Lucca responded to me!

[chuckles]

especially since we're dangerously close to sanctions for not graduating enough players?

If Lucca does leave, wouldn't it be the ultimate F-U from the NCAA if him leaving early put us over the top and we lost a scholorship for next year because of it? Being a Cyclone, and I no all of you feel the same way, but isn't that kinda how Iowa State athletics works??

 

[cyclonenum1]

I don't see how it would be an advantage for Lucca personally to leave now.

If he came here to get a college degree, he still has his scholarship, so that goal is not affected by this situation. This time could be useful for him to get well-grounded academically so there are no grade issues in the future.

If he is after an NBA/pro career, I really don't see how missing one season of playing time as a freshman is going to seriously jeopardize that, unless he was planning to go pro early. He still gets to practice with the team and work on his skills, and he should still be working on learning GMac's system. If the other guys on the team improve throughout the year, Lucca should also improve somewhat by practicing against them. If he's gifted enough to be a pro, he should be able to make up the lost time over the next three years.

I'm sure it would benefit ISU for Lucca to start playing as soon as possible, but at this point, we should probably consider what is best for Lucca. If the final appeal is lost, does it really benefit him to file lawuits? I can only imagine what a circus and distraction that would be. I guess it might benefit him if he could win back another year of eligibility, but there's no guarantee that a lawsuit would win back that eligibility.

I'm sure this situation is frustrating for him, but in the big picture, I don't see how how the goals he may have had coming to ISU could be damaged badly enough to just pack up and leave.

I agree with this post. Two things to add. I'm not sure if he is motivated to get a degree...if he is great, if not, that's OK too...we can't force him to want a degree as his motivation. Let's just make sure he stays in "academic good standing" for our APR. Secondly, if the NBA thought this kid had NBA talent right now he would have been drafted. Clearly, they don't think that right now and he has probably been told that he needs to improve his game to have a shot at the "gold ring" of the NBA. He likely has two avenues to do this...play college ball or try to play professionally overseas. It seems clear that he has chosen to play college ball as his means to improving his game so hopefully he can make the NBA at some point. Why leave now?