by Bluejay Bilas » Thu Apr 04, 2013 5:29 pm
Another Bluejay Bilas rambler:
I know that at least some of us want to see all current members of the team stay Jays for the entirety of their college careers. That may happen, and I would be happy to watch each of these guys stick around and battle for time. From an outsider's perspective, every player on the team appears to represent Creighton University extremely well.
I also sense that many of us, including some of the same people who do not want to see any transfers out, would like to see the team add another player. However, even if the scholarship limits were not absolute, either because someone’s parents are footing the bill or there was an imaginary no-scholarship graduate player world, there still remains at least one major obstacle: games only last 40 minutes. As college fans, it is understandable that we want to support a program (1) with a lot of depth and talent, (2) that does not directly or indirectly suggest that certain players look into transfer options. But, every kid who accepts a basketball scholarship to Creighton or another school wants a chance to get meaningful playing time during his career. If we have 13 scholarship players, plus a walk-on returning 2-time All American, and one or two other scholarship guys who find a real or magical way to be on the team without a scholarship, several guys are going to ride the pine for 35-40 minutes a night (the same will be true if Doug goes pro). We saw plenty of bench warming last season, and we did not have the same player numbers that some on here seem to be suggesting. I just don’t think that it is realistic to expect the average player, especially the average Sophomore, Junior or Senior, to be okay with that.
I know that most of you on this board understand that. I just feel like such things need to be stated periodically, when a portion of the board seems to be itching for another commitment, while another portion, with some overlapping members, seems in favor of seeing all of the same guys wearing a Creighton uniform next season. As always is true on message boards, there is a lot of dancing around the realities of the game and player expectations and desires.
As for individual speculation, there is no need to throw out names. We all know who plays a lot of minutes and who does not. We know how many years of eligibility specific guys have remaining. And we know what recruits are coming in. As was typically true with Dana's transfers, if someone leaves this season or in the future, it will likely not be a shock to those of us who follow the program. If people want to start the handwringing after the fact, fine. However, it annoys a segment of the online fan community to speculate or discuss transfer rumors ahead of time, and potentially, if not likely, paints the fanbase in a negative light for a current player, current player's family member, prospective player or prospective player's family member. I think a pretty limited audience reads this board, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that people with real or potential ties to the team do from time to time see or hear about what message board posters say.