Curious comment by ESPN announcer

[JTG]

I rarely listen to ESPN basketball analyst Dan Dakich local radio show here in Indy, but it's tournament week so I listened for awhile. As with any discussion of college basketball in Indy, the topic of players IU missed out on came up. A caller asked about Guy at VA, and Bluiett at X. When asked about Bluiett, Dakich wouldn't elaborate, he just said, "Take it from me, Bluiett didn't end up at Xavier because he wanted to go to a Catholic school". Don't know if it's typical ESPN bias. That's all he said.
Conversely Gregg Doyle wrote a glowing article in the Indy Star about Bluiett and his Dad, who was his coach from the age of 5 til HS

[BMoreX]

Dakich is a goober.

[IM4X]

I guess there are a couple of ways to take that comment.

I'm going to go with his implied second sentence was... "He went there because he knew he would be the star player on a team that would end up winning a Big East regular season title and National Championship his senior season."

[xudash]

Didn't he pass on UCLA.

What a tool.

[JTG]

Didn't he pass on UCLA.

What a tool.

Yes, he did. Probably turned off by used car salesman personna of Alford. The comment implied something unusual went on.

[waggy]

Xavier just can't be better than Indiana. The reasons can't be within IU, So X is up to something.

[AviatorX]

No one hates Dakich more than IU fans, trust me.

[SemajParlor]

Dan Dakich is one of the worst sports personalities in the word.

[xu82]

Dan Dakich is one of the worst sports personalities in the word.

That’s a very competitive environment!

[Olsingledigit]

My recollection is that he reneged on UCLA because of the distance from home and it was then down to Butler and X. I seem to recall that his parents liked the smaller environment and academic environment of X and Butler vs IU.

[xu82]

My recollection is that he reneged on UCLA because of the distance from home and it was then down to Butler and X. I seem to recall that his parents liked the smaller environment and academic environment of X and Butler vs IU.

That is how I recall it. If true that would fit what he said “technically”. Is he just such a low level performer he needs to throw crap out to get attention? Does he expect no scrutiny? Anything to sound smart and “on the inside”?

[XUBison]

My recollection is that he reneged on UCLA because of the distance from home and it was then down to Butler and X. I seem to recall that his parents liked the smaller environment and academic environment of X and Butler vs IU.


Along with Butler, Mich St swept in after he bailed on UCLA to make a weird late push. Weird because they hadn’t previously recruited him. I don‘t remember IU even being in the mix at that point.

[XUGRAD80]

There is nothing wrong with that statement, unless it shows a bias about students at “Catholic” colleges and universities. Not sure what the % of non-Catholics at X is, but I’m sure it’s pretty high. Heck, I was raised Catholic, went through Catholic grade school and HS and I didn’t go there BECAUSE it was CATHOLIC. I went there to get a good education, it was close to home, affordable (that was MANY years ago), I liked the size and the campus, and they gave me the opportunity to compete in sports at the college level. It had NOTHING to do with it being Catholic. In fact I considered that more of a minus (since it meant taking MORE Religion classes) than any plus. If Danny boy thinks that students go to “Catholic” Universities only because they are some kind of religious fanatic, and want a “Catholic” education, he’s even dumber than I thought.

[Xavier]

What? It has nothing to do with that. Simply implying $$

[Lamont Sanford]

What? It has nothing to do with that. Simply implying $$

That's how I interpret it too. Now that bESPN jettisoned all their quality college hoops talent, they are stuck with folks like Dakich (and Seth Greenberg) who are total hacks. Par for the course from the worldwide leader.

[XUGRAD80]

What? It has nothing to do with that. Simply implying $$

Well, that MIGHT be what he was implying. But there is the possibility that he was just implying that Blueitt came to X for the basketball program alone....unlike the OTHER students that of course came for the CATHOLIC education, right?

How one hears a comment like his has somewhat to do with ones own bias.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Did he mean that X had more $ to give than UCLA?

[XUBison]

Well, that MIGHT be what he was implying. But there is the possibility that he was just implying that Blueitt came to X for the basketball program alone....unlike the OTHER students that of course came for the CATHOLIC education, right?

How one hears a comment like his has somewhat to do with ones own bias.


No. He was talking about money, or at least some sort of shady recruiting by X. The Catholic reference was a red herring. That’s it.

[D West]

My recollection is that he reneged on UCLA because of the distance from home and it was then down to Butler and X. I seem to recall that his parents liked the smaller environment and academic environment of X and Butler vs IU.

Tom Izzo and Mich State dropped in when Tre dropped UCLA........................He chose X and he chose correctly. What a great career.

[Emp]

Izzo missed on a first choice late in the recruiting cycle and went after Trevon late. Tre took a visit, we held our collective breaths when. He was offered. he passed and reaffirmed his commit immediately.

[XUGRAD80]

If Blueitt came to X for money, then why is he still here? He could have left any year, gone overseas and made pretty darn good money playing for a European league team, while still honing his skills for a run at the NBA. We’ve spent to much time already discussing what a talking head from ESPN (or any of the networks) thinks about anything to do with X. Ignore them. If after 30 years of excellence and a history of beating “bigger”schools on a regular basis X hasn’t earned their respect, it’s probsbly never going to happen.

[muskiefan82]

Here is what I would love to see happen.........Xavier has won the championship. Jay Bilas walks up to Coach Mack and asks a question. It matters not what the question is. Mack replies with "You don't need me to answer that. Why don't you just make up something like everyone else at ESPN does?" and then he turns and walks away.

[UCGRAD4X]

Here is what I would love to see happen.........Xavier has won the championship. Jay Bilas walks up to Coach Mack and asks a question. It matters not what the question is. Mack replies with "You don't need me to answer that. Why don't you just make up something like everyone else at ESPN does?" and then he turns and walks away.

That would be great. If I cared two shits about ESPN, I would make that my ringtone or something...but that means I would have to delete the fight song. I guess it's 'or something'.

[joe titan]

To quote the great Jack Fogarty I may be wrong but it seems to me Dakich being an IU guy primarily that the implication was TB was not deemed good enough for IU--nothing more or less.

[muskiefan82]

To quote the great Jack Fogarty I may be wrong but it seems to me Dakich being an IU guy primarily that the implication was TB was not deemed good enough for IU--nothing more or less.

If that is true then I can't help but laugh.

[markchal]

I didn't hear the audio, but I think we may be reading too much into it. Those aren't the type of accusations made in throwaways, especially by former coaches. That is a major accusation if it is, and I just don't think it'd happen like that. I also don't see his parents as the type that would get mixed up in that sort of recruiting.

[JTG]

To shed more light on this, Dakich was interim coach when Sampson was fired. He told Crawford to hit the road. And Crawford left for X. I think because of that he thinks X is dirty.He's maybe the most conceited person in media. And that's saying something. He's convinced all of the media in Indy are morons except him. Most won't speak to him. He WAS insinuating something illegal went on. He's a big time asshole. That's why he fits in so well at ESPN. Oh, and his best buddy is that f*cking idiot Seth Greenberg.

[XUFan09]

Those aren't the type of accusations made in throwaways, especially by former coaches.

For Dakich, throwaway accusations and snide comments are not outside the realm of possibility. He's a straight-up jackass and also one of those people that can't seem to imagine why a highly rated recruit would go to Xavier unless he was paid.

He is probably the most despised commentator in college basketball for a reason. I just asked my friend (a Pitt fan, poor bastard) what he thought with no context when he heard the name Dan Dakich. His response was to laugh and sum the guy up in one word: "Dick."

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[SemajParlor]

To quote the great Jack Fogarty I may be wrong but it seems to me Dakich being an IU guy primarily that the implication was TB was not deemed good enough for IU--nothing more or less.

Yeah, that's how I interpreted it.

[XUBison]

To think, not long ago our team was a bunch of plucky over-achievers who always graduated, our coaches were clean-cut straight arrows, and our fans were friendly people who were happy to be included. Now our team is a cocky bunch of front-runners, our coach has a chip on his shoulder, and our fans are classless and arrogant. Oh, and we pay our players. Go figure.

[bobbiemcgee]

ESPN was playing some stupid game and none of the idiot experts knew where the First Four was played. And these guys are picking brackets?

[Masterofreality]

That's how I interpret it too. Now that bESPN jettisoned all their quality college hoops talent, they are stuck with folks like Dakich (and Seth Greenberg) who are total hacks. Par for the course from the worldwide leader.

And jerk-ass Jay Bil-ass too

[XUFan09]

And jerk-ass Jay Bil-ass tooBilas is an ass, for sure, but he's not in the same group as Dakich. He actually presents good analysis much of the time, but if you disagree with him, then you're an idiot in his mind. He just can't accept possibly being wrong sometimes.

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[xu82]

Bilas is an ass, for sure, but he's not in the same group as Dakich. He actually presents good analysis much of the time, but if you disagree with him, then you're an idiot in his mind. He just can't accept possibly being wrong sometimes.

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He’s like my sister-in-law. He confuses his opinions with actual facts.

[MarvAlbert]

Bilas is an ass, for sure, but he's not in the same group as Dakich. He actually presents good analysis much of the time, but if you disagree with him, then you're an idiot in his mind. He just can't accept possibly being wrong sometimes.

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He is a practicing lawyer last I saw, so that's probably why.

[XUBison]

He’s like my sister-in-law. He confuses his opinions with actual facts.

Hey, mine too. Annoying.