KAEO: Derrick Gordon

[harbo]

^^ What's Derrick going to be doing in 29 days??

[eldonabe]

2. I like DG and had a chance to meet him and talk to him after he came out. I just don't care about his career at Seton Hall.

^ This

Thanks for playing for us, good luck......

[CarriageEstates22]

Why did Derrick Gordon make history and then suddenly shun the spotlight?
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... -spotlight

[capezona]

Great article. I don't blame Derrick for stepping back. I think he feels he put himself out there too much and that's a risky thing to do. And by talking so much about the NBA he's put himself into a possible no-win situation. He likely realized too that he wasn't controlling the message. Hope he does well - in basketball and life.

[fenway617]

Interesting story and not what I expected, I thought it was going to be the same old story. The reporter really takes it to Derrick at times and other times sympathises with him. The problem I have and I think the reporter has is once he came out he used the media to get his message out and made many, many comments about how happy he was. He acknowledged the gay flags at arenas. Now he wants it all to go away, the media not to talk about him being gay. I think a big reason and the reporter sort of implied this was catholic school Seton Hall may have stepped in and asked him to tone it down. It was also telling that the only other colleges that offered to take him were one-bid conference colleges, like Bryant College who offered to take him, he really wasn't wanted at many big schools. Seton Hall's head coach even said Gordon is a terrible shooter and will use him as a defensive specialist off the bench! But he still has NBA dreams and wants to have his boyfriend with him at the draft.

If he doesn't already he will regret leaving Umass. He was able to be both a player and advocate, he started and play 25+ min per game in a community that embraced him.

[Kelz626]

I liked DG during his time here but I just can't stand his delusional thoughts because ultimately they reflect negatively on UMASS basketball. There was no mandate that he couldn't shoot he just couldn't hit a jumper to save his life so the coaches probably told him it wasn't a good idea to start launching away jumpers. As far as him being quieter about the NBA, reality is probably starting to sink in that he's not nearly good enough to make it and he doesn't want to make an ass out of himself by continuing to talk about it

[Refuse2Lose83]

Probably one of the best written articles I've read in some time on any topic. I have a lot of respect and admiration for DG, I hope he finds his peace on and off the court. I would love for him to find his way to the NBA some way, some how. I just really hope what seems to be happening isn't happening. Seton Hall telling DG to quite down, in a way putting a mussel on him. It'll be a miserable year for him if that is the case. Willard sounded awful in that article, he knew what he was getting as a person and as a basketball player. Unless they told DG he'd have to be quite about his sexuality prior to committing to SH they should be ashamed.

[UMass87]

It's a great article but it's also a sad one. It makes it pretty clear how immature DG was. He was surprised that SHU was the only major program that wanted him? It's like he doesn't understand that you win basketball games by scoring points and he just wasn't that good at scoring points against high D1 competition. He didn't know that Seton Hall was Catholic?? He didn't understand that SHU wouldn't be thrilled to have an outspoken gay player?

The Catholic church considers homosexual behavior to be a sin. This isn't new. Expecting SHU to behave any differently is profoundly naive. Catholic universities are in a bind with regards to the issue. They frequently represent the most liberal thought in the Church but can't be seen as promoting ideas directly at odds with Church teachings. The Pope has made clear that the Church thinking on homosexuality has not changed: love the sinner but discourage the sin. Allowing DG to act as a gay rights advocate is not something SHU can really do.

[eldonabe]

2. I like DG and had a chance to meet him and talk to him after he came out. I just don't care about his career at Seton Hall.

^ This

Thanks for playing for us, good luck......

I shall quote thyself... this thread must go away.

[rsox1221]

^
On other boards I've seen (specifically HFBoards where I post) there is an 'Ignore Thread' option.

It seems like that could be REAL useful here on Hoops. Just my .02

[CarriageEstates22]

Listen if you don't want to hear about Gordon then don't click on the thread. It's not that hard of a concept. And if your excuse is "well I click on every new thread", then sorry you wasted 20 seconds scrolling through the recent posts. Please keep commenting about how you don't care though.

It was a well written/insightful article from one of the biggest sports media sites in the world about a former player. To not post it would be absurd.

[fenway617]

He also seems hung up on the fact that because he played at St. Patrick High School with Kyrie Irving and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, both NBA lottery picks and was as good as if not better than both of them in their time there he should be solid NBA prospect as well. It's an ego thing. In HS the three of them carried the team and in some eyes he was the best of the three but he can't see that the other two excelled while his game sort of evened out. Not a knock on him but stuff like this happens all the time.

[Jackson96]

Lot of layers to this story. I hope it works out for Derrick and he finds whatever it is he is looking for, even if in the end, that doesn't turn out to be the NBA.

[Calmass9]

did you guys actually read all the way through the story? it's quite extraordinary and somewhat painful to read. it goes way beyond some kid with suspect NBA aspirations. I have some genuine concerns for him as a person right now.

It's only (and predictably) Eldon, and he probably didn't even click the link or read one word of the story.

But I'm with you, it doesn't seem like Derrick is in a good place mentally right now. That article was incredibly written, provided wonderful detail of the exuberant DG during the TGI Fridays conversation, and then a sad look at the stark change in demeanor and actions. His Mother has to be worried about him as well, why else would she go out of her way to get him on the phone to talk to a journalist who was trying to tell his story? I'm of the belief that Seton Hall is pushing him to lock it down, which is just so incredibly sad. For DGs sake, I wish he had never left the comfort of UMass.

[UMass87]

I think you guys are reading a bit too much into this. While I'm sure DG would love to be an advocate, his goal (deluded as it is) of playing in the NBA clearly trumps that (and, I'm sure he believes that if he makes the NBA then he'll be in a stronger advocacy position). I'm 100% sure that SHU has demanded that both Willard and DG not speak publicly about DG's sexuality but that's not the same as shoving him back in the closet. SHU is almost certainly not demanding that DG not be gay and everyone knows DG is gay so he can't be "back in the closet". What SHU is doing is the same thing they are doing with all their LGBT students - trying to prevent them for advocating for gay rights. I don't agree with SHU but I also am sympathetic with their position as a Catholic university (this is slightly analogous to Quaker universities not hosting ROTC but allowing students to participate in nearby ROTC programs).