Seriously!

More on Rutgers

Folks continue to beat around the bush. The big question seems to be will Rutgers actually fire Fred Hill if he does not accept the buyout? Are they negotiating him returning for one season at full pay and giving him an additional $600,000 at the end of next season based on timing? One thing for sure, Rutgers looks very confused and any kid considering going there has to be a bit concerned with how they do business.

Honestly I wonder why people are so upset at Fred Hill for not accepting $600,000 when he is owed $1.8 Million? Fred knows his chances for getting a head coaching job in the near future is slim and none. Why should he walk away from what he should receive based on his contract?

Would you? He is not a Rutgers grad! His loyalty is to him and his family at this time. Rutgers knows what they need to do to solve this but the question is will they do it?

My Law Degree from UCLA gives me enough insight to understand Rutgers has a weak case based on cause. When they agreed to bring him back based on state budget concerns and saving money his deal started again from that day. Everything that happened prior to the day the AD said he was coming back went into the old files. Fred Hill had a fresh start!

So now Rutgers has to figure out how to make this "Cause" thing stick, and that's the hard part. Cursing at a baseball game in front of 100 fans will not fly. Even if he pulled his pants down while doing it. How about the failed drug tests, etc. His word against the AD if it was communicated. How about not being allowed at the baseball game? he parked far away and watched from his car because he loves his dad. Any Judge with a son will understand this.

Rutgers could have fired him based on his record weeks ago but did not. RU did not want to feel the heat for paying him when the State of NJ is experiencing severe budget problems. But now they have a problem and if it goes to court they might just have to pay him even more in damages, etc. Thus the delay in firing him last week or at the latest Monday. They need to make a deal and $600,000 will not cut it at this time. Only way the $600,000 would fly is if they had some sort of pictures lol.

So what happens next? Rutgers will have to pay Hill much more if not all of what they owe him. He should, but might not even accept that. Those "Cause" charges are so weak he might just milk this to get even more money. Stay tuned!

I have heard from a very reliable source that Jeremy Hazell has a very good chance of returning to Seton Hall. My source, a NYC Legend well liked by Jeremy and many others, went face to face with Jeremy and told him he was making a mistake. He asked Jeremy how much did he like Europe because he was not making the NBA this season. Oddly he said Jeremy just stared at him and said he was still feeling it out. Some advisor seems to have gotten into his head making him feel he could play in Europe a few seasons and make alot of money before making a NBA team.

Calling Jeff Robinson, Calling Jeff Robinson. The plane for Argentina is leaving from gate 43. Last call! You have missed all the planes to NBA cities so board quickly. However there are plenty first class seats waiting for you to South Orange New Jersey, a place that needs and adores you. A place where you can further develop and gain an opportunity to get on a plane to a NBA city in the near future.

I really hope someone gets to Mr. Robinson soon. He has a great upside and another year at Seton Hall would be so helpful. However when it comes to Herb Pope I am not so sure. I think this was his plan from the day he arrived in South Orange. I for one thought he was a one and done player at Seton Hall prior to him playing a game. After watching him this season I felt he needed to come back for more seasoning if you know what I mean. My gut is he is ready to make money and it does not have to be the NBA.

Lastly on Seton Hall. I wonder if the new coaches really care if these guys come back. remember the first year is a honey moon year unless they go 0 and 25, etc. They might use the departures to build the Pirate program as they wish with the type of players and attitudes needed to make it a true program. One thing that will always stick out to me was when Bobby Gonzalez was fired and they interviewed Jeff Robinson and he called Coach Gonzalez "Bobby." I remain a Gonzalez fan but thought that spoke volumes about many things.

Still waiting to see what St. Johns does to fill out their coaching staff. I honestly think Lavin should step back and reevaluate what he has done thus far with Ron Roberts, and the make up of his coaching staff to date. Dunlap and Charles are great, but all the others are far from what is needed. How he allowed Grasso to go to Fordham is mind boggling.

Speaking of Tony Childs. Tony would be perfect as the Head Coach of Columbia University. Tony could be the only person on the planet who could make Columbia a winner. I wonder if they have contacted him? If they have, I think Tony would have to listen. But we all know about schools like Columbia. They have to form a committee to choose a committee to get a final committee to reconmend the top 3 choices to go before another committee who will rank the top 3 and send to the President who will rank and send back to the AD who will make the choice after the Columbia Basketball committee meets all 3 final candidates at a wine and cheese reception.

To make sure people read the whole blog, when I mentioned my UCLA Law Degree It stood for the University Corner of Lenox Avenue. If folks comment about it they did not read the entire post lol.