Marques Johnson to transfer; 2009 scholarship opens up

08-09 Basketball General75

According to sources close to the situation, NC State junior guard Marques Johnson has decided to transfer to another program.

More analysis later…

Projected 2008-2009 NC State Basketball Roster

Senior Class
(1) Courtney Fells (Wing)
(2) Ben McCauley (F/C)

Junior Class
(3) Brandon Costner (F)
(4) Trevor Ferguson (G)
(5) Dennis Horner (F)
(6) Farnold Degand (PG)

Sophomore Class
(7) Javi Gonzalez (PG)
(8) Tracy Smith (4F)

Freshman Class
(9) Johnny Thomas (Wing)
(10) Julius Mays (PG/SG)
(11) CJ Williams (Wing)

HS Sr Commits
(12) Scott Wood (SG)
(13) Richard Howell (4F)
(1) Lorenzo Brown (SG, PG, Wing) (Courtney Fells Scholarship)
(2) Open – [Post player/center along the lines of Derrick Favors or potentially Keith DeWitt] (Ben McCauley’s Scholarship)
(*) Potential open for John Wall if needed

HS Junior Commitments
(3) CJ Leslie (F)
(4) Ryan Harrow (PG)
(5) Open
(6) Open

08-09 Basketball General

75 Responses to Marques Johnson to transfer; 2009 scholarship opens up

  1. Trip 08/13/2008 at 8:27 PM #

    http://www.gopack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9200&ATCLID=1553943

    It’s official.

  2. Astral Rain 08/13/2008 at 9:25 PM #

    We wish him the best in his future endeavors.

    Hopefully this was his choice and not the waiver wire. Off-the-court, he represented State well.

    Hopefully Georgia State gets to make the dance in the next 3 years so he can get some time.

  3. Trip 08/13/2008 at 9:27 PM #

    Looks like I got wtfmoderated for posting a link. If you go to gopack dot com there’s a story confirming this report.

    Best wishes to him. He was a classy guy off the court from the few times I saw him around.

  4. aPACKadeez 08/14/2008 at 3:33 AM #

    Does anyone know if we’re actually even in the running for Favors? I have a feeling that we were not, which is why we offered the Adams kid out of Apex.

  5. Rochester 08/14/2008 at 6:53 AM #

    There’s no reason to personally trash the kid. He tried, he just doesn’t have what it takes to play SEC or ACC basketball. That doesn’t make him a bad person.

    He was certainly miscast as a PG, but I think that was his choice. Seems like he didn’t really want to play SG, and may have been one of the reasons he chose State, since we had a need at PG.

  6. Afterglow 08/14/2008 at 7:02 AM #

    Totally agree. Any level of basketball beyond high school is pretty intense. Along with playing out of position, it almost feels like he never gave himself a chance to settle in anywhere. It sometimes takes years to develop-especially at high caliber schools and the whole process of being uprooted or uprooting yourself isn’t a good way to grow.

    I hope he does well.

  7. Rick 08/14/2008 at 7:06 AM #

    I hope we did not force him out.
    IMO he saw the writing on the wall.
    We have two point guards from last year that played ahead of him. We have a combo guard that could play in front of him this year we have another combo coming in that could play in front of him next year and the next year a true PG.

    He would not have seen the court much

  8. happypackdad 08/14/2008 at 8:40 AM #

    Does anyone know if we’re actually even in the running for Favors?

    YES we are. Frontrunner, don’t think so, but still in it for sure. Adams’ offer has nothing to do with Favors as we’ll probably take 5. Noel Johnson & Favors used to want to be a package deal. Johnson recently contacted us with interest.

  9. EverettBeez 08/14/2008 at 9:01 AM #

    good luck to MJ, and I hope he did come to this on his own and was not “helped” out.
    Problem is . . . transfers are like a kid failing out of school when it comes to reporting academic success/graduation rates to the NCAA. While this young man deserve to be at a school where he’ll play, and its nice for the Pack to have a scholarship for someone who has a better chance of playing, the college still has to take a big knock. lets hope the rest of the team can pass classes and graduate!

    Anyone know the rules about reducing scholarships? My institution lost close to 15 players in the spring due to academics and bad behavior (the qb was sitting in front of the dorm smoking a fag joint when the cops rolled up. he did not put it out.) Between football & basketball another 18 were booted over the summer. We lost scholarships this spring – I can’t wait to see what happens when the NCAA gets this report. Anyone know how the penalty chart goes? Pray for the death penalty for us guys – its our only hope of stopping the luxury boxes.

  10. vtpackfan 08/14/2008 at 9:21 AM #

    We have a decent shot with Favors. Not great, which should be expected. Our program stinks over the years; Winning it all 25 years ago seems to be even more remarkable by Joe public because we amount to nothing on the national scene.

    To have the best big man in the country even mention you as a consideration is a big deal that we shouldn’t take for granted.

    The only (SG) on our Roster this year now are Fells, Ferg & Mays. We will only lose Fells and add Brown in his place, so the Adams offer seems to be an emphasis on spreading the court and/or stocking up on coachable type character guys.

  11. vtpackfan 08/14/2008 at 9:35 AM #

    Ev..Beez

    I have looked into this NCAA scoring system, and while it wasn’t a thorough examination, this is how I understood it to be:

    Where an student athlete accept a full athletic scholly first is who the system of tracking academic progress falls on to. That means Tennessee would get treated as having a drop out but not us. It is meant to track a student starting as a freshman and once that time is passed they stop tracking him/her for this purpose.

    JJ will hurt if he doesn’t stay enrolled in atleast some capacity (3 credit hrs. per?). Ask a Carolina fan about the loop-hole, they’ve had a firm grip on this for years.

  12. packalum44 08/14/2008 at 12:14 PM #

    happypackdad…u seem to have an inside scoop or are just really confident in your opinions…regardless-

    who we looking at for 2010 to compliment Harrow and Leslie? rivals reports that Tobias Harris from Long Island is visiting us in the fall…scout reports an offer to tashawn mabry while melvin tabb is interested..

    anyone else? should we expect harrow to rise to at least 4-star and with another signee or two, score a top 25 class?

  13. happypackdad 08/14/2008 at 1:24 PM #

    offered: Mabry, Ross & Hood
    interested in: Fair, Tabb, Knight, Coleman, others I’m sure.
    I think it will be a top25 class at least.

  14. DAMangum 08/14/2008 at 3:03 PM #

    This is AWESOME! Now we can get another player that may actually help the team instead of hurting us. Why do some of you think we are getting Wall? He is not coming to State, that has been apparent for months. I do not want him and neither should the rest of you. We have solid PGs coming in and we don’t need another one and doner!

  15. pakfanistan 08/14/2008 at 3:31 PM #

    Grrrrr YEAH! We don’t need them ‘best in the nation’ players!

    They would only hurt us in the long run, what with winning a few extra games while they’re here. Not to mention there’s absolutely no benefit in having our four year players practice against such high level talent. >:[

  16. Afterglow 08/14/2008 at 6:15 PM #

    pakfanistan-Yeah, I don’t understand all the worry over this. How is this different from a player really coming into their own in their third or fourth year than say, an “NBA ready” player stepping in and being great in the first year and then stepping out. Over all, we don’t see true production from some of these recruits until years down the line. But like you said, if our players are practicing against elite-albeit, ephemeral-players, then so be it. I’ll grant people that we may have slightly less team chemistry with one and doners but that wouldn’t always be the case.

    I say, let’s go full force after these five star players and hell, maybe one of them will step in a win us a National Championship! Also, I have yet to read anything truly wrong with John Wall as all info seems rumor and internet mill based. Is there anyone who can actually point to something factual?

  17. Noah 08/14/2008 at 7:52 PM #

    Are you suggesting the Wall/Clifton relationship is fictional?

  18. Afterglow 08/14/2008 at 8:25 PM #

    I’m suggesting that John Wall is a young impressionable kid who could be influenced by a lot of things. Dwon Clifton was the former head coach of D-One Sports for the AAU League. As a coach, you are in a position of trust and generally, kids are going to look up to you and trust that what you are saying is the right thing. Brian Clifton is a sports agent-perhaps less so in a position of trust but to a youngster, probably someone that age would look up to as well. I am not saying that these two individuals are not unethical, manipulative, low life bastards-but I do not think that by association, this puts John Wall on that same level. If that’s so, then every kid on that team is a sleaze ball and shouldn’t even bother playing in college; or if they choose to, at least play for a one that is sleazy.

  19. Noah 08/15/2008 at 7:55 AM #

    This relationship is not the same as every kid on that team.

  20. EverettBeez 08/15/2008 at 8:39 AM #

    thanks VTpackfan – someone make sure JJ gets enrolled this fall!!
    Dr. Badger, do you have an on-line class he can take?

  21. packalum44 08/15/2008 at 8:51 AM #

    elite teams recruit several 4-star and 5-star players each year. not all of them turn out to be one and doners…when you get so many, chances are a few of them will stick around for several years (see unc and duke) ellington and lawson were the #1SG and #1PG respectively in the same class…so teams shouldn’t recruit them??? when state gets one elite, we expect the moon by some fans which is naive and foolish. other schools are getting 2 or 3 a year and sure some leave (marvin williams, branden wright) but lots stick around…point is, if we are to become elite, we must consistently land several 4 and 5 star players each and every year and be able to absorb the one-and-done player every couple of years. hell, if we were good enough jj would have been coming off the bench last year!

    pipedream for a second but if we land wall and favors in 09, those guys are good enough to “contend” for titles…not saying we win, but just saying we contend…that is what elite teams do…they contend each and every year…duke and unc have been contenders almost every year they are on the court…even so, they only win it all every so often…even with an elite team, you are playing against the field and things have to go perfectly for a team to win it all…schools need talent and lots of it…

    now, if the dissenting fans are talking about recruiting “strategy”, then i would be more open to criticism of spending our resources on the walls and favors of the world. strategically, some schools might be better off building a good team/reputation/brand with solid 3-4 year players (see FL, TN, Memphis) and once they have built their “brand” then they can have more weight with young recruits and go after the elites…that is what we have seen with the above schools. they didn’t land the huge 5 stars consistently until recently, after they got some positive exposure from winning…make sense? good.

    however, a great recruiter with a RBC Center backing him up is going to do a bit of both…get elite and get solid 3-4 years and…good luck Lowe and happy recruiting!

    p.s. apologies for all the duke/unc references

  22. Dr. BadgerPack 08/15/2008 at 12:20 PM #

    EverettBeez- Even if I had an online class, I don’t think taking it from University of Florida would help him out. 🙂

  23. Noah 08/15/2008 at 12:40 PM #

    Roy Williams has had carnal relations with satan…that’s why they keep their five-star guys.

  24. DAMangum 08/15/2008 at 2:26 PM #

    LOL, some of you are so naive. I’m not saying don’t recruit 4 and 5 star players, I’m saying recruit high character 4 and 5 star players. John Wall is not a high character guy, he has alot of shady stuff going on around him and I do not want him bringing that to State. He is by far the most NBA ready player in the class. Some of you need to do a little research prior to making comments on the board. John Wall does not want to come to State, so why do you want someone who doesn’t want you? Grrrrr YEAH! Bringing in a player like Wall may make us win 20 games and make the tourney, then he leaves and we return to a NIT team. He won’t continue his education and this will damage the program! I’m all for Favors or another elite player, NOT WALL! Who ever was talking about Toney Baker, I talked with him the other day and he said the surgery was nothing and he should be ready soon.

  25. hball57 08/17/2008 at 12:58 PM #

    Those comments about John Wall and his relationship with the Cliftons shows one thing … you have no idea what you are talking about. The information is fairly well publicized … why not try reading it? John Wall has proven in his life that he is a high character person, who has overcome some difficult situations in his life with the help of several people including the Cliftons and the folks at Word of God. But of course, I’m sure you speak from personal knowledge of the young man and the situation. Right! I know this is an opinion board, but character assassination shouldn’t be done.

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