2020 G Donovan Williams

[cjbowbros]

6 minutes ago, ConkintheCorner said:

Are we seriously comparing D.W. to Lebron????  C’mon man

 

Yes but only because I compared Nebraska highschool basketball to the NBA. He was named the best player in Nebraska this year. The point is that not being a team player to some extent doesn’t mean the player can’t help your team win. Kyrie had to get away from Lebron but they still won a championship together. Same with Shaq and Kobe. Even if Donovan isn’t a great team player he could have helped us win and if he couldn’t or we were bringing in all top 150 recruits I would have no problem letting him go. But there is no way he would be worst player on our roster next year. And there’s also no way you could expect him at this point (I could be proven wrong) to be a worse locker room guy than Mack or Allen. So I would have at least liked to try it. 

[Bugeaters1]

Allen was a bad locker room guy?

 

[OmahaHusker]

4 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

Allen was a bad locker room guy?

 

 

He’s talking about Teddy. Not Thomas. 

[colhusker]

21 minutes ago, cjbowbros said:

Yes but only because I compared Nebraska highschool basketball to the NBA. He was named the best player in Nebraska this year. The point is that not being a team player to some extent doesn’t mean the player can’t help your team win. Kyrie had to get away from Lebron but they still won a championship together. Same with Shaq and Kobe. Even if Donovan isn’t a great team player he could have helped us win and if he couldn’t or we were bringing in all top 150 recruits I would have no problem letting him go. But there is no way he would be worst player on our roster next year. And there’s also no way you could expect him at this point (I could be proven wrong) to be a worse locker room guy than Mack or Allen. So I would have at least liked to try it. 

Yes he could have helped us win.  HE chose NOT to sign on the dotted line so the fact that he is NOT in the locker room is on HIM.  (Cue the gov that I despise the kid).

[Bugeaters1]

9 minutes ago, OmahaHusker said:

 

He’s talking about Teddy. Not Thomas. 

Okay, didn't about Teddy. first thought was Allen.

[colhusker]

17 minutes ago, OmahaHusker said:

 

He’s talking about Teddy. Not Thomas. 

Has he been in the locker room with either?

 

[OmahaHusker]

Just now, colhusker said:

Has he been in the locker room with either?

 

 

I’ll give him the Teddy one just because he can be considered a head case based on his past. Not saying he can’t change, but the proof is in the pudding with what there is to go off of as of now. 

[jason2486]

59 minutes ago, cjbowbros said:

Yes but only because I compared Nebraska highschool basketball to the NBA. He was named the best player in Nebraska this year. The point is that not being a team player to some extent doesn’t mean the player can’t help your team win. Kyrie had to get away from Lebron but they still won a championship together. Same with Shaq and Kobe. Even if Donovan isn’t a great team player he could have helped us win and if he couldn’t or we were bringing in all top 150 recruits I would have no problem letting him go. But there is no way he would be worst player on our roster next year. And there’s also no way you could expect him at this point (I could be proven wrong) to be a worse locker room guy than Mack or Allen. So I would have at least liked to try it. 

 

The major problem with your point is that LeBron IS a great team player. Some of those Cavs teams had no business making the Finals.  He elevated those around him to get them there.

[cjbowbros]

23 minutes ago, OmahaHusker said:

 

I’ll give him the Teddy one just because he can be considered a head case based on his past. Not saying he can’t change, but the proof is in the pudding with what there is to go off of as of now. 

And just to be clear I’m all on board with Teddy he seems like a great player that will help us win. But at the same time I believe there is about a 50/50 shot he’s still on the team by the end of next season. I hope it works out and if it doesn’t it’s not a huge deal he can just transfer. It’s going to take a lot to transform a 7 win team into a team that makes the tournament so we might as well take a chance. Especially on a guy who already lives here might stick around and be a building block for the future.

[cjbowbros]

19 minutes ago, jason2486 said:

 

The major problem with your point is that LeBron IS a great team player. Some of those Cavs teams had no business making the Finals.  He elevated those around him to get them there.

That’s totally true. I have gotten the feeling that this is more about attitude than on court play though. Again if he is shooting to much Hoiberg can always take him out of the game. And if he doesn’t like it he can leave. But for us to just assume that because the best player in the state was a bit of a ball hog in high school he will always make any team he is on worse seems like a stretch. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by cjbowbros

[huskerbaseball13]

1 hour ago, cjbowbros said:

That’s totally true. I have gotten the feeling that this is more about attitude than on court play though. Again if he is shooting to much Hoiberg can always take him out of the game. And if he doesn’t like it he can leave. But for us to just assume that because the best player in the state was a bit of a ball hog in high school he will always make any team he is on worse seems like a stretch. 

I have no idea if Donovan is poor team player, Miles probably wouldn’t have recruited him if so. 
 

With that said, I do know what he said after he decommited. Multiple times bringing up how Nebraska is only wanting to go after JUCO’s and transfers going forward. To say that all Hoiberg had to do was show him a little attention doesnt sound to be the case. Now, had you said all Hoiberg had to do was stop recruiting other guards....then maybe you would have been on to something. 

[NUdiehard]

9 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

People will have different opinions about all sorts of things and as long as they can give reasons for what they think what they think, I'm all about different opinions. That's what makes the world interesting. So I have no problem with your opinion. You might even be right. But every time you try to demonstrate your basketball knowledge it becomes clear you don't really get it past the ball goes in the ring thingy. 

cjbowbros original post was in response to Huskerinexile who said that we do not want Donovan at NU because he is not a team player and became uncoachable this year.  I think cjbowbros point was that this seems like a myopic and selective vision position considering all the other players Hoiberg has recruited to play at NU.  I have thought about this as well.  I mean, let's be honest, virtually every single high profile HS player is selfish in some form or another.  And isn't pretty much every single transfer player we bring in selfish?  These are players that just quit on their team because the situation wasn't best for them.  Some of them have quit on multiple teams already.  Are they not selfish?  What about Cam Mack (watching 10 minutes of his juco film pretty much summed him up, didn't it)?  Are we certain Donovan is more selfish than all these other players?  If you or I or Huskerinexile watched some of these other high profile players play in HS, we would probably see a lot of selfish play I imagine.  We are all excited about the signing of Trey McGowens today (as am I), but when you read his interview with Washut all he talks about is how his coach at Pitt didn't utilize him in a way that can "get him to the league" and so he quit on his team so he could play for a new coach who can hopefully get him to the league.  Again, it is what it is, but how can you, or Huskerinexile, or anyone else be sure that he is going to be a great team player and Donovan most definitely will not.  

 

Tim Miles scouted Donovan and thought enough of him to recruit him and accept his verbal.  Shall I take Huskerinexile's (or yours for that matter) over Tim Miles?  Or Bill Self?  Of the head coach of Texas?  Or Kansas State?  

 

For years we have all lamented the lack of talent in Nebraska.  Year after year after year we lament that we cannot count on any Nebraska kids to build around.  Well, now we have some Nebraska kids, but we are not signing any of them (except Arop who obviously is not of the same skill level).  Yes, we all still hold out hope for Sallis who probably is the best of the bunch.  But it also seems that Donovan and Sallis talk (friends?  Does anyone know?) so losing Donovan may hurt us with Sallis.  When Danny Nee was here, he locked up the state.  He got all the best players from the state and those were some of his best teams.  

 

Why not take a gamble on Donovan?  If he is a bad apple, cut him loose.  Fred is turning over the roster every year anyway, so not a lot of risk involved.  Neither you, nor I, nor Huskerinexile know for sure what his attitude would be once he is here.  Maybe once he got around the older players and got humbled on the practice floor he would grow up and mature some.  We all seem to be giving Teddy that benefit of the doubt even though he has proven otherwise many times over (and still has excessive antics on the court in juco).   I think cjbowbros was simply saying he would rather take that gamble on a 4 star Nebraska kid than some other kid from some other state who in the end is probably is just as selfish as Donovan anyway.  

Edited April 5, 2020 by NUdiehard

[NUdiehard]

4 hours ago, huskerbaseball13 said:

I have no idea if Donovan is poor team player, Miles probably wouldn’t have recruited him if so. 
 

With that said, I do know what he said after he decommited. Multiple times bringing up how Nebraska is only wanting to go after JUCO’s and transfers going forward. To say that all Hoiberg had to do was show him a little attention doesnt sound to be the case. Now, had you said all Hoiberg had to do was stop recruiting other guards....then maybe you would have been on to something. 

Do you really think Donovan decommitted solely because he is scared of the competition on the NU roster?  From players who are on a 7 win team?  Or that he decommitted solely because he was scared of Teddy?  He is being recruited by multiple power 5 schools.  Do you really think those schools don't have players who are just as good or better than Teddy? 

Edited April 5, 2020 by NUdiehard

[Jugular]

Let’s face it, we don’t likely know the entire story here. We probably know bits and pieces but we don’t know everything. On the surface, this is the type of scorer and kid that Hoiberg would typically want. The dude can obviously score and Fred doesn’t give two shits on whether someone wants to play much D as long as they can score it. So if you are in the camp that we lost interest, something caused this. Was his attitude that bad? Did he want promises from a recruiting standpoint? Did he lose interest in NU? There is definitely more to this story than what is out there. And I also think an interesting side piece is the question I brought up yesterday...why didn’t Creighton recruit this kid after he opened it back up? They have been actively looking for a scoring guard all season. Maybe that lack of interest provides some insight as well.

[huskerbaseball13]

12 hours ago, NUdiehard said:

Do you really think Donovan decommitted solely because he is scared of the competition on the NU roster?  From players who are on a 7 win team?  Or that he decommitted solely because he was scared of Teddy?  He is being recruited by multiple power 5 schools.  Do you really think those schools don't have players who are just as good or better than Teddy? 

Solely? No...probably not. Are you saying Hoiberg continuing to recruit other guards, more specifically...other guards that as of right now have more experience than Donovan...wasn’t a factor in his decision?  If so, I can only assume you believe Donovan is a liar. 
 

So yes, based on his comments and the roster Hoiberg was wanting to assemble he was afraid of competition. Donovan basically said so himself...again, unless you think he is lying for some odd reason. 
 

Again, I’m not going to sit here and say Donovan is not some team player because I doubt that to be true. But to place all the blame on Hoiberg for his decommitment is pretty laughable considering Donovan’s words and actions after the fact. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by huskerbaseball13

[Art Vandalay]

12 hours ago, NUdiehard said:

cjbowbros original post was in response to Huskerinexile who said that we do not want Donovan at NU because he is not a team player and became uncoachable this year.  I think cjbowbros point was that this seems like a myopic and selective vision position considering all the other players Hoiberg has recruited to play at NU.  I have thought about this as well.  I mean, let's be honest, virtually every single high profile HS player is selfish in some form or another.  And isn't pretty much every single transfer player we bring in selfish?  These are players that just quit on their team because the situation wasn't best for them.  Some of them have quit on multiple teams already.  Are they not selfish?  What about Cam Mack (watching 10 minutes of his juco film pretty much summed him up, didn't it)?  Are we certain Donovan is more selfish than all these other players?  If you or I or Huskerinexile watched some of these other high profile players play in HS, we would probably see a lot of selfish play I imagine.  We are all excited about the signing of Trey McGowens today (as am I), but when you read his interview with Washut all he talks about is how his coach at Pitt didn't utilize him in a way that can "get him to the league" and so he quit on his team so he could play for a new coach who can hopefully get him to the league.  Again, it is what it is, but how can you, or Huskerinexile, or anyone else be sure that he is going to be a great team player and Donovan most definitely will not.  

 

Tim Miles scouted Donovan and thought enough of him to recruit him and accept his verbal.  Shall I take Huskerinexile's (or yours for that matter) over Tim Miles?  Or Bill Self?  Of the head coach of Texas?  Or Kansas State?  

 

For years we have all lamented the lack of talent in Nebraska.  Year after year after year we lament that we cannot count on any Nebraska kids to build around.  Well, now we have some Nebraska kids, but we are not signing any of them (except Arop who obviously is not of the same skill level).  Yes, we all still hold out hope for Sallis who probably is the best of the bunch.  But it also seems that Donovan and Sallis talk (friends?  Does anyone know?) so losing Donovan may hurt us with Sallis.  When Danny Nee was here, he locked up the state.  He got all the best players from the state and those were some of his best teams.  

 

Why not take a gamble on Donovan?  If he is a bad apple, cut him loose.  Fred is turning over the roster every year anyway, so not a lot of risk involved.  Neither you, nor I, nor Huskerinexile know for sure what his attitude would be once he is here.  Maybe once he got around the older players and got humbled on the practice floor he would grow up and mature some.  We all seem to be giving Teddy that benefit of the doubt even though he has proven otherwise many times over (and still has excessive antics on the court in juco).   I think cjbowbros was simply saying he would rather take that gamble on a 4 star Nebraska kid than some other kid from some other state who in the end is probably is just as selfish as Donovan anyway.  

I think everyone might be overreacting here, could be a simple answer.. Donovan is a very talented, ball dominate, scoring guard who would have fit pretty good with what Miles wants to do. Fred has a much different style than Tim. He likes spacing and sharing the ball, not clear outs for guys. I think that is why Burke and Green maybe did not flourish like we hoped they would. Would Donovan adapted his game and flourished? Does he want to? Maybe he is looking for a system that will highlight his strengths.

 

Fred honored the offer and Donovan chose not to sign which was his choice. Then Fred moved on probably hoping to find guys more suited to his style. Don’t think it is a coincidence that Creighton did not offer as their system might not be the perfect match either.

 

hope he finds the right place and has a great career.

[49r]

@Art Vandalay I agree with everything you wrote.  My feelings about the situation can be summed up in this song.

 

 

[Jugular]

1 hour ago, Art Vandalay said:

I think everyone might be overreacting here, could be a simple answer.. Donovan is a very talented, ball dominate, scoring guard who would have fit pretty good with what Miles wants to do. Fred has a much different style than Tim. He likes spacing and sharing the ball, not clear outs for guys. I think that is why Burke and Green maybe did not flourish like we hoped they would. Would Donovan adapted his game and flourished? Does he want to? Maybe he is looking for a system that will highlight his strengths.

 

Fred honored the offer and Donovan chose not to sign which was his choice. Then Fred moved on probably hoping to find guys more suited to his style. Don’t think it is a coincidence that Creighton did not offer as their system might not be the perfect match either.

 

hope he finds the right place and has a great career.

It would be difficult for someone to convince me that he wouldn’t fit well in Hoiberg’s spacing offense. In fact, I think his skill set should thrive in it. And in Creighton’s as well

[Swan88]

His brother spurned Nebraska in favor of Wisconsin.  So . . . now it’s two for two in that family.

[Red Don]

I'm with @Art Vandalay.  I don't know why we seem to be over-thinking this.  The more this goes on, the more bizarre the rational becomes.  Donovan had a commit-able offer; He is the one who declined to accept on signing-day (I read somewhere, I believe it was on this forum, that Fred was pissed!).

 

I don't see Fred going out begging, "Won't you please, Please come to Nebraska?"   Rather, I would expect the conversation to run more like:  "Here is what we can do for you; Here is what we think you can do for us."

 

 

[Art Vandalay]

3 hours ago, Jugular said:

It would be difficult for someone to convince me that he wouldn’t fit well in Hoiberg’s spacing offense. In fact, I think his skill set should thrive in it. And in Creighton’s as well

He very well might but right now passing, 3 pt%, and moving without the ball are not his strengths and Fred loves those qualities, so does McD. He is a volume shooter that dominates the ball and is not overly efficient. He is talented enough he could thrive in any system if he wanted to make adjustments but that’s a big IF. Most guys like that figure why change if what I am doing is working.

 

I am real interested to see where he lands. Think KSU and Okie St would be good fits, hope he does great.

[bball23]

I am going to say with GREAT certainty that he will not stay at one school and may transfer more than once.

[atskooc]

12 minutes ago, bball23 said:

I am going to say with GREAT certainty that he will not stay at one school and may transfer more than once.

You mean like a third of college basketball players?

Edited April 5, 2020 by atskooc

[thrasher31]

Oh. I see we're arguing about Donovan today. 

 

I wish the kid the best, especially cuz he's from Lincoln. We never have that kind of talent here in Lincoln. Could he have fit here? Most definitely. But he didn't sign when he was given the chance. At the end of the day I trust Fred to make the right call on this. Let's let it play out and see if he did. 

[TheGov21]

4 hours ago, Art Vandalay said:

He very well might but right now passing, 3 pt%, and moving without the ball are not his strengths and Fred loves those qualities, so does McD. He is a volume shooter that dominates the ball and is not overly efficient. He is talented enough he could thrive in any system if he wanted to make adjustments but that’s a big IF. Most guys like that figure why change if what I am doing is working.

 

I am real interested to see where he lands. Think KSU and Okie St would be good fits, hope he does great.

 

This is a very good assessment of Donovan and why he doesn't fit into Nebraska's offense and another reason why Fred didn't really put too much effort into keeping him. Sure some are going to say that Donovan still had an offer and all he had to do was sign or that Donovan was at the Husker games and showing up at Hendricks. But I know with 100% certainty that Fred ghosted Donovan for quite a while leading up to his decommitment. You can speculate based on social media all you want, but it's 100% true.

 

The key is Donovan moved on and is looking at schools that fit him better (as Art stated KSU, Okie State and Texas) and Fred and Nebraska have moved on to guys who they feel are better fits. Both parties seem fine with it.