Barnes Decision at 3:10 on Friday

"A short reception with refreshments will take place on the gymnasium balcony after the news conference."

How obvious does it get? lol

Two things:

+ Media has been invited and it is quite common to see food/refreshments served for the media. In fact, in some towns the media members are so, large shall we say, that the joke is they only come for the free spread.

+ Even if he chooses a school other than ISU there is going to be a group of people very excited for the kid...his family, friends, coaches, etc.
 
I guess what I was trying to say is that it is encouraging news....But, it is standard for all these top players to get in a gym in front of their fellow student body and friends and announce. I am not sure how many people the Ames Gym holds, but I would imagine most the gym will be Ames Students and staff and Media.

There are reasons to be excited about it, but like the poster above said..I would be excited, but wear a cup :)

This is true...for top players and not-top players alike.

I am curious, is McDermott's kid going to be doing his signing at this ceremony as well. Most schools that have multiple kids signing at the same time do the ceremony for them all together.
 
If you were going to announce a school other than ISU wouldn't you stick with what seemed like the original plan? ESPNU is there and that's it. You could invite the family and friends you know are going to be happy no matter what.

Inviting the general public knowing they are going to be mainly ISU fans and then thinking they would be happy for you no matter what is crazy. There is going to be booing. Every school has booed players wearing their own jersey on their own field/court. If HB puts on a different jersey there will be boos and everyone there has to know/expect that.
 
This is true...for top players and not-top players alike.

I am curious, is McDermott's kid going to be doing his signing at this ceremony as well. Most schools that have multiple kids signing at the same time do the ceremony for them all together.


I had heard the reason Barnes was doing it on Friday is so that the other Ames kids could sign theirs on Wednesday.
 
"A short reception with refreshments will take place on the gymnasium balcony after the news conference."

How obvious does it get? lol

This is how we will know if he's picking ISU. If there's 7 cups of juice and package of Oreos on a table, he's going elswhere. If there's an all out buffet, kegs, a bloody mary bar, and cocktail waitresses... we'll know he's staying with the good guys!!
 
If you were going to announce a school other than ISU wouldn't you stick with what seemed like the original plan? ESPNU is there and that's it. You could invite the family and friends you know are going to be happy no matter what.

Inviting the general public knowing they are going to be mainly ISU fans and then thinking they would be happy for you no matter what is crazy. There is going to be booing. Every school has booed players wearing their own jersey on their own field/court. If HB puts on a different jersey there will be boos and everyone there has to know/expect that.


Exactly. This is a very clear indication of what's to come. I understand Cyclone fans who attempt to pooh-pooh the significance here, but that's because they think it's just too good to be true.
 
Exactly. This is a very clear indication of what's to come. I understand Cyclone fans who attempt to pooh-pooh the significance here, but that's because they think it's just too good to be true.


Would you just quit getting all of our hopes up? I would rather expect him to go elsewhere and be pleasantly (vast understatement) surprised than to think we actually have a chance only to get those hopes crushed! :wink:
 
I agree with the earlier posters that the big press conference is standard for top players like Barnes. However, most of them aren't considering their hometown team who they've been a life-long fan of. Nor do their mothers typically work at these universities nor have they been practicing with the players of that hometown team and using their facilities for years.

Good points made on both sides by all on this board.

I'm trying to stay cautiously optimistic, but think the press conference details in conjunction with his red-carpet visit with the business college last week are the best signs I've seen in months.
 
How much of this spectacle is HB s doing? For all we know he may have wanted something small but when the worldwide leader gets involved its tough to keep it simple. He has been in control of the entire process but this may be something where he didn't have a lot of say in. I'm probably wrong but you never know when the mother ship gets involved.
 
If you were going to announce a school other than ISU wouldn't you stick with what seemed like the original plan? ESPNU is there and that's it. You could invite the family and friends you know are going to be happy no matter what.

Inviting the general public knowing they are going to be mainly ISU fans and then thinking they would be happy for you no matter what is crazy. There is going to be booing. Every school has booed players wearing their own jersey on their own field/court. If HB puts on a different jersey there will be boos and everyone there has to know/expect that.

If anyone goes out of their way, takes time out of their day, and makes the trip to Ames High just to boo the kid if he chooses someone other than ISU, then that is extremely sad, and I would be very disappointed if an ISU fan did this.
 
How much of this spectacle is HB s doing? For all we know he may have wanted something small but when the worldwide leader gets involved its tough to keep it simple. He has been in control of the entire process but this may be something where he didn't have a lot of say in. I'm probably wrong but you never know when the mother ship gets involved.

I don't know the kid so this is pure speculation, but it's not like there is any advantage to him having ESPN cover the press conference and he doesn't seem like the type to crave any more attention than he's already got. He's the #1 recruit in the country and going where he wants. He's running the show...I think he's made that clear.

The benefit of the ESPN coverage would be more for the school than for him. It's not as if ISU or Duke or UNC has said, "we're only going to give you a scholarship if you commit to us on national TV".

If he were at all uncomfortable with the ESPN coverage, he would be under no obligation whatsoever from anyone to do it. Not his family, not Ames High, not the college of his choosing, and definitely not ESPN.
 
we need to pack the Ames HS gym. this is going to be on national TV and the message it will send when he puts on an ISU ball cap will be clear when the whole place erupts in celebration! I wasn't going to make the trip to Ames until later for the basketball game but now I'm headed up early for sure. This has the potential to be one of those days that Cyclone fans talk about for years, and I want to be able to say "I was there".

C'mon home HB.....

Go Cyclones
 
Well you can probably eliminate KU as one of the teams. If he picked KU at this presser it would be the equivelent of announcing he was going to fight for the Taliban infront of American Troops.
 
I was wondering why would HB make an announcement at Ames HS when anything other than Iowa State alla Ames would be deemed inappropriate IMO. IF i was going to select Kansas or Duke I would find neutral ground like SOMEWHERE else. But in all reality, I really don't care where he goes. He is one of five. I would be more concerned how the other 4 match up with him.
 

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