Micah going to Gonzaga
As many have anticipated, at least according to 810 WHB, Micah Downs will be a Gonzaga Bulldog. More as I get it, but if there are any legs to this story, I’m sure you’ll be hearing about it soon enough. In the fullness of time as it is said.
Paint me naive again regarding those personal problems that weren’t basketball related if this is true.
UPDATE: I added this to the comments section, but I thought others might be interested:
I don’t thing enrolling is tantamount to playing for them immediately. It may, at this point, be a hedge bet to enroll to try to preserve eligibility. And naturally, it would make sense to enroll at a potential destination.
Don’t know if you read this article in the LJW that discussed the complications that Downs would face regarding his impulsive departure:
Should KU release Downs, he won’t lose his sophomore season. From there, the best-case scenario is that Downs could suit up and play second semester of the 2006-07 season. However, given the unusual timing of Downs’ departure, he likely won’t be able to suit up in an NCAA game until the 2007-08 season.
Downs has to sit out two semesters, and unless he goes to a junior college, his down time has to be while enrolled full-time at his next school. Current KU sophomore and USC transfer Rodrick Stewart did this when he began taking classes last January and became eligible to play last month — after his second semester at Kansas wrapped up.
By enrolling now in a likely destination, I believe he’ll be eligible a year from now. I think he’ll have to jump through some hoops though with KU in order to be granted a release.
As I understand it, he left without dropping his classes or even picking up his room. We’ll see how it plays out, but I think he’ll end up a Zag if he has indeed enrolled there).
I can’t tell if it’s too late for him to have enrolled. This link provides some insight as to that and I welcome any insight that anyone cares to provide.
UPDATE 2:
A moderator from a Gonzaga message board confirms (to the extent that you can confirm such meaningless speculation):
There are conditions that Micah will have to stick to before he gets a scholarship at Gonzaga, and he has agreed to them and understands them. If he proves himself to the conditions, he’ll get a ride for next year and beyond. Fwiw, David Burgess is not on scholarship, either, until he proves himself, albeit a different kind of proving himself than Micah.
In short, the law has been layed down and must be abided by, or else…..
His personal issues make it understandable that he wants to be closer to home and away from Kansas. I can’t and won’t divulge details but it’s safe to say that he has left behind a major piece of baggage that followed him to Lawrence.
Micah will be eligible mid- to late-December if everything works out here. You’ll see him Saturday in K2.
UPDATE 3: Hate to rely so heavily on message boards for more information here, but the latest twist in the increasingly strange story of Micah Downs comes courtesy of BobZag, the same above-mentioned moderator who provided our last update. Color me a litte tired of all of the “damn drama” to borrow *natty*’s words, but I’ll just put this on your plate and you can decide if you wants to eat it.
Re: Micah Downs - a silly question He’s here and we’ll all see him Saturday at the game.
A couple things:
His transfer had NOTHING to do with his girlfriend.
His transfer had NOTHING to do with PT.
If what happened to his family happened in your family, many of you would want to leave, too, and be closer to your Mom. Most know that his Dad was a problem and moved to Lawrence to be with Micah. Well, Dad is still in Lawrence, he’s the only one. Now Micah is free of him which is a good thing.
So what appeared once to be a Micah pendulum, swinging somewhere between no PT and lonely for girl, is now a Micah triangle.
UPDATE 4:
The Star is saying Gonzaga as well (with the caveat that it’s just a rumor), as are a few other journo-sources who haven’t yet gone to print with it. Here’s the Star’s blurb:
The scuttlebutt on Wednesday was that Downs is attempting to transfer to Gonzaga, where he’d probably be eligible to play beginning in January of 2007. Meanwhile, Robinson has the place all to himself - again. Robinson’s roommate last season, Alex Galindo, transferred to Florida International over the summer.
UPDATE 5: The Seatte Post-Intelligencer quotes Micah’s dad as saying Micah’s looking at either Washington or Gonzaga.
UPDATE 6: The PI is getting much closer to saying that Micah’s going to be a Zag, but that he must walk-on at present, as Gonzaga has no free scholarships.
My question: how can a kid who has evidently struggled for money afford a school that costs over $30,000 a year to attend?
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17 Responses to “Micah going to Gonzaga”
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January 26th, 2006 at 10:52 am
Not likely. Micah is not Zag material. It would be much more realistic to see him in a Husky uniform next season.
January 26th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Sounds shady to me. Once again, a D1 coach can’t speak to another player under scholarship so explain to me how this happened so quickly? Did HCBS even give Micah a release out of his schollie yet? The timing of all this is just not sitting right with me.
January 26th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
I don’t see it. Few has a good reputation. I doubt he’d tamper. Oregon on the other hand…
January 26th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
I don’t thing enrolling is tantamount to playing for them immediately. It may, at this point, be a hedge bet to enroll to try to preserve eligibility. And naturally, it would make sense to enroll at a potential destination.
Don’t know if you read this articlethat discussed the complications that Downs would face regarding his impulsive departure:
By enrolling now in a likely destination, I believe he’ll be eligible a year from now. I think he’ll have to jump through some hoops though with KU in order to be granted a release.
As I understand it, he left without dropping his classes or even picking up his room. We’ll see how it plays out, but I think he’ll end up a Zag.
January 26th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Not Zag material? Micah Downs is the very essence of a west coast player… good shooter, bad defender. The only places he would succeed would be the Pac 10 or the WCC, and thus he chose Gonzaga.
January 26th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Leaving before his first season is complete means that he broke his letter of intent. As I understand it that means he loses his sophmore year. The LJW could be right, but on these matters they are wrong more than they are right.
January 26th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
He forfeits a year as a result, but it’s Self’s discretion to grant him clemency.
Self’s comments indicate that it’s his plan to do so, but I would hope that they require Micah to clean house both literally and figuratively (dropping classes officially, which he must do so that he doesn’t fail his classes and picking up his stuff in his room), before giving him his LOI release.
That will probably happen.
January 26th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
What a joke. Another reason why I am tired of KU basketball, all of the Ronald Mcdonald players that have had everything catered to them. Then when they actually have to work to earn playing time, they cry and go home. As far as I am concerned KU doesn’t need him. I will continue to watch KU basketball, but the drama is getting old. A day later he has a spot at Gonazaga? I truly hope that this is not true. As a fan of mid-majors in general I would truly be disgusted by that.
January 26th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
In response to #5. Not only is downs a bad defender, he’s possibly the worst college defender I’ve even seen. The few games I saw in Lawrence, he was the worst at keeping “on the basket” and losing his man!
I dunno what I think. The girl IS pretty hot but if he would’ve ever left his room in Lawrence, he could’ve found some prime tail
January 26th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
I think he don’t release him let’s teach him a lesson that there are consequenses when you leave a letter of intent what would we teach if we just let him go play for another school i say he plays junior year and we laugh as a kid there are punishments for not following rules……
January 26th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
in response to # 5…The Zags are obviously not a mid-major.
Lastly, Micah Downs is probably over rated but he needs to be given time to mature, grow, and develop as a player and person. It’s my hope that he proves everyone wrong and ends up being excellent in both ball and life.
January 26th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Self will release him. Bad for recruiting if you don’t. According to Dee Brown, Illinois wouldn’t release him after Self left. Perhaps this is why they had so much trouble getting decent recruits for a few years?
January 26th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
To 11:
Ryan, I certainly agree with you. I wish Micah the best in his future and I hope that he’s able to mature as a young man and as a basketball player.
I fear, however, that the immaturity that led to his leaving the ‘Hawks like a thief in the night will continue to surface.
He may excel at Gonzaga, and I certainly hope he does.
That being said, if he doesn’t take care of business to clean up the mess that he left at KU, I wouldn’t have any issue if we witheld his release. I think that is perfectly fair.
January 27th, 2006 at 12:02 am
i stand corrected. we’ll see how this works out for everyone. hopefully Micah can do what he has never done before and be a good teamate and stay somewhere for more than 1 year.
January 28th, 2006 at 12:24 am
I say don’t release him. Let him learn your word has to be good or your no good.
January 28th, 2006 at 12:45 am
To release or not release is a difficult question. In principle, I think it’s better to release, because it promotes good will and discourages negative recruiting on the part of other teams.
On the other hand, I think it’s perfectly fair for Self not to release Micah if anything unsultry has gone on, or for that matter if Micah doesn’t clean house both figuratively and literally.
Leaving like a thief in the night just isn’t cool.
I’d release him and wish him the best.
February 4th, 2006 at 12:34 am
Okay, fellow Jayhawks, we’re on the road to some success now. However, I am stunned by the way Ililnois is playing. What is up with those guys? I think the loss of Micah is sad, he could have been a real contributor to our team.