I tried to stuff as much of what Cronin said about Yancy Gates and his untapped "so-called potential" into the feature story on the site, but there are other intersting elements and context that go with it I think are worth a read, which includes Cronin taking a jab at the career of Melvin Levett out of left field.
Here is the full transcript of all that was said and was buoyed in a question and answer with Channel 5's George Vogel in the final six minutes of Monday's media sessions with Mick Cronin:
George: Yancy, people feel like he hasn't blossomed at all, hasn't gotten much better, hasn't become the force people expect him to be because of his..
MC: I don't know how fair that is. Who says he's supposed to be a force?
GV: I think he could be when I look at him...
MC: You been doing sports long enough to know there are a lot of guys that could be this or could be that. You know the challenge is to get them to where they are. At the end of the day, we are who we are. We have to try to get better every day. You look and say this guy, Edgar Sosa, could have been the best point guard in the Big East. Edgar Sosa, just tried to get better every year and has had a good senior year. That is the problem with the whole ranking system of recruits. It is hardest on a guy like Yancy. Because other guys don't have the expectation levels because they don't have the firve stars next to their name. That is the biggest problem. The star system doesn't exist like it does for a guy lke Yancy or even lance.
Lance, I don't know what is going to happen. My guess, Lance has a pretty good chance to be Freshman of the ear in the Big East. But you talk to certain people and it is what is wrong with Lance? It is because of expectation levels.
Yancy was not a dominant player at Withrow High School. He averaged seven rebounds a game. Check your stats.Yancy has been a guy that is a project. He has got talent but he is a project. He continues to be one. He is well aware of that. He challenges himself. Can you try to get him to continue to get better? That is part of the process.
GV: You feel you can?
MC: I don't have the magic wand. All you can do, coaching a guy is one thing. You can't make somebody something you are not. You can try to hep them, develop them, footwork, things of that nature, but there is only so much you can do at a certain point in time. You can work on a guy with his free throws and teach his footwork, but at the end of the day you can't make players somebody you are not. Let's just be honest about it. Danny Fortson is Danny Fortson. I hear people say, Yancy is not Danny Fortson. I watched Danny Fortson get 60 points, repeatedly, in AAU games. I am not exaggerating. I am talking 63 against Riverside Chruch: Ron Artest, Adonal Foyle and Mark Blount, three NBA guys. I watched him get 63 on those guys. The guy scored in his sleep.
So, the problem with Yancy is people want him to be something he is not. He has to worry about being Yancy Gates. Again, the stress again. He has to worry about being the best guy Yancy Gates can be and make sure he is giving the best effort.
GV: You are satisfied with that effort? I am saying across the board, you didn't see a drop off in the second half at Georgetown?
MC: When you can't score, George, when you go on a run of missing eight straight free throws and can't put the ball in the basket at Georgetwon and they are on fire in the second half of the game, you can talk about effort all you want, effort don't get the ball in the basket. You got to get the ball in the basket. That is a different story. Playing hard, practice habits, committment off the floor, diet, training, they are all learned skills guys go through.
You can go back through annals of college basketball players, you can pick Bearcats. Did Melvin Levett reach his potential? He was a five-star guy. Did this guy? Did that guy? As a coach, you do everything you can to reach their potential. Yancy is better with his practice habits. He is better with a lot of things. Is he where I want him to be? No. Is he where he wants himself to be? No. So, but it is not a magic wand you can wave.
Because of his so-called potential that people have bestowed upon him, it brings stress to his situation. He has to do the best he can do and I got to live with that. My job is to make sure he is giving me his best effort and has a great attttude. That is all I can do. At times, he gives me sophomore effort. There is a difference between sophomore effort and senior effort.
Is this guy cracking or what? It seems like ever since Mike Thomas confirmed he would be back he has continually put his foot in his mouth and made asinine comments. There were the excuses about refs costing them games (that's something I do sometimes as a fan, but it's inappropriate for a coach to do in that setting). There are these incredibly bizarre comments about Yancy and Mel Levett??? What? There was the completely uninspired joke of a performance in the final game against G-town. It's as if he's doing anything and everything in his power to make Thomas reconsider.
The bottom line is that Yancy and Lance aren't the only guys rated by recruiting services, and plenty of the other guys reach or approach their potential. It's the coach's job to work with guys and develop them so they have their best shot of being the best player they can be. Mick hasn't done that for a single player who has come through his system.