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'10 OH SG Cameron Wright (Pitt Verbal)

Dispatch


Wright told Matta this week that he was reopening his recruitment.

"He just had the feeling that he didn?t know if he was wanted and he wanted to do what was best for him," Wright's coach at Benedictine, Rob Stircula, said tonight. "The relationship with us and Ohio State wasn?t the same after Groce left."

When he committed, Wright said he had always been an Ohio State fan and had been "praying for this (offer) for a long time."

Stircula said last night that Wright is "kind of down" because "he realized that this dream he had of always being an Ohio State Buckeye, the only place he ever wanted to go," wasn't going to come true.

"Now he's just going back to the drawing board, use it as a learning experience and motivation to get even better."

Groce was in Benedictine's gym watching Wright play yesterday, Stircula said, and about 30 schools have called since hearing the news.
 
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It's a shitty part of the business for sure. I'm sure Groce gave a strong endorsement, but how could Thad take on a player that he wasn't completely sold on. You shouldn't offer a recruit a scholarship unless you intend to stand behind the principals you recruited them on. And then to support them and help them improve their game in preparation for college.

It's a bit of a letdown to see something like this happen. It could also be used as a negative recruiting tool. I'm sure other programs do the same, but it should feel good to say we're not like the others.
 
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Recruiting in basketball requires projecting kids at the next level and the kids are offered so early and they are still growing their game..........Wright was offered and verbaled back in 2007.........in that time, he has progressed, possibly not at the rapid pace or ceiling the tOSU staff expected.......Groce leaves and Wright does not have the same feeling about anyone else on the staff.........Matta possibly starts thinking Wright is not the best available prospect at this time..........Wright looks at the depth chart and feels like tOSU is not the place for him........

Sounds like a win-win for both parties........
 
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OSUBasketballJunkie;1455101; said:
Recruiting in basketball requires projecting kids at the next level and the kids are offered so early and they are still growing their game..........Wright was offered and verbaled back in 2007.........in that time, he has progressed, possibly not at the rapid pace or ceiling the tOSU staff expected.......Groce leaves and Wright does not have the same feeling about anyone else on the staff.........Matta possibly starts thinking Wright is not the best available prospect at this time..........Wright looks at the depth chart and feels like tOSU is not the place for him........

Sounds like a win-win for both parties........

I don't think Cameron feels like he is coming out on the winning side.
 
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I don't think Cameron feels like he is coming out on the winning side.

I agree at this time he may feel like he got the short end of the stick, but I think he made the correct decision rather than possibly having to transfer out after one year...........it is obvious that Matta did not like the fit as much as he did 2 years ago..........This type of situation is not unique to Ohio State.......it happens often and the early recruiting is partly to blame........
 
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I would say that early recruiting for most players is about 80% of the blame. Wright was offered when he was a freshman based on his abilities back then and I am sure that the coaching staff projected that he would become a very nice player for their system. Unfortunately, players do not always progress over the years as coaches think they might. I have posted earlier in this thread than I did not think that Cameron was playing against that good of competition because there is not that much overall basketball competition in Cleveland high school basketball. I might not know much but I do know Cleveland high schools.
 
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LitlBuck;1455158; said:
I would say that early recruiting for most players is about 80% of the blame. Wright was offered when he was a freshman based on his abilities back then and I am sure that the coaching staff projected that he would become a very nice player for their system. Unfortunately, players do not always progress over the years as coaches think they might. I have posted earlier in this thread than I did not think that Cameron was playing against that good of competition because there is not that much overall basketball competition in Cleveland high school basketball. I might not know much but I do know Cleveland high schools.

I'd put the blame on the colleges for handing out the offers so early. Unless the offer has conditions, you can't really blame the recruits.
 
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starBUCKS;1455175; said:
I'd put the blame on the colleges for handing out the offers so early. Unless the offer has conditions, you can't really blame the recruits.
Oh, I totally agree. Offers are being made way too early by coaches. I mean kids are being offered in the eighth grade which is ridiculous. However for a kid wants to say he wants to go to a certain school nothing can really be done but coaches really need to back off IMO
 
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ShakerBuck;1455227; said:
They didn't pull his offer did they? if he still wanted to go to tOSU and compete he could. He is choosing to reopen his recruitment,

I'm sure he got enough of a "you're not as wanted vibe" to walk away from his "life long dream" of being a Buckeye.
 
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Benedictine guard, OSU go their separate ways
Friday, April 24, 2009
Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter

When Cameron Wright got off the phone with Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta on Tuesday night, the junior guard from Benedictine knew he was not going to fulfill his dream of playing basketball for the Buckeyes.

Eighteen months after giving an oral commitment to Ohio State, Wright dropped that pledge and opened up his recruiting after getting the feeling the Buckeyes didn't want him anymore.

While recruits in football and basketball backing out of non-binding oral commitments isn't unusual, this wasn't a case of a kid changing his mind. Ever since OSU assistant John Groce, the primary recruiter for Wright, left to become the head coach at Ohio last June, Wright said contact from the Buckeyes had been sparse, and the call from Matta on Tuesday led to the final parting.

"I was definitely going to stick with Ohio State," said Wright, who had been one of five players pledged to Ohio State's Class of 2010. "I had thoughts when coach Groce left because I always thought I was one of his guys. But my dream was to go to Ohio State. But things became evident when they didn't show me any respect by giving me one call per month like they said they would do."

The NCAA limits contact with recruits during the season but it's not hard to send a message. Wright's high school coach, Rob Stircula, said Wright had contact with Buckeyes just four times since Groce left, and three of those were unofficial visits Wright instigated.

"He's been really down and disappointed, but he's had a bad feeling for a while," Stircula said. "He always kept putting it off because he wanted to go there so bad, so he kept ignoring the signs."
"Coach Matta, he did what he had to do," Wright said. "I still thank the Ohio State staff for even recruiting me. It's nothing negative. At the end of the day, it's all a business."

Benedictine guard, OSU go their separate ways - Cleveland.com
 
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JUST TO KEEP YA UPDATED.

Varsity
Join Date: 02-20-08
Posts: 52


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recru...ory?id=4105144

The main player they talk about in this article is Langford from Florida Rams and 3 other players from his team.. Led by Cameron Wright with 32 points (7-7 free throws down the strecth, Derek Jackson 17pts (Wright's High School teamatte, and Scooter 15 pts. from Bedford), King James beat them 84-80...

This is what the article mentions about Cameron Wright: Six-foot-5 wing Cameron Wright (Cleveland/Benedictine) was very aggressive and did a good job attacking the rim in transition and slashing in the half court. He made his presence felt on the offensive glass and finished through contact.
 
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This sounds similar to a situation where a boyfriend will ignore his girlfriend because he wants her to break up with him rather than him having to do the deed.

Sort of stinks actually. I think it is fair if someone wants to say they don't like the way Ohio State handled this.
 
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I guess I don't understand where you're coming from regarding Ohio State. I think they offered Cameron based upon this potential to develop into a quality basketball player suited for the Big 10. He is the one who accepted the offer. You really have no idea how the entire scenario of his reopening his recruitment went down. Perhaps he would have liked to come to Ohio State and be the 12th-13th guy on the team. Yup, let's blame it all on the Ohio State coaches.
 
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