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"RJ: That’s right! I was at a point at Indiana State where some of the politics, you know, I don’t want to make it sound like they’re a bad school because there’s a bunch of people I love and have respect for the coaching staff, but I was just getting to a point where for some reason I just didn’t love it anymore. I thought about maybe making a move, I just felt like I was maybe holding things back. I played a lot of minutes and did a lot of stuff for [their team], so for me not to have heart in it, I just thought to myself: what can really give me that fire back? [Lane] decided to go to IWU, and I kind of just ran into the coaches and loved them and drove up here one day after I decided to leave Indiana State, just really loved the campus, just everything kind of fell into place. Then, two weeks later, I was at Indiana Wesleyan getting ready to play together. It just all happened really fast! I didn’t know at the time what it took to really fall back in love with the game, but this move with my brother has really helped me to do that. Just talking to the coaches here, we’re family, and winning isn’t everything. It’s not the coaches fault, but playing Division I, if you don’t win games, you get fired. It’s all about winning games. It’s important here too. But to be on the same team, we’re family and this is a great family, literally."

Wow...there's a lot there to chew on. At this point, though, I don't see much of a reason to rehash anything. RJ appears happy, ISU is winning, so everybody came out ahead.
 
I think those are candid and fair remarks honestly.

I think the pressure to win at this level is fealt by coaches, players adminsitrators, families and fans maybe not in that order but close. That pressure can take a lot of the fun out of it for a lot people.

I'd hate to speculate as to what made it no fun for RJ, but I think he's been pretty clear.

He needed a change and he was fortunate enough to find a good fit for him. Most kids leave a problem and thats the end of it. Obviously this isn't one of those situations because this is a kid who commited (verbally) to Indiana State as a Freshman in high school - that alone is unique. Throw in the fact he is one of if not the best player to come out of a local program and it's something that gets a lot of publicity.

But whats done is done, I think we can all move on and say it's worked out for the best for everyone.
 
Not trying to start a war.............. just thought it was interesting. It sounds like things are working out well for him, and we're obviously doing OK. Looks like it was for the best.
 
There are times where I've wondered how our inside game would've developed if he'd stayed. Although originally in the same mold as Gant (facing the basket), RJ was developing a consistent knack for the game inside, although always at a size disadvantage.
 

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Still have fond memories of the Vandy game when I was surrounded by Vandy fans on all sides at the game and RJ kept knocking down 3s........
 
I guess I'm glad to know that winning is that important at ISU. No longer are we accepting mediocrity, which from a fan's prospective I think is a good thing. The pressure to win was so great it was a factor in R.J. leaving. Not that I wanted R.J. to leave, but I'm glad we've created a winning environment.
 
BrokerZ said:
I guess I'm glad to know that winning is that important at ISU. No longer are we accepting mediocrity, which from a fan's prospective I think is a good thing. The pressure to win was so great it was a factor in R.J. leaving. Not that I wanted R.J. to leave, but I'm glad we've created a winning environment.
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I agree you don't want to accept mediocrity (ISU seemed to for too long), but to me that's more about funding, coaching hires, that sort of thing, not a kid's mindset. I would hope most of the kids we recruit come in wanting to win, don't really doubt RJ did. Don't think it's a case of kids being absent minded and forgetting that's why they're here, but don't doubt the "politics," the grind, the frustration can distract them from that purpose. Coaches, too.

Winning and contributing, I would think, have to be the biggest factors in driving a player's level of satisfaction.
 
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I'm pretty sure kids at every level start to feel the pressure after a while.After all ,they have been under pressure since a very young age with the sports culture of today.It's a wonder more don't burn out than do.
 
hans1950 said:
I'm pretty sure kids at every level start to feel the pressure after a while.After all ,they have been under pressure since a very young age with the sports culture of today.It's a wonder more don't burn out than do.
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Different kind of pressure...

You don't perform at this leven when your getting your school paid for based on how you perform then that is a different pressure.

Whats the pressure in high school and middle school? Pressure of your parents being upset because you don't put in the practice time on your own and then you suck!! Come on, the pressure at a younger age is NOTHING compared to what you find at the D1 level.

You aint got message boards in middle school, high school and any other level of college sports where people are critical of every move you make on and off the floor. So don't try and down play it....
 

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I'm from Parke County originally. A few statements have come back to me that pissed me off....and as Forrest Gump said, "...and that's all I've got to say about that."
 
I still think some of the comments on here had to do with RJ's decision- especially since his father was a member on here.
 
SycamoreStateofMind said:
Different kind of pressure...

You don't perform at this leven when your getting your school paid for based on how you perform then that is a different pressure.

Whats the pressure in high school and middle school? Pressure of your parents being upset because you don't put in the practice time on your own and then you suck!! Come on, the pressure at a younger age is NOTHING compared to what you find at the D1 level.

You aint got message boards in middle school, high school and any other level of college sports where people are critical of every move you make on and off the floor. So don't try and down play it....
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Actually there are places where certain sports draw that level of scrutiny at the HS level, sometimes younger (the Friday Night Tykes show that caused such an uproar), which is crazy, but yes, agree with you.
 
SSOM,I was talking about cumulative pressure from an early age to perform and get that scholarship.I wasn't trying to infer that the pressure to perform at the D1 level wasn't high,more of a last straw kind of thing.
 

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How the hell can going to the NCAA tournament as a freshman and the NIT as a junior at a quality mid major program not any fun? Piss on Mahurin. Yeah it's real fun playing in front of 25 people in a gym smaller than your high school gym. What a joke
 
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