Bobby Maze to be a Vol
7 May 2008 — rbkOn the heels of some really bad news in the form of a dismissal/transfer announcement for Ramar Smith and Duke Crews, we learned that Bobby Maze, a JUCO All-American point guard, was back in the recruiting picture for UT. According to a Govolsxtra report, Maze has now given a verbal commitment to UT and Coach Pearl.
http://govolsxtra.com/news/2008/may/07/bobby-maze-says-hes-coming-ut/
Since we are already in the signing period, I would expect this to become official pretty quickly and for Maze to ink with the Vols soon.
For what it’s worth, a Terp fan was kind enough to link this article on Maze. Sounds like a good kid to me.
8 May 2008 at 9:58 am
I couldn’t read much of that Maryland article before my neck gave out from craning my head sideways, but which part made you think he sounds like a good kid? The part about Allen Iverson being his idol (apparently replacing earlier idol Steve Francis)? All the tats dissing his haters? Talking about himself in the third person? The fact that he gets into all the clubs for free because of his association with NBA stars? His burgeoning rap career? His child born out of wedlock? His refusal to stop hanging out with his old friends despite their involvement with drugs and violent crime? Or was it his steadfast refusal to go to class at the Philly prep school?
I’m willing to give Maze the benefit of the doubt and welcome him to the program, but that article gave me some concerns about his character…
8 May 2008 at 10:26 am
Two things:
1) Right click on the document and select “rotate clockwise.”
2) The general feeling I get from the article is that this is a kid coming from a bad place and maturing over time. I’m not a fan of Iverson any more than you are, but one has to keep in mind where this kid is coming from. Despite all that– his background, his friends, his idols– he’s never been in legal trouble. I think that says something for his character in itself.
My only concern with Maze is academics. I haven’t seen anything (and yes, that includes his rapping career, his baby, and his tatoos, none of which mean anything about his character) to make me think he’s a bad guy. We suburban white folks have a really hard time identifying with his look, his language, and his background, and I think we read too much into that and assume things about character.
We all love Tyler Smith, right? What about his tattoos and his baby? Do they define his character? I bet he likes rap and questionable NBA stars too. You’re a little too quick to pass judgment on Maze, IMO.
8 May 2008 at 11:06 am
Some responses:
1) We have reached sad times indeed when “lack of legal troubles” is no longer an expectation but rather an indicator of good character.
2) Good point about Tyler Smith, but from what I know of Smith, he only has the tats and baby. Obviously, none of the things I listed in my first comment, in and of/by themselves, are signs of any kind of problem or indicative of character issues. It is the totality of them that raises red flags in my mind. Also, some of them are a lot more troubling to me than others, particularly the academic problems and the refusal to stop hanging around the bad crowd from home. I know these kids are under a lot of pressure to “keep it real” and it is tough to turn your back on friends, but when these friends are dealing/using drugs and involved in violent crime it is all too common for “good character” kids to wind up in unfortunate situations they cannot get themselves out of.
3) I know that it is just as easy to paint my comments with the broad brush of “suburban white folks don’t understand urban kids today” as it was for me to make the comments with a similarly broad brush in the first place, but did you honestly read that article and think, “Wow, sounds like a good kid”? None of what I listed in my first comment gave you the slightest bit of concern so soon after dismissing two players from the team for what could only be described as character issues?
4) All that being said, everything I have listed as possible warning flags for Maze probably could have been said about Iverson or Steve Francis coming into college too. Would I have loved for either of them to play for UT? You bet. I’m happy that we have signed Maze, I wish him all the best here, and I have certainly not “passed judgment” on him as you say. He seems to have worked hard and overcome quite a bit to get here and deserves to be lauded for that. I just had quite a different reaction to that article from yours, obviously.
8 May 2008 at 1:26 pm
I am a suburban white guy and have had to come to terms with some things, particularly as it related to recruiting in college athletics. I wasn’t talking about you, exactly, so much as saying in some ways we have to shift our expectations a little in the recruiting process because most of us are culturally ignorant– because we didn’t grow up with it.
Lack of legal troubles in certain environments can truly be something to be commended. Unfortunately in collegiate sports we see a highly disproportionate number of athletes have legal troubles. Maze is being questioned on character and I’m merely stating that from that perspective, I don’t see it as an issue.
For what it’s worth, “sounds like a good kid to me” was in direct response to reading a lot of Vol fans say they weren’t interested in Maze because of “character issues.” I think that article is a realistic look at Maze’s journey to this point and I think it shows maturation. If anything it points out how many pitfalls there are in trying to make it in sports for some of these kids. So you were probably reading that comment in a vacuum and I think I can understand why you wouldn’t see why I got exactly that from the article . . . there was some built up frustration behind it.
The fact of the matter is, character is a bigger and bigger issue in sports all the time, with the microscope focused directly on these guys. I just think most of us, as fans, need to give kids the benefit of the doubt. Too many Vol fans have already judged this kid, knowing virtually nothing about him.
8 May 2008 at 1:33 pm
Good points, but I stick by my original comment: I’m willing to give Maze the benefit of the doubt and welcome him to the program, but that Maryland article gave me some concerns about his character. I don’t feel like that’s unfair.
8 May 2008 at 1:42 pm
Okay. There wasn’t much in the article that was new to me . . . I had read a lot about him already, particularly from those who had voiced their concerns. So in some ways that part of the article had no effect on me because I had heard it before, and took the positive away from it instead.
No harm done. Either way, we will both be watching his career unfold at UT with a thoughtful eye. Hopefully he gets it right in the classroom and has a productive 2 years as a student, athlete, and citizen at UT.
19 May 2008 at 3:35 am
Just to give you all a little insight to Bobby. He is a good kid. if you know him you have to like him. He has had some trouble with academics… basically because not keeping priorities straight. However , I believe he has finially matured and decided to do that. He is a hustler and can talk you into about anything but he is electric on the court. This is from a non UT fan…. acc all the way… but from someone from Patterson Prep School… where he did make a turnaround and had to attend classes. UT is lucky to have him. By the way…. came from same prep school as redshirt freshman cameron tatum..r
19 May 2008 at 8:08 am
Thank you for the comment, Lindsay. I think we’re all looking forward to seeing what Bobby can do, and hopefully Patterson has established some good habits for him academically. Coach Pearl will get the most out of him, and he seems like a smart enough kid to know what kind of opportunity he’ll have here.