Cornell Basketball Recruiting War

[djk26]

We are not attacking Mitchell personally--- just questioning the wisdom of a possible college decision.

I know.  That's why I said this:

The comments so far on the blog are respectful towards him, which is good. (Even though I do agree with the comments that he made a bad decision.)

Here's another question: What is ArizonaPreps, exactly, and why do they care if he goes to Rutgers, Cornell, or any place else?  I visited their website, and it looks like they promote high school basketball players from Arizona.  Fine.  Do they think that the state of Arizona will be better off if the player goes to Rutgers?  I just don't understand what it is they do.

[ugarte]

[quote djk26]Here's another question: What is ArizonaPreps, exactly, and why do they care if he goes to Rutgers, Cornell, or any place else?  I visited their website, and it looks like they promote high school basketball players from Arizona.  Fine.  Do they think that the state of Arizona will be better off if the player goes to Rutgers?  I just don't understand what it is they do.[/quote]
It looks like ArizonaPreps' interest is in promoting Arizona high school basketball to recruiters. They identify and promote talent that may be slipping below the radar of the top conferences and help get those athletes more eyeballs. Getting Michael Watt to Rutgers is part of a larger strategy of getting the Big East and other eastern power conferences to scout and recruit in Arizona.

It is funny (and a bit off topic) but I just read the original article for the first time instead of skimming it. I noticed that Craig Carter was an assistant coach at Rutgers. He graduated from Bx. Science a year ahead of me and was the star of the basketball team. He was the first player to get a Division I basketball scholarship in a long time from our little nerd village and I haven't heard of anyone doing so since.  I'm sure he faced a similar dilemma to Watt, and he chose to go to Rutgers. For some reason I remember him being buried on the bench in college but with a little bit of Google I found out that he had a great college career. He was a starting guard that helped take Rutgers to an A-10 tournament title (1989), an NIT final 8 (1990) and an at-large NCAA berth (1991).

[CornellFan]

ArizonaPreps is part of the Rivals.com network of websites.

First-- they are publishers/journalists.

Second-- they host camps/clinics/tournaments.

They have a vested interest in getting Arizona kids into the top conferences.    because the more recognition the State of Arizona receives as a hotbed for talent, the more colleges and fans will subscribe to ArizonaPreps.com's content and attend their events (camp/tournaments).

It is all about the money, not getting these kids the best education possible.

Obviously, if the financials make it difficult/impossible for a kid to go the Ivy route, then god bless them-- take that scholarship to the mega sized state school.

If you are a legit NBA talent--- then god bless you, go play against the best in the Big East.

But if you are not an NBA player (and Mitchell Watt is not) and you are lucky enough to get admission to Cornell (something all of you may take for granted everyday of your lives), you owe it to yourself to try and make ends meet and get that top caliber education.

Anyhow--- ArizonaPreps just wants to get Arizona kids into the BCS conferences to increase the prestige of the state's talent level so more and more coaches and fans will look to ArizonaPreps for scouting information.

[CornellFan]

Ugarte:

YOU ARE EXACTLY RIGHT on the ArizonaPreps analysis.

With respect to Carter-- I followed his career closely.

Rutgers, as you noted, was A-10 back then.  Further, the A-10 was pretty damn  bad in those years.  So--- Carter's choosing Rutgers back then was not the same as Watt choosing Rutgers today.

[ugarte]

[quote CornellFan]Further, the A-10 was pretty damn bad in those years.[/quote]
Really? I remember Temple and UMass as elite teams with Sweet 16 appearances from GWU as well. They weren't the Big East but they weren't the SWAC either.

[djk26]

Thanks, CornellFan.  Your explanation makes perfect sense: it comes down to money for Rivals.com.

I still wonder exactly how ArizonaPreps helped steer Watt to Rutgers.  It's almost as if he had a for-profit agent getting him to a college.  That strikes me as odd.

[DeltaOne81]

I have to object to the common sentiment around here. No one is under any obligation to pay for the most expensive, 'elite' education possible.
Going to a less expensive, but still academically respected public or smaller school does not mean you care less for your education. And it may actually be a wiser choice than starting yourself out with $100K in debt. Even without basketball in the picture.

Perhaps he was considering Cornell because he couldn't get any more reasonably priced, but still academically good institution to give him a chance to play D-I. When Rutgers finally took notice, the chance to play D-I ball without wracking up $40K of debt a year on your parents or yourself may have made perfect sense - and gotten him to a higher tier of athletics.

Every year people decide not to apply to - or not to accept the offer of - highly expensive, elite colleges due to the burden of the tuition. And that's only for a lower tuition elsewhere, not for a free ride. And without the opportunity to play a higher level of their chosen sport in the mix.

It does not mean you don't value academics. And to imply otherwise comes off to me as disturbingly elitist.

[CornellFan]

He has not committed yet--- but the article seems to indicate that is the direction he is headed.

[KeithK]

[quote DeltaOne81]I have to object to the common sentiment around here. No one is under any obligation to pay for the most expensive, 'elite' education possible.
Going to a less expensive, but still academically respected public or smaller school does not mean you care less for your education. And it may actually be a wiser choice...[/quote]
Denying yourself the opportunity to be a member of the Lynah Faithful (even Faithful in absentia while playing other, less interesting winter sports) could never be considered a wise choice.

[billhoward]

[quote DeltaOne81]I have to object to the common sentiment around here. No one is under any obligation to pay for the most expensive, 'elite' education possible. Going to a less expensive, but still academically respected public or smaller school does not mean you care less for your education. And it may actually be a wiser choice than starting yourself out with $100K in debt. Even without basketball in the picture.[/quote]

Not everybody pays list price to attend Cornell. We (as parents of a HS junior) heard an interesting off-the-cuff remark at a college night from a financial counselor: For the average student, Cornell works out cheaper than Virginia in dollars actually paid. UVa starts out cheaper (list price) but offers less need-based aid. Not every player on the Rutgers basketball team draws a full scholarship, so need aid plays a role, too. The NYT series on colege sports scholarships earlier this month notes that it's pretty common to athletes to get partials of say $2,500 or $5,000 rather than a full ride. To be fair, that's probably in addition to need-based aid.

Rutgers isn't a lousy school. But most people would rather have the sheepskin say Cornell. Life will probably work out better for Topher Scott with his Cornell degree once he's done dabbling in the minors, unless he becomes the next Martin St. Louis.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

I have a big problem with the assumption that choosing Rutgers (or almost any other school) over Cornell implies that a prospective student doesn't value academics.

There are many reasons why a student -- recruited athlete or not -- might make that choice. Rutgers has several departments and programs that are superior to Cornell's equivalents (or that Cornell lacks entirely). The student body is far more diverse than Cornell's. And many prospective students would find New Brunswick's proximity to both New York and Philadelphia pretty damn enticing. Those are just a few reasons I can think of right off the top of my head; I'm sure there are dozens of others.

[CornellFan]

Mitchell Watt is not picking Rutgers because its philosophy department is rated 6 spots higher than Cornell's or because he would be just a short 45 minute ride from NYC.

He has clearly stated that this about the Big East conference.  Never once did he mention money as an issue.  In fact, we know it is not an issue because he gave Cornell a verbal commitment in November (when he had scholarships to some low level programs).

So--- if we want to discuss his decision, lets discuss Ivy vs. Big East--- not New Brunswick vs Ithaca.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

I hear you, CF. I was only responding to someone higher up who made a comment about Rutgers and academics. Being a Temple guy now, I've become kind of sensitive to that stuff. Maybe oversensitive.

[CornellFan]

Watt clarified his position.  He says he turned down Cornell because of the lack of scholarship.  However, he does not explain why he would commit to Cornell in the first place when he knew a scholarship would never be a possibility.

http://cornellbasketball.blogspot.com/2008/03/recruiting-news-mitchell-watt.html

[billhoward]

Maybe Watt read all those Canadian newspapers stories about hockey players getting "scholarships" to attend Cornell.

Maybe he's got some issues if he thinks Buffalo is a good-looking place.

If he's looking for a rout [okay, the author's transcription], maybe he could recommit to Cornell and we could get to play Stanford again next year. If he wants high institutions, we could change it to "high above Cayuga's ..." >>> I'm getting full ride offers from high institutions," he said. "I'd rather go that rout. I'm also looking for some challenging basketball that will challenge me and possibly take me to the next level."

If Watt really thinks he's hot stuff in hoops, then you can't argue against the level of competition he'd see at Rutgers. Good luck to him. Let's check back after his sophomore year and see how he's faring.