First if all, I want to thank Fred for a great 5 years plus a great 4 years as a player. 9 years to thank him for sure. I am sad he is leaving, but the way he has handled it has made it easier to accept. For those of you that say the program is better than it was 5 years ago, that is true. However, it is not better than it was on April 1st. That I blame Fred for. In fact, it almost appears that he has made it so we will be less successful next year and beyond than if he left suddenly 2 months ago. I know he didn't sabotage the program on purpose but it could appear that he doesn't want the successor to be more successful than he has been especially next year.
First off, I have no doubt he looked out for his sidekick Matt A more so than he did his players, fans, or ISU. Not only did Fred probably tell him to go because he knew he was leaving but also gift wrap Damien Williams for him. I think he didn't go for Malik Dime as hard as he could either and one could argue that was because he knew he would be gone. Williams and/or Dime could have helped a lot next year and beyond. Don't forget about Diallo being 0% chance instead of maybe a chance for ISU back on April 1st if Fred was still here. Also, we have no immediately eligible big coming which we all thought would happen on April 1. Lastly, on April 1st we were much more likely to get Amir Coffey and/or Miles Bridges than we are now on June 1.
In conclusion, I can move on easier knowing Fred has unintentionally(for the most part I hope) weakened our standing as a program significantly the past 2 months. I would hate to see the damage if this charade went on 2 more months. I also don't buy that surgery had anything to do with this. He almost certainly knew he was leaving before the knife. He is gone so he can't pull the wool over my eyes any longer. Sorry for the long rant but I don't think all the positives completely excuse the negatives the past 2 months.
First off, I have no doubt he looked out for his sidekick Matt A more so than he did his players, fans, or ISU. Not only did Fred probably tell him to go because he knew he was leaving but also gift wrap Damien Williams for him. I think he didn't go for Malik Dime as hard as he could either and one could argue that was because he knew he would be gone. Williams and/or Dime could have helped a lot next year and beyond. Don't forget about Diallo being 0% chance instead of maybe a chance for ISU back on April 1st if Fred was still here. Also, we have no immediately eligible big coming which we all thought would happen on April 1. Lastly, on April 1st we were much more likely to get Amir Coffey and/or Miles Bridges than we are now on June 1.
In conclusion, I can move on easier knowing Fred has unintentionally(for the most part I hope) weakened our standing as a program significantly the past 2 months. I would hate to see the damage if this charade went on 2 more months. I also don't buy that surgery had anything to do with this. He almost certainly knew he was leaving before the knife. He is gone so he can't pull the wool over my eyes any longer. Sorry for the long rant but I don't think all the positives completely excuse the negatives the past 2 months.
