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    a0t0w0

    By a0t0w0 •

    Pitchford not playing next year....

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      Good luck Walt. Thanks for the role you played.

    Lincoln – University of Nebraska forward Walter Pitchford announced Monday that he is giving up his final season of eligibility with the Husker basketball program. Pitchford will remain at the University of Nebraska and finish his undergraduate degree in ethnic studies.

    “I thank Coach Miles for giving me the opportunity when I transferred from Florida,” Pitchford said. “I have learned a lot about myself in the three years I’ve been at Nebraska and it is not an easy decision to give up playing basketball. I believe it is in the best interest of both the team and myself that I devote my time to completing my degree at Nebraska and eventually go into a career in business.

    “I appreciate all the support I have received from the coaching staff, my teammates and the fans during my time at Nebraska and it has become home for me,” Pitchford said. “I know my teammates support me on this difficult decision, and I will be there to support them.”

    “I completely support Walter in his decision,” Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles said. “It shows a great deal of courage for a young man to see his career path and pursue it. I know leaving behind basketball is not easy for Walter or his family, but I also believe this is the best thing for Walt because it targets what he wants to do.”

    As a junior, he played in 30 games, including 26 starts, and averaged 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game to rank third on the team in both scoring and rebounding. Pitchford reached double figures nine times in 2014-15, including a career-high 19 points against Tennessee-Martin and at No. 16 Maryland.

    He averaged 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds as a sophomore in 2013-14, helping the Huskers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998. That season, he ranked among the Big Ten leaders in both field goal percentage (.473, 10th) and 3-point percentage (.410, seventh).

    Pitchford began his career at the University of Florida in 2011-12, helping the Gators to an appearance in the Elite Eight.

    In the classroom, Pitchford is a two-time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll member.

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    royalfan

    Im interested to see who we get to replace him.

     

    For as bad as he was this year, I struggle to definitively say we are better without him.   But I can also see how if we find a guy who can play in the post and knows his role, that we would be much better off.

     

    I'm leery of our post situation next year.   While I'm not writing Hammond off, it's awefully tough to feel good about him next year.   Everyone else is a true frosh who is going to be lacking some size at this point.

    Welcome back.  Hopefully you aren't back just because things have turned a little negative. You are allowed to post when things are rolling as well. 

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    royalfan

     

    It will be okay Norm.  He wasn't making any progress and didn't seem to have the intestinal fortitude required to make it happen this year.  I have met the guy and even had a couple of beverages with him.  Likeable kid.  He was a very confident young man back then(little over a year ago).  Wish it worked out much differently, but he seemed to lose that swagger.  Tough deal, but at this point I don't think it will hurt our basketball team very much.  

    This is a fair and balanced analysis IMO, Royal.  We'll see if it's true we "won't miss him".

    I would have liked Walt to have been a tougher player physically and mentally.  We all would.  I think some here have interpreted that lack of toughness as being lazy and disinterested.  Sorry, I don't buy that in the least.  There's a difference between toughness and work ethic.  You'd like all your players to have both.  But just because you aren't tough, doesn't make you lazy.

     

    The strange part is we will never know if we will have missed him or not.  We don't know what we would have been getting.  We could have got the very good shooting, confident Walt that we all loved.  Or we could have got someone that weighed down the program if his heart was in a different place.  All that I know is that I hope it was the best decision for him and our basketball program.  Usually it has to be one or the other, but in this case I think it may be good for both parties.  I don't think we will ever know for sure.

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    Norm Peterson

    I've softened my attitude since yesterday.  Reading the piece in the LJS today, he's not just going to finish a degree in ethnic studies.  He's looking at enrolling in an MBA program and getting a masters in business.  And he says this is a decision that has weighed on him for a couple of years.  So, it's not just about Walt taking his ball and going home.  It's about Walt looking at life beyond basketball.  Because, afterall, most NCAA athletes go pro in something other than sports.

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    Huskerpapa

    ...and another thought...Walt could have "quit" and stayed on the team in order to retain his scholorship money.  What do I mean by that you ask?  Well, he could have simply remained on schollie, showed up and played yet not put the time or effort to get better.  Instead, he has chosen to move towards his future. This seems to me to be a very unselfish decision.  His passion shifted from a game to his business future.  That seems to be a very mature decision.  Just saying...

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    atskooc

    Did he ever play center, though?  Not that I ever really saw.

     

    And the entire team would have been more effective if we had a center we could throw the ball into.

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    colhusker

    Did he ever play center, though?  Not that I ever really saw.

     

    And the entire team would have been more effective if we had a center we could throw the ball into.

    He got abused when he was asked to play post defense.  He was out of position big time there.

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    TheKamdyMan

     

    Did he ever play center, though?  Not that I ever really saw.

     

    And the entire team would have been more effective if we had a center we could throw the ball into.

    He got abused when he was asked to play post defense.  He was out of position big time there.

     

     

    It wouldnt have mattered who he was asked to guard he would have been abused.  He couldnt bang well in the post but anytime he got a switch with a SG/SF they easily beat him off the dribble when they had space.

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    hhcmatt

     

     

    Did he ever play center, though?  Not that I ever really saw.

     

    And the entire team would have been more effective if we had a center we could throw the ball into.

    He got abused when he was asked to play post defense.  He was out of position big time there.

     

     

    It wouldnt have mattered who he was asked to guard he would have been abused.  He couldnt bang well in the post but anytime he got a switch with a SG/SF they easily beat him off the dribble when they had space.

     

     

    Agreed. At his best, Pitch was the mis-match for the other team. At his worst, he was a mis-match for us.

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    jimmykc

    I'm glad we are starting to soften up on Walter. People make decisions in life. Some are good and some are not. Unless we can live inside someone's mind we outsiders can not truly know what prompts these choices. Many fans were shocked and angered when Barry Sanders walked away but time has a way of putting things into perspective. On the other hand Bison Dele left a successful career in sports and that certainly did not work out. Let us all hope that Mr. Pitchford has made the correct choice for himself.

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    nustudent

     

    Im interested to see who we get to replace him.

     

    For as bad as he was this year, I struggle to definitively say we are better without him.   But I can also see how if we find a guy who can play in the post and knows his role, that we would be much better off.

     

    I'm leery of our post situation next year.   While I'm not writing Hammond off, it's awefully tough to feel good about him next year.   Everyone else is a true frosh who is going to be lacking some size at this point.

    Welcome back.  Hopefully you aren't back just because things have turned a little negative. You are allowed to post when things are rolling as well. 

     

    I'm not concerned about the way things are headed yet.   I'm still pretty hopeful about Miles and Co. 

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