Lexi Donarski entering transfer portal

[cykadelic2]

Years ago, and he's modified his behavior since

When Bill was dealing with his throat issues, that raised his frustration/anger issues and I think one could give him a pass during that timeframe.

I have no idea on why Donarski decided to leave the program with two years left. I certainly get why MEM, Vick and Kane left. What was troublesome to me was off season roster management prior to this season and resulting lack of perimeter depth and that was going to limit results even with Soares. And over the past couple of years, the lack of motion offense was troubling and the lack of new outside blood on his staff have stifled on court results as well IMO. The current saving grace of the program is the quality of the incoming 2023 Class.

Bill has earned the right to leave on his own terms but not to name his successor IMO.

 

[cyups2323]

I have always loved bill but it was pretty obvious to me the toledo coach seriously outcoached him in that game. We worked hard for everything on offense and they did what they wanted on the other end.

 

[Cycsk]

I go to games and post on CF, after that I'm in the dark

Almost every post in this thread should begin with a disclaimer that "We don't know."

Many of us feel like we are closer to the team than we really are. Even those of us who have occasional conversations with players don't really know what they are thinking and feeling.

Thus, I will simply assume that "Lexi has good reasons." And I will wait for them to become known, maybe not until they become a chapter in C-Dub's book.

 

[acoustimac]

Geebus….some folks on here need some therapy.
1. how many of you went after Coach Otz when he lost Hunter last year? Biggest recruit in a long time and he up and left. NIL? Maybe. But perhaps Otz was too hard on him? Now he's lost King. Are you all reacting the same way? OMG…two years and two high profile players leave? Obviously different standards being applied here.

2. some of you are sounding like a broken record saying “fire him" or "time for him to go" without knowing diddly squat about what’s going on in reality.

3. if you’re going to bring up ancient history (Jess Schroll - and by the way…before you bite my head off I own her pink Jersey. She was the one player I liked enough to spend the money to hang her jersey in my trophy room) add all the additional context of what's happened since. There were many of us concerned about Coach F's behavior back then and the AD was one of them. Things were done to address it. Adjustments were made. Let it go.

4. if there is one underlying message in this way too long of a thread it’s that we are shocked, saddened and disappointed Lexi is leaving. Let’s leave it at that instead of turning this into a witch hunting exercise. I have a lot of respect for our AD and if anything needs done in ANY program I trust him to take care of it. To me that’s the bottom line of any employment in the athletic dept. if you don’t think Pollard doesn’t have the pulse of what’s going on then you’re misinformed.

 

[Statefan10]

Geebus….some folks on here need some therapy.
1. how many of you went after Coach Otz when he lost Hunter last year? Biggest recruit in a long time and he up and left. NIL? Maybe. But perhaps Otz was too hard on him? Now he's lost King. Are you all reacting the same way? OMG…two years and two high profile players leave? Obviously different standards being applied here.

2. some of you are sounding like a broken record saying “fire him" or "time for him to go" without knowing diddly squat about what’s going on in reality.

3. if you’re going to bring up ancient history (Jess Schroll - and by the way…before you bite my head off I own her pink Jersey. She was the one player I liked enough to spend the money to hang her jersey in my trophy room) add all the additional context of what's happened since. There were many of us concerned about Coach F's behavior back then and the AD was one of them. Things were done to address it. Adjustments were made. Let it go.

4. if there is one underlying message in this way too long of a thread it’s that we are shocked, saddened and disappointed Lexi is leaving. Let’s leave it at that instead of turning this into a witch hunting exercise. I have a lot of respect for our AD and if anything needs done in ANY program I trust him to take care of it. To me that’s the bottom line of any employment in the athletic dept. if you don’t think Pollard doesn’t have the pulse of what’s going on then you’re misinformed.

I agree with mostly everything here but Otz didn’t “lose” Eli King. King would’ve struggled to see minutes here next year and decided to leave. It was very mutual.

 

[trevn]

Geebus….some folks on here need some therapy.
1. how many of you went after Coach Otz when he lost Hunter last year? Biggest recruit in a long time and he up and left. NIL? Maybe. But perhaps Otz was too hard on him? Now he's lost King. Are you all reacting the same way? OMG…two years and two high profile players leave? Obviously different standards being applied here.

2. some of you are sounding like a broken record saying “fire him" or "time for him to go" without knowing diddly squat about what’s going on in reality.

3. if you’re going to bring up ancient history (Jess Schroll - and by the way…before you bite my head off I own her pink Jersey. She was the one player I liked enough to spend the money to hang her jersey in my trophy room) add all the additional context of what's happened since. There were many of us concerned about Coach F's behavior back then and the AD was one of them. Things were done to address it. Adjustments were made. Let it go.

4. if there is one underlying message in this way too long of a thread it’s that we are shocked, saddened and disappointed Lexi is leaving. Let’s leave it at that instead of turning this into a witch hunting exercise. I have a lot of respect for our AD and if anything needs done in ANY program I trust him to take care of it. To me that’s the bottom line of any employment in the athletic dept. if you don’t think Pollard doesn’t have the pulse of what’s going on then you’re misinformed.

Finally some sanity in this thread.

 

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

I woke up early this morning and didn’t feel like shoveling snow, so I found the ISU / Texas Big XII Championship game on Hulu and rewatched the first half. Like the old Wide World of Sports commercial used to say, “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” The Donarski transfer leaves me feeling like the ski jumper at the end of that ad!

This is a huge deal - it was all over the ESPN bottom line last night during the women’s Sweet 16 games. To compare this defection to Hunter or Eli King is ludicrous, not worthy of address. Before I knew of the Donarski transfer, I responded to Mac, “where there’s smoke…”. Now we have a blazing fire! People are invested in this team in ways fans of the men’s program don’t understand, and they’re angry. Absolute power corrupts.

 

[cyfan4St8]

Some here live for it.

I’m fact I would guess most that are making comments on here especially about Fennelly maybe watched one or two games on tv this year and then the end of the season tourney games and think they actually know or throw blame on what is going on…. Coach has mellowed out a lot over the years and you actually hear from people that are close to the program and beyond our school how well people think of him. Yeah he has a certain standard as should any coach have of their players. You can’t let the players run the program…. Ummm and thinking we have a program problem is so stupid. And where we are as a program some schools wise they had the success and support that ours does. He literally has one of his best recruiting classes coming in and some other younger players that are coming on. We’ll be fine. Lexi doesn’t owe us anything, but think about it a little the other players that are leaving it’s because the lack of future playing time so they made great statements about leaving Lexi has been radio silent so maybe it’s her that’s the issue ….? And now dang it I have that stupid Taylor Swift song in my head now .

 

[ISUCubswin]

The frustration for me is that I believe we had a tournament team and possibly best team in the conference potential next season. Bill didn’t have **** for depth this year, next year, he would’ve had it.

We are now going to be incredibly reliant on Freshmen to carry the load.

Lexi is/was a diehard Cyclone. Played an important role the last 3 years. Would’ve played a big role next year. And someone, or something, pushed her out, and that just shouldn’t happen.

 

[larrysarmy]

My daughter was truly bummed when I told her last night. Anyone else have that from a child reaction?

Women’s game just hits different when there are departures.

 

[73Cyclone]

I'm sorry to see the departures from the team. I'm also flummoxed as to why JP doesn't pore over these boards and base all of his business decisions (e.g., coaching moves) on the wiles and wails found herein.

 

[mustangcy]

As frustrated as I get with things, Bill has earned his lifetime contract. Earned it. But man, that drake coach we lost to OU stings right about now..

 

[Darius Bieber]

Geebus….some folks on here need some therapy.
1. how many of you went after Coach Otz when he lost Hunter last year? Biggest recruit in a long time and he up and left. NIL? Maybe. But perhaps Otz was too hard on him? Now he's lost King. Are you all reacting the same way? OMG…two years and two high profile players leave? Obviously different standards being applied here.

2. some of you are sounding like a broken record saying “fire him" or "time for him to go" without knowing diddly squat about what’s going on in reality.

3. if you’re going to bring up ancient history (Jess Schroll - and by the way…before you bite my head off I own her pink Jersey. She was the one player I liked enough to spend the money to hang her jersey in my trophy room) add all the additional context of what's happened since. There were many of us concerned about Coach F's behavior back then and the AD was one of them. Things were done to address it. Adjustments were made. Let it go.

4. if there is one underlying message in this way too long of a thread it’s that we are shocked, saddened and disappointed Lexi is leaving. Let’s leave it at that instead of turning this into a witch hunting exercise. I have a lot of respect for our AD and if anything needs done in ANY program I trust him to take care of it. To me that’s the bottom line of any employment in the athletic dept. if you don’t think Pollard doesn’t have the pulse of what’s going on then you’re misinformed.

Let's be honest here. Hunter left for NIL. Pure and simple. It wasn't minutes. It wasn't points. It wasn't development (Iowa State's last two PGs are in the NBA starting currently, with another one on a two-way with Milwaukee). He had all that here.

Meanwhile, the last Texas PG in the NBA played at Texas over a decade ago, Cory Joseph.

 

[Dryburn]

Has BF or any staff member said anything about any of the players that have entered the portal? I haven't see it. That seems a little odd, especially with Lexington & Morgan.

 

[Cyclad]

I agree with mostly everything here but Otz didn’t “lose” Eli King. King would’ve struggled to see minutes here next year and decided to leave. It was very mutual.

Yes, losing King is like WBB losing Vick.
Need to find a level where they can play.

 

[KnappShack]

Bill from 2016.

His style is nothing new.

Fennelly said he understood his tough approach may not be for everyone.

“Everyone has a right to their opinion and everyone makes their own judgement,” he said. “What other people say … they have a right to say it. I understand, I do. I am who I am. I would say probably if people think I coach too hard, they probably wouldn’t send their daughters to me.”

 

[DGC]

I might add one more theory here with no inside knowledge to support it.

I think Lexi is borderline WNBA talent. Maybe she wants to go to a school that can develop and showcase the aspects of her game that the WNBA looks for, and maybe that school might have more connections with the WNBA.

 

[Marcelason78]

I might add one more theory here with no inside knowledge to support it.

I think Lexi is borderline WNBA talent. Maybe she wants to go to a school that can develop and showcase the aspects of her game that the WNBA looks for, and maybe that school might have more connections with the WNBA.

With two Iowa State players projected to go in the top 10 of this year’s WNBA draft, this seems more like a Tyrese Hunter take than reality.

 

[ISUCubswin]

As frustrated as I get with things, Bill has earned his lifetime contract. Earned it. But man, that drake coach we lost to OU stings right about now..

While I would take her in a heartbeat, fairly confident the expectation her entire Drake tenure was she would be taking over for Bluder. She bleeds black and gold, and while it would be a step down, I wouldn’t be shocked if she replaces Bluder when Clark leaves.

 

[AllInForISU]

Geebus….some folks on here need some therapy.
1. how many of you went after Coach Otz when he lost Hunter last year? Biggest recruit in a long time and he up and left. NIL? Maybe. But perhaps Otz was too hard on him? Now he's lost King. Are you all reacting the same way? OMG…two years and two high profile players leave? Obviously different standards being applied here.

2. some of you are sounding like a broken record saying “fire him" or "time for him to go" without knowing diddly squat about what’s going on in reality.

3. if you’re going to bring up ancient history (Jess Schroll - and by the way…before you bite my head off I own her pink Jersey. She was the one player I liked enough to spend the money to hang her jersey in my trophy room) add all the additional context of what's happened since. There were many of us concerned about Coach F's behavior back then and the AD was one of them. Things were done to address it. Adjustments were made. Let it go.

4. if there is one underlying message in this way too long of a thread it’s that we are shocked, saddened and disappointed Lexi is leaving. Let’s leave it at that instead of turning this into a witch hunting exercise. I have a lot of respect for our AD and if anything needs done in ANY program I trust him to take care of it. To me that’s the bottom line of any employment in the athletic dept. if you don’t think Pollard doesn’t have the pulse of what’s going on then you’re misinformed.

Different standards? Not at all. We knew exactly why Tyrese was leaving. And as far as Eli King, he was a recruiting miss, he was going to get recruited over his whole career. These are not remotely the same things. Losing a 5 star going into their junior year when you are in your 28th year (culture and philosophy clearly established) is completely different than what Otz went through.

It is very fair to question what is going on in the coaches offices when someone of this caliber leaves without explanation.