• Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.

Connor Hickman enters portal

I have 3 adult children now but something I have taught them when they were younger was "happiness is black and white." What did I mean by that? I would tell them you are either happy or you are not. If you are happy don't go somewhere else to be "happier" unless something is missing. If you think you are happy but something is missing then you are content. I think young people(and I thought the same way at their age) think I'm happy at a small or mid major program but I will be happier at a major program(or job or city or significant other, etc). You see it in these thank you letters players write to teammates/coaches/fans. They say everything is great but then say I'm leaving. As I said young people have been like this forever and will most likely continue to be only now with the portal they can much more easily act on this.

Years from now it would interesting to catch back up for many players who left good situations at schools for bigger schools and ask them if they would do it all over again. I think the answers would be very enlightening.
 
CarolinaBrave said:
I have 3 adult children now but something I have taught them when they were younger was "happiness is black and white." What did I mean by that? I would tell them you are either happy or you are not. If you are happy don't go somewhere else to be "happier" unless something is missing. If you think you are happy but something is missing then you are content. I think young people(and I thought the same way at their age) think I'm happy at a small or mid major program but I will be happier at a major program(or job or city or significant other, etc). You see it in these thank you letters players write to teammates/coaches/fans. They say everything is great but then say I'm leaving. As I said young people have been like this forever and will most likely continue to be only now with the portal they can much more easily act on this.

Years from now it would interesting to catch back up for many players who left good situations at schools for bigger schools and ask them if they would do it all over again. I think the answers would be very enlightening.
Click to expand...

Agree with you. I'd love to see a deep dive on players that started for mid-major programs and transferred. I think it will take time but eventually I think players will start to gain more wisdom in making these decisions as they start seeing things not work out for other players that transferred. However, it takes a kid with some perception and it will take time for the issues with free transfers and NIL to become apparent.
 
CarolinaBrave said:
I have 3 adult children now but something I have taught them when they were younger was "happiness is black and white." What did I mean by that? I would tell them you are either happy or you are not. If you are happy don't go somewhere else to be "happier" unless something is missing. If you think you are happy but something is missing then you are content. I think young people(and I thought the same way at their age) think I'm happy at a small or mid major program but I will be happier at a major program(or job or city or significant other, etc). You see it in these thank you letters players write to teammates/coaches/fans. They say everything is great but then say I'm leaving. As I said young people have been like this forever and will most likely continue to be only now with the portal they can much more easily act on this.

Years from now it would interesting to catch back up for many players who left good situations at schools for bigger schools and ask them if they would do it all over again. I think the answers would be very enlightening.
Click to expand...

I agree, this is the same thing happening about jobs where said person is really happy in what he is doing, likes his boss, makes decent money yet decides to leave for more money and ends up with a bad boss and hates the new job.
I doubt most of these transfers would admit to making a mistake.
 
I'm still curious about ZEK? Is the rumor true he knows he made a mistake and wants to be back at BU? Just curious does anyone know how often a player transfers only to come back? My final thoughts are Bradley was a powerhouse Basketball School at one time... why not again? If Gonzaga and St.Mary's can have continued success....then all mid-majors have that opportunity! Sure of course it's hard to compete with the Power 6 schools, but it can be done with the right coach and mix of players at least for 1 year!!! Look no further then the Darlings of College Basketball right now: Indiana State!!! They are drawing just as much attention as the power 6 teams in the sweet 16 ( less Gonzaga) ! There is always hope...let's see what coach Wardle can do in the portal with the new freshman next year and Duke and who ever is Left!!!! Dream Big!!! Indiana State is living it right now!!!!
 
It does happen. I have seen a few cases where a player transferred from a D1, and then eventually transferred back.
One recent case I recall... Geno Ford had a player named Elijah Olaniyi who played at Stony Brook for 3 years, then transferred to Miami. For some reason, he left Miami after one season, and transferred back to Stony Brook for his final year (Covid year). Here is his ESPN stats page showing the transfers - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4278240/elijah-olaniyi
 
Da Coach said:
It does happen. I have seen a few cases where a player transferred from a D1, and then eventually transferred back.
One recent case I recall... Geno Ford had a player named Elijah Olaniyi who played at Stony Brook for 3 years, then transferred to Miami. For some reason, he left Miami after one season, and transferred back to Stony Brook for his final year (Covid year). Here is his ESPN stats page showing the transfers - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4278240/elijah-olaniyi
Click to expand...

Well yeah. Why wouldn't you transfer back to play for a legend of a coach like Geno?
 
So Drew Adams former Bradley Assistant who recruited Connor, goes to Cincinnati and then recruits him from us. Interesting. Especially if he actually winds up there.

How interesting. If that's all the case then this has been in motion for a while. What an improbable draw for Connor to wind up actually playing them on the last game of the year. Incredible really.

Maybe.
 
Peoria_bradley_fan said:
So Drew Adams former Bradley Assistant who recruited Connor, goes to Cincinnati and then recruits him from us. Interesting. Especially if he actually winds up there.

How interesting. If that's all the case then this has been in motion for a while. What an improbable draw for Connor to wind up actually playing them on the last game of the year. Incredible really.

Maybe.
Click to expand...

He won't end up at Cincinnati. He's going to choose IU, where his gf and friends are.
 
PhiAlphaBoy said:
He won't end up at Cincinnati. He's going to choose IU, where his gf and friends are.
Click to expand...

I am hearing there may be other schools that are ahead of Indiana right now.
The schools that have called Connor are Indiana, Cincinnati (assistant coach already visited with him in Peoria), Nebraska (they had good luck snatching Bradley's leading scorer last year), Villanova, Vanderbilt, Kansas, Dayton, and West Virginia (former Drake coach).
There are also a number of schools that have indicated through the portal that they are going to call him soon- Washington, Clemson, Illinois, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. Plus, he's had several more text him but they haven't gone any further yet.
​
 
I cant help but think Connor will come to regret his decision. Why? Bradley is in line to do something special next year depending how all the cards fall. Connor will be on another team maybe languishing on the bench or not being a major contributor. He will see what Bradley and his former teammates are doing and say to himself... I could have been a part of that. He will have some money in the bank but over time money losses its importance. Money becomes fleeting..Now memories ...memories last forever
 
PhiAlphaBoy said:
He won't end up at Cincinnati. He's going to choose IU, where his gf and friends are.
Click to expand...

I saw an article yesterday on the Athletic and they were talking about a 5 star player going there and a big list of players they are recruiting and Connor was not mentioned.I also do not think if he wants to play a lot as Cincy as being a good fit.
 
Today, Indiana University head coach Mike Woodson and others from his staff made an in-home visit with Connor Hickman in an attempt to recruit him to Indiana for his last season of eligibility.
 
Based upon the list provided by DC, it’s safe to say Connor made the right decision. The more success MVC players have at the P5 schools, the worse it’s going to get. I’m glad we had 3 years of Hickman and wish him well. Great kid
 
BU freak said:
Based upon the list provided by DC, it’s safe to say Connor made the right decision. The more success MVC players have at the P5 schools, the worse it’s going to get. I’m glad we had 3 years of Hickman and wish him well. Great kid
Click to expand...

Yep. Former MVC players got a lot of exposure this year. Mast helped get Nebraska to the tournament, a rare event, Domask was on the national stage in a big way against Iowa St & Uconn, and Lance Jones has been a starter and contributor on Purdue all season and is in the F4 now. It's clear the MVC finds good talent on a consistent basis (Reeves etc and others) and their top players can be contributors on ranked P5 teams. Unfortunately this is turning the MVC into a farm league for the big boys.
 
Stryker said:
Yep. Former MVC players got a lot of exposure this year. Mast helped get Nebraska to the tournament, a rare event, Domask was on the national stage in a big way against Iowa St & Uconn, and Lance Jones has been a starter and contributor on Purdue all season and is in the F4 now. It's clear the MVC finds good talent on a consistent basis (Reeves etc and others) and their top players can be contributors on ranked P5 teams. Unfortunately this is turning the MVC into a farm league for the big boys.
Click to expand...

Don't forget DJ Horn with NC State. He as at Illinois State for awhile
 
Yeah, I'm glad DJ Horne left ISU too.

Edit: You just beat me in mentioning him, we must have been posting at the same time.
 
BUBalum05 said:
Sad but true. Can we make them send someone back in return at least?
Click to expand...

In major league baseball signing free agents can mean losing draft picks for the team thst signs that player. Maybe a system that has something along those lines. Now you can say that would punish the players transferring. However, if players want to essentially be free agent professionals then they can also accept what goes along with that privilege.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top