grizzlyjournal
Well-known member
There's been discussion on this board (a recurring theme at this time of year here at eGriz) about those players who leave a program and head for "something better."
I had an extended discussion with a past head coach at Montana about the difficulties of building and maintaining a 'harmonious' program that's also always at the peak of its competitive capacity.
"It's really quite simple," said the coach. You're either good enough OR you do what it takes to get better," he said with a grin and a shrug. He emphatically discounted the notion by some that certain players don't mesh with certain coaches and will eventually find success by shopping around. "Most, if not all, coaches I know will do whatever they can to help a kid get better," he insisted.
Tht brings up a very good story by the Missoulian's Frank Gogola that appeared about a week ago. It's about former Griz player, Gavin DeJong, who dropped out of the Montana program to transfer... then just disappeared. Here's the link: http://missoulian.com/sports/college/former-montana-grizzlies-forward-and-manhattan-product-gavin-dejong-rediscovering/article_ff1c8b7a-e179-52b3-b00c-d191b82f5cdf.html
Montana has had very few players who entered the program as frosh and were so good that they started every game of their careers here at UM. The most recent in memory (for me) was Kareem Jamar (Big Sky MVP as a junior). Conversely, there are dozens of examples of kids who -- after their freshman year riding the pine -- did what it took to earn playing time. The Griz men have a very promising group of young men committed to doing just that.
What I'm trying to say is that I think it's unfair to judge any young college athlete regarding whether he or she is 'good enough' to have what it takes to succeed. Sometimes no one knows what kids are struggling with. It took Gavin a couple of years to get things straightened out. It's cool that he had people who cared about him and supported him. Each of the four women leaving the program have their own reasons for leaving. I feel badly that, for Kayleigh Valley, it was something beyond her control. Otherwise, I DO believe that a majority of coaches are also compassionate teacher-coaches, and spend many hours using a combination of strategies to help their players succeed. The best programs are those that have people (coaches) that do what it takes to help their kids get good enough.
I had an extended discussion with a past head coach at Montana about the difficulties of building and maintaining a 'harmonious' program that's also always at the peak of its competitive capacity.
"It's really quite simple," said the coach. You're either good enough OR you do what it takes to get better," he said with a grin and a shrug. He emphatically discounted the notion by some that certain players don't mesh with certain coaches and will eventually find success by shopping around. "Most, if not all, coaches I know will do whatever they can to help a kid get better," he insisted.
Tht brings up a very good story by the Missoulian's Frank Gogola that appeared about a week ago. It's about former Griz player, Gavin DeJong, who dropped out of the Montana program to transfer... then just disappeared. Here's the link: http://missoulian.com/sports/college/former-montana-grizzlies-forward-and-manhattan-product-gavin-dejong-rediscovering/article_ff1c8b7a-e179-52b3-b00c-d191b82f5cdf.html
Montana has had very few players who entered the program as frosh and were so good that they started every game of their careers here at UM. The most recent in memory (for me) was Kareem Jamar (Big Sky MVP as a junior). Conversely, there are dozens of examples of kids who -- after their freshman year riding the pine -- did what it took to earn playing time. The Griz men have a very promising group of young men committed to doing just that.
What I'm trying to say is that I think it's unfair to judge any young college athlete regarding whether he or she is 'good enough' to have what it takes to succeed. Sometimes no one knows what kids are struggling with. It took Gavin a couple of years to get things straightened out. It's cool that he had people who cared about him and supported him. Each of the four women leaving the program have their own reasons for leaving. I feel badly that, for Kayleigh Valley, it was something beyond her control. Otherwise, I DO believe that a majority of coaches are also compassionate teacher-coaches, and spend many hours using a combination of strategies to help their players succeed. The best programs are those that have people (coaches) that do what it takes to help their kids get good enough.
