Bear Down Wildcats

LSU, Tulane in the mix for Arizona transfer, former St. Augustine power forward Craig Victor

Sources close to Victor say that LSU, Tulane, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and San Diego State are all possible destinations for the 6-foot-8, 220-pound freshman.



http://www.nola.com/recruiting/index.ss ... _ariz.html

When Arizona last made Victor available for comment, on Dec. 15, he spoke of the kind of patience that Miller values in his younger players. Asked how it felt to know he could have played more if he chose any number of other schools — LSU particularly went hard after him during the summer of 2013 – Victor said he understood what he was getting into at UA, especially when Ashley returned this fall.

“I’m just getting better. I know I’m getting better. That’s all that matters,” Victor said. “I’m helping other guys get better too, competing every day. My games are played in practice.”

Specifically, Victor said practicing against players such as Ashley, center Kaleb Tarczewski and forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson helped his game.

“It’s just learning,” Victor said. “You come in as a freshman, and you develop over the course of the year. That’s just how I’m looking at it right now.”

Earlier Tuesday, while speaking generally about team chemistry, Miller said there can be potentially damaging “tugging and pulling” by those close to players, but Victor indicated during his Dec. 15 interview that he focused on his own goals.

“My line of communication when it comes to that is that if it’s not positive, it’s closed,” Victor said. “I’m just trying to win just like everyone else is trying to win. Other people understand that if I went somewhere else I would be playing. But that’s not the case with me. I just want to win and be on a winning team.”

Victor’s decision to transfer now means he can enroll at another school in time for the spring semester and be eligible to play next December when the fall semester ends, fulfilling the NCAA’s requirement of a year in residence for transfers. There was no word on what schools Victor was considering.

But since Victor has played in regular-season games at UA, unless he receives a waiver, he would be considered a sophomore next season with only two full seasons to play after that.

Victor’s transfer opens another UA scholarship for the 2015-16 season, for which Arizona is now one over the scholarship limit of 13. However, the Wildcats are expecting multiple players to leave after this season for professional basketball and, in fact, are expecting to add another player or two in the spring.

http://tucson.com/sports/basketball/col ... 7e9b3.html

Good Luck, kid! Best wishes.

Chicat wrote:

HiCat wrote:W t f is going on here.

High level D1 programs always experience kids transferring. It's a part of the game.

Exactly. This happens and will continue to happen at U of A, and it doesn't say anything bad about U of A. Other way around, actually, narrowly speaking to level of talent in the program. Now, how it might affect academics is another matter, although I have no knowledge of that.

The only weird thing about it is that our transfers/random leavings are always backup power forwards. Sidiki, Chol, Jerrett, Victor

Bosy Billups wrote:

JMarkJohns wrote:Even if you don't like him, crap like this makes you respect York all the more.

Word on the street, one of York, Deem, or Pitts won't be here next year

Yeah, well, where was this word on Victor? Time to hold "the street" accountable!

HiCat wrote:LSU, Tulane in the mix for Arizona transfer, former St. Augustine power forward Craig Victor

Sources close to Victor say that LSU, Tulane, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and San Diego State are all possible destinations for the 6-foot-8, 220-pound freshman.

What's your vector, Victor?

KaibabKat wrote:Here are the current PER's for the regular rotation players at Arizona (with minutes played):

24.7 Rondae Hollis Jefferson (356)
23.8 Craig Victor (58)
23.7 Stanley Johnson (394)
19.2 Parker Jackson-Cartwright (147)
18.6 T.J. McConnell (405)
18.4 Dusan Ristic (114)
17.5 Brandon Ashley (412)
17.0 Gabe York (314)
14.2 Kaleb Tarczewski (387)
12.3 Elliott Pitts (203)

There shouldn't be much of a question as to why Victor elected to transfer at this time.

You're too in love with this stat if you're suggesting he should've played a lot more this year.

gumby wrote:

KaibabKat wrote:Here are the current PER's for the regular rotation players at Arizona (with minutes played):

24.7 Rondae Hollis Jefferson (356)
23.8 Craig Victor (58)
23.7 Stanley Johnson (394)
19.2 Parker Jackson-Cartwright (147)
18.6 T.J. McConnell (405)
18.4 Dusan Ristic (114)
17.5 Brandon Ashley (412)
17.0 Gabe York (314)
14.2 Kaleb Tarczewski (387)
12.3 Elliott Pitts (203)

There shouldn't be much of a question as to why Victor elected to transfer at this time.

You're too in love with this stat if you're suggesting he should've played a lot more this year.

Half the minutes of the next lowest guy, and how many of Victor's minutes were in garbage time?

Merkin wrote:

gumby wrote:

KaibabKat wrote:Here are the current PER's for the regular rotation players at Arizona (with minutes played):

24.7 Rondae Hollis Jefferson (356)
23.8 Craig Victor (58)
23.7 Stanley Johnson (394)
19.2 Parker Jackson-Cartwright (147)
18.6 T.J. McConnell (405)
18.4 Dusan Ristic (114)
17.5 Brandon Ashley (412)
17.0 Gabe York (314)
14.2 Kaleb Tarczewski (387)
12.3 Elliott Pitts (203)

There shouldn't be much of a question as to why Victor elected to transfer at this time.

You're too in love with this stat if you're suggesting he should've played a lot more this year.

Half the minutes of the next lowest guy, and how many of Victor's minutes were in garbage time?

And against lower tier competition.

Vs. Oakland he played 10 minutes and scored 9 points. So I'm sure against the Kentucky's and Duke's of the world if you were to play him 30 minutes he'd score 27, right?

We'll never know, because Miller frittered away this opportunity.

KaibabKat, did you maybe mean that Victor's performance in garbage time gave him confidence that he could play meaningful minutes elsewhere?

Victor was PERfect for this team.

Tiger thoughts

http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/p/54 ... k-in-play/

Doesn't seem like a well thought-out move on his part. A lot of freshmen are not ready to put in big minutes, and many of the ones who do are often underdeveloped and can be a liability. He could have put in a full year at AZ and been that much more ready to contribute next year and compete for significant minutes. Perhaps he felt with Ristic, Anderson, and possibly Rabb (or another incoming big) that playing time would still be an issue -- and there is always a chance that either Ashley or Tarc returns for a senior campaign. Hope he finds success wherever he goes.

HiCat wrote:Tiger thoughts

http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/p/54 ... k-in-play/

Most trenchant comment: "I've soiled my pantalom"

midnightx wrote:Doesn't seem like a well thought-out move on his part. A lot of freshmen are not ready to put in big minutes, and many of the ones who do are often underdeveloped and can be a liability. He could have put in a full year at AZ and been that much more ready to contribute next year and compete for significant minutes. Perhaps he felt with Ristic, Anderson, and possibly Rabb (or another incoming big) that playing time would still be an issue -- and there is always a chance that either Ashley or Tarc returns for a senior campaign. Hope he finds success wherever he goes.

I'm not sure he was the first one in the locker room to suggest the idea.

Craig Victor will always be remembered as one of the greatest Wildcats to ever log less then 60 minutes of playing time

HiCat wrote:Tiger thoughts

http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/p/54 ... k-in-play/

Poignant remark on that board regarding why Victor left U of A: "Can't crack the rotation. He's not as good as some think."

Alieberman wrote:Craig Victor will always be remembered as one of the greatest Wildcats to ever log less then 60 minutes of playing time

Right up there with Tony Clark.

And this move has to indicate Arizona's getting Rabb or it would be pretty stupid on more than one party's account.

Kind of reminds me of Ruben Douglas who was projected to be a starter when Gilbert Arenas showed up. Ruben bailed early season when he saw he couldn't beat out the true freshman.

Worked out well for Douglas, led the nation in scoring one year at UNM.

catgrad97 wrote: And this move has to indicate Arizona's getting Rabb or it would be pretty stupid on more than one party's account.

Looks like this, doesn't it? Especially when Craig announces soon after: one, his Christmas trip home to the Big Easy when he talks with Mom(who cooks the World's Greatest seafood Gumbo), Dad, buddies---some of whom are probably playing at LSU or Tulane; then returns to campus to meet IR in an environment where he can feel Coach, Staff and players are not-so-discretely gushing over the Big Guy.

Easy decision. I'm personally PO'd because I like Craig's game and I've been dishing with my three Brothers-in-Law, all of whom played for St. Aug(Craig's alma mater) in New Orleans. They're already all over my pasty case.

Merkin wrote:Kind of reminds me of Ruben Douglas who was projected to be a starter when Gilbert Arenas showed up. Ruben bailed early season when he saw he couldn't beat out the true freshman.

Worked out well for Douglas, led the nation in scoring one year at UNM.

And that's just fine. That's how it should work. Best wishes to a kid who can't crack our rotation going somewhere else. Go forth, young man! Patience isn't a young person's virtue, particularly with potentially misplaced ego. It's not Miller's job to hand out playing time if it isn't earned just to try to keep a kid happy.

gumby wrote:Victor was PERfect for this team.

Damn! His numbers are better than Stanley's.

Victor is looking pretty wise for making the move .

Looks like Stanley may have missed his opportunity to leave

NOT!!!

Anyone see the blurb on ESPN reporting the Bragg just committed to Kansas? In particular, he says he doesn't care about minutes and that he just wants to be part of the team, and that "freshmen aren't supposed to be playing all the time." Granted Victor wasn't getting many minutes in general outside of garbage time, but Bragg appears to have the right attitude going into a major program -- and he has a higher ranking than Victor did. Victor was way too impatient and delusional. If he was worthy of significant minutes, he would have received them. Hope it works out for him wherever he ends up.

Longhorned wrote:The timing makes sense. He can be ready for conference play a year from now.

How so? He played 8 games this year including ASU

Jefe wrote:

Longhorned wrote:The timing makes sense. He can be ready for conference play a year from now.

How so? He played 8 games this year including ASU

It is in between semesters for most schools and can play in conference play for his new team

Only he himself knows why he felt now was time to leave. That will just be Victor's secret.

Longhorned wrote:KaibabKat, did you maybe mean that Victor's performance in garbage time gave him confidence that he could play meaningful minutes elsewhere?

Not necessarily 'his performance in garbage time'

I used the compilation I posted as just one example of the apparent disparity between his talent level and his playing time. There are others.

In just about any and all of the advanced statistical categories that you can find Victor was above 10th on the team yet he was 10th in mpg.

Let's look at it another way. He was ranked by Rivals as #28 coming into the year and got to play 58 minutes in his first 14 games. How did some of his peers do at the same time? #29 Kameron Chatman at Michigan has played 282 minutes. #30 Devon Booker at Kentucky has played 248 minutes. #31 Quentin Snider at Louisville has played 143 minutes. #32 Goodluck Okonoboh at UNLV has played 367 minutes. That list goes on and on.

46 Freshman in the Pac-12 and 33 of them have played more than 58 minutes.

844 Freshman in D1 basketball have played more than 58 minutes. 844 Freshman in D1 basketball have played more than 58 minutes. That's 844 Freshmen.

Do I think, that he thinks, that he could play more meaningful minutes elsewhere? Yes I do. Apparently he, his family, and his mentors, think so too.

Who is to blame for the divorce? Probably best to just chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and move on. I hope that both parties have bright and happy futures.

Good discussions here:

Merkin wrote:Good discussions here:

Is he saying that AZ is a microwave culture, or just that people (kids) are part of a microwavce culture where they want everything done at the speed of nuke?

PieceOfMeat wrote:
Is he saying that AZ is a microwave culture, or just that people (kids) are part of a microwavce culture where they want everything done at the speed of nuke?

I think it was the latter.

KaibabKat wrote:

Longhorned wrote:KaibabKat, did you maybe mean that Victor's performance in garbage time gave him confidence that he could play meaningful minutes elsewhere?

Not necessarily 'his performance in garbage time'

I used the compilation I posted as just one example of the apparent disparity between his talent level and his playing time. There are others.

In just about any and all of the advanced statistical categories that you can find Victor was above 10th on the team yet he was 10th in mpg.

Let's look at it another way. He was ranked by Rivals as #28 coming into the year and got to play 58 minutes in his first 14 games. How did some of his peers do at the same time? #29 Kameron Chatman at Michigan has played 282 minutes. #30 Devon Booker at Kentucky has played 248 minutes. #31 Quentin Snider at Louisville has played 143 minutes. #32 Goodluck Okonoboh at UNLV has played 367 minutes. That list goes on and on.

46 Freshman in the Pac-12 and 33 of them have played more than 58 minutes.

844 Freshman in D1 basketball have played more than 58 minutes. 844 Freshman in D1 basketball have played more than 58 minutes. That's 844 Freshmen.

Do I think, that he thinks, that he could play more meaningful minutes elsewhere? Yes I do. Apparently he, his family, and his mentors, think so too.

Who is to blame for the divorce? Probably best to just chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and move on. I hope that both parties have bright and happy futures.

how many of those 844 freshman would have played more than 58 minutes on our team if they were undersized power forwards? that's the real question.

midnightx wrote:Anyone see the blurb on ESPN reporting the Bragg just committed to Kansas? In particular, he says he doesn't care about minutes and that he just wants to be part of the team, and that "freshmen aren't supposed to be playing all the time." Granted Victor wasn't getting many minutes in general outside of garbage time, but Bragg appears to have the right attitude going into a major program -- and he has a higher ranking than Victor did. Victor was way too impatient and delusional. If he was worthy of significant minutes, he would have received them. Hope it works out for him wherever he ends up.

Yeah, saw that and felt the same as you......too bad CV didn't feel this way. Having said this, if he wasn't 'team first' then we are better off parting ways sooner rather than later. Still disappointing though .....

azdoubledown wrote:Only he himself knows why he felt now was time to leave. That will just be Victor's secret.

Their stuff is usually more see-through. To LSU goes the Victor?

Kaibab's point is probably a good one if you put yourself in Victor's shoes. Sean still plays a pretty short bench, even though it feels like he's giving out more minutes this year. Interesting though, that in an 18-point blow up in Oregon, UO played its bench 20 more minutes than we did.

KaibabKat wrote:

Longhorned wrote:KaibabKat, did you maybe mean that Victor's performance in garbage time gave him confidence that he could play meaningful minutes elsewhere?

Not necessarily 'his performance in garbage time'

I used the compilation I posted as just one example of the apparent disparity between his talent level and his playing time. There are others.

In just about any and all of the advanced statistical categories that you can find Victor was above 10th on the team yet he was 10th in mpg.

Let's look at it another way. He was ranked by Rivals as #28 coming into the year and got to play 58 minutes in his first 14 games. How did some of his peers do at the same time? #29 Kameron Chatman at Michigan has played 282 minutes. #30 Devon Booker at Kentucky has played 248 minutes. #31 Quentin Snider at Louisville has played 143 minutes. #32 Goodluck Okonoboh at UNLV has played 367 minutes. That list goes on and on.

46 Freshman in the Pac-12 and 33 of them have played more than 58 minutes.

844 Freshman in D1 basketball have played more than 58 minutes. 844 Freshman in D1 basketball have played more than 58 minutes. That's 844 Freshmen.

Do I think, that he thinks, that he could play more meaningful minutes elsewhere? Yes I do. Apparently he, his family, and his mentors, think so too.

Who is to blame for the divorce? Probably best to just chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and move on. I hope that both parties have bright and happy futures.

This would've been a better first post. The other was a head scratcher. It never occurred to me that he should be playing more. I think it's safe to chalk it up to his impatience. Bad move coming to Arizona with Ashley, Tarc, Johnson, RHJ if he was looking for big minutes in the first 14 games. Ristic committed afterward, That happens. Also Miller is defense-minded, which isn't reflected in PER. Maybe that end wasn't going well in practice.

azcat34 wrote:

that's going to be a really good team

azcat34 wrote:

Boom! Kentucky is going to have some competition next year in the SEC.

az91 wrote:

azcat34 wrote:

Boom! Kentucky is going to have some competition next year in the SEC.

I hope he balls out. He is a good kid. He is still a cat to me just like Will Bynum, Momo Jones are to me.

3goggles wrote:

az91 wrote:

azcat34 wrote:

Boom! Kentucky is going to have some competition next year in the SEC.

I hope he balls out. He is a good kid. He is still a cat to me just like Will Bynum, Momo Jones are to me.

Will Bynum and Momo actually played meaningful minutes for the Cats before trying to better their situation...

Bynum and Withey the only transfers that played in the NBA?

Jefe wrote:Bynum and Withey the only transfers that played in the NBA?

Leon Wood comes to mind.

84Cat wrote:

That must have been a really quick cup of coffee for Bohannon.

EDIT: 26 games over 4 seasons:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... net01.html

Didn't Victor have a list of like 5 teams like 2 days ago? Funny...

Olsondogg wrote:Didn't Victor have a list of like 5 teams like 2 days ago? Funny...

I'm guessing someone from LSU was in contact with his family well before he announced his intentions.

Chicat wrote:

Olsondogg wrote:Didn't Victor have a list of like 5 teams like 2 days ago? Funny...

I'm guessing someone from LSU was in contact with his family well before he announced his intentions.

Oh without a doubt. Been in his ear all season I am sure. I just don't get the "Here's my top 5" list getting thrown out there.

Olsondogg wrote:

Chicat wrote:

Olsondogg wrote:Didn't Victor have a list of like 5 teams like 2 days ago? Funny...

I'm guessing someone from LSU was in contact with his family well before he announced his intentions.

Oh without a doubt. Been in his ear all season I am sure. I just don't get the "Here's my top 5" list getting thrown out there.

Gotta keep up appearances I guess. Saying "I'm transferring to LSU" right off the bat leads to questions of tampering with a kid on scholarship.