These are giddy times at DePaul. Every day, it seems, Blue Demons coach Pat Kennedy receives an oral commitment from another prized recruit, the kind of recruit who can turn a program around, who can make everyone conveniently forget how DePaul’s administration thoroughly mishandled the Joey Meyer firing.
Last month it was the heralded Lance Williams of Julian who chose the Blue Demons. Last weekend it was Kerry Hartfield of Southeastern (Iowa) Community College. Tuesday it was Antonio Latimer of Miami. Wednesday it was Bobby Simmons of Simeon. Next week it could be Young’s Quentin Richardson. Together they would form perhaps the best recruiting class in the country.
Never mind that Williams and Latimer have yet to meet minimum academic admission requirements. Or that Hartfield pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence as a high school senior, for which he received a deferred sentence, completed six months’ probation and had the arrest stricken from his record. What matters–at least to Kennedy–is that the nation’s elite recruits are beginning to buy into the DePaul sales pitch.
But before you start waving your red-and-blue DePaul pom-pons, think about sophomore forward Abdou Sylla, a good kid, a good student and a decent player who recently learned all about the Blue Demons’ “family.”
You don’t know about Sylla, do you? If it were up to DePaul, you never would know that Kennedy told him he wasn’t part of the program’s long-term plans. Kennedy told him nicely, but there was no confusing the message.
It happens all too often. A new coach comes in, evaluates the roster, and jerseys roll. Sylla never saw it coming. Two years ago he was like Williams, Latimer, Hartfield and Simmons–proud, excited and, as it turns out, naive.
Shortly after Meyer’s firing, Sylla wanted to transfer. He was asked to reconsider. Told it might be in his best interests to give the new coaching staff a chance.
So Sylla, who still has a copy of his original letter of intent, decided to stay. Little did he know DePaul soon would be showing him the locker-room door.
According to Sylla, Kennedy summoned him to his office shortly after an early-morning shootaround Oct. 27. Kennedy told him he had two options: Sylla could stay, but never play. Or he could transfer.
“He said he was bringing in more people next year and that if I stay, I’m not going to play at all,” Sylla said. “I might be like the 10th or 11th guy on the team.”
Even more unsettling is Sylla’s claim that Kennedy arrived at a preseason workout one day and told the Blue Demons, “If you’re here for academics, you’re here for the wrong reasons.”
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If true–and Sylla said he is standing by the account, word for word–then Kennedy has some serious explaining to do. Sylla, a computer-science major who has about a 3.0 grade-point average and speaks four languages, still can’t believe what he heard.
“It seemed like Coach Meyer was the one pushing us to do the academics, but not this one (Kennedy),” Sylla said. “My goal is to make academic All-American and work on basketball. We’re not just here for basketball, but for school too.”
Kennedy disputes Sylla’s version of events, as well as Sylla’s interpretation of several comments the DePaul coach made. He said he did meet with Sylla and told him that based on the team’s new style of play, the existing roster and next year’s recruits, the odds of him playing were “very, very slim.” Sylla, the 10th-best rebounder in Conference USA games last season.
“I didn’t say, `You would never play here.’ I said it was very, very slim,” Kennedy said. “But again, this kid’s had trouble getting quotes correct.”
As for the comments concerning academics, Kennedy said Sylla has it all wrong.
“I said, `You’re here for a two-way street: academics and athletics. And there is a level of responsibility for the scholarship.’ “
Added Kennedy: “(Sylla is) the only kid for some reason who came up with that take of what I said. Obviously, that’s an incorrect statement. I’ve explained that to him, but he still doesn’t seem to be able to grasp that.”
And Kennedy said it was Sylla who made it clear he would transfer if he didn’t receive adequate playing time.
Back and forth it goes. But this much is known: Sylla’s career was essentially finished. He didn’t do anything wrong, he just wasn’t a Kennedy kind of player. So DePaul is getting rid of him, like disposable diapers.
Sylla can take a hint. What he can’t take is the hypocrisy. DePaul promised him an education first, a basketball career second. That’s the order of priority, isn’t it? That’s the recruiting pitch every coach has down cold: “Son, our No. 1 goal is to make sure you leave here with a college diploma.” That’s what they say.
In Sylla’s case, he said he’ll leave with a clear conscience and the unflattering memories of a DePaul program in transition. Who cares how many Williamses, Simmonses, Latimers, Hartfields and Richardsons you sign if the flip side means you jettison the likes of Abdou Sylla, who was at DePaul for all the right reasons?
Sylla wasn’t in uniform Thursday night for the Blue Demons’ first exhibition game. He wasn’t even in Chicago. He was back in New York looking for a new school, looking, he said, for someone who keeps promises.
And come Monday, when DePaul plays another exhibition game, Sylla almost certainly will be in street clothes, watching what will soon be his former team. He’ll be forgotten by January. To some at DePaul, he’ll be nothing more than a bad memory. To others, a casualty.