A look back 5 years - trouble at Binghamton - beware of impermissible contact with recruits

Not that I would ever expect this to happen at Bradley or want it to happen - but let's take a little look back at how one really bizarre accident can so horribly ruin a guy's life...

First - a link to the top pro league in the Czech Republic and one of their two best teams - BK Prostejov...
The best player on this team is Jamar Smith - ex-Illini - averaging 14.3 ppg and 39.7% on 3-pointers.
http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=Czech%20Republic&Team=5730&Page=3

Other American players in this same league include other ex-Illini Marcus Arnold and Dominique Keller.
And maybe Jamar is very happy but I know he has a couple kids back here in the states, so I have to wonder if he'd prefer playing here...

BUT as we all recall, Jamar's life and those lives of a few others, especially Brian Carlwell were altered dramatically and permanently in an instant when a very bad choice to drive in a snowstorm while drunk led to a serious accident.

The accident took place just a little over 5 years ago in Feb. of 2007.
In time we would see that his playing career was all but over - and he was basically never heard from again.
Jamar was every bit as good of a player as Blake Ahearn (who has played for NBA teams), and as good of a shooter as many players who are currently in the NBA.
Just about any chance Jamar had of playing in the NBA evaporated that night and he's kind of played in obscurity ever since.

This isn't to pick on Jamar - I wish him well and hope some day he does make it back to "The League"...but I hope every young college athlete and even non-athlete student learns from this example - and does not make the same really bad and even illegal choices. Take life seriously - it can be ever so great and yet it can also be a nightmare at times.



In coaching news........
Wow - big shakeup at Binghamton -- head coach Mark Macon - coming off a 2-29 season (includes a 26-game losing streak) where some people had Binghamton as the worst team in D-I, he just fired two of his assistants and is looking for new ones.
Ron Brown and Julius Smith have been cut loose...

Consider this - Mark Macon took over at Binghamton after Kevin Broadus led the team to the 2009 America East Conference championship ...
he had good players but admittedly there were issues, but Macon was the assistant there at the time all the "issues" arose so he sure wasn't completely separate from those issues...

Since 2009 he has literally run that program straight into the ground - dropping instantly to well under .500,
then an 8-23 season, now just 2-29 beating only Vermont & UM-Baltimore Cty, yet at the end of last season he got
a contract extension and the school now finds themselves unable to fire him because they cannot afford it -
so like BU did to JL, and like SIU did to Lowery, and like DePaul did to Wainwright, they have cut his assistants out from under him...
BTW - in each of those three other cases, the following year - immediately after the season ended the head coach was also axed.

But - I still recall posters here who repeatedly hyped Mark Macon as someone Bradley should hire.
God knows why a coach who has never been able to win, who has had multiple of his own players caught with drugs and other issues and booted, and who can't recruit enough talent to even win more than TWO games against the kind of crappy schedule that Binghamton plays.....
JUST why in the hey would anyone who has Bradley's best interests in mind want that guy hired here at BU as an assistant or even as a waterboy?
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=175737#post175737



BTW - there are still a few other D-I transfer kids that have yet to commit - Bobo Drummond, Jarrod Uthoff, and Rayvonte Rice among them - who have yet to declare or land anywhere.....

BUT -- anyone affiliated with Bradley, or who is a Bradley booster or fan, or who is or has worked for Bradley SHOULD NOT contact these guys or any recruits....NEVER -- not even via social media or posting something by twitter or Facebook to them.
This is a clear violation and risks the NCAA looking into it.
I can't believe there are fans who are such big time wannabe's that they risk their own school's future just to sniff a few jocks!
http://michiganhockey.net/2011/07/14/recruiting-contact-through-social-media-know-the-rules/#.T47zL1Lhfzw
http://leatherhelmetblog.com/2012-articles/march/uga-booster-twitter-violations.html
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-07-12/sports/os-florida-ncaa-violation-facebook-0720100712_1_facebook-recruit-ole-miss


BTW -- Bradley lists those fans who ARE their BIGGEST fans on a site they label...
"The Honor Roll of Donors". Many if not most of these people who give plenty - do so out of their hearts and do NOT ask for publicity. But the list is, to me, remarkable NOT in who is on there but who is NOT on there.
Some people have argued who are the bigger and better fans and some of those who are the loudest voices in that debate, who lay claim to being the biggest and most loyal fans for decades and decades - their names are absolutely nowhere to be found. Literally they have never given even a penny to BU.
Others give only their maintainence...the bare minimum...

With attendance AND giving down in a poor economy - Bradley needs the financial support of their fans and donors more than ever. Consider walking the walk....not just talking the talk......
and be careful if googling the names of some - especially if there are small children in the room...