Yuri Collins to.....Grad Transfer

[TRN]

Good luck to Yuri, he made the right choice.  The only reason to stay in college is for more NIL and to pursue the NCAA Tournament.  One more year wouldn’t help his pro chances, more likely hinder them as teams tend to look for younger players.

[ACE]

11 hours ago, stmdragons said:

At least everyone got to take one last shot at Yuri on the way out. 

It's on odd hobby some appear to have.

[TheChosenOne]

10 hours ago, thetorch said:

Yuri made the right decision.

He might make the G league but hopefully its a stepping stone to Europe where he can get really paid.

Pursuing another year in college was only good for people who aren't Yuri.

Right and he would have seen the worst case happen with Perkins returning for a final additional season. Not many players are improving their draft stock in their 5th year of college basketball.

[billikenfan05]

44 minutes ago, ACE said:

It's on odd hobby some appear to have.

I think the heat on Yuri is more than fair considering the last 16 months. Aligning himself with a guy like BG, hitting the portal, coming back acting like everything is good, BG then working on behalf of Yuri including taking shots on twitter at our largest booster with complete falsehoods. Most Billiken fans seem to have just wanted him to step away from the street agent and stop jerking everyone around.

[majerus mojo]

2 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

I think the heat on Yuri is more than fair considering the last 16 months. Aligning himself with a guy like BG, hitting the portal, coming back acting like everything is good, BG then working on behalf of Yuri including taking shots on twitter at our largest booster with complete falsehoods. Most Billiken fans seem to have just wanted him to step away from the street agent and stop jerking everyone around.

Give it a rest dude 

[wgstl]

4 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

I think the heat on Yuri is more than fair considering the last 16 months. Aligning himself with a guy like BG, hitting the portal, coming back acting like everything is good, BG then working on behalf of Yuri including taking shots on twitter at our largest booster with complete falsehoods. Most Billiken fans seem to have just wanted him to step away from the street agent and stop jerking everyone around.

I think its more BG wanting to be part of Yuri's circle, and less of Yuri really caring about BG. I mean, BG thought he was going to Kstate or another school just yesterday morning(?).  

[billikenfan05]

12 minutes ago, majerus mojo said:

Give it a rest dude 

I mean, i was going to. I am very happy he's sticking with the pro route (would have been happy for him if he had stuck it out in the draft process last spring to be honest, bummed for sure but not resentful) instead of listening to people who only care about how they can make a buck.

[Crewsorlose]

9 minutes ago, wgstl said:

I think its more BG wanting to be part of Yuri's circle, and less of Yuri really caring about BG. I mean, BG thought he was going to Kstate or another school just yesterday morning(?).  

This. The notion that Yuri and Big Guard are somehow colluding is totally undermined by the latter having no idea of Yuri's next step. 

We got to watch the best passer in Billiken history the last four years. He provided countless fun moments and highlights. He played hurt. He took a million charges. He never got a technical. He never had an incident. He graduated in May. 

At the end of the last home game, he stated unequivocally that he was leaving. He helped keep a team that lost Goodwin, and French, and then lost its preseason POY one game in, on the fringes of an NCAA tourney birth. Yes, last year sucked.

Still, every fan should look fondly on the Yuri experience on the whole. Buy the guy a brick and thank him for the highlights. 

[billikenfan05]

52 minutes ago, Crewsorlose said:

This. The notion that Yuri and Big Guard are somehow colluding is totally undermined by the latter having no idea of Yuri's next step. 

We got to watch the best passer in Billiken history the last four years. He provided countless fun moments and highlights. He played hurt. He took a million charges. He never got a technical. He never had an incident. He graduated in May. 

At the end of the last home game, he stated unequivocally that he was leaving. He helped keep a team that lost Goodwin, and French, and then lost its preseason POY one game in, on the fringes of an NCAA tourney birth. Yes, last year sucked.

Still, every fan should look fondly on the Yuri experience on the whole. Buy the guy a brick and thank him for the highlights. 

Colluding? I would agree they aren't colluding, but I firmly believe BG was influencing Yuri's decisions based on his personal financial gain. Look at the deal with Snarfs, it was advertised as being brokered by BG.

[ACE]

1 hour ago, Crewsorlose said:

This. The notion that Yuri and Big Guard are somehow colluding is totally undermined by the latter having no idea of Yuri's next step. 

We got to watch the best passer in Billiken history the last four years. He provided countless fun moments and highlights. He played hurt. He took a million charges. He never got a technical. He never had an incident. He graduated in May. 

At the end of the last home game, he stated unequivocally that he was leaving. He helped keep a team that lost Goodwin, and French, and then lost its preseason POY one game in, on the fringes of an NCAA tourney birth. Yes, last year sucked.

Still, every fan should look fondly on the Yuri experience on the whole. Buy the guy a brick and thank him for the highlights. 

And this entire thread which included a healthy dose of character bashing was built on an erroneous tweet. How wonderful...

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

1 hour ago, Crewsorlose said:

This. The notion that Yuri and Big Guard are somehow colluding is totally undermined by the latter having no idea of Yuri's next step. 

We got to watch the best passer in Billiken history the last four years. He provided countless fun moments and highlights. He played hurt. He took a million charges. He never got a technical. He never had an incident. He graduated in May. 

At the end of the last home game, he stated unequivocally that he was leaving. He helped keep a team that lost Goodwin, and French, and then lost its preseason POY one game in, on the fringes of an NCAA tourney birth. Yes, last year sucked.

Still, every fan should look fondly on the Yuri experience on the whole. Buy the guy a brick and thank him for the highlights. 

Great post. Yuri will always be a favorite of mine. Just had a conversation with a casual SLU hoops fan yesterday and he was upset with the news that he was staying in the draft pool and not returning. I informed him about how there was a chance that he would transfer, etc. I had told him that a decent chunk of the inner circle of rabid bills fans weren't fond of his play and aren't upset that he wasn't coming back and he was shocked. He said he was probably his favorite bill to watch since the Jett teams. He then proceeded to tell me that SLU basketball is probably falling off his sports fandom radar.

I think Yuri did more for our program for the casual watcher (especially local) than people realize. As many have mentioned previously and as sad as it is to admit, SLU hoops is pretty irrelevant again to the common fan and seems to be trending in the wrong direction. Having someone on the national level kept us kind of in the news. 

Anyway, thank you Yuri for a fun 4 years and the memories you provided. Wish ya the best going forward.

[TheChosenOne]

19 minutes ago, ACE said:

And this entire thread which included a healthy dose of character bashing was built on an erroneous tweet. How wonderful...

It is really sad how that happens, losers chasing clicks.

[TheChosenOne]

2 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

BG then working on behalf of Yuri including taking shots on twitter at our largest booster with complete falsehoods.

Can you fill those of us in who have no clue what this means?

[billikenfan05]

12 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

Can you fill those of us in who have no clue what this means?

Yes, I can't find a screenshot. But he tweeted either @ Rich Chaifetz  or a reply to Ross (I can't remember exactly which) in the middle of the season,  claiming  that they promised Yuri Collins 200k in NIL money and didn't pay him.

[billikenfan05]

Like I said, presented by Big Guard. So, yeah I find it a little friggin' irritating when your start PG is being "represented" by a guy who is actively trash talking the program and it's boosters on twitter.

[RUBillsFan]

1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said:

Colluding? I would agree they aren't colluding, but I firmly believe BG was influencing Yuri's decisions based on his personal financial gain. Look at the deal with Snarfs, it was advertised as being brokered by BG.

Please note that I'm defending Yuri here and not BG:

BG set up an event at Snarfs for Yuri to sign autographs for people and Yuri showed up.  Based on the reports from people who attended, it didn't even seem like either made any money from the event because it was free.  I don't think that means sh*t in terms of influence.

You guys had BG on your Podcast and were friendly / complementary of him at the time.  That doesn't mean BG has any influence over you.

[JMM28]

Just now, billikenfan05 said:

Like I said, presented by Big Guard. So, yeah I find it a little friggin' irritating when your start PG is being "represented" by a guy who is actively trash talking the program and it's boosters on twitter.

Having had some interactions with guys like "Big Guard", they're the latest version of what used to be called "handlers" in recruiting. Except now they fancy themselves as contract attorneys and want to take 20-50% of the "deals" they negotiate. They might do a first little something for free and then say "Man I've spent a lot of time helping you out so I do have to take my share of this..." when a decent money deal comes around. 

The NIL game won't be ruined by collectives or boosters paying guys. It will be ruined by these types that are taking advantage of young guys who don't know any better. 

[billikenfan05]

2 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said:

Please note that I'm defending Yuri here and not BG:

BG set up an event at Snarfs for Yuri to sign autographs for people and Yuri showed up.  Based on the reports from people who attended, it didn't even seem like either made any money from the event because it was free.  I don't think that means sh*t in terms of influence.

You guys had BG on your Podcast and were friendly / complementary of him at the time.  That doesn't mean BG has any influence over you.

And I feel personally responsible about it. I feel sh*tty as fuok about giving him any platform. He showed his true colors eventually.

Yuri was also doing free sandwich coupon giveaway on campus, so I'm sure there was a bit more than just a single event. Now this is going to be a bit of mild goalpost moving, but when I say "make a buck" it isn't just money. It's using Yuri and his connection to him to further whatever his agenda or end goal is. Is it to make connections with college coaches to get access for his show? Is it purely clout? Maybe BG was just hungry and wanted some free sandwiches courtesy of Yuri. I don't have any insight on the deal. But again, when you associate with a person who is on twitter sh*tposting about your team, coach, program etc. It might be time to cut that relationship off.

 

[RUBillsFan]

1 minute ago, billikenfan05 said:

And I feel personally responsible about it. I feel sh*tty as fuok about giving him any platform. He showed his true colors eventually.

Yuri was also doing free sandwich coupon giveaway on campus, so I'm sure there was a bit more than just a single event. Now this is going to be a bit of mild goalpost moving, but when I say "make a buck" it isn't just money. It's using Yuri and his connection to him to further whatever his agenda or end goal is. Is it to make connections with college coaches to get access for his show? Is it purely clout? Maybe BG was just hungry and wanted some free sandwiches courtesy of Yuri. I don't have any insight on the deal. But again, when you associate with a person who is on twitter sh*tposting about your team, coach, program etc. It might be time to cut that relationship off.

 

My hope here is that Yuri didn't / doesn't know anything about the sh*tposting on Twitter.  His goal is to make the NBA.  He's got bigger fish to fry than paying attention to BG's social media activity.  An agent / PR person might deal with that stuff if Yuri gets paid, but for now it would all be on him and he probably (or hopefully) doesn't think about it. 

BG's schtick (same that made you guys want him on the show initially) or some prior connection that made them acquaintances sold him that partnering with him on a few things to boost his profile as we good idea.  The fact that BG was clearly wrong on Yuri in the portal and the K-State stuff shows that he has little / no influence there and you're making a mountain out of a molehill over the Snarfs event.

To be clear, I'm not casting any shade at you guys for having him on the show.  There wasn't any indication back then he'd later be sh*tposting and trolling.  To me, BG is like a basketball only Austin McBroom without the "attractive" wife and "cute" kid to exploit for followers.  He'll resort to any means to get attention.  His initial setup of just trying to showcase small guards wasn't generating clicks, so he's resorted to stirring the pot to get more attention.

[billikenfan05]

6 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said:

My hope here is that Yuri didn't / doesn't know anything about the sh*tposting on Twitter.  His goal is to make the NBA.  He's got bigger fish to fry than paying attention to BG's social media activity.  An agent / PR person might deal with that stuff if Yuri gets paid, but for now it would all be on him and he probably (or hopefully) doesn't think about it. 

BG's schtick (same that made you guys want him on the show initially) or some prior connection that made them acquaintances sold him that partnering with him on a few things to boost his profile as we good idea.  The fact that BG was clearly wrong on Yuri in the portal and the K-State stuff shows that he has little / no influence there and you're making a mountain out of a molehill over the Snarfs event.

To be clear, I'm not casting any shade at you guys for having him on the show.  There wasn't any indication back then he'd later be sh*tposting and trolling.  To me, BG is like a basketball only Austin McBroom without the "attractive" wife and "cute" kid to exploit for followers.  He'll resort to any means to get attention.  His initial setup of just trying to showcase small guards wasn't generating clicks, so he's resorted to stirring the pot to get more attention.

"BG's schtick (same that made you guys want him on the show initially)"

I didn't do my homework on his schtick. However, I wouldn't compare the content he had been putting out with his big guard series in the same realm as McBroom. McBroom is a lifestyle youtuber, and alleged scam artist. All I knew is he was putting out quality Youtube content featuring Yuri breaking down game film. I assumed his motive was to continue on that path, not become some sort of handler/street agent. My assumption that his motives were on the up and up was a poor one. That's on me.

[RUBillsFan]

1 minute ago, billikenfan05 said:

"BG's schtick (same that made you guys want him on the show initially)"

I didn't do my homework on his schtick. However, I wouldn't compare the content he had been putting out with his big guard series in the same realm as McBroom. McBroom is a lifestyle youtuber, and alleged scam artist. All I knew is he was putting out quality Youtube content featuring Yuri breaking down game film. I assumed his motive was to continue on that path, not become some sort of handler/street agent. My assumption that his motives were on the up and up was a poor one. That's on me.

I'm comparing their attention seeking behavior, not their content.

[billikenfan05]

1 minute ago, RUBillsFan said:

I'm comparing their attention seeking behavior, not their content.

Yes you're correct in that comparison. I did not do enough looking into his social media behavior.

[TheA_Bomb]

Yuri was the star player on an underachieving team.  Star players are the lightening rods that's just human nature.  He's getting hyped on ESPN and hard-core fans know the team is struggling so he gets the brunt of the criticism.  That's just how it goes. 

BG's film breakdown with Yuri was some good content.  Other stuff just silly noise.  It's a sound and fury signifying nothing. 

[wgstl]

2 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

 

BG's film breakdown with Yuri was some good content.  Other stuff just silly noise.  It's a sound and fury signifying nothing. 

Dude had something going with that and decided to sabotage everything hoping Yuri would get drafted and take him with him.

[dlarry]

54 minutes ago, wgstl said:

Dude had something going with that and decided to sabotage everything hoping Yuri would get drafted and take him with him.