Comments on: Jack Keefer sounds off on Dominique Ferguson

By: thom12

thom12 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:40:12 +0000

Remember Jeff Robinson could not get into Purdue due to grades. I guess Ferguson was smart enough to see this and left just in time, so that his college plans, would not be put on hold or slowed down.

By: thom12

thom12 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:40:12 +0000

By: Joel

Joel — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:21:52 +0000

Frankly, I have very little simpathy for this kid. I have been observing the recruiting process for a couple of years and I don't get the impression that these young men are just innocent kids. The boys that play just for the fun of playing and wil never play major college or pro ball get my respect and concern. The Fergusons and Odens are hired guns looking for a way to promote themselves and to get the best shot they can get at the next level. They hold press conferences, are fawned over and are treated like royalty. If this the path they choose to walk, they get the good with the bad.

By: Kelin Blab

Kelin Blab — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:31:35 +0000

Gleas and Craig….I agree with you both….

I had an incident in high school where I got some bad advice from an outside party, skipped a big game, went on a college visit. My H.S. coach talked to me about it and my parents and it was done. Not one bit to the local media. I would have been CRUSHED if he did because I idolized my high school coach, and I regret to this day 20 years later I missed that game and let him down.

I don't think kids idolize their h.s. coaches anymore given they have an AAU coach and a personal trainer that are in their ears as well. Jack at some point should have gone to the family (which they are VERY good people, I know personally) and talked to them one on one……

By: BGleas

BGleas — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:01:57 +0000

I don't think anyone is chalking his shortcomings up to his age. We're just saying due to his age, it's pretty classless of an adult educator to air those shortcomings in the media. DF most certainly isn't acting responsibly (from what we know) in the classroom and maybe in other areas, but that doesn't belong in the media, especially from a jilted coach.

By: Ron in Jeffersonville

Ron in Jeffersonville — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:44:32 +0000

Let me start a new question. Does anyone really think this kid is going to collage? I don't think the coach was wrong in pushing for him to go to class. According to the IHSAA rules, he has to maintain a certain grade point ave to even play. I feel that is why he is transferring (to get away from that rule). I don't see him in collage/ nor pros. This is a sad case of a talented player, that didn't want to be a student athlete. I am not trying to bash here, but how many times have we seen this very thing?
Oh yea, the coach was wrong of any comments once it came out he was leaving.

By: BGleas

BGleas — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:44:36 +0000

Bible thumping? No. Conservative? Yes. I could go into a whole thing about GW, but I don't think we want to turn this post into that. We can if you want though?

I'm with you on DF/Keefer. I'm not trying to say DF is some great kid, I don't know him or have ever met him. I feel it's just wrong for a high school coach to dog a player in the media, I find that extremely classless.

I played high school and college basketball and was never a great student (although I was a team player and hard worker) and I can't imagine what it would have been like if my high school coach told the local media that I was struggling in the classroom, which definitely would have gotten spun into being lazy.

By: CraiginOR

CraiginOR — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:05:49 +0000

BGleas…I hope you're not a Bible thumper or a conservative who thinks GW is the intellectual nexus of the Republican party. I agree with you on your Keefer/media point. Ferguson has to live with his drama-to-drama diva lifestyle, real or imagined. Military school will only help. I never wanted to talk about his bball karma because I knew I'd have to forgive his (ahem) character if he decided to attend IU. Keefer is another story, my dad would say “he's bitchin because someone has him by the short hairs”. Sounds like sour grapes to me. Keefer is the adult and supposed professional so he looks really lame.

By: psvirsky

psvirsky — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:09:54 +0000

Maybe it's just me, but I really got the impression from listening to him on JMV that Keefer's beef lies almost solely with DF's handlers and not his parents or DF himself. It sounded as though DF's got some people telling him all sorts of stuff about his future as a ball player and that a lot of it is pretty detrimental to him. Keefer definitely came off pretty angry and said some stuff he shouldn't have, but it really wasn't aimed mostly at DF. And like a few people have pointed out, he repeatedly said that DF's a good kid who's getting horrible advice.

So to me Keefer shouldn't have said stuff about his academics but he's really just upset with DF's handlers and DF is probably going to need to make some changes to his people if he wants to get anywhere

By: DavisX

DavisX — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:03:50 +0000

My son has recently commited to play ball at a wonderful university, and let me tell you the first stop on everyone of his visits was the academic department. This information that Keefer publicly spoke of certainly won't help his recruiting, but the schools who are recruiting him would know very quickly if Dominique was going to have problems getting in or staying eligible. I think this was very unclassy of the coach. Like Kelin said-was Keefer worried about this before, or was it just suddenly an issue when his star player left?

I fault the parents who should know that their son will not play ball forever, and needs a good education. Unfortunately some parents treat their kids like lotto tickets hoping one day they will pay off! Very sad.