We should take the high road.

But I can also dream about us making the dance and getting Michigan in the first round again.

Let's no kid ourselves .. this grad thing is a sham. Glad the kids have to graduate to take advantage of the sham but none of the guys give a rat's a## about the Master's part and I bet almost none finish the course work. They either want more PT, play at a "higher level" or be seen by the NBA. That last part is ridiculous. I think the NBA found Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, N'Dour etc. just fine.

The other part that's bad is programs/coaches like OU are left with a gaping hole to fill. You plan to fill your graduation losses, not ones like this in May.

And we just recruited a guy who now will have played in four collegiate level programs. You can't have it both ways.

He DID graduate. We are a university. He used us for what nearly all of us used this place for, a degree. He got it. Why do you feel that he owes us anything more?

This selfishness on here is amazing. He's Jeremy Fears? A guy who left our team mid-year? Really? A guy who DIDN'T graduate?

Also, the attempt to find flaws in his game now that he is gone is rather tasteless as well. The jilted lover finding all the faults in the old flame is disappointing, but has come to be expected here. As soon as somebody graduates or transfers, we talk about how maybe it wasn't that bad. Tyler Tettleton turns in a subpar senior year, we write him off despite the fact that he's our best QB in half a century. Early on in Jaaron's tenure, people were saying that he was a better natural point guard maybe than DJ.

I'm a fan first of this university. I want our student-athletes to graduate. When one does that, I'll celebrate it. Congrats, Jaaron, on graduating.

It's basically impossible to justify this without paying players.

I do not think JS has "NBA talent." But, I wish him well in his future endeavors. If I had to guess, I would say that DJ has a better chance of eventually making it to the NBA than JS. As always, I could be wrong.

I know it would happen eventually......haha! Looking forward to drinking a beer with ya next March when Jason Carter leads OHIO back to the dance.

Yeah..I'd say that....ummmm.....Saul is pissed.


“Jaaron informed me today of his intention to transfer to Michigan,” Ohio head coach Saul Philips told MLive on Monday night. “We are disappointed with his decision, but wish him luck. We have known this has been a possibility and have taken steps to make sure the roster is talented and balanced. We are looking forward to the upcoming season."

I hope Simmons career goes as well as Stevie Fresh's has!

Bingo. All this Jaaron to UM nonsense highlights is what most of us – if not all of us – don't want to admit. We are not a mid-major player in CBB. We are a comet that flashes brightly thru the CBB stratosphere once every 4-10 years. We did it under Trent in the mid 90s....again with DJ Cooper & Co in late 2000s....and we thought we'd do it with AC & Simmons last year. It didn't happen.

So why did Jaaron transfer? Pretty obvious to me. He wanted bigger and brighter lights than Ohio. And who's to blame for that? Ohio.

As Bobcat Love said, you can't schedule the Kennesaw State's and Alabama A&M's of the world and expect to gain any national traction or attention. It's been nearly a decade since we actually scheduled two P5 schools in the non-conference.

Read that again.

2007-08, when Ohio played at Maryland and at Kansas (in KC neutral site-ish....they actually ended up playing St Johns in Hawaii in a tourney that year too)

Since then, only ONCE has Ohio played two P5 teams in the non-conference and that was because it was in a holiday tourney (DePaul and Nebraska in Diamond Head Classic in 2014-15.

What kind of exposure are you going to accomplish playing that kind of schedule?

I hear people say "Ohio can be the Gonzaga of the Midwest, blah, blah, blah"

Do they have the facility? Maybe? At least size-wise.

Do they have the fan support? Maybe? If they're really, really good folks show up. But let's be honest...the student section is an embarrassment to even a Division II school.

What gives anyone the impression that Ohio is big-time college basketball? An occasional win at Georgia Tech....and losses at Western Kentucky, Iona and barely beating Milwaukee.

I'm sorry. We all are guilty of looking at this program thru green-colored glasses from time to time. But the reality is, we are a far cry from being relevant in today's college basketball landscape.

If we're just comparing ourselves to the rest of the MAC, then HELLS YES we are probably an elite program.

But compare the MAC with the rest of the country. Is it really that much better than the Summit, Horizon or OVC? What kind of postseason success has the MAC had that those league's haven't? 3 NCAA wins in 10 years (all by one school)

The MAC gets excited when Kent gets a road win at Texas....a team that finished with 11 wins.

Yes...I'm pissed Jaaron Simmons turned his back on his alma mater....his teammates/brothers...and his coach. But look at it from a 22-year olds perspective (where they all think they're going to "the league").....would suiting up in the green and white better suit him over wearing the maize and blue?

I'd say yes....I think dominating the MAC....winning the league...getting to the tourney....all the things he FAILED to accomplish in his short stay on campus....would greatly benefit his stock going into the only thing that really matters....the Combine and individual workouts.

Being just another guy on Michigan's roster won't do much to elevate his stock....unless he just tears the B1G a new one.....but I don't think he's that talented on an nightly basis to light that league up like he could the MAC.

It pains me to type this...but the reality is, it's Ohio's fault Simmons bolted. We aren't a stepping stone, in the eyes of college kids, to NBA super-stardom like a brand-name such as Michigan.

Ohio has made a pretty serious commitment in paying their coach a lot of money to raise the level of the program.....it's now time for him to do that. I'd start with making that schedule a little more "glamorous" for recruits, showing them they'll get the opportunity to play on big stages. It also wouldn't hurt to win the damn league that you've scuffled to 2nd place finishes in in back-to-back years.

Ohio basketball had a window in 2012 to make a leap to that next level. They missed. Those opportunities for schools like Ohio are few and far between. Was 10+ years between Trent and Leon......

Ohio needs to find a way to sustain success.....take a page out of Gonzaga's book. 18-straight NCAA appearances from a league that was worse than the MAC at one time. That's putting yourself on the map.....where you aren't losing impact grad transfers, you're gaining them.

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ All of it. Right there with ya Bshot.

Two more cents...

I am proud Jaaron graduated from Ohio, which certainly allows hime to grad transfer. He is playing by the rules.

I am not proud he is leaving the program. Im sure his teammates saw him as the team leader. Treg Setty he aint, gang.

I realize the mood is gloomy, but perhaps a little perspective is needed. The University of Dayton had some real tragedies and unfortunate occurrences with players not returning a few years ago. Then out of the blue they made a unforeseen tournament run because players stepped up who might not have had the chance. Hopefully, this will happen with our squad in the upcoming season.

I wish Jarron well, I am not happy about it, but I am not angry about it. I don't think this is something that sits well with other players. Again, I hope Jaaron makes it to the NBA, but as others have said, if I were a betting man my money would be on DJ making an NBA roster before Jaaron makes one. He made too many unforced dribble drives in the paint, not to mention the unforgettable way our season ended. Just another reason to dislike Michigan, would love to put an end to another one of their seasons next March.