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Username Post: Looks like no Bamba, either.        (Topic#19640)
Local Observer 
Junior
Posts: 231
Local Observer
Reg: 03-30-14
12-19-16 11:51 AM - Post#216183    

From an interview with Bamba, it looks like he doesn't have the scores to make it, even if he wanted to:

"Although Harvard hasn’t received an official visit, Bamba has visited Harvard’s campus unofficially multiple times.
“Harvard is still involved,” he said. “I just took the ACT again. Hopefully I get the score that I want. So I’m going to apply and hopefully have that as an opportunity.”

 
Jeff2sf 
Postdoc
Posts: 4466

Reg: 11-22-04
12-19-16 11:57 AM - Post#216184    
    In response to Local Observer

that's a really weird way to read that quote.

 
Jeff2sf 
Postdoc
Posts: 4466

Reg: 11-22-04
12-19-16 11:58 AM - Post#216185    
    In response to Jeff2sf

LIKE REALLY WEIRD

 
SomeGuy 
Professor
Posts: 6391

Reg: 11-22-04
12-19-16 12:04 PM - Post#216187    
    In response to Jeff2sf

Isn't Local Observor just saying that Bamba currently doesn't have the ACT score to play basketball at Harvard? That seems like a fair reading of the quote.



 
Jeff2sf 
Postdoc
Posts: 4466

Reg: 11-22-04
Looks like no Bamba, either.
12-19-16 12:08 PM - Post#216188    
    In response to SomeGuy

Well first off, remember that Local Observer is an elitist.

Second, more importantly, if he had said "Looks like if he had to make a decision right now, he won't be going to Harvard" that would be totally fine. Instead he did two things one of which is disgusting:

1. He ignored the part where Bamba re-took the ACT. Why on earth would you retake a test when you already had a score that's good enough for the other colleges on your list? Maybe because you want to go to Harvard.

2. More importantly, he makes it sound like Bamba's incapable of getting the score that he would need to get into Harvard.

I'm angry just thinking about this. This is some next-level Trumpian/Fox News ish that he just pulled.

 
SomeGuy 
Professor
Posts: 6391

Reg: 11-22-04
Re: Looks like no Bamba, either.
12-19-16 12:32 PM - Post#216191    
    In response to Jeff2sf

Hey, if Harvard alumni (and more importantly the administration) want to limit themselves to kids who hit their ACT and SAT scores on the first try, that's fine with me. They can be elitist to their heart's content.


 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
12-19-16 01:47 PM - Post#216209    
    In response to SomeGuy

You're telling me that a top five kid in the 2017 class taking tests he doesn't have to take when he could just commit to Duke or Kentucky tomorrow is a sign that he *won't* end up at Harvard?

Very interesting way to read that quote. I'd probably focus on the part where he's going to go through the Harvard application process anyway and hopes he can have it as an opportunity. As I've said all along, I continue to take the over on others' odds that Bamba will end up at Harvard (and frankly no one has come remotely close to offering up odds that would make me blink), but what do I know?

 
Jeff2sf 
Postdoc
Posts: 4466

Reg: 11-22-04
12-19-16 01:54 PM - Post#216211    
    In response to mrjames

right?


RIGHT?

I MEAN ARGHHHHHH

 
Local Observer 
Junior
Posts: 231
Local Observer
Reg: 03-30-14
12-19-16 07:16 PM - Post#216246    
    In response to Jeff2sf

IMHO, Bamba has no real interest in attending Harvard. Rather, he is stealing a page from Wendell Carter's playbook. He wants to wave the Harvard card, and also pretend to have interest in a range of schools. The goal is to ramp up his press coverage, and thus his eventual big money reward, when he leaves whichever factory school he spends a few months at (i.e., One and DUNN) and cashes in at the NBA level for $$millions.

 
Bill Lewis 
Senior
Posts: 304

Reg: 12-23-04
12-19-16 08:36 PM - Post#216252    
    In response to Local Observer

Any chance Bamba is not a one and done?

 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
12-19-16 09:22 PM - Post#216255    
    In response to Bill Lewis

I mean, anything is possible, but I'd be stunned if Bamba spent more than a year or two in college. Unless something crazy happens, he's a Top 5 pick in the 2018 draft if he declares.

Bamba's interest in Harvard is sincere, and while I have no intention of trying to convince anyone of that, I have a simple question: why would anyone sit for many more standardized tests than they need to just to be eligible for an offer they have no intention of accepting? The answer of "waving a Harvard card" is uncompelling as I don't see how that helps him get more NBA money and as for press coverage - the kid is a lock lottery pick for 2018, why the hell would he need press coverage?

Trust me, Harvard is a MAJOR player here.

 
Local Observer 
Junior
Posts: 231
Local Observer
Reg: 03-30-14
12-19-16 09:26 PM - Post#216257    
    In response to mrjames

Well, lets hope so. But that's what you said about Wendell Carter, too, mrjames!

 
SRP 
Postdoc
Posts: 4894

Reg: 02-04-06
12-19-16 09:28 PM - Post#216259    
    In response to mrjames

He's not a sailor, he's the captain.

 
nychoops 
Junior
Posts: 239

Reg: 11-23-04
12-19-16 11:10 PM - Post#216269    
    In response to SRP

When MrJames said Harvard was in with Carter I said no. I was correct. When MrJames said Harvard was a legit possibility for Bamba I said no. I was wrong. Heard last night MrJames is very much correct here ...Harvard is in fact a very legitimate option

 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
12-19-16 11:34 PM - Post#216271    
    In response to nychoops

I mean, Wendell was always way less likely than Mo, though I think Harvard will always get less credit than it deserves for how far it got with him despite what seemed like a bulletproof package deal with Trent Jr. Wendell admitted as much in an interview from last spring, where he mentioned that Bamba was leaning far more toward Harvard than he.

The only reason Bamba-Harvard has gotten less publicity is because of the testing, but if we assume away getting the score, Harvard is the leader.

 
H78 
PhD Student
Posts: 1458
H78
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 01-06-11
12-20-16 01:47 AM - Post#216277    
    In response to SRP

  • SRP Said:
He's not a sailor, he's the captain.


Ever erudite, channeling your inner Ritchie Valens...

 
Okoro Dude 
Senior
Posts: 309

Loc: Glen Mills, PA
Reg: 11-24-04
12-21-16 02:24 PM - Post#216369    
    In response to Local Observer

This makes no sense to me. Drafted players are subject to NBA rookie contracts based on their draft position. Publicity (if any) from dangling the possibility of attending Harvard is not going to have any impact on an NBA GM's evaluation of where this kid belongs in a draft.

Why are people so interested in dissecting the motives of a kid instead of just accepting the possibility that the idea of going to Harvard might be as appealing to this kid as it is for most kids who have believe it is in the realm of the possible. Doesn't mean he will ultimately have or make that choice. Just seems cynical to view otherwise given the information he is communicating.

 
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