Lofton Dismissed Due To Not Meeting Expectations and Obligations Of Team

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cjbfbp said:
Yes, the grad transfer option might be best for next season, but it's a risky option because:

1) grad transfers are highly in demand;
2) you have to wait a long time until that option is finalized and the pickings are slim at that point if you don't get that player.

I wouldn't care if they picked up another freshman for next year. I've already resigned myself to some drop off in expected wins next year.
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Why is that? Lofton would have never started here. Mason is a better player now, at 18, then Lofton is now, at 21 or 22.
 

If the whispers are correct, this sounds a little bit to me like Lofton got a lot less rope than a player who was fitting in well with teammates, and showing promise would do. Seems like a convenient excuse to get rid of a player who wasn't a good fit, and wasn't playing well or showing a good attitude. All speculation, of course. I'm not happy Lofton potentially cost us Illkainen or somebody else good, but hopefully Pitino can pull a rabbit out of a hat, or bank it for 2016 (which I'd frankly prefer).
 

Lofton did not cost us ai. Different recruit classed. Only way to draw that line is that he didn't get let go earlier in the year.
 

jmag21 said:
If the whispers are correct, this sounds a little bit to me like Lofton got a lot less rope than a player who was fitting in well with teammates, and showing promise would do. Seems like a convenient excuse to get rid of a player who wasn't a good fit, and wasn't playing well or showing a good attitude. All speculation, of course. I'm not happy Lofton potentially cost us Illkainen or somebody else good, but hopefully Pitino can pull a rabbit out of a hat, or bank it for 2016 (which I'd frankly prefer).
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This would be weird since Pitino has described how good Lofton is.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
No such thing as fall & spring scholarships. They are for academic years. Lofton has used one of Minnesota's for 2014-15. #DoneDeal
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I'm sure you are right. Does this mean that when Devoe Joseph transferred to Oregon, he paid his own way for the spring semester (when he sat out)? Or did they have an open scholarship for some reason? (And why?)
 


Zach has been at 4 schools ...so far,was hoping he would have matured by now. Pitino can get a juco or a grad school transfer next season. Marshawn does not appear to be a qualifier, Sacar does not shoot the ball well enough, has no high major offers . Alex had plenty of time to commit to the Gophs.
 

TBT, heard anything new on Diedhiou? It's been pretty quiet on that front. Do you expect him to be around in January?
 

coolhandgopher said:
One more thought. . .in the pool, I've got Lofton landing with Iowa State. Any takers? ;)
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He would lose a year of eligibility at a D1 school, he is going to have to go down to D2 to be eligible, someplace like Winona State or Mankato State will be his only options.


It doesn't sound like it was one incidence, based on his play in the public scrimmage my guess is there was a sequence of things that led to the dismissal, it just came to a head this week.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
No such thing as fall & spring scholarships. They are for academic years. Lofton has used one of Minnesota's for 2014-15. #DoneDeal
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I know athletic scholarships are for one year, and he could not actual receive that, seems a walk-on should be able to use the tuition if a scholarship player was not enrolled for the second semester. Maybe that's not possible either... should be.

Lofton would be smart to use the scholarship and focus on his education.
 



SelectionSunday said:
TBT, heard anything new on Diedhiou? It's been pretty quiet on that front. Do you expect him to be around in January?
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Why would be hear anything new?

Yes, he will be a nice addition to the team, even though you think he is a poor recruit.
 

HOOP DREAMS said:
Why would be hear anything new?

Yes, he will be a nice addition to the team, even though you think he is a poor recruit.
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How would you know this? To most Diedhiou is an unknown. I don't see him being on the team.
 


HOOP DREAMS said:
Yes, he will be a nice addition to the team, even though you think he is a poor recruit.
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Huh? Do you just make stuff up as you go along? At some point I expressed a concern that Diedhiou might be a marginal recruit, but I certainly never said he was a poor recruit. Big difference, don't you think? Either way, the only way we find out is if at some point he takes the court for the Gophers.

Lighten up there, fella'.
 



We may have lost AI because of Lofton, but Lofton may have been with us just long enough to be the clincher with Jarvis. So if that is the case, I don't really mind the way it turned out. Glad we have a scholarship open because Lofton's skill level never seemed to be enough to offset his ****ty attitude.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Lighten up there, fella'.
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Thanks for the advise. Will do.

SelectionSunday said:
Respectfully, do you really believe this issue just came up? Do you really think multiple departments/big wigs haven't had continuous conversations/communication about whatever his issues were? I find it highly, highly unlikely that the athletic department was left in the dark, no matter how it's spun to the media behind the scenes by someone from the inside (coaching staff).
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Gopher Warrior said:
Things are often not what they seem if you accept only what you're told.

Consider what may actually be at play here and different ways of handling it. See if you don't conclude this path may be the best available.
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"This is all simply a power play by a young and hungry coach. It's more about laying the groundwork. Pitino is applying pressure publicly (for future recruits likely much more talented than Diedhiou) by saying he expects to get anyone he wants as long as they're cleared by the NCAA. Doesn't matter (to a lot of people, apparently) that something similar -- a signed basketball prospect not getting in -- hasn't happened in more than 10 years.

He's done a masterful job of applying the heat to admissions and any other departments potentially standing in his path. Not real keen on how he's going about this, but I understand where he's coming from. Pitino is a young coach early in his career, and he wants to climb the ladder as fast as he can. That's not uncommon."
 

HOOP DREAMS said:
Thanks for the advise. Will do.





"This is all simply a power play by a young and hungry coach. It's more about laying the groundwork. Pitino is applying pressure publicly (for future recruits likely much more talented than Diedhiou) by saying he expects to get anyone he wants as long as they're cleared by the NCAA. Doesn't matter (to a lot of people, apparently) that something similar -- a signed basketball prospect not getting in -- hasn't happened in more than 10 years.

He's done a masterful job of applying the heat to admissions and any other departments potentially standing in his path. Not real keen on how he's going about this, but I understand where he's coming from. Pitino is a young coach early in his career, and he wants to climb the ladder as fast as he can. That's not uncommon."
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OK, so where in there did I say he was a poor recruit? Pretty clear what I said, thanks for bolding it for all of us.
 


Pitino specifically mentioned bad body language from Lofton, Mason & someone else (forget who?) that needed to be corrected. Something tells me this had little to do with basketball & that Pitino just nipped in the bud a toxic presence on our roster.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Pitino specifically mentioned bad body language from Lofton, Mason & someone else (forget who?) that needed to be corrected. Something tells me this had little to do with basketball & that Pitino just nipped in the bud a toxic presence on our roster.
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This crossed my mind too. Eliminate the cancer before it spreads.
 


Tommy Flanagan said:
Why is that? Lofton would have never started here. Mason is a better player now, at 18, then Lofton is now, at 21 or 22.
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My statement about expecting a drop off has nothing to do with Lofton. I expect a drop off because we'll lose our starting back court and two fifth year seniors at center. We'll likely have 8 (possibly more now) freshmen and sophomores on the roster.

As far as Lofton, I could care less that he's gone. In fact, I think I'd rather have someone else take his place. My main point was about the risk of waiting for graduated fifth year transfers.
 

I'm guessing Pitino either has a plan for that scholly and/or ZL's "short leash" was equivalent to a noose...

Dismissal typically requires extreme and/or extended misbehavior and conduct, I can't imagine ZL doing anything worth warranting immediate dismissal. I don't think poor body language would warrant "immediate" dismissal.

Royce White for example was kicked off after continual and extreme misconduct.

The rumor that ZL provided alcohol to a minor in #1draft pick Andrew Wiggins at the club is interesting.
I doubt its true, but i think its an interesting theory and probably would warrant this kind of dismissal.

Feel bad for him though, its gotta be tough being in the public eye and being judged in the court of public opinion while no one actually knows what happened.
Very talented athlete and by all accounts (except his last 2 coaches apparently) a good kid.


what kind of eligibility does he have if he transfer now?
Does he have to red-shirt again?

I recall when Moe Hargrow transferred to Arkansas and red shirted, then returned to the U, he was able to play immediately.
 

CentralMNGopher said:
I questioned his character when he walked off the court at the end of the MN State Championship game. I have been to countless state tournaments and have not seen that before or since.
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Joe Coleman and Co. gave the opposing fans the finger after winning the Tourney his Junior year, I've never seen that before or since, hope to never see it again.
 

Pitino has been working with Lofton every day. If he says it isn't a fit, then that is that. Even though some posts seem to express fairly intimate knowledge about Lofton, I doubt anyone here has dealt with him as Pitino has. What's done is done.
 

I do not feel bad for ZL, one iota. I never got a chance to have a free education or play on a college court in front of thousands of possibly ADORING fans. Not to mention 4 chances at such things.

ZL likely got what he had coming to him. Good Luck ZL, I know nothing about you and I'm not judging you as I don't know what happened. All I know is we better get a dynomite recruit with this HUGE chip we now have to play.

Any 2 guard in the country that wants significant playing time in the Big 10 with a young but talented team, a fun offense, and an up and coming coach, look no further than the University of Minnesota.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
I never got a chance to have a free education or play on a college court in front of thousands of possibly ADORING fans
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ZL got a pretty warm reception when he was announced at the scrimmage, it surprised me a little, he probably got the loudest applause, that was his one and only moment in front of gopher fans as a member of the team.. hope he soaked it up!
 

SelectionSunday said:
TBT, heard anything new on Diedhiou? It's been pretty quiet on that front. Do you expect him to be around in January?
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Diedhiou was at the scrimmage watching. He's studying English. Not sure if he passéd the test yet but since he cleared the NCAA and the only reason he was rejected from the U was because of his English, he won't have any problem learning English in Minnesota. I feel pretty confident that he'll be practicing with the team in January. My guess is he'll burn his redshirt and be a RS-Freshman next year.
 

Jigga said:
Very Sad news to me as I have always had the upmost faith in zachs talent and character....
I really want to know why this decision was made, idk if we will ever be privileged to that info. I just wonder wtf it may have been in comparison to Royce White or other players that have been dismissed in the past....

He musta done some really foul behavior to warrant a dismissal. (Theft, drugs, late to meetings, bad influence on the team, etc.)
The staff knew they were getting an emotional player (bit of a cry baby) but does that warrant dismissal? Seems a little brash. idk, I hope everything works out for all parties

I'll let time tell, but I'm a little confused right now. the program probably has other plans for the future.
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Seems pretty reasonable to me IF the speculation is correct. He got the opportunity to move up to the B1G & play at home, but he had baggage. Coach told him he'd take a chance on him, but he'd expect him to be a leader to the younger guys & have a positive attitude. ZL comes in, shows some crappy body language, gets called on it publicly, then is caught clubbing with NBA guys. Not the behavior they had discussed prior to the transfer. Nip it in the bud. He gone.
 



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