Not to the degree CBF plays favorites. He let Audi check herself in the game when she chose. Who does that?
Audi Crooks to Transfer
- Thread starter Clone5
- Start date
It does happen other places just look at Kansas men this last season. Self let DP play when he felt like it. The special privileges might be different at other places but it's there.
Not the same. DP was definitely an issue, but it wasn’t rooted in favoritism by a coach.
So you should be ecstatic Audi left. JFC let it go. Audi wasn’t the highest ranked recruit in her class. She was a bench player behind Izzy. And beat her out to become a starter and then a star. Maybe the other headline recruits in that recruiting class had a hard time not being the star. Audi got all the attention. There’s probably some jilted feelings. All of a sudden someone else is the center of attention
Not ecstatic Audi left. Didn’t want any players to leave. Disappointed we didn’t have more team success with the talent we had the last two years. I wish both seasons would have been better and more enjoyable for the players. Underachieving is hard on everyone.
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Yet many only blame CBF....
so are you saying that if you were the coach you would NOT used Audi as the center piece of your team?
Nope, she is the best center in college basketball. She must be the center piece of the team. I am saying the Audi and the team would have benefited from a different approach as to expectations. It was pretty obvious she was allowed liberties no other player was allowed. Do you think BF did a good job handling the roster the last two years?
IMO Fennelly did not do a good job. The newcomers didn’t really live up to expectations. And our mainstays really didn’t improve their play enough to meet our expectations. IMO the big mental breakdown for the team this year was the Addy Brown injury and the losing streak. Everything since that time has led to the “each one for themself” attitude. Fennelly was helpless. No way he was going to bench a star for lack of hustle or selfish play.
Audi left for money. Lots of money.
I may get in trouble - but Audi is not the best center in college basketball. Not even close. She might be the best low post scoring center in college basketball. The center for UCLA was 10X better. Why?
She blocked shots and defended the rim, she rebounded in space and was an effective scorer. To be effective - Audi dictates your offense and defense.
To be clear - I love Audi. Great person, very good player, I am sad to see her go. But - she has limitations.
T.J. would bench a star for lack of hustle.
Are you sure he would if that player was the key to his offense? I think he would put more pressure on the player to improve on defense than coach did on Audi. Unless a member of the staff goes public we will not know what the reasons are for not putting more pressure on her to play more defense. As a long time supporter of our team I was among those who wanted more defense from her but we never got it and will probably never know why.
What cost Greg McDermott his time at Iowa State is the exact same thing Bill did this last year. He treated the star different than the rest of the team. Just like Gmac did with Brackins. He didn’t know how to handle a star. He was used to playing a team style of basketball where nobody is really a big star.
TJ told a very talented transfer from Auburn to leave before a season a few years back because he didn’t buy into what was expected.
Edit: he was from Ole Miss not Auburn
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Fennelly is not a good comparison to TJ. TJ is on his own level.
Audi has physical limitations that will hurt her WNBA chances. IMO her physical conditioning worsened after the holidays. Smart move to take money. WNBA might not work out.
TJ is definitely on his own level but let’s compare his players to Fennelly’s. I can argue nearly EVERY player has gotten better under TJ’s system. CuJo, Tamin, Milan, JJeff, etc, etc all got significantly better. Look at Fennelly - who has gotten significantly better under his system? Not many…and some got worse.
If you can’t develop talent at a place like Iowa State, you are cooked. Which is why Fennelly has underachieved for 15 years even with generational players.
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i just wonder how many players on the new team will be gone before the start of 2028 season. It is time for Jamie to pull up his big boy pants and set and end date for this clown show. My suggestion would be the Fairfield coach. She does more with less and has the talent to recruit in the Big 12.
I think TJ is also wise enough to not build his team around one person, so I think the impact is minimized to an extent. He’s also been clear with players from day one on campus that defense is not optional, and you give 100% on either side of the ball. Bill has always built things around one person and expected everyone else to fall into place or leave the program going back to Bridget Carleton.
