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Post by sharkey on Oct 8, 2019 21:04:18 GMT -5
True, plenty of guards on the roster, but I have never believed in looking ahead. If a kid has a chance to be eligible this season I want him eligible, especially a kid like Washington. I want the best possible roster on the court. Washington has the potential to be the best PG on the team. The other options are Cashaw, who is unproven, and Gist who I rather see off the ball. The other factor is IW not being eligible will kill the buzz of him coming back home and playing for Iona. What buzz? Where have you seen any buzz? We also have McNeal There was plenty of buzz in the NYC summer leagues. The on court "announcers" constantly mentioned Iona in the games he played in. These leagues have younger age level leagues and lots of times these kids would stick around if he was playing the same day. Never heard Iona mentioned as much as I did this past summer. I guarantee if he's eligible there will be more than the usual coverage for a Iona home opener. McNeil is not a PG. I like the potential he has, but I'm not even sure he starts from day one
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Post by Joebird on Oct 8, 2019 21:28:57 GMT -5
My hunch is if he is not eligible this year he will never dress for us. Would not be surprised, that’s why we need this waiver.
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Post by iona1970 on Oct 8, 2019 21:54:08 GMT -5
What buzz? Where have you seen any buzz? We also have McNeal There was plenty of buzz in the NYC summer leagues. The on court "announcers" constantly mentioned Iona in the games he played in. These leagues have younger age level leagues and lots of times these kids would stick around if he was playing the same day. Never heard Iona mentioned as much as I did this past summer. I guarantee if he's eligible there will be more than the usual coverage for a Iona home opener. McNeil is not a PG. I like the potential he has, but I'm not even sure he starts from day one Starkey I have been saying since May kids know who he is and he has millions of followers but there is no buzz Guarantee we don't sell out like we should if there was real buzz all that is is an extra 500 tickets and there should be college basketball buzz not streetball buzz
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Post by GuyF on Oct 8, 2019 22:35:44 GMT -5
My hunch is if he is not eligible this year he will never dress for us. We have no buzz that he is actually at Iona days before we start, if a tree falls in the forest does it make sound? How can Iona buzz about something that may never happen?
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Post by GuyF on Oct 8, 2019 22:37:37 GMT -5
There was plenty of buzz in the NYC summer leagues. The on court "announcers" constantly mentioned Iona in the games he played in. These leagues have younger age level leagues and lots of times these kids would stick around if he was playing the same day. Never heard Iona mentioned as much as I did this past summer. I guarantee if he's eligible there will be more than the usual coverage for a Iona home opener. McNeil is not a PG. I like the potential he has, but I'm not even sure he starts from day one Starkey I have been saying since May kids know who he is and he has millions of followers but there is no buzz Guarantee we don't sell out like we should if there was real buzz all that is is an extra 500 tickets and there should be college basketball buzz not streetball buzz Why should there be college basketball buzz? He wasnt a superstar at Minn or else he'd still be there.
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Post by iona1970 on Oct 8, 2019 23:23:56 GMT -5
Starkey I have been saying since May kids know who he is and he has millions of followers but there is no buzz Guarantee we don't sell out like we should if there was real buzz all that is is an extra 500 tickets and there should be college basketball buzz not streetball buzz Why should there be college basketball buzz? He wasnt a superstar at Minn or else he'd still be there. Starkey please explain to the man how popular he is Guy also he was Mr basketball new york In the Midwest they always say that about the player when he is playing for the big schools and now we have one also
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Post by GuyF on Oct 9, 2019 7:32:21 GMT -5
Why should there be college basketball buzz? He wasnt a superstar at Minn or else he'd still be there. Starkey please explain to the man how popular he is Guy also he was Mr basketball new york In the Midwest they always say that about the player when he is playing for the big schools and now we have one also Nobody has to explain anything. You said he needs college buzz not street buzz. His popularity has nothing to do with his performance in college, which was meh so far and thus tarnished what honors he took home in high school. And we don't "have" him at all yet.
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Post by broguy99 on Oct 9, 2019 7:34:13 GMT -5
Why should there be college basketball buzz? He wasnt a superstar at Minn or else he'd still be there. Starkey please explain to the man how popular he is Guy also he was Mr basketball new york In the Midwest they always say that about the player when he is playing for the big schools and now we have one also Almost half a million followers on Instagram is no joke. Add up every single Iona gram page from the school and doesnt come close to his.
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Post by GuyF on Oct 9, 2019 9:18:30 GMT -5
Starkey please explain to the man how popular he is Guy also he was Mr basketball new york In the Midwest they always say that about the player when he is playing for the big schools and now we have one also Almost half a million followers on Instagram is no joke. Add up every single Iona gram page from the school and doesnt come close to his. I'm not debating that. The comment was that his college hoops should be getting the hype that his street hoops have gotten. He didn't do that much at Minn to generate the college hoops hype, and he's not even guaranteed to dress for us yet we're supposed to be hyping him? Do you know how STUPID that would look if he never plays a minute for us?
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Post by husker76 on Oct 9, 2019 9:51:10 GMT -5
GuyF, Ditto. Classic case of counting our chickens before they have hatched. I prefer to error on the side of caution. We will know when we know. Too many variables to say who will be Iona's starting five at this point and the reality is that Coach Cluess decides who earned those spots. I do hope that Isaiah Washington does get his waiver for his sake.
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Post by broguy99 on Oct 9, 2019 10:14:22 GMT -5
I hear you guys and I kind of agree about your position. But then I look at the other side and see how Iona really could've used this (and still can very much so) to their advantage regardless. Even if he never plays and even if it Iona looks "stupid," oh well... Who cares really? Also, most likely it would be more on Washington if he never plays, not Iona.
As it's been said before on this board, not many people outside of this forum care that much about Iona Basketball. Well here's a big chance to change that. And even if for some reason this relationship never pans out.. if Iona picks up some publicity and followers along the way.. it would be pretty beneficial no matter what.
Either way, we know in a matter of a few weeks or less. If he plays and Iona get's off to a good start, this relationship could be the best thing that ever happened to Iona since Cluess.
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Post by sharkey on Oct 9, 2019 10:20:43 GMT -5
When I posted how there was plenty of buzz during the summer at the summer leagues it was about IW and the entire Jelly Fam movement coming back home to play. Not so much of his play at Minnesota. Having said that, most believe IW can be a star at the MAAC level. Yeah his shooting was pretty bad, but he had a great A/TO ratio playing against great defenses in the Big Ten.
Entering this season, following a 4th straight MAAC championship, Iona really had a chance to hype/promote the program with the upgraded HAC and the Jelly Fam stuff. This is NY, with too much competition for attention. The school spending resources during the summer to promote the program would have been wasted money. The Knicks are already playing exhibition games and you hardly here anything about them.
As the season nears it would have been great to promote to come see the preseason MAAC favorites in the upgraded HAC but unfortunately the OOC schedule with only 1 home game doesn't help. Agree with Guy as far as Iona jumping on the entire Jelly Fam stuff. Can't do it until he's cleared to play. Again a home schedule of Ohio on 11/14 followed by the MAAC opener on 1/3 hurts.
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Post by IONA86 on Oct 9, 2019 10:39:43 GMT -5
Guy is 100% correct regarding Iona's current ability to tap into Isaiah Washington's social media footprint. Until he is cleared, the school is limited in what it can do. While I am unable to go into full detail, here is some info I can share: - The Athletic Department is fully aware of the opportunity that will present itself once/if IW obtains his waiver.
- The program has a strategy to tap into the opportunity when that happens.
- When dealing with athletes and social media, as this is a fairly new phenomenon, many issues could develop or have developed regarding NCAA policies and the Program will stay in compliance. This is a major concern and it will continue to evolve.
- Ideas regarding improving marketing and social media reach have been presented to the Program's leadership and was very well received.
- The emphasis on increasing the social media footprint of the Program will not just be based on the current footprint of a single player. I believe that internal and external assets will be used to help spread the word more efficiently than in the past.
- If IW gets his waiver, you will see a full-court press put into effect to utilize his unique position in the world of social media... within NCAA regulations.
- Remember, Hoops is king at Iona but the Athletic Department has to provide a similar experience to the other teams and athletes in the program. Some of the efforts can be cookie-cut and applied, but some balance is still a concern.
- If people want to help with the effort, present some detailed ideas that you think can help and/or cut a check (whatever you can afford) to the hoops program. While social media can be organically driven... paying pros to help doest hurt
So in synopsis... The powers that be understand the opportunity, are prepared to take advantage of it, have a plan and some assets in place to make it happen, the effort will evolve... some well thought out ideas and a little financial support could really help out. If you want to go from to this overnight... this could really help:
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Post by GuyF on Oct 9, 2019 10:40:11 GMT -5
I hear you guys and I kind of agree about your position. But then I look at the other side and see how Iona really could've used this (and still can very much so) to their advantage regardless. Even if he never plays and even if it Iona looks "stupid," oh well... Who cares really? Also, most likely it would be more on Washington if he never plays, not Iona. As it's been said before on this board, not many people outside of this forum care that much about Iona Basketball. Well here's a big chance to change that. And even if for some reason this relationship never pans out.. if Iona picks up some publicity and followers along the way.. it would be pretty beneficial no matter what. Either way, we know in a matter of a few weeks or less. If he plays and Iona get's off to a good start, this relationship could be the best thing that ever happened to Iona since Cluess. Couple disagreements. Iona cannot use this until it's happening. Hyping that he chose us only for the NCAA to then not grant the waiver and then the kid ends up elsewhere (or nowhere) would make us look bad. And I don't think it would be the kid's fault, nor Iona's. NCAA has no standard policy for this crap. But yes, the minute that waiver comes through, yes, marketing must jump. The ONLY concern I'd have is that you have no choice but to play Jelly a ton, whether you want to or not. He could disrupt chemistry, coming into a team with an already established pecking order and then donning superman's cape because he's Jelly. That's why I wouldn't mind if he doesn't play for us this year, even with the risk that he may never play for us if that happens.
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Post by sharkey on Oct 9, 2019 10:42:19 GMT -5
I hear you guys and I kind of agree about your position. But then I look at the other side and see how Iona really could've used this (and still can very much so) to their advantage regardless. Even if he never plays and even if it Iona looks "stupid," oh well... Who cares really? Also, most likely it would be more on Washington if he never plays, not Iona. As it's been said before on this board, not many people outside of this forum care that much about Iona Basketball. Well here's a big chance to change that. And even if for some reason this relationship never pans out.. if Iona picks up some publicity and followers along the way.. it would be pretty beneficial no matter what. Either way, we know in a matter of a few weeks or less. If he plays and Iona get's off to a good start, this relationship could be the best thing that ever happened to Iona since Cluess. Iona basketball is already getting some hype because of IW signing with Iona. No reason for the program to spend resources before knowing if he's eligible. Don't know how many on the board attend many NYC summer league games, but during these games they actually have a guy doing play-by-play running up and down the court. Whenever IW made a play they would always mention Iona and how they can now watch him play college hoops at a local college. That is the market Iona has a chance to draw from. NYC hoops fans remember him from HS, not Minnesota. The guy has 647K followers on IG and close to 40K on Twitter. I believe Iona 70 said the kids he coaches all have heard of IW. Hopefully, they talk their parents into bringing them to Iona games this season. To Washington's credit he posts stuff about Iona on his IG account, as well as hyping other Iona players. That's why getting his waiver approved is very important, both on and off the court.
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