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UAB HC Robert Ehsan: "Deion Lavender and Thomas Smallwood are no longer part of the UAB Men's Basketball program. We thank them both for their contributions during their time in Birmingham and wish them nothing but the best moving forward."

Very vague, but at least some acknowedgement. What it doesn't say is that they decided to leave or that they quit the team.

Verbal Commits @VerbalCommits
...Smallwood is a grad transfer and will be eligible immediately next season.
...Lavender is a grad transfer and will be eligible immediately next season.
...UAB G Deion Lavender (RS JR) and C Thomas Smallwood (JR) are leaving the program.

http://verbalcommits.com/schools/uab

I didn’t expect them to come back next season, really didn’t expect Smallwood to stick around for this season. Dont like the timing, but it gives us 2 months to find 2 players who can play in the system Ehsan wants to run and who are more capable of being successful in D1 ball. Maybe even 3 players if we take back the scholarship from McCoy.

The handwriting was on the wall for both of them.

I don't fault the coaching staff for either defection.

I probably would have played Lavender about an extra 5 minutes a game up until he quit and was talked back.

Both of thems twitter activities did not help.

Having Lavender the rest of the season would have helped but it was obvious he was not returning next year so you give minutes to the guys that are. Unless foul trouble or an injury happens.

As for Smallwood, he was a recruiting mistake and I thought he should have been asked to leave after last year. But we could not get a big anyway so there was no great need to force him off the team. Great guy but he has his degree and he will be able to continue playing next year too. And maybe get his masters.

Neither of them deserved significantly more playing time than they got.

BOTH are grad transfers who have immediate eligibility next year.

(02-14-2018 07:25 PM)BlazinBham Wrote:  I didn’t expect them to come back next season, really didn’t expect Smallwood to stick around for this season. Dont like the timing, but it gives us 2 months to find 2 players who can play in the system Ehsan wants to run and who are more capable of being successful in D1 ball. Maybe even 3 players if we take back the scholarship from McCoy.

There is NO WAY we promised McCoy a scholarship for 2 years. We had one to use last year so giving it to him was fine. But next year, we need to fill that scholarship. If not right away, for the 2nd semester next year.

al.com
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2018/...onger.html

The major problem w/so few guys available is practice. Kinda hard to practice and simulate what the other team does w/o quality scout team...if you have enough bodies to actually field a scout team.

There's a flyer in the Commons for scout team players

I'm not understanding the timing of their departures.

5 games till the end of the regular season?

I expect doom/gloom but will keep hoping for the best.

HOPEFULLY THIS PULLS THE TEAM TOGETHER DOWN THE STRETCH...

Unless the remaining players think that the 2 leaving players are getting screwed I suspect things will go on almost as normal.

Smallwood didn't get much playing time & Lavender got filler time here & there.

We still appreciate their time dressed in green & gold.

(02-14-2018 08:09 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  I'm not understanding the timing of their departures.

5 games till the end of the regular season?

I expect doom/gloom but will keep hoping for the best.

Its fairly clear to me. Of course trolls will dispute my account but thats what trolls do.

Before the AU game, I thought Lavender might have deserved 4-5 more minutes a game. Not a bunch more. Then, I think he quit. The official word was a family matter but that's a nice way of saying he quit was was talked back to the team.

Then he sat a few games probably for missing practice and they let him come back but then they knew he would likely be gone after the year ended. After that he played well in a few games but not to where I thought he would be getting a lot more minutes. And then Deions twitter games continued but with Thomas joining in.

Many coaches would have probably just kept them on the roster with the understanding they would transfer at year end. But, IF they become a distraction, then you have to cut them lose in the middle of the year and I think that is what happened.

This is where trolls will disagree with my account but not offer up anything more plausible. (This would be what is called a pissing contest)

I do not believe the coaching staff is at all at fault for any of these 2 guys leaving. And really, we have had a lot fewer transfers than most teams historically in recent years so these 2 are not going to kill us.

I thought Thomas should have been asked to leave after last year. But we had trouble signing a quality big I think. Or we would have had another last year.

(02-14-2018 08:29 PM)UABfan1 Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:09 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  I'm not understanding the timing of their departures.

5 games till the end of the regular season?

I expect doom/gloom but will keep hoping for the best.

Its fairly clear to me. Of course trolls will dispute my account but thats what trolls do.

Before the AU game, I thought Lavender might have deserved 4-5 more minutes a game. Not a bunch more. Then, I think he quit. The official word was a family matter but that's a nice way of saying he quit was was talked back to the team.

Then he sat a few games probably for missing practice and they let him come back but then they knew he would likely be gone after the year ended. After that he played well in a few games but not to where I thought he would be getting a lot more minutes. And then Deions twitter games continued but with Thomas joining in.

Many coaches would have probably just kept them on the roster with the understanding they would transfer at year end. But, IF they become a distraction, then you have to cut them lose in the middle of the year and I think that is what happened.

This is where trolls will disagree with my account but not offer up anything more plausible. (This would be what is called a pissing contest)

I do not believe the coaching staff is at all at fault for any of these 2 guys leaving. And really, we have had a lot fewer transfers than most teams historically in recent years so these 2 are not going to kill us.

I thought Thomas should have been asked to leave after last year. But we had trouble signing a quality big I think. Or we would have had another last year.

Is that the purpose of trolls - dispute things you guess at.

All I asked for was where you were getting your information. I would have accepted out of my ass as an answer.

(02-14-2018 08:34 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:29 PM)UABfan1 Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:09 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  I'm not understanding the timing of their departures.

5 games till the end of the regular season?

I expect doom/gloom but will keep hoping for the best.

Its fairly clear to me. Of course trolls will dispute my account but thats what trolls do.

Before the AU game, I thought Lavender might have deserved 4-5 more minutes a game. Not a bunch more. Then, I think he quit. The official word was a family matter but that's a nice way of saying he quit was was talked back to the team.

Then he sat a few games probably for missing practice and they let him come back but then they knew he would likely be gone after the year ended. After that he played well in a few games but not to where I thought he would be getting a lot more minutes. And then Deions twitter games continued but with Thomas joining in.

Many coaches would have probably just kept them on the roster with the understanding they would transfer at year end. But, IF they become a distraction, then you have to cut them lose in the middle of the year and I think that is what happened.

This is where trolls will disagree with my account but not offer up anything more plausible. (This would be what is called a pissing contest)

I do not believe the coaching staff is at all at fault for any of these 2 guys leaving. And really, we have had a lot fewer transfers than most teams historically in recent years so these 2 are not going to kill us.

I thought Thomas should have been asked to leave after last year. But we had trouble signing a quality big I think. Or we would have had another last year.

Is that the purpose of trolls - dispute things you guess at.

All I asked for was where you were getting your information. I would have accepted out of my ass as an answer.

It would be 100% clear to anyone who was not looking to create a problem that my guess was reasonable speculation and I said that on multiple occasions. You could have repeatedly offered up more plausible possibilities yet you chose not to. Is that your purpose for trolling?

(02-14-2018 08:38 PM)UABfan1 Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:34 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:29 PM)UABfan1 Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:09 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  I'm not understanding the timing of their departures.

5 games till the end of the regular season?

I expect doom/gloom but will keep hoping for the best.

Its fairly clear to me. Of course trolls will dispute my account but thats what trolls do.

Before the AU game, I thought Lavender might have deserved 4-5 more minutes a game. Not a bunch more. Then, I think he quit. The official word was a family matter but that's a nice way of saying he quit was was talked back to the team.

Then he sat a few games probably for missing practice and they let him come back but then they knew he would likely be gone after the year ended. After that he played well in a few games but not to where I thought he would be getting a lot more minutes. And then Deions twitter games continued but with Thomas joining in.

Many coaches would have probably just kept them on the roster with the understanding they would transfer at year end. But, IF they become a distraction, then you have to cut them lose in the middle of the year and I think that is what happened.

This is where trolls will disagree with my account but not offer up anything more plausible. (This would be what is called a pissing contest)

I do not believe the coaching staff is at all at fault for any of these 2 guys leaving. And really, we have had a lot fewer transfers than most teams historically in recent years so these 2 are not going to kill us.

I thought Thomas should have been asked to leave after last year. But we had trouble signing a quality big I think. Or we would have had another last year.

Is that the purpose of trolls - dispute things you guess at.

All I asked for was where you were getting your information. I would have accepted out of my ass as an answer.

It would be 100% clear to anyone who was not looking to create a problem that my guess was reasonable speculation and I said that on multiple occasions. You could have repeatedly offered up more plausible possibilities yet you chose not to. Is that your purpose for trolling?

Wrong. Until recently you presented as fact. And dang, I was hoping I was one of the ones you have on ignore.

Hopefully we don’t lose anyone else. I think everyone else who is left can really contribute. No question, though. Next year will look quite a bit different. Lee and Cokley graduating, Smallwood and Lavender gone, 3 new players with potentially 3 more new players, and wouldn’t at all be surprised to see some assistant coaching changes. That’s a huge turnover and change up. But given the results of this season to date, that’s probably a good thing.

(02-14-2018 08:42 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:38 PM)UABfan1 Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:34 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:29 PM)UABfan1 Wrote:  

(02-14-2018 08:09 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  I'm not understanding the timing of their departures.

5 games till the end of the regular season?

I expect doom/gloom but will keep hoping for the best.

Its fairly clear to me. Of course trolls will dispute my account but thats what trolls do.

Before the AU game, I thought Lavender might have deserved 4-5 more minutes a game. Not a bunch more. Then, I think he quit. The official word was a family matter but that's a nice way of saying he quit was was talked back to the team.

Then he sat a few games probably for missing practice and they let him come back but then they knew he would likely be gone after the year ended. After that he played well in a few games but not to where I thought he would be getting a lot more minutes. And then Deions twitter games continued but with Thomas joining in.

Many coaches would have probably just kept them on the roster with the understanding they would transfer at year end. But, IF they become a distraction, then you have to cut them lose in the middle of the year and I think that is what happened.

This is where trolls will disagree with my account but not offer up anything more plausible. (This would be what is called a pissing contest)

I do not believe the coaching staff is at all at fault for any of these 2 guys leaving. And really, we have had a lot fewer transfers than most teams historically in recent years so these 2 are not going to kill us.

I thought Thomas should have been asked to leave after last year. But we had trouble signing a quality big I think. Or we would have had another last year.

Is that the purpose of trolls - dispute things you guess at.

All I asked for was where you were getting your information. I would have accepted out of my ass as an answer.

It would be 100% clear to anyone who was not looking to create a problem that my guess was reasonable speculation and I said that on multiple occasions. You could have repeatedly offered up more plausible possibilities yet you chose not to. Is that your purpose for trolling?

Wrong. Until recently you presented as fact. And dang, I was hoping I was one of the ones you have on ignore.

You did make the ignore list right now. But I never presented it as fact unless you only pick a single post and ignored multiple prior posts on the topic which you clearly did because your purpose was trolling, not intelligent discourse.

Its really easy to ignore someone. I would suggest that is a better option than trying to create problems where none exist.

Unless the team suddenly catches fire and wins the conference tournament, I think Ehsan will be under tremendous pressure to shake up the staff. His two years have been decent, but ultimately disappointing, and the fans are getting restless. Usually the way this goes is that a coach or two gets replaced, hopefully by someone who brings new strengths to the coaching staff. The other side of the coin is that coaches in this position who refuse to make changes put their neck on the chopping block if they stand pat and next season isn't significantly better.

With Cokely and Lee going, I don't know that I'd want to hang my hat on that.

(02-14-2018 08:47 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  Hopefully we don’t lose anyone else. I think everyone else who is left can really contribute. No question, though. Next year will look quite a bit different. Lee and Cokley graduating, Smallwood and Lavender gone, 3 new players with potentially 3 more new players, and wouldn’t at all be surprised to see some assistant coaching changes. That’s a huge turnover and change up. But given the results of this season to date, that’s probably a good thing.

I think we will finish the year with the guys we have.

Next year, hopefully we don't lose anyone else.

But, we have 2 guys who will graduate and transferring has become the norm.

So losing another guy would not surprise me. But I have no direct information. (For the trolls who like to make things up)

I hope everyone returns and we get a couple of good juco guys.

And I hope Jude is ready to play 25+ minutes but I fear weight and/or foul trouble may be impediments. I think he had 40 & 20 &4 or 5 in a recent game so he is just tearing up the west virginia high school basketball scene.