This may get interesting. Renardo Sydney interview
- Thread starter oh yeah
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He was far from the only problem child in the last few years of Stansbury but the conversation sure as heck starts and ends with him. I’ve never been more embarrassed to be a Mississippi State fan than I was when I woke up on Christmas Eve 2010 and saw the video of the Hawaii incident the night before.
Stansbury’s last three years were extremely frustrating, and Sidney was a huge part of that. I still remember the excitement everyone had when we signed him coming off the SEC Tourney championship. Who knew that our program would be in shambles three years later. You could make a really fascinating SEC Storied/30 for 30 about the Sidney era.
Stansbury’s last three years were extremely frustrating, and Sidney was a huge part of that. I still remember the excitement everyone had when we signed him coming off the SEC Tourney championship. Who knew that our program would be in shambles three years later. You could make a really fascinating SEC Storied/30 for 30 about the Sidney era.
UPDATE: I listened to it. Some interesting stuff for sure. The bullet points:
-His dad sounds like a piece of work. He says Reebok was paying them a lot of money when he was in high school, and then his dad would charge agents at least $1,500 just to meet with him. He also said that he and Stansbury never got along and because of that, his dad never even came to watch him play a game in Starkville.
-He said State did pay him but he didn't know how much since the money went directly to his mom. He said the only difference in him and other players at State was that he got to live in an apartment as a freshman when he was supposed to be living in a dorm.
-His dad wanted him to skip college and play overseas, but his mom begged him to go to college "back home in Mississippi" so he listened to her.
-He said he quit caring after the NCAA suspended him for a year and 10 games, and that he starting getting really bad out of shape and smoking weed at that point. He also said he wishes he never would've come to school here (don't we all?) and that he at least should've left after his sophomore year.
They didn't discuss the fight or really go too in depth into his time at State like I wish they would have. But still interesting, frustrating stuff to say the least.
-His dad sounds like a piece of work. He says Reebok was paying them a lot of money when he was in high school, and then his dad would charge agents at least $1,500 just to meet with him. He also said that he and Stansbury never got along and because of that, his dad never even came to watch him play a game in Starkville.
-He said State did pay him but he didn't know how much since the money went directly to his mom. He said the only difference in him and other players at State was that he got to live in an apartment as a freshman when he was supposed to be living in a dorm.
-His dad wanted him to skip college and play overseas, but his mom begged him to go to college "back home in Mississippi" so he listened to her.
-He said he quit caring after the NCAA suspended him for a year and 10 games, and that he starting getting really bad out of shape and smoking weed at that point. He also said he wishes he never would've come to school here (don't we all?) and that he at least should've left after his sophomore year.
They didn't discuss the fight or really go too in depth into his time at State like I wish they would have. But still interesting, frustrating stuff to say the least.
So instead of using the mistakes, and subsequent punishment from the NCAA, to fuel his game and future he became the slug he naturally was?
Hey sidney, we wish u hadnt come here and get fat too
Hey sidney, we wish u hadnt come here and get fat too
To me the biggest eye opening thing about that whole deal is probably the most innocent to many people, and that is the apartment situation. It is standard requirement for EVERY freshmen scholarship athlete in all sports to live on campus and has been that way for a very long time. Stans working the back channels to get around that shows how much he was letting this one particular inmate to run the asylum, and how much he was letting control of the program slip away. It seems like a small thing, but that is the kind of thing that breeds massive resentment in a locker room when one out of 13 players is getting major special treatment. Not surprising at all that he was fighting a teammate just a short time later.
He sounds a lot like Lenny Cooke. It's a sad story really of wasted talent. Too bad he couldn't motive himself and too bad Stans couldn't either. But at 20 years old, he gets harder to change your habits.
I think this has gotten overlooked over the years. Kodi and Ravern were not good guys to have in your locker room. Bost was an absolute diva. Moultrie started off being a good, hard working guy but you could tell he had totally checked out and was ready for the NBA by the time we started falling apart in 2012. Stans had totally lost control of his own locker room.
Something everyone seems to forget about Sidney that bothers me most:
Varnado, one of the all-time fan favorite good-guys in the Stansbury era, gave up his scholarship for a year so that we could give one to Sidney, as we were over the limit.
It's insulting what he did with it.
Varnado, one of the all-time fan favorite good-guys in the Stansbury era, gave up his scholarship for a year so that we could give one to Sidney, as we were over the limit.
It's insulting what he did with it.
No. It’s just good conversation material and provides context to everything we all knew was going on with Sidney anyway.
It was 8-11 years ago, 2 head coaches ago, 2 athletic directors ago, and he doesn't give any specifics. He doesn't even know how much they were being paid, so how does he even know for a fact they were being paid at all. I doubt the NCAA would want to spend a lot of time investigating something that long ago.
That, and everybody is getting paid. The Sidney’s were just so bad at telegraphing on the front end how much he was for sale that even the sleaziest programs in all of college basketball didn’t want to deal with the headaches of his recruitment.
Truth. It also severely limits your ability to keep tabs on a kid, and Stans should have known from day 1 that Sid was going to need some serious supervision.
It was probably a mistake to bring Sidney here regardless, but all these extra allowances made it infinitely worse
It was probably a mistake to bring Sidney here regardless, but all these extra allowances made it infinitely worse
And that’s what just makes me furious as all get out with Stansbury. Why in the world would you risk everything for THIS guy? UCLA and USC wouldn’t take his commitment coming out of high school because there was so much baggage attached. And USC was coached at the time by Tim Floyd who was one of the biggest cheaters in college basketball. Even he didn’t think Sidney was worth it.
NCAA is not supposed to investigate anything that occurred 4 years prior to a Notice of Investigation. Not sure if that is carved in stone, but I'm sure we are safe here.
This whole situation, reminds me of an answer Richard Williams gave decades ago, when asked why we weren't (seemingly) trying hard to sign a certain In-state recruit, who chose to play at a Fab Big 10 school. I can't remember the venue for the question, but I'll paraphrase the answer.
You don't recruit a kid that could, more than likely, cost you your job. (The actual answer was more polished than this, but this was the point.)
From the onset of the Renardo situation, I had this play over and over in my head.
You don't recruit a kid that could, more than likely, cost you your job. (The actual answer was more polished than this, but this was the point.)
From the onset of the Renardo situation, I had this play over and over in my head.
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Mostly correct.
USC backed off Sidney BECAUSE of what was going on at USC with Floyd and Mayo having played there, along with the school being looked into at that time for Bush's family home being paid for.
USC wanted Sidney, but had to back off.
what he left out is that the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins got into a reverse auction situation with him and his Dad living in LA. That is why the NCAA and other schools would not touch him.
he never had the work ethic it takes, high school is easy to dominate, after that, not so much.
he will always be remembered as a lazy kid that wasted a biological advantage he had to make millions. thank you 420 and a ****** home life for that.
he never had the work ethic it takes, high school is easy to dominate, after that, not so much.
he will always be remembered as a lazy kid that wasted a biological advantage he had to make millions. thank you 420 and a ****** home life for that.
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