After 10 minutes of playing time in 2012, Harrow going home from UK

John Calipari tweets about Ryan Harrow going home

As you see from John Calipari’s tweet above, former NC State guard and current Kentucky player, Ryan Harrow, will be going home with his family and will miss at least the next two games for Kentucky. Some people might choose to title this entry, “Shocker! Bubbleguts going home with mommy”; but, we wouldn’t dare say such a thing! Shame on anyone that would!

After being completely useless in the the first ten minutes of Kentucky’s opener against Maryland, Harrow has not been seen on the basketball court for the Wildcats. The party line has been that Harrow has been battling a mysterious flu. Of course, if this is true then we all wish Harrow the best of luck in fighting what ails him and prays that he finds his way back to good health. But, a lot of folks who’ve had past personal experiences with Harrow have looked at the flu story (and its inconsistencies) with extreme skepticism. In fact, CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish tweeted this afternoon that he “spoke with someone close to Cal Monday who laughed at idea that Ryan Harrow was battling flu. ‘It’s not the flu,’ he said” After being questioned about Calipari’s public comments that Harrow left for family issues, Parrish tweeted, “That’s just Cal doing his best to cover for the kid.”

I find it fascinating that Gary Parrish & CBS are playing the role of truth teller for Calipari here.

For those of you who don’t know how this works — Parrish is a moron meat-head who happens to be based in Memphis. Remember where Calipari coached before Kentucky? You got it.

So, Calipari and Kentucky take the ‘high road’ here and publicly ‘support’ poor Ryan and his mommy. Then they share some truth with their friends in the media. It’s a double win! Cal & Kentucky ‘officially’ look great to future recruits by taking the high road while the truth gets out to anyone who really cares through all of their buddies in the media.

[More below the Link/article]

Link to CBS

Ryan Harrow’s status at Kentucky continues to be a mystery of sorts.

The word that UK coach John Calipari has circulated over the past week or so is that his starting point guard is dealing with the flu, but now it appears clear there’s more to it than just that as Calipari announced Harrow has left the team to return to his family and won’t play Wednesday or Friday.

“Unfortunately, Ryan left town this morning w/ his mom to tend to an issue w/ his family & we don’t expect him back in time for Friday’s game,” Calipari wrote on Twitter. “Please keep Ryan and his family in your prayers and we hope to have him back soon.”

I’m not sure exactly what it is, but the hope is that Harrow gets it straightened out and is all right. Harrow obviously has a golden, one-year opportunity in front of him, but many have questioned his mental toughness — while he was as a freshman at NC State and since he’s been eligible to play at Kentucky.

Is it just a case of being overwhelmed and not being able to handle the pressure of following guys like John Wall, Brandon Knight and Marquis Teague — and playing in the fishbowl that is Lexington? Possibly.

If there ever was such a thing as ‘addition by subtraction’ for an NC State athletics program, it was the day that Ryan Harrow transferred from the program.

You may remember that Harrow, whose behavior and overall softness earned him the moniker of “Bubbleguts” during his time in Raleigh, caused controversy before he ever played a single game for NC State when he penned a letter telling NC State fans how to think and act. (I’ll never get over how stupid of an idea it was for Pack Pride to run that letter). You really should do yourself a favor and go refresh yourself by clicking here for our blog’s entry at the time and/or clicking here for the thread on our message forums (that received 233 replies)

Since Harrow was such an expert on NC State fans BEFORE he got to Raleigh, imagine how his love affair with the fans evolved when was playing for the Wolfpack!? And then imagine how well things went when he WASN’T playing in important games like his first trip to Chapel Hill when Harrow held himself out of the game for supposedly having the flu. (Sound familiar?) These comments on Facebook in January of 2011 sure didn’t help.

“I’ve swear the wolfpack nation can have some great fans but some others really surprise me. I thought I joined a great family but the true colors are coming out. SMH”

Ahh, yes. It is always someone else’s fault. I can’t wait until they find the bastard that gave Ryan the flu! Can you imagine how much blame he should get!

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

College Basketball

30 Responses to After 10 minutes of playing time in 2012, Harrow going home from UK

  1. Wufpacker 11/21/2012 at 3:13 PM #

    Oh man. Didn’t expect this to make the main page. This could get really interesting based on recent forums forays.

    Where’s that popcorn?

  2. jbpackfan 11/21/2012 at 3:13 PM #

    I think this guy has some issues, perhaps depression. I’ve never seen a college athlete act quite in this manner. I hope he gets whatever help he needs. (Of course, if this is just pouting and not being able to handle criticism, then that’s a different story and he needs to toughen up.)

  3. gumby 11/21/2012 at 3:15 PM #

    Maybe it isn’t the flue and in reality he has PTSD … and feels like every minute of his life is a “harrowing experience”

    **rimshot**

    thanks I’ll be here all week – don’t forget to tip those cocktail waitresses!

  4. Hawkeye Whitney 11/21/2012 at 3:16 PM #

    The sad thing is that the kid (and he is just a kid) has serious talent. I wish him well, but I am glad he is playing for someone else’s team.

  5. Wufpacker 11/21/2012 at 3:18 PM #

    Tip ’em, my ass! Hell, go ahead and give ’em the whole thing!

  6. tjfoose1 11/21/2012 at 3:51 PM #

    Norman Bates with a basketball?

  7. tractor57 11/21/2012 at 3:56 PM #

    If there is a real medical issue (flu or PTSD or whatever) I do hope he gets the help he needs. I hold no ill will toward him I’m just glad he is out of my orbit these days.

  8. PackFamily 11/21/2012 at 4:00 PM #

    Guys, this post is a bad idea as it is getting into the personal life of a kid. You can lose a lot of respect among the community (mine included) to go down this road. He left. Let him go.

  9. Paramarine 11/21/2012 at 4:23 PM #

    Agreed w/ PackFamily.

  10. TeufelWolf 11/21/2012 at 4:41 PM #

    I wish him luck with whatever problems he may have

  11. highstick 11/21/2012 at 4:44 PM #

    Depression and PTSD aren’t to be joked about…I’ve seen some ugly stuff with both…Hope it’s not either!

  12. Lunatic Fringe 11/21/2012 at 4:52 PM #

    I don’t wish him any ill will, but I believe a lot of us saw this happening given: 1) Harrow’s personality 2) Cal’s coaching style 3) UKs fanbase/expectations

    He should have gone to Georgia.

  13. StateFans 11/21/2012 at 4:57 PM #

    I’m sure there is some complex, special, fancy, 2000’s diagnosis for what most people used to refer to as being a ******

    But, CBS Sports is basically saying the kid doesn’t have the flu and Cal is covering for him.

    To be fair, the kid’s mom has a reputation of not being the most rational person on the planet. Feel sorry for him.

  14. Wulfpack 11/21/2012 at 4:58 PM #

    Who is Ryan Harrow?

  15. SqlWolf 11/21/2012 at 5:06 PM #

    I toss my $0.02 with PackFamily. There is no value to our community in further analyzing the young Mr Harrow and any possible issues he may have with life skills or other skills. He is no longer a member of the current NCState team and other than relevant news regarding the UK bball team, I have no interest in Mr Harrow.

  16. MrPlywood 11/21/2012 at 5:22 PM #

    I’m with highstick and SqlWolf. That’s all.

  17. bill.onthebeach 11/21/2012 at 5:35 PM #

    PF + Stick + Sql + ME makes Four…

  18. redcanine 11/21/2012 at 5:52 PM #

    If he truly is sick- I sincerely hope he gets well
    If he’s not sick- Who didn’t see this coming?

    I enjoy keeping up with former Wolfpack players. If Josh Davis or DeSean Painter were out for some reason, I’d like to know. So thanks for keeping us up to speed.

  19. CaptainCraptacular 11/21/2012 at 5:53 PM #

    count me in with Pack Family, et al. Unnecessary and rather petty.

  20. ancsu87 11/21/2012 at 6:03 PM #

    “But, CBS Sports is basically saying the kid doesn’t have the flu and Cal is covering for him.”

    However this is the same CBS Sports writer we have bashed as not knowing his ass from first base in regards to his comments on NC State fanbase and NC State BB. You can’t have it both ways with this writer.

    Based on the source .. I would leave it alone and let it play out for UK. No need for us to even be involved.

  21. ADVENTUROO 11/21/2012 at 7:42 PM #

    Have mixed feelings about the post. First, Harrow seemed to never recover, physically (mentally I’m not qualified to judge) from his flue or virus. I personally wondered from seeing friend and relatives in college that got Mono….if that was it. Now maybe my memory is vague here….did he actually have a light or small mono infection?
    Whatever, it tooks it toll on him. Then after Sid departed, he quickly made his feelings known and did not seem to want to let Coach G and the staff talk to him or find out HOW he would fit.
    The one year sabatical was uneventful. The ESPN show illustrated how Cal can be tough but also warm (strange way that I stated it….but he does seem to have the desire for his lads to excel). Anyway, that show totally let the world know how much pressure there is at UK.
    NOW, he is sick or supposedly sick again. I certainly hope that he does not have any major health issues. As I said, the lingering effects of Mono do take their longterm toll.
    Whether he has some other issues (family, pressure, emotional, etc.) I do NOT know….and that is where I think it should be left.
    It is a shame that a kid with his talent appears to be having issues in how to fit into a team and be productive and also make an NBA name for himself.
    I think that any more details about any “rumored” emotional of mental health issues should NOT be posted here.

  22. lush 11/21/2012 at 7:45 PM #

    This subject gets closed on the forums and opened on the main page a week later? That seems odd.

  23. edog05 11/21/2012 at 8:28 PM #

    Just delete the topic. Why do we even care about Harrow? Let him deal with what he has to deal with and let him be…I’m sure there is another Tarhole topic you can post on the main page.

  24. GotNCState 11/21/2012 at 9:03 PM #

    seth greenberg just said (referring to Ryan Harrow) “Is he sick of Cal?”

    Happened to be reading this w/the 4letr ntwrk in the background

  25. gumby 11/21/2012 at 11:45 PM #

    My jokes can be crass – and I did not mean to offend or trivialize anyone that really has PTSD. My apologies if I did.

Leave a Reply