inicio mail me! sindicaci;ón

Clay Wilson decommits.

In the wake of Coach Johnson's departure to Fairfield, Tiger recruit Clay Wilson has announced he is decommiting from Princeton and will possibly not head to New Jersey this fall.

This change of plans leaves the Tigers' 2011 recruiting class at three members. With acceptance letters already mailed, it may be too late to replace Wilson.

For a piece I will most likely now need to scrap updating the senior seasons of each Princeton recruit, Lincoln Christian School head coach Teddy Owens wrote last week:

Clay had a great senior season, averaging 26.5 points a game, leading the team in rebounding with 6.6 rebounds a game and leading the team in assists at just over five a game. He had three games where he scored over 40 points and two of those games were against really good teams. He had 47 against Mounds High the first game of the year, 42 vs. Cascia Hall which is one of the best basketball schools in the state, and 42 against class 6A Union. The thing that impressed me the most about Clay is how he got his teammates, who had very little Varsity experience, the ball in the right spots. He will be a great addition to Princeton and I look forward to seeing him help Princeton win in the NCAA tournament next year.

Jim Waltman said,

April 7, 2011 @ 9:04 pm

Thanks Syd. This is why Walters needs to move quickly and promote Earl: we need some continuity. There is no need for a long search with the very strong nucleus coming back. This also shows why its so important to hang onto a coach for more than four years. This kid sounds like a phenomenal scorer. I assume any chance of Desmond Hubert and the player from Florida coming are out the window now too. Very frustrating.

Jon Solomon said,

April 7, 2011 @ 9:26 pm

Jim,

What player from Florida?

Jon

Jim Waltman said,

April 7, 2011 @ 9:44 pm

Jon, I was referring to Derrick Henry but I may have the state wrong (is it Georgia?)

Jack said,

April 7, 2011 @ 9:47 pm

Thanks Sydney. Thanks Shirley.

Jon Solomon said,

April 7, 2011 @ 9:49 pm

Ah! Georgia, but fairly close to the FL border.

Jim Waltman said,

April 7, 2011 @ 9:54 pm

I'll blame the error on posting from a BlackBerry.

Jon Solomon said,

April 7, 2011 @ 9:59 pm

Don't worry about it! Just wanted to make sure there wasn't a name I should be following that I was overlooking.

R.W. Enoch, Jr. said,

April 8, 2011 @ 1:29 am

Some re-reading of the articles from 4 years ago combined with new knowledge I've acquired this week about the state of coaching salaries led me to this groundbreaking question:

Was Joe Scott's resignation really any different than Sydney Johnson's?

Details of the situation I had not retained include Gary Walters publicly insisting Scott's job was safe and that his resignation was "jaw dropping", "unexpected", and "unfathomable."

Perhaps most importantly, what has come to light in recent days (at least for me) is that Scott probably received a SIGNIFICANT raise moving back to Colorado.

Could it be that Scott would have taken this job even if he had a winning record at Princeton?!?!

This isn't such a big deal because all parties are probably better off with him in Denver; however, it further intensifies the already major concerns I have regarding Johnson's resignation. The combination of Princeton's low coaching salaries and lack of internal athletic support makes the Frank G. Cappon-Edward C. Greene '40 Head Coaching position completely undesirable and noncompetitive.

Patrick Ying said,

April 8, 2011 @ 9:50 am

Couldn't find the comments on Scott's leave that RW referred to.

"I have to say that I wasn't very surprised [that Scott left]," Walters said. "I think this year in particular was extremely painful for him and his family and just people associated with Princeton basketball. Coaches put enormous pressure on themselves to be successful, and I'm sure that from Joe's point of view — trying to put myself in his shoes and trying to be very empathetic — it was tearing him up inside."

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2007/03/26/17790/

Michael Braun said,

April 8, 2011 @ 12:11 pm

How well have past decommits and transfers done at their new schools? Spencer Gloger transfers to UCLA in the wake of Carmody's departure, only to transfer back and lose his remaining eligibility. Jeff Peterson got some meaningful minutes as a sophomore at Iowa, only to transfer to Arkansas, lose a year of eligibility and play 21 minutes a game and score 6.5 ppg this year. Note sure how good of a basketball decision either of those were (there may have been other factors at play). Dominic Martin had a nice career at Yale, but no NCAA berths. Are there others that have done well? Not so well? I just wonder how much "better" Clay Wilson expects to do with a different program.

Jon Solomon said,

April 8, 2011 @ 12:24 pm

There's also Chris O'Brien, Sydney Johnson's first recruit at Princeton who did not gain admission following his gap year despite all indications to the contrary.

O'Brien started at San Francisco and then transferred to Cal Poly where he averaged 5.9 ppg in 2010-11.

While I'm thinking of names, Blake Wilson never played at St. Joe's.

Robert Solomon said,

April 8, 2011 @ 12:41 pm

I don't think the sarcastic comments like "thanks Syd" are appropriate or right. Put yourself in Sydney's position and think what you would have done--a 38 year old coach with 2 young children and an offer that would double your current salary. If I were in Sydney Johnson's shoes, I would most likely have done the same thing--and if you look at it objectively I think most people would have made the move.

Jack said,

April 8, 2011 @ 1:11 pm

I sure was worried about Sydney feeding his family. What a relief. By the way, how do know it's double what Princeton would have paid?

Gregg Lange said,

April 8, 2011 @ 1:42 pm

If you're gonna leave, emptying the barrel and then leaving on Sept. 6 (a la Carmody) is far nastier than anything Sydney could have possibly dreamed up.

Ironically, of course, that cleared the table for JTIII and Nate Walton to win the most inspiring and improbable Ivy title in many years.

Jon Solomon said,

April 9, 2011 @ 2:00 pm

Update: I heard briefly from Clay Wilson's high school coach today, and he made it sound like Wilson coming to Princeton when all is said and done is not completely outside the realm of the possible.

"Clay is just exploring all options now without the certainty of him being at Princeton," he wrote.

I've changed the more finite language of my post above.

Jon

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