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Time to Put “Pike chase out Paul/Cam” to rest

My point is we don't know what went down. We have no facts.

Cam might have intended on staying.....found it how much RU was paying others and was insulted...found out what the open market would offer and left.

Again no idea of ANY facts....just not making judgements without knowing them.

FICTIOUS SCENARIO

Rutgers is paying Cam X
Cam later finds out RU pays Noah 5X
Cam is beyond disrepected finds out UCONN will pay 10X

In this ficticious scenario would Cam be wrong not going back to allow RU to match?

Also add to this scenario Cam is not on social media and may not even have a clue how fast things were evolving. Is it possible Cam was being paid $0?
Not sure why we have to deal in hypotheticals. Once again, Pike didn't say it was an NIL situation, there was miscommunication, etc. He said that Cam told him he was coming back. We also know that Cam was around the program and making appearances on behalf of the team late into the offseason. In addition, we know Cam is no longer here. They are the facts.
 
Not sure why we have to deal in hypotheticals. Once again, Pike didn't say it was an NIL situation, there was miscommunication, etc. He said that Cam told him he was coming back. We also know that Cam was around the program and making appearances on behalf of the team late into the offseason. In addition, we know Cam is no longer here. They are the facts.
So what do you think happened and why?
 
So what do you think happened and why?
Cam told coach he was staying. At the same time, he was out there exploring his options because he didn't really want to stay. Once he found what he believed to be a better situation, he went back on his word and left. I'm not saying he didn't have a right to do it. Of course, he did because it happened. But, let's also remember that when Cam was asked why he left he said: "For me, I wanted to play at the highest level that I can professionally and I thought UConn brought the best opportunity." Sure sounds like a guy who didn't walk over NIL...
 
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Oh, and Cam also made a stupid comment about how he wanted to get better defensively, which he could do in the Big East. It's laughable considering his teammate was national defensive player of the year and 3 guards from the B1G were lottery picks last year.
 
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From what I remember at the time, word was he did not give us an opportunity to counter offer before deciding to leave.
He got a bag of $ and he’s the leading scorer on the top team in the country. He made the right move. The time to “secure” him was before UConn offered the bag, if it was possible. We’ve been blindsided more than once and this is no longer amateur sports now.
 
That’s nice but isn’t the real story Ed Cooley and the $$$ bags and then the resulting UConn $$$ bags.

Can’t fault Pike.
Can’t fault Cam either.
Ed Cooley the unsavory one.

Just a shame it happened so late.
 
exactly....but if they would have paid fair market value I don't think either one of them would have left
bad guess.....no one knows the real facts, we are all speculating. It could 100% be about money and it could be 0% about money. I am sorry that I can't call Cam a liar and am sorry I have no reason(yet) to root against him.

😳 are you a politician? You flip flop like the Miami Dolphins mascot on dry land. You and credibility should make friends 😉
 
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Same lie a coach tells a player before he leaves to another school for $ OR same lie a coach who gets a vote of confidence from Gm only to get fired the next week.
Correct. In 2012, Schiano flew out of Piscataway right before signing day, abandoning dozens of his recruits.
 
My understanding is Cam passed up more money to go play at UConn. It's both, for sure, but getting to maximize your skillset for the defending champs is certainly a draw as well
 
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😳 are you a politician? You flip flop like the Miami Dolphins mascot on dry land. You and credibility should make friends 😉
no....i just don't know the facts so i am not judging Cam. I think I have made that VERY clear.
 
My understanding is Cam passed up more money to go play at UConn. It's both, for sure, but getting to maximize your skillset for the defending champs is certainly a draw as well
He left bc of money, but he got more money than he was getting and a chance to win a natty. It was obviously the right move for him
 
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no....i just don't know the facts so i am not judging Cam. I think I have made that VERY clear.
My last post on this … you’re definitely like the middle schooler that has to have the last word regardless of relevancy. You my friend ARE an interesting poster and I often agree with what you say, but at the same time I see you constantly bickering with other good posters. That said you try WAY TOO HARD to be the smartest guy in the room and imply you have insight no one else has. This is one of those threads. And “thread“ is an appropriate term here.., your words and positions squirrel around like a loose thread on an old jacket. Advice … give it a rest sometimes it will improve your at times questionable credibility.

PS - you certainly HAVE NOT made anything VERY clear.
 
By May 2023, months after the season ended, Pike and boosters had not locked up Paul and Cam with NIL contracts through 2023-2024. That is on Pike.

Pike needs to get tougher. When Oskar crawled on his knees to Pike hands out begging for his scholarship back, Pike should have said no. Feel free to enroll and attend walk-on tryouts.

When Paul and Cam waved goodbye, Pike could have said enjoy not playing basketball next season, your Rutgers transcripts will not be provided in time for you to be eligible for 2023-2024.
Who would want to come play for a coach like that? Oskar was screwed by Elon, it’s not like he took the spot of some portal stud, and Pike took care of his guy. There’s a reason he gets Dylan and Ace, and it’s because he is loyal and fair, and not an asshole. Parents trust him to look after their child. I realize it’s NIL time but he can still maintain his standards.
 
I don’t think anyone is saying Cam had to stay or that he didn’t have a right to go. This is now business. Cam is a professional college basketball player. So it just comes down to how you handle yourself in the business world. Some think how Cam handled the situation was fine. I don’t and based on Pike’s comment I don’t think he does either.
 
Who would want to come play for a coach like that? Oskar was screwed by Elon, it’s not like he took the spot of some portal stud, and Pike took care of his guy. There’s a reason he gets Dylan and Ace, and it’s because he is loyal and fair, and not an asshole. Parents trust him to look after their child. I realize it’s NIL time but he can still maintain his standards.
from what I know ,you've got it right
 
Who would want to come play for a coach like that? Oskar was screwed by Elon, it’s not like he took the spot of some portal stud, and Pike took care of his guy. There’s a reason he gets Dylan and Ace, and it’s because he is loyal and fair, and not an asshole. Parents trust him to look after their child. I realize it’s NIL time but he can still maintain his standards.
A player locked in with a 2+ year NIL deal.

How did Oskar get screwed by Elon? I have read and been told conflicting reasons, ranging from Oskar didn’t like his Elon dorm setup to Oskar got cold feet and decided the grass wasn’t greener and ran back into Pike’s arms.

Agree Pike deserves credit for landing Dylan and especially Ace. These ballers could’ve gone anywhere. Let us see if they live up to the hype in 24-25.
 
Just to get back to the original point of this thread, there was really only one (Hawk) or maybe two posters who MIGHT have said Pike "ran off" Spencer and Mulcahy.

I'm no Hawk apologist -- in fact, I rarely agree with his "takes" -- but since he hasn't responded yet, I will weigh in on this. I believe he may have originally said Pike ran off Spencer and especially Mulcahy. But I believe he subsequently explained that what he meant in saying that was that Pike simply didn't make them a priority in his NIL allocations, and was sanguine (my word) or accepting of Cam and Paul leaving because he was looking to turn over the roster to quicker guards who could penetrate and create their own offense. I think Hawk may have also said that Pike would've been fine if they both stayed, but didn't go out of his way to ensure they stayed either.

I don't know if this was truly an "explanation" for his original "run off" comments, or simply backtracking after multiple posters excoriated him for suggesting it, but Hawk definitely landed on the position I laid out in the above paragraph.
 
If it’s true that they told Pikiell they were coming back and later reneged on that promise……then you know my feelings .
 
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All I know is that Rutgers 3 point shooting is zilch without Spencer.
 
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When Oskar crawled on his knees to Pike hands out begging for his scholarship back, Pike should have said no.
For what purpose? That was just an empty scholarship. Presumably he would’ve been willing to take Palmquist for that spot even if he’d never been here before.
When Paul and Cam waved goodbye, Pike could have said enjoy not playing basketball next season, your Rutgers transcripts will not be provided in time for you to be eligible for 2023-2024.
This would be very stupid.
Do you think he told recruits at Stony Brook that if a better job came he would leave?

Maybe?
Do you think he told them he *wouldn’t*?
 
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Direct quote FROM PIKE publicly ! In today’s Carino article:

“When you’re counting on two starters coming back and they told you they were coming back, and then you’re trying to replace them with guys who are injured, it’s hard.”

There! He literally is calling out Paul and Cam, they did us dirty. Enough blaming Pike on this, he would never say this publicly about his players if he told them there’s no room. Cam and Paul are dead to us
The only thing I take from this is that anyone who was rambling on about how we are better off without them and that you don't understand basketball if you think it was better to keep them now has the head basketball coach to contend with.
 
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My theory on this is that Cam had every intention of coming back and told Pike that. Once that deadline for undergrads passed the market for grad transfers drastically changed. It seems like schools contacted him through back channels and he realized he misread the market and could play at a title contender and make significantly more money. Once that was obvious to him I think he probably moved on from Rutgers in his head which is where this we couldn’t counter thing comes from. System sucked we got screwed but idk if I can blame him. Our best days are ahead
 
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My theory on this is that Cam had every intention of coming back and told Pike that. Once that deadline for undergrads passed the market for grad transfers drastically changed. It seems like schools contacted him through back channels and he realized he misread the market and could play at a title contender and make significantly more money. Once that was obvious to him I think he probably moved on from Rutgers in his head which is where this we couldn’t counter thing comes from. System sucked we got screwed but idk if I can blame him. Our best days are ahead

accurate! Ed Cooley made The first call as His roster was in flux and complete rebuild. He figured Spencer being from the MD DC area and as a grad transfer he could be interested in playing close to home and a pay day. Cam seems like the type that was just consumed in getting better, figured he already transferred one time, until someone put the transfer pay day idea in his ear. He listened, and the offers keep getting better. He landed the best deal yet, money at a National champ contender that actually has also helped improve his professional playing stock. Won’t be surprised if he ends up on a two way deal in NBA. Can’t ignore his shooting numbers and basketball IQ. Scouts have started to notice
 
It's really getting tiresome and kind of " sickening" with the blatant or implied complaints about Pike. No coach is perfect but he's been one of our best. He also is a great representative of RU. Guys that always bitch about coaches to explain a loss or bad game or even a bad play are not strong but weak supporters of the team and usually know nothing about what's going on ; like guys being hurt or who's playing sick, etc.
 
Would love to see @NewJerseyHawk finally apologize for the misinformation he spread during the off-season.

We're not better off with Cam off the team. It was a bogus you spread that all offseason and pike desperately wanted them back.
If J Will was available starting at game 1 we would have been like "Cam who".

Still not sure how much Cam would be contributing without J Will.
 
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My theory on this is that Cam had every intention of coming back and told Pike that. Once that deadline for undergrads passed the market for grad transfers drastically changed. It seems like schools contacted him through back channels and he realized he misread the market and could play at a title contender and make significantly more money. Once that was obvious to him I think he probably moved on from Rutgers in his head which is where this we couldn’t counter thing comes from. System sucked we got screwed but idk if I can blame him. Our best days are ahead
very logical
 
It's really getting tiresome and kind of " sickening" with the blatant or implied complaints about Pike. No coach is perfect but he's been one of our best. He also is a great representative of RU. Guys that always bitch about coaches to explain a loss or bad game or even a bad play are not strong but weak supporters of the team and usually know nothing about what's going on ; like guys being hurt or who's playing sick, etc.
who in this thread is doing that?
 
If J Will was available starting at game 1 we would have been like "Cam who".

Still not sure how much Cam would be contributing without J Will.
What reason would he be contributing less than last year? Plenty of minutes available even w JWill. He has scored at Loyola, RU and UCONN - he would be obviously be a huge part of everything we do.
 
What reason would he be contributing less than last year? Plenty of minutes available even w JWill. He has scored at Loyola, RU and UCONN - he would be obviously be a huge part of everything we do.
Has trouble creating a shot for himself. Our team has not been sharing the ball that well.

The offense has changed a lot with sharing the ball in 2 games since J Will returned.

Cam had some not so good games last year as well. On UCONN he has no pressure as the 3rd option.Last year we had a little more offensively to help when he struggled.

Just my opinion.
 
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Fat Koko: "When Oskar crawled on his knees to Pike hands out begging for his scholarship back, Pike should have said no."

Fluoxetine: "For what purpose? That was just an empty scholarship. Presumably he would’ve been willing to take Palmquist for that spot even if he’d never been here before."

Award the scholarship to a Rutgers walk-on basketball player. Empty scholarships do not exist.

Fat Koko: "When Paul and Cam waved goodbye, Pike could have said enjoy not playing basketball next season, your Rutgers transcripts will not be provided in time for you to be eligible for 2023-2024."

Fluoxetine: "This would be very stupid."

- - -

Pike: “When you’re counting on two starters coming back and they told you they were coming back, and then you’re trying to replace them with guys who are injured, it’s hard.”

Pike stated two players confirmed they would be back for 2023-2024. We know the players, Paul and Cam.

Then, misleading Pike, they weren't back. This is if one believes media reports, which are sketchy.

Pike's reaction shouldn't be a shrug of the shoulders. Instead, Pike should show dishonesty has consequences, not rewards.
 
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i have no idea how anything works. i do think that ace and dylan are probably getting paid and I don't know if the pool of money they are getting paid from is available to any one else.

If it is between havin Dylan Harper a 18 year old for one year or Cam Spencer a 23 year old with experience I'd take Cam any day.
What? What? Holy balls I must be drunk.

I like Cam but that's just crazy talk. Plus it's not one vs the other. They are a year apart so not the issue here.
 
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The next step in this craziness is now that Harvard players can unionize- picture a team having a good year decide to strike mid year for a big raise in their nil.
 
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