Caleb Throwing Shade at Cam
- Thread starter jordkap
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Let’s see what happens on that one. When Caleb is done playing pro ball my money is on Pike and our staff helping Caleb figure out the next chapter of his life - whether directly or indirectly.
You do know chasing opportunity many times produces much more $
That’s not what happened. He negotiated an amount with Rutgers that mitigated the risk of giving up a year of salary in Europe. He didn’t auction himself off. He wanted to come back to Rutgers and worked with our staff to make it happen. It’s completely different.
Eh, money got Caleb to come back, money got Cam to leave, I don’t really see the difference.
Money and wanting to be part of RU got Caleb to stay. Money and wanting to leave got Cam to leave.
There’s a difference.
GO RU
Not even remotely the same.
Maybe no different but Caleb is a loyal son who loved this place. Cam is a guy who stopped by for a year and will be forgotten. Some love their own.
It pays to know legitimate information.....Caleb turned down WAY more money elsewhere to stay at RU and play in the B1G, to set up his next opportunity. Knowing where he would have landed IF he took the money in the short term, he would be nowhere near the NBA radar and exposure earned at RU.
It wasn't like Caleb didn't get something out of staying, but Cam Spencer is fine to chase his money, RU is not going to skip a beat losing him.
It wasn't like Caleb didn't get something out of staying, but Cam Spencer is fine to chase his money, RU is not going to skip a beat losing him.
Caleb battled through so much here at Rutgers, achieved DPOY, and is a true loyal son.
Wish him the best in his future and hope he stays connected to the program.
Wish him the best in his future and hope he stays connected to the program.
Caleb also had 4 years of history here compared to 1 for Cam.
Not sure how anyone can make judgements on his leaving without any facts, just internet rumors. The only fact I know is he was tied for the team lead in scoring, tied for second in assists, second in steals and 10% better FT than anyone on the team, him leaving is not good.
It’s completely different. One kid wanted to stay and didn’t even entertain offers from anyone else let alone put himself in the portal.
They other kid didn’t even give us a chance to counter offer. It seems like he was somehow insulted we didn’t proactively throw a pot of money at him and beg him to stick around.
It’s not an internet rumor - he put himself in the portal. He is leaving and didn’t let it be known to anyone until late May. We know Pike didn’t know. He would not have represented Rutgers at Rfund 2 weeks ago if the staff knew he was even entertaining leaving. He sandbagged us. What additional information do you need to move the news out of rumor status?
Some just cling to their morally hollow and characterless mantra of "greed is good" "he's getting paid ain't he?" Blah blah blah....its created nonsense like what happened with Spencer, and it's no good overall for a society. But if there is some excuse to give this kid, they'll give it to him, bc it aligns with their nonsense narrative that you can never blame someone for taking money, and that money as an interest and end trumps all other considerations.
Fact is this kid did us very dirty. He can take his ass back to the DMV...an area that produces other snots like Dickenson.
Be careful with all of these facts.....the sky is falling with some RU fans looking for you with pitchforks to tell you it's RUs fault.....Spencer could do no wrong.....
No not at all. Just one of my all time favorites. I’m partial to defense…
You dont have to personally know Caleb in this situation though. Caleb never entered the portal. His tweets throughout off season made it clear he was loyal to Rutgers. Going to another school was never an option and our fan base knew that from the start.
I understand that some people are put off by NIL entirely but for me, I’ll continue to be quite happy to observe situations like the one with Caleb. In general, I hate the idea of any kid who doesn’t come from money having to decide between one more year of college ball to finish their degree or 150K in Europe (hypothetical). This is where I think NIL does some good. It’s too bad it can’t only be applied in this way.
Guys like Caleb, Geo and RHJ were and still are all about RU. Same with Paul, Mawot and Cliff. Hyatt transferred in but is also a team first player. We win with guys like this and I really liked Cam too and am not at all upset with his decision. I wish him well but he was only here one season. He is not an RU man. He was a hired gun who shot straight and often. If he changes his mind and comes back he has a chance to be talked about like the others. If not, he was just a hired gun.
One kid’s comp was adjusted to get him to come back. Another kid found out the market for him was very different than what he was being compensated. At the end of the day he might make between $250k to $300k, which is probably anywhere from 5x to 12x what Rutgers was paying him, and Rutgers isn’t matching at these levels, and I don’t blame Rutgers for not matching. It was great that Caleb came back, and he was compensated to do it. I would very much prefer Cam would stay, but given the demand for SGs at high major programs right now, he is extremely valuable and would literally be crazy not to take It.
We do know one inescapable fact – – he left the third week in May.
I guess I see this somewhat differently than everyone. I think Cam wanted to be the guy and he wasn't going to be that at RU. With GG, Davis and Fernandez coming in, Paul being 100%, and Simpson with a year under his belt, he might not have even averaged what he did last year. At Georgetown he can get his 20 every other night. I think that might be more important to him than finishing in the Big 10 top four. With one year left, I think he wants to be the star of the team. If it was about money only, he would have looked for a higher counter offer from RU.
I don't understand all this talk about loyalty. This is professional sports. In professional sports, with very few exceptions, you take the most money you are offered in free agency and make the best of it. Sure, you might give a discount to play in your hometown. Sure, you might take a little less to play on a championship-caliber team. You might even take a little less for the opportunity to start. But in the vast majority of situations, you are taking the most money offered to you. That is apparently what Spencer did. This is exactly what this fanbase asked for when it declared NIL to be a panacea.
Sorry - it’s the fact that he just represented us at an Rfund event that is so upsetting. Had he gone to Pike first and explained that he felt he was not getting close to his value, Pike would’ve had a chance to negotiate and if we couldn’t match certainly wouldn’t have allowed him to be one of 2 kids representing us. I don’t see how this could be viewed as anything but a sand bag.
They can preach all they want on this situation. The only thing uncertain in this case is whether the decision was premeditated and if so, for how long? Maybe Cam was afraid something would happen to sabotage his grades if he said anything prior to having the diploma in hand. Who knows?
Whatever the case - the last time this happened to us, the team turned the corner and left the defector in the dust. Eugene made it to the promise land. Perhaps he’s even convinced himself that Oregon did that for him and Rutgers wouldn’t have, but I doubt it. He would’ve been revered as an all time great at Rutgers - like Geo, Caleb and Ron. Just another transfer at Oregon. These things often have a way of working themselves out. Let’s see what happens.
Money isn’t everything. Guys who commit from h.s. develop a much different relationship with coach, school, athletic dept and fans.
That said, it’s naive to think a guy who transferred in will have the same perspective.
If the difference is really $75k —> $300k, you can think of it this way:
G League minimum salary is $40,000.
So in 1 year, he can make what otherwise might take him 6 or 7 playing in the states. I don’t know how long the average G league career is, but I can’t imagine there are going to be many playing at 27-28.
I’m sure his brother has insight into this.
Now there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. He could have held us up for ransom and said I’ll come back if you match.
I’m not sure if that’s better.
He could have entered the portal sooner. That would have been a decent thing to do.
But free markets are chaos. All it takes is one school to decide he’s the missing piece and throw huge $$ at him.
It’s very possible he had every intention to return.
And the way this turned out is just a coincidence - that he’s now the top available player.
I hate NIL as an alum and fan.
This precedent is not good. It means there’s ANOTHER market. The grad transfer surprise xfer.
As a former athlete, working stiff, and someone who didn’t grow up with a lot of money, I don’t blame players for not getting overly sentimental here.
The system treats them like commodities from the time they are 8. At some point, if they can cash in- so be it.
These situations will continue until the NCAA comes up with some kind of guardrails and conferences agree to a media & sponsorship rights rev share so the farce of pay-to-play taking place under the guise of NIL can start to go away.
That might be easier said than done.
That said, it’s naive to think a guy who transferred in will have the same perspective.
If the difference is really $75k —> $300k, you can think of it this way:
G League minimum salary is $40,000.
So in 1 year, he can make what otherwise might take him 6 or 7 playing in the states. I don’t know how long the average G league career is, but I can’t imagine there are going to be many playing at 27-28.
I’m sure his brother has insight into this.
Now there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. He could have held us up for ransom and said I’ll come back if you match.
I’m not sure if that’s better.
He could have entered the portal sooner. That would have been a decent thing to do.
But free markets are chaos. All it takes is one school to decide he’s the missing piece and throw huge $$ at him.
It’s very possible he had every intention to return.
And the way this turned out is just a coincidence - that he’s now the top available player.
I hate NIL as an alum and fan.
This precedent is not good. It means there’s ANOTHER market. The grad transfer surprise xfer.
As a former athlete, working stiff, and someone who didn’t grow up with a lot of money, I don’t blame players for not getting overly sentimental here.
The system treats them like commodities from the time they are 8. At some point, if they can cash in- so be it.
These situations will continue until the NCAA comes up with some kind of guardrails and conferences agree to a media & sponsorship rights rev share so the farce of pay-to-play taking place under the guise of NIL can start to go away.
That might be easier said than done.
Whether it’s a good look for Caleb to comment on cam or not? … personally I can see an argument either way
What it DOES tell me is that pike builds a program where they view themselves as family and where loyalty is very important
Probably explains why we have had much less roster turnover (of top players) than other programs
May explain why we got ace (can’t imagine is just $)
Certainly explains why we are finalists for dylan
And I think it explains why Caleb and RHJ have commented …. They feel betrayed. Cam betrayed the loyalty. I think that explains these emotional reactions from Caleb and RHJ (if it didn’t HIT them they wouldn’t have commented after the fact)
That’s my take away.
What it DOES tell me is that pike builds a program where they view themselves as family and where loyalty is very important
Probably explains why we have had much less roster turnover (of top players) than other programs
May explain why we got ace (can’t imagine is just $)
Certainly explains why we are finalists for dylan
And I think it explains why Caleb and RHJ have commented …. They feel betrayed. Cam betrayed the loyalty. I think that explains these emotional reactions from Caleb and RHJ (if it didn’t HIT them they wouldn’t have commented after the fact)
That’s my take away.
Every off season of late it seems like there’s some signs of an internal disconnect with the team surfacing.
I contend it’s not a big deal and is very normal behavior but I know there are others here that hang their hat on stuff like this being materially detrimental to team and an issue that is troubling.
I contend it’s not a big deal and is very normal behavior but I know there are others here that hang their hat on stuff like this being materially detrimental to team and an issue that is troubling.
Do we have less non-nba / non coaching change turnover than other programs?
Sounds nice but wonder truly what it is relative to other teams. Last year seems to be the outlier. We’ve lost a guy who played 30min a game most of the last 4 years, sometimes more than one.
You're insinuating that Mag was just as driven by the money as cam.
1- you don't know that
2 - even if money played a role, it was just one of a few factors and we don't even know that RU offered the most. What we do know is that he wanted to stay here, gave RU a chance, and did stay.
Again, far far different than cam. And your logical leaps to pretend everyone is driven by money are off.
Exactly. Most of us are realistic and don’t expect these kids not to consider money factors at all. If Mag made a different decision I wouldn’t have viewed it in the same light as what Cam did here. I don’t understand how some of you aren’t seeing that the kid just played us? Rotten eggs.
Sure seems that way to me
Hobbs and knight - sure seem like they stayed on longer than you might expect
Same with players - cliff, geo, paul, rhj, Caleb. I think that kind of retention is a bit of an outlier these days
The last surprise transfer (of a good player) was Eugene (and that was a lifetime ago in college sports)
And the others (Montez, young, Myles) each had explainable circumstances (grad transfer and/or arguably mutual decision)
But now I remember who you are - that you’re always anti-pike so I understand my effort to explain has been a waste of my time as you’ll spin/ ignore any comments that go against your narrative
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Why are you assuming that Caleb needs his hand held through life? Also did you say that when cam transferred here last year? The hypocrisy is wild.
Caleb wouldn’t have gotten exposure at another power 5? Really? That’s what we’re telling ourselves?
These guys pretending that losing cam won’t hurt is the only way they know how to cope with the situation. They are mentally fragile people.
All i know is Caleb has a fully stocked Ford Explorer from All American Ford (I hear the commercials). I did by my last car from All American Subaru.
NIL working the way it should in that regard
NIL working the way it should in that regard
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