2024 F Liam McNeeley Decommits from Indiana

[5fouls]

25 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

I'm pretty comfortable in what I know. 

I hope people think it out a bit. Does any of this make sense given the timeline? Kid stayed recruited....and committed.....to his Coach and IU...but announced 24 hours after he's leaving?

This was in the works and it sucks for sure but let's not turn a blind eye to what happened.

It was in the works because McNeeley wanted no part of the style of basketball he saw when he turned on the Big Ten Network.  Let's agree he was probably going to leave no matter what happened with the coaching staff, and that Kansas played it well.  But, the door opened in the first place because of how awful our style of play was. 

I won't even take the easy route and say Purdue.  Let's use Illinois instead.  Do you think Kansas is able to lure him away from IU if the Hoosiers had the kind of year the Illini had?  I don't.   

Edited March 8 by 5fouls

[dgambill]

5 minutes ago, OGIUAndy said:

Fans that don't think what they do and say impact players, coaches, and recruits are being hypocritical though. The same fervor that makes them great goes the other way too. 

No it doesn’t. Unless they are directly contacting and harrassing the recruit it doesn’t. UK, Kansas, and UNC have some of the most toxic fans…put us to shame if you have ever lived around them or followed them on Twitter/forums….i mean we are talking IU is child’s play to what they say and do. Yet they all continue to recruit the best of the best…no one is turning them down over fan support or lack there of. These kids are after one thing and one thing only. $$$…NIL and NBA $$. They know the drill. They’ve seen our messages for years before even letting us recruit much less sign them…they aren’t surprised by fan outrage.

Edited March 8 by dgambill

[OGIUAndy]

1 minute ago, NotIThatLives said:

Literally makes zero sense.  I'll sleep on it and let ya know.  

Neither does the style of play excuse make sense either though. It's the same style we've been playing. 

[rd726]

🤬

Kinda thought he might (but I guess it was more ‘With our luck now watch Liam back out’) 

So surprised but not surprised 😞

Edited March 8 by rd726

[OGIUAndy]

2 minutes ago, dgambill said:

No it doesn’t. Unless they are directly contacting and harrassing the recruit it doesn’t. UK, Kansas, and UNC have some of the most toxic fans…put us to shame if you have ever lived around them or followed them on Twitter/forums….i mean we are talking IU is child’s play to what they say and do. Yet they all continue to recruit the best of the best…no one is turning them down over fan support or lack there of. These kids are after one thing and one thing only. $$$…NIL and NBA $$. They know the drill.

They've also been good for the past 25 years. We haven't been. So play for a good program with crazy fans or a mediocre program with crazy fans? 

Edited March 8 by OGIUAndy

[dgambill]

1 minute ago, OGIUAndy said:

Neither does the style of play excuse make sense either though. It's the same style we've been playing. 

We were told the style would change after Trayce left…in fact it’s gotten worse not better. We’ve gotten worse in every offensive category…the offense is declining and Woody made no adjustments…

[BGleas]

1 minute ago, OGIUAndy said:

Neither does the style of play excuse make sense either though. It's the same style we've been playing. 

It does make sense though. Woodson spent two years saying the two bigs/post offense wasn't what he wanted but he had to use TJD and Race. 

He sold the fans and probably McNeely on that too. 

Then this year is more of the same, except even worse. 

[5fouls]

3 minutes ago, OGIUAndy said:

Neither does the style of play excuse make sense either though. It's the same style we've been playing. 

Our style of play this year was significantly more painful to watch than the previous two years.  

[dgambill]

1 minute ago, OGIUAndy said:

They've also been good for the past 25 years. We haven't been. 

That doesn’t matter…the kids knew about our fans before he signed…nothing has changed there. This is about Woody and the program so let’s keep the focus where it belongs.

[OGIUAndy]

Just now, 5fouls said:

Our style of play this year was significantly more painful to watch than the previous two years.  

I would say our lack of guards was even worse. Same style, worse guard play. 

[Hoosierdave]

Others might have forgot about this but i immediately thought of this when it was hinted he was KU bound. 
 

Enjoy your new fanbase, Liam.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22205678/kansas-jayhawks-fan-shows-dorm-offers-free-throw-advice-team#:~:text=A day after center Udoka,with their free throw shooting.

[5fouls]

Just now, OGIUAndy said:

Same style, worse guard play. 

No, it wasn't.  Race did not come close to spending as much time in the lane as Reneau.  

[dgambill]

1 minute ago, OGIUAndy said:

I would say our lack of guards was even worse. Same style, worse guard play. 

Can’t blame the kid for not wanting to play on a team with no support. Woody has failed to add any help in the recruiting class and brought in none in the portal…saw what Woody put on the floor and Woodt double down on an inside focused offense. Kid said “F” it I’m not untrusting my future to a coach that thinks this is winning basketball. I can’t carry that team by myself.

[HoosierJK]

Liam and Flory going to win another title with Self. 

Meanwhile Woody has completely whiffed on every first-choice high school target except Cupps and Newton in 23 and 24. Mgbako fell into our laps due to character issues/Filipowski not going pro. How can we let this staff recruit the best Indiana class (25) since, what 2007? 

Even Archie (a poor recruiter) came here in a year where Crean had no 2017 Indiana recruits signed, and gets 3 of the top 5 2018 Indiana recruits (Romeo, Damezi & Phinisee). 2019 gets 2 of the top 4 Indiana recruits (TJD and Franklin). 2020 gets 3 of the top 4 (Lander, Leal & Gallo). His 2021 class- no Indiana recruits- Fired. Just like Crean.

Woodson hasn’t signed a single Indiana recruit since he has been here.

[Seeking6]

36 minutes ago, dgambill said:

Or maybe he heard Mike Woodson say inside out basketball is the way to play. If I was a 3 and I heard that and saw the 3 years of Woody coaching then I think I’d decommit too.

But that's my point. The timeline doesn't line up. He sees MM developing. Knowing full well the shots are there for someone capable of making them. 

Kansas set this whole thing in motion saying just decommit once he gets fired. Again...it's an easy one for people to understand. Once IU said he's coming back, you add in MM development....Kansas said for their own self (pun intended) you say yes to us now or we're moving on. Kid and the family panicked and said yes.

All disappointed for sure. I know I am. I don't like getting played like this but it is what it is. 

[Between2Halls]

I guess I got my hopes too high. 😂

[HoosierDom]

20 minutes ago, BGleas said:

It does make sense though. Woodson spent two years saying the two bigs/post offense wasn't what he wanted but he had to use TJD and Race. 

He sold the fans and probably McNeely on that too. 

Then this year is more of the same, except even worse. 

I don't mean to defend him too much, but what was he supposed to do with this team? Have Cupps score 20 a night? X? There just weren't options. Certainly the roster is his fault, but he at least tried to get guys like Love and Knecht.

[dgambill]

Just now, Seeking6 said:

But that's my point. The timeline doesn't line up. He sees MM developing. Knowing full well the shots are there for someone capable of making them. 

Kansas set this whole thing in motion saying just decommit once he gets fired. Again...it's an easy one for people to understand. Once IU said he's coming back, you add in MM development....Kansas said for their own self (pun intended) you say yes to us now or we're moving on. Kid and the family panicked and said yes.

All disappointed for sure. I know I am. I don't like getting played like this but it is what it is. 

You act like Woody played no part in all this…come on!! This is 2024…recruiting never ends…whether it’s the portal with your guy…other teams guy…or your HS recruits you never stop recruiting. Do you think this kid wanted to come to a team with one of the poorest offenses in D1 and think it will be good that he has no support to help him look better?? Mgbako has to work incredibly hard for his shots and we do little to get him easy looks. Kid can’t help but see Woody landed no other 24 recruits and brought in no real support in the portal…you would trust him with your basketball future? Would you commit to IU when you can have your pick to play for any program in the country with your NBA aspirations on the line? I wouldn’t and I’ve loved IU since I could walk.

[BGleas]

9 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

But that's my point. The timeline doesn't line up. He sees MM developing. Knowing full well the shots are there for someone capable of making them. 

Kansas set this whole thing in motion saying just decommit once he gets fired. Again...it's an easy one for people to understand. Once IU said he's coming back, you add in MM development....Kansas said for their own self (pun intended) you say yes to us now or we're moving on. Kid and the family panicked and said yes.

All disappointed for sure. I know I am. I don't like getting played like this but it is what it is. 

But it's not about "shots" being there. It's a terrible offense and fit for a shooter. It's a bad offense. 

I'm with you on the timeline and that McNeely was probably waiting for Woodson to be fired, but this happened because Mike Woodson hasn't done his job, not because Bill Self pulled a fast one on an impressionable kid/family. 

[EvilleHoosier]

8 minutes ago, dgambill said:

Can’t blame the kid for not wanting to play on a team with no support. Woody has failed to add any help in the recruiting class and brought in none in the portal…saw what Woody put on the floor and Woodt double down on an inside focused offense. Kid said “F” it I’m not untrusting my future to a coach that thinks this is winning basketball. I can’t carry that team by myself.

Self has examples he can point to in how McNeely would be utilized in Johnny Furphy from this season, Grady Dick from last season, and Braun the season before that. Pretty easy sell when up against Woodson's "inside-out" offense. Plus two of those guys are in the NBA and Furphy is a projected 1st rounder in a lot of mock drafts.  

[Hoosier4Life53]

1 minute ago, HoosierDom said:

I don't mean to defend him too much, but what was he supposed to do with this team? Have Cupps score 20 a night? X? There just weren't options. Certainly the roster is his fault, but he at least tried to get guys like Love and Knecht.

 

As disappointing as this is, I’m more concerned that we may have a mass exodus once the season’s over. I hope I’m wrong, but this could just be the beginning of a complete rebuild.

 

[BGleas]

2 minutes ago, HoosierDom said:

I don't mean to defend him too much, but what was he supposed to do with this team? Have Cupps score 20 a night? X? There just weren't options. Certainly the roster is his fault, but he at least tried to get guys like Love and Knecht.

Play MM at the 4. Play Banks some at the 4 instead of trying to force him to be a wing. Run the offense through Galloway and the high PnR with Ware as opposed to stuffing it in the post all season. 

Look at last game, MM started knocking down 3's once we played smaller with MM at the 4.

But as you said, a lot of it goes back to poor roster construction and leaving a scholarship open. 

[5fouls]

Look, it's senseless to talk about the 'why' at this point.  It's happened.  For all we know, Kansas promised to change the name of Allen Fieldhouse to Liam's Lair.  And, honestly, if someone tweeted that, there would be people that believed it.  Quit hanging on every word some dude with a twitter account, blog, or super-secret friend of a booster says.  Put yourself in this kid, or any kid's shoes. 

If you, as Liam, wanted to fill a lifetime goal of playing in the NBA, and your game was perimeter oriented, would you choose to play for IU after what you watched over the course of 30 games so far this season.  I wouldn't.  I wouldn't want my son to do it.  There are so many other places for a perimeter player to go that will better prepare him for that dream.

And, can we use this opportunity to put the NIL myth to bed?  I don't know for certain, but I'm fairly comfortable in my belief that Kansas did not lure him away from IU with the promise of more NIL than what IU offered,  They were able to lure him away based on what I said earlier in the post.  And, if you think that money is going to sway top talent in the portal this offseason (and we may need about 8 new bodies), then why would you think those players would take the money route when Dalton Knecht, Caleb Love, and Liam Mcneeley didn't? 

We're going to die on the belief that we can buy ourselves a successful team.   

 

[dgambill]

2 minutes ago, HoosierDom said:

I don't mean to defend him too much, but what was he supposed to do with this team? Have Cupps score 20 a night? X? There just weren't options. Certainly the roster is his fault, but he at least tried to get guys like Love and Knecht.

Woody put this team together. Yeah he struck out…but he brought in no guards to help…in fact brought in duplication of what we already had…I agree with what we have right now he is backed into a corner but Woody put us in that corner. Even left a scholarship on the table. UK had like 3 scholarship players going into last offseason and they still filled 12…right up until the start of the season they were still recruiting. Seems if Woody doesn’t land the best he isn’t going to work hard to go after the rest.

[dgambill]

3 minutes ago, Hoosier4Life53 said:

 

As disappointing as this is, I’m more concerned that we may have a mass exodus once the season’s over. I hope I’m wrong, but this could just be the beginning of a complete rebuild.

 

Its likely…with a 65 year old coach who doesn’t like recruiting and was suppose to be a bridge hire…smh…too bad no one told us where the bridge was leading to. (Bridge to Nowhere)