 |
| Rashid Dunbar, from nj.com: is he being played like a pawn? |
Here's a weird
little update on the Rashid Dunbar story. You'll recall that Rashid had had
a terrible auto accident and had been in a coma. Tommy assured him that
whether or not he could play basketball, his offer was still there and was
still to be honored.
Recently, though, Rashid's mom, and coach, and the ever-dreaded
"family advisor" questioned the validity of the committment and
questioned how much time Dunbar would get. Never mind that most of the other
coaches moved on after he almost died and that Tommy stuck by the
kid.
Also, the suggestion has emerged lately that Amaker has a rocky relationship
with his point guard, and one time Duke target, 5-9 Shaheen
Holloway. Chris Chevannes, Dunbar's high school coach, is close to
Holloway, but dismisses the friction as "in the past."
Dunbar wants Tommy to keep recruiting him, and Tommy may well do that.
Our Take: the kid clearly wanted to go to Seton Hall, but his mother, his
coach, and his family advisor, for whatever reason, have decided that this isn't
in his best interest and have convinced him to open it back up. Since
Amaker is universally praised as a straight shooter, it's reasonable to assume
he is being honest here as well, and certainly he was loyal to Dunbar when a lot
of other coaches knocked each other down to get after the next kid.
It's hard
not to think that this Gang of Three, with the comments on playing time and the
right fit and so on, isn't projecting Dunbar into the draft, which
is ludicrous. Not that he can't make it; he might well make it. But he has
an awful lot to prove between now and then, and the best thing he could do would
be to play for a coach who cares for him as more than just a mealticket.
If the kid's accident proved anything, it should have proved that athletic
talents are fleeting and might be taken away at any time, and you'd think the
people close to him would realize that and encourage his academic and
intellectual development. He's gotten an incredible second chance, and
it's heartwarming, but the circus around his recruiting has really diminished
that.