Horford to Florida
He'll get the chance to play in a 2-post offense with post up opportunities. Wishing him the best.
Considering the fact that his brother went there and their sustained success under Donovan, especially in developing big guys, this move makes a lot of sense.
Florida has landed Michigan transfer Jon Horford, sources told ESPN. Eligible next season. Will help Gators frontcourt depth.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 26, 2014came out and said that he'd been told for 4 years by his entire family that he was getting a raw deal.
That's what's known as the horse's mouth.
Still think you have the public record on your side?
How does that say anything about his decision to leave being mutual? All it says is that Horford and his entire family were unhappy with his role at Michigan. You've posted nothing to indicate that the Michigan coaches encouraged him to leave.
the idea that he was unhappy.
It's circumstantial, but it certainly supports a version of events where he was a malcontent the latter half of the year, which is something I have heard from very credible sources.
I'm not pretending I have proof(!) they told him to leave or anything, but I maintain they were not unhappy to see someone unhappy try his luck elsewhere, and the things I've pointed to certainly pass the evidentiary "more likely vs. less likely" test of relevance.
Because it would kind of end the argument for all these people giving me static for claiming that the decision was pretty mutual.
April 26th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
I don't claim to be a basketball expert, but I don't understand his reason for leaving. With Mcgary gone wouldn't he start at the 5? Everyone is saying they don't hate him for leaving but if he "loves michigan" why would he leave a starting position? What makes him think he will do better at florida?
Also, UF is a shit school compared to Michigan.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
"What makes him think he will do better at florida?"
It sounds like the answer to that question would be "his family."
Al Horford had so much success at Florida, maybe his family is 100% convinced that Donovan can work magic on Jon.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^
fair enough
April 26th, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^
He already has an undergrad degree from Michigan, so he did at least earn a degree at a "non-shit" school.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:12 PM ^
I mean he would still have to do post-grad to get a scholarship, right? If the NBA doesn't work out you need backups...at least I would.
Edit: he has a general studies major..I guess it doesn't matter where you go for that...it's just another way of saying "I don't care about school"
April 26th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
Here we go again.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
Yup. All UM General Studies majors just don't care about school. You got me there. I don't have any witty retorts to out-logic your blanket statement about General Studies students. Now please crawl back into bed and have sweet dreams about diversified liberal arts education issues.
Then why is there a huge percentage of athletes in general studies and kinesiology? Because it's easy. You do easy stuff because you don't want to challenge youself. Don't give me this "general studies is useful" bull. They can go file papers at enterprise
April 26th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
Actually Florida is a pretty good school, and he already has a degree from Michigan.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
Honestly, school is what you make of it. Most liberal art's programs are roughly equivalent and there usually aren't curves in most of those classes.
this particular part of any Horford discussion is silly, but all liberal arts programs are roughly equivalent?
I took classes in the best History department in America, and resent your inaccurate statement. You know, we did learn stuff - like how to properly use apostrophes.
I hate to break it to you but unless you went to Princeton, you didn't. I assume you're referring to Michigan and I took history classes there too -- it wasn't anything too challenging if you just went to class and did nothing else. If you pushed yourself, wrote a thesis, were in honors, got invovled -- then yes it was but nothing outrageous. Most of these rankings are based on the quality of research and the PhD programs. There's not much differentation among the undergrad programs at flagship public research universities when it comes to the liberal arts (for the record, I'm a liberal arts major so I'm not just needlessly bashing on them, it is what it is).
It's a typo -- get over yourself.
go to Michigan, and for the record, Princeton was not the best history department in the years I attended undergrad.
It probably was the best history department within about five years of my graduation (my school lost a heavy slate of legends in the field and was a little slow in replacing them).
You may be right about the publics (I didn't go to one), but our history department was regarded as the finest because we had the best damn scholars and professors in the country. With that said, I resent your comment less if it doesn't come from the perspective of an engineer who thinks anything other than an engineering degree is worthless.
my best friend in college, who also taught History at Princeton - and had a stint in East Lansing - would share your opinion about MSU.
ain't a shit school. Public schools per US News & World Report---Michigan #4, Florida #14
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/na…
Plus he'll already have a degree from Michigan.
[edit: somehow missed someone saying almost the same thing already--sorry--though it may bear repeating twice to this myopic dude]
April 26th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
April 26th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
April 26th, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
You are assuming Donovan is actually at Florida. There is a very good chance he will be in the NBA.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^
How could you possibly know that? Minnesota is looking at him and Golden Stated and Houston look like they will also be looking for a coach. He already left for Orlando once. Donovan has always been seen as a guy would would end up in the NBA.
Like you said, he already said no to the association once.
Chip Kelly said not and we seen how that ended. Guessing Brad Stevens said not to lots of teams as well.
Oh and Donovan didn't really say no either. He actually took the job and then backed out. If he has a choice between a rebuilding Florida team and coaching Steph Curry its an easy decision. Golden State. Indiana could also open if they go down to the Hawks. Those jobs are better than the Florida job and Donovan has clearly shown he wants the NBA. There are not going to be many years where this many good NBA jobs open.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^
Not even I believe that. The mind is a devious thing sometimes......
April 26th, 2014 at 12:50 PM ^
I wonder if he was ever tested.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^
Florida had no interest in him coming out of high school (no other major programs did). The only reason he has the opportunity to do this is because he was injured for a year. Michigan supported him during his rehab so I feel like he owes the school that missed season and shouldn't quit on the team and go to a program that never wanted him in the first place. The whole idea of transferrring to a grad program at another school without sitting out a year is ridiculous. I won't be rooting for Horford.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
So Michigan supported him while he was injured; therefore, he should remain at Michigan when he apparently doesn't think they give him the best opportunity to succeed in basketball?
Every school supports injured basketball players. That shouldn't change anyone's mind or glue any player to a school.
If you're of the mind that no player should ever transfer, that's one thing. I understand that to an extent, even though I don't agree. But "Michigan helped him rehab, so he should stay forever and ever!" is kind of a silly thing. There are paid staff members to help their athletes rehab, and EVERY player gets injured to some extent (a rolled ankle, a broken finger, a torn ACL, a bad back, etc.).
I just think he's using loopholes to make a selfish, misguided move. This really should have been his last year. He actually played the year he got injured and was probably close to not getting a redshirt (played in 9 out of 34 games, 26%). It seems like he should be excited to make up for that year rather than ditching the team. The comments he made during that interview don't sit well with me either. If I see Florida play Kentucky next season I'll tune in to watch him get destroyed if Donovan even puts him in the game.
I'm no insider, but I'm further not sure that every school supports all injured players equally (as I recall, isn't that one of the issue raised in the unionization push?). Regardless, that does not diminish your point that Horford does not owe Michigan his last year of eligibility if he wants to move on just because he was supported while injured.
From what I gather, there's a marked difference between basketball and football. With limited scholarships, the early signing period, and the accelerated pace of basketball recruiting, it seems like basketball is much more supportive of injured players. If Michigan had let Horford go (I don't know the exact circumstances, so perhaps I should say that if Team X had let Player Y go because of injury), then Michigan/Team X would have probably had a very difficult time finding someone decent on late notice to take Horford/Player Y's scholarship and playing time the next year. It behooves the team to help players recover.
It's a different story with football because there are 85 scholarships and you have kids flip-flopping back and forth up until the first week of February in their senior year. There are numerous examples of kids (especially in the SEC, it seems) getting injured and then getting dumped.
Every team in every sport is going to provide support for injured stars. But if you're a mediocre 6'10" backup center, you're still more difficult to replace than a mediocre, 6'2", 230 lb. linebacker who plays only on punt coverage.
You are a douchebag. He literally owes you or the University nothing.
Actually, I think he does. He wasn't heavily recruited and Belein gave him a chance. No other schools wanted him, especially a team like Florida. Beilein put together a team that allowed him to showcase his skills at the highest level and it would be nice if he showed some loyalty instead of sneaking out the back door because of some loophole. I would love to know what BS grad program he's taking at Florida.
that McGary owes us. Jon gave us 4 years (of which he actually played 3) and Mitch gave us 2 years (of which he actually played 1 1/2. Jon got to showcase his talent for schools to transfer to and Mitch got to showcase his talent for the NBA.
I don't have any problem with a player going pro or transferring if they sit out a year. I just don't like the grad school rule. What if someone like Lewan graduated and decided he wanted to transfer to Alabama to make a run at a National Championship? What if Horford transferred to Ohio State? Hell, If Horford had a good reason to transfer I probably wouldn't care. He blames his lack of development on everyone but himself.
1) Who is hurt by that and why do you care what other people want to do?
2) I haven't heard him say that.
Michigan got something out him too. Jesus, you think by signing up to play college basketball, he's signing up to be an indentured servant or something.