell any players or parents because he didn’t want someone to accidentally out him in social media or interviews, so he told them the narrative he needed to be out there. When Robbie told the fans he had two more years left when they were chanting “one more year,” or when he told Pat McAfee that they had a lot of returning guys so they wanted to keep playing, maybe he was just being PR savvy, or maybe he was under the impression they were coming back. During the time out when we went up 77-70 Thursday night, Robbie’s dad was chanting ISU with as much enthusiasm as anyone in the place. He did not seem like a parent with one foot out the door. Maybe he was just excited about the moment, but maybe he thought this was going to continue. I have no idea since I have not personally spoken to anyone involved, so I accept both scenarios could be true. They may have known, they may not have.
And while I’m making this way too long of a post, let me say that I have no ill feelings towards any player or their family if they transfer. They are clearly all good young men, and that didn’t happen by accident. Isaiah’s mom made a really nice post on Twitter showing the crowd during one of the NIT home games and talked about what a great experience ISU has been. Jayson’s mom has made many great posts. Ju’s mom has made really nice comments. Robbie’s parents. I’m sure the list goes on and on. These are great guys because they’ve been raised well.
My son didn’t play sports, but he had a lot of really good academic scholarships. He had a full ride to IU or Wabash, and got a lot from Butler, though not a full ride. He narrowed it to Wabash and Butler. Wabash was $55,000 a year and they offered him $55,000. Butler was $59,000 a year and they offered him $43,000. He chose Butler. I knew it was the right spot for him too and paying the $16,000 a year instead of $0 was worth it because of fit. But, if after his sophomore year Wabash or some other school came back and said they’d give a full ride plus pay him $100,000, I’d have encouraged him to transfer even though he would have hated leaving Butler. So I get that it can be a tough decision for the players and families and I wish them well. I won’t go a be a fan of their new school because I am a Tree, but I’ll understand.
And for those who can’t seem to understand that people are mad at the way Schertz handled everything and not that he is leaving for what he thinks is a better opportunity, let me again reiterate that I have no qualms about a coach taking a better opportunity. The issue is how he did it. I know that has been posted hundreds of times on here by most people, but for some reason there are a few people who can’t quite grasp that the issue isn’t with him leaving, but how he left.
That’s it. Thanks to the one person who read this whole thing!
