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Cal Basketball

Cal Adds Grad Transfer Kareem South

May 31, 2019
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Graduate transfer Kareem South confirmed this afternoon he will be joining Mark Fox and the Bears in Berkeley this coming season. The fifth-year player originally from Toronto joins Kuany Kuany and Dimitrios Klonaras as Fox’s third signee. All three players are originally from outside of the U.S. 

South will add immediate help and experience in the backcourt as he averaged 13.8 points per game in 2018-19, along with 5.1 rebounds per game, shooting 36.7% from three and 82% from the line.

With the Bears’ search for class balance and perimeter threats, 6-2/185 Texas A&M Corpus Christi’s grad transfer South jumped high on Cal’s radar and the Bears brought the talented shooting guard in for a visit last week.

“It was a really good visit. I enjoyed it,” said South of his trip to California.

“It was super-comfortable. I got to meet the coaching staff and some of the players. I felt a really good connection. The Cal atmosphere -I can definitely see myself being there.

“The Bay Area’s really nice. The campus is very clean and it’s a prestigious university. You can tell people are environmentally-conscious there. It’s a very attractive suburban/urban feel. And the weather was really nice, though it rained a bit on the day we left.”

As a high school senior, South played for Kiski School in Saltsburg, PA, averaging 18.3 points, six assists and 5.3 rebounds on the season, helping lead his team to the state semifinals and the Hill School Tournament title. Prior to the move to the states, South attended Senator O’Connor High School in Toronto and was ranked one of the top 20 prospects in Canada by NPH.com and a top-10 prospect by TopProspects.com.

A 4.0 student in high school and a first-team All-Southland Conference Academic awardee with a health sciences major, Cal’s academics are a big draw for South and his family. 

“Academically-speaking, Cal’s one of the most prestigious universities in the world,” said South. “They’re known as the number one public university.

“Academics are a big factor in my decision.”

Head coach Mark Fox took the lead in South’s recruitment, with each of the additional staff members involved in the process.

Discussion from...

Cal Adds Grad Transfer Kareem South

25,443 Views | 37 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by ncbears
oski003
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4:45p, 5/31/19
great news
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joe amos yaks
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4:47p, 5/31/19
Most excellent.
Welcome G K.South.
Go Bears!
"Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say." - LT
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Beardog26
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In reply to joe amos yaks • 4:52p, 5/31/19
I like this pick up quite a bit. Seems the guy can shot fairly well from the perimeter, which we badly need. Also seems like a tough kid with a good hoops IQ and motor. Also helps class balance a bit that he's a transfer. Next year's season likely won't be stellar but I believe the prospects for a decent season just improved. Go Bears!!
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calbear80
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4:59p, 5/31/19
Great News! Glad to have Kareem South as a Golden Bear!

Go Bears!
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parentswerebears
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5:04p, 5/31/19
Awesome!
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concordtom
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5:18p, 5/31/19
He'd have to be admitted into a grad program.
Health sciences undergrad. What's his grad program plan? And has he even submitted the application yet?
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DCW67MSW
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5:58p, 5/31/19
He's a very good student-4.0 Highschool grad. Academics were important to him &that's why we got him. He'll have a place in Grad School. Go Kareem & Go Bears!
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oskidunker
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5:59p, 5/31/19
Great news! An experienced player who can shoot. A decent replacement for McNeil. It looks likeFox is recruiting better than Jones. Now lets get the Big guy from Germany.
Go Bears!
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TheSouseFamily
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In reply to oskidunker • 6:04p, 5/31/19
oskidunker said:
Great news! An experienced player who can shoot. A decent replacement for McNeil. It looks likeFox is recruiting better than Jones. Now lets get the Big guy from Germany.


I'll say it. He's probably an upgrade over McNeill. At the very least, it's a wash. South is a more complete player than Darius.
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BC Calfan
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In reply to TheSouseFamily • 6:08p, 5/31/19
That's what I'm thinking. Just a better playmaker. Just as good a shooter if not better. Plays game with joy whereas McNeil tended to sulk when not scoring. Looks like a glue guy. Big pickup.
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sonofabear51
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6:28p, 5/31/19
Awesome!!! Sounds like an incredible young man who is going places. Welcome to Cal!!
Start Slowly and taper off
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HoopDreams
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7:07p, 5/31/19
Shooter
Great mid range
Experienced
Great student

Big news
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calbearinamaze
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In reply to sonofabear51 • 7:08p, 5/31/19
sonofabear51 said:
Awesome!!! Sounds like an incredible young man who is going places. Welcome to Cal!!
He will excel academically. He can shoot pretty well. His rebounds/minute increased every year. Last season
....5.1 rebounds per game. CAL is going to have trouble rebounding against just about everybody. Kareem could help a lot in that area.


GO BEARS!!!!
If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band
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Intuit
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7:11p, 5/31/19
Compare the previous roster of coaches and players position by position with next year's prospective roster..

Mark Fox and his staff have clearly taken the California basketball program to a much better place.

Fox is showing everyone how to achieve roster improvement even while enduring massive roster turnover. A lesson in how to achieve addition by subteraction!

Harborview
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k9dog1
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7:19p, 5/31/19
If he can come in and do similar things like Grant Mullins did that would be really good!

Go Bears!
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NYCGOBEARS
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In reply to k9dog1 • 7:34p, 5/31/19
k9dog1 said:
If he can come in and do similar things like Grant Mullins did that would be really good!

Go Bears!

I expect him to be better.
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KoreAmBear
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In reply to Intuit • 8:45p, 5/31/19
Intuit said:
Compare the previous roster of coaches and players position by position with next year's prospective roster..

Mark Fox and his staff have clearly taken the California basketball program to a much better place.

Fox is showing everyone how to achieve roster improvement even while enduring massive roster turnover. A lesson in how to achieve addition by subteraction!

Think about this. Last season, our bigs were basically Kelly, Anticevich, Vanover and Davis. Vanover played more the second half of the season. Anticevich didn't play that much overall, and Davis barely played. So really the lone big man for the entire year was Kelly. Personnel imbalance anyone?
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79 Bear
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8:57p, 5/31/19
In addition to the other great qualities mentioned above, love his quickness and vision.
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Big C
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In reply to concordtom • 12:29a, 6/1/19
concordtom said:
He'd have to be admitted into a grad program.
Health sciences undergrad. What's his grad program plan? And has he even submitted the application yet?
Public Health, almost certainly. This wouldn't be announced unless they had all the admissions stuff figured out.

Welcome Kareem South!
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PtownBear1
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6:43a, 6/1/19
Nice pickup for sure. Here's an article from when South first announced his transfer intent:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/247sports.com/college/minnesota/Article/Transfer-Portal-Profile-Kareem-South-131276983/Amp/

Apparently Furd wanted him at some point
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mbBear
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In reply to KoreAmBear • 8:03a, 6/1/19
KoreAmBear said:
Intuit said:
Compare the previous roster of coaches and players position by position with next year's prospective roster..

Mark Fox and his staff have clearly taken the California basketball program to a much better place.

Fox is showing everyone how to achieve roster improvement even while enduring massive roster turnover. A lesson in how to achieve addition by subteraction!

Think about this. Last season, our bigs were basically Kelly, Anticevich, Vanover and Davis. Vanover played more the second half of the season. Anticevich didn't play that much overall, and Davis barely played. So really the lone big man for the entire year was Kelly. Personnel imbalance anyone?
We aren't talking about 25 win team here; is this the biggest problem they have? Is it less so if they get the German big man? Was anyone expecting Fox to have the perfect roster even before a full recruiting season?
Also, are bigs less of a factor in today's game anyway?
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calbearinamaze
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In reply to NYCGOBEARS • 9:57a, 6/1/19
NYCGOBEARS said:
k9dog1 said:
If he can come in and do similar things like Grant Mullins did that would be really good!

Go Bears!

I expect him to be better.
I have (along with at least one other poster) have an allegiance to Columbia. Grant came in and shot as advertized.....43% on threes. He's also using the skills he acquired on the way to his MPH to very good use in SF.

BUT, he was not the same kind of player/athlete Kareem is. For one thing, as has been mentioned previously,
South averaged 5.1 rebounds last year.....lower level of completion for sure. If he has the will and ability
to go after rebounds, it could rub off.

Question: who projects as our leading rebounder? If I had to guess, I'd say,uh, ???????

GO BEARS!!!!


If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band
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calbearinamaze
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In reply to calbearinamaze • 10:03a, 6/1/19
BEARUPINDC said:
NYCGOBEARS said:
k9dog1 said:
If he can come in and do similar things like Grant Mullins did that would be really good!

Go Bears!

I expect him to be better.
I have (along with at least one other poster) have an allegiance to Columbia. Grant came in and shot as advertized.....43% on threes. He's also using the skills he acquired on the way to his MPH to very good use in SF.

BUT, he was not the same kind of player/athlete Kareem is. For one thing, as has been mentioned previously,
South averaged 5.1 rebounds last year.....lower level of completion for sure. If he has the will and ability
to go after rebounds, it could rub off.

Question: who projects as our leading rebounder? If I had to guess, I'd say,uh, ???????

GO BEARS!!!!


One thing I learned at both CAL and Columbia.....admit my mistakes...

too many "have"s, "completion" should be "competition"

There may be more. I've had trouble typing for last several months.

GO BEARS!!!!
If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band
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FloriDreaming
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In reply to Intuit • 1:00p, 6/5/19
Intuit said:
Compare the previous roster of coaches and players position by position with next year's prospective roster..

Mark Fox and his staff have clearly taken the California basketball program to a much better place.

Fox is showing everyone how to achieve roster improvement even while enduring massive roster turnover. A lesson in how to achieve addition by subteraction!

I agree Fox has made a very good first impression. Grabbing 3 key new recruits at basically the last minute is impressive. His hiring of assistants is also solid. I still don't know if next season will be anything to shout about, but Fox is building momentum the program hasn't seen in a while. They key will be what he does in the next recruiting cycle, but so far so good.
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Intuit
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1:39p, 6/5/19
Bank on the 2020 & 2021 recruits carefully watching how Mark Fox coaches this newly assembled group. Will he be able to quickly and effectively make them a cohesive and competitive team? Will the unit he puts put out play in a manner that appeals to the recruits?

His future success will be impacted by next years results. If Fox demonstrates that his coaching produces an appealing winning style California will become an attractive destination for 2020 & 2021 highly ranked preps.

Harborview
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bearchamp
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2:38p, 6/5/19
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.
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calumnus
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In reply to bearchamp • 10:15p, 6/5/19
bearchamp said:
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.


Yes, and the second impression was key players from last year transferring away, but the third impression, the recovering from that, has been good. Not sure we are back to where we started but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
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stu
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In reply to calumnus • 10:58p, 6/5/19
calumnus said:
Not sure we are back to where we started
Hard to say for sure. IMHO:
South for McNeill is probably a plus, but for just one year.
Klonaras for Sueing is probably a minus, at least in the near term.
Kuany for Vanover is wait and see.
Fox for Jones is almost certainly a plus.

Quote:
but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
Yes, I think we've passed the low point.
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ncbears
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In reply to calumnus • 11:03p, 6/5/19
calumnus said:
bearchamp said:
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.


Yes, and the second impression was key players from last year transferring away, but the third impression, the recovering from that, has been good. Not sure we are back to where we started but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
Apparently, even if Fox wanted re-recruited Sueing, Vanover or McNeil - while other schools can recruit a player in the portal, Fox couldn't under the rules. Which really makes no sense. So, we will not know whether Fox could have kept any of those players.
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SFCityBear
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In reply to ncbears • 11:32a, 6/6/19
ncbears said:
calumnus said:
bearchamp said:
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.


Yes, and the second impression was key players from last year transferring away, but the third impression, the recovering from that, has been good. Not sure we are back to where we started but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
Apparently, even if Fox wanted re-recruited Sueing, Vanover or McNeil - while other schools can recruit a player in the portal, Fox couldn't under the rules. Which really makes no sense. So, we will not know whether Fox could have kept any of those players.
So what is the point of the portal? Just to protect the player from a coach trying to persuade him to stay, while giving him the freedom to decide to go elsewhere or stay with his original school? It really does not seem fair to a new coach taking over for a fired one. And didn't McNeill make his decision to enter the portal while Jones was still the coach? If that was true, then it was not fair to both McNeill and Fox.
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BeachedBear
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In reply to SFCityBear • 11:50a, 6/6/19
SFCityBear said:
ncbears said:
calumnus said:
bearchamp said:
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.


Yes, and the second impression was key players from last year transferring away, but the third impression, the recovering from that, has been good. Not sure we are back to where we started but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
Apparently, even if Fox wanted re-recruited Sueing, Vanover or McNeil - while other schools can recruit a player in the portal, Fox couldn't under the rules. Which really makes no sense. So, we will not know whether Fox could have kept any of those players.
So what is the point of the portal? Just to protect the player from a coach trying to persuade him to stay, while giving him the freedom to decide to go elsewhere or stay with his original school? It really does not seem fair to a new coach taking over for a fired one. And didn't McNeill make his decision to enter the portal while Jones was still the coach? If that was true, then it was not fair to both McNeill and Fox.
By entering the portal, the player puts their scholarship at risk. The team does not have to take them back, if they don't want to. It's an attempt to move away from rules that most felt were too restrictive and arbitrary. However, I would expect the portal rules to get tweaked each season to sort out many of the problems (like one way recruiting).
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SFCityBear
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In reply to BeachedBear • 11:53a, 6/6/19
BeachedBear said:
SFCityBear said:
ncbears said:
calumnus said:
bearchamp said:
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.


Yes, and the second impression was key players from last year transferring away, but the third impression, the recovering from that, has been good. Not sure we are back to where we started but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
Apparently, even if Fox wanted re-recruited Sueing, Vanover or McNeil - while other schools can recruit a player in the portal, Fox couldn't under the rules. Which really makes no sense. So, we will not know whether Fox could have kept any of those players.
So what is the point of the portal? Just to protect the player from a coach trying to persuade him to stay, while giving him the freedom to decide to go elsewhere or stay with his original school? It really does not seem fair to a new coach taking over for a fired one. And didn't McNeill make his decision to enter the portal while Jones was still the coach? If that was true, then it was not fair to both McNeill and Fox.
By entering the portal, the player puts their scholarship at risk. The team does not have to take them back, if they don't want to. It's an attempt to move away from rules that most felt were too restrictive and arbitrary. However, I would expect the portal rules to get tweaked each season to sort out many of the problems (like one way recruiting).
Didn't know that. Thanks.
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calumnus
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In reply to ncbears • 2:07p, 6/6/19
ncbears said:
calumnus said:
bearchamp said:
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.


Yes, and the second impression was key players from last year transferring away, but the third impression, the recovering from that, has been good. Not sure we are back to where we started but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
Apparently, even if Fox wanted re-recruited Sueing, Vanover or McNeil - while other schools can recruit a player in the portal, Fox couldn't under the rules. Which really makes no sense. So, we will not know whether Fox could have kept any of those players.


It does not make sense because it is not true. Players who enter the portal can elect to remain at their current school. Fox can recruit them, but does not have to take them back.

https://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2019/may/06/how-does-the-ncaa-transfer-portal-work/
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philbert
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In reply to calumnus • 2:10p, 6/6/19
calumnus said:
ncbears said:
calumnus said:
bearchamp said:
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.


Yes, and the second impression was key players from last year transferring away, but the third impression, the recovering from that, has been good. Not sure we are back to where we started but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
Apparently, even if Fox wanted re-recruited Sueing, Vanover or McNeil - while other schools can recruit a player in the portal, Fox couldn't under the rules. Which really makes no sense. So, we will not know whether Fox could have kept any of those players.


It does not make sense because it is not true. Players who enter the portal can elect to remain at their current school. Fox can recruit them, but does not have to take them back.

https://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2019/may/06/how-does-the-ncaa-transfer-portal-work/
He's referring to flying the parents out for a visit. The current school can't do that, even if there is a coaching change.
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calumnus
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In reply to philbert • 2:20p, 6/6/19
philbert said:
calumnus said:
ncbears said:
calumnus said:
bearchamp said:
Ironic, I thought Fox's first impression was the video of his talk to the team. Things do change quickly.


Yes, and the second impression was key players from last year transferring away, but the third impression, the recovering from that, has been good. Not sure we are back to where we started but at least we are now headed in the right direction.
Apparently, even if Fox wanted re-recruited Sueing, Vanover or McNeil - while other schools can recruit a player in the portal, Fox couldn't under the rules. Which really makes no sense. So, we will not know whether Fox could have kept any of those players.


It does not make sense because it is not true. Players who enter the portal can elect to remain at their current school. Fox can recruit them, but does not have to take them back.

https://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2019/may/06/how-does-the-ncaa-transfer-portal-work/
He's referring to flying the parents out for a visit. The current school can't do that, even if there is a coaching change.


Why would he need to fly the parents out? What he said was, Fox couldn't recruit them at all, so he had no way to retain them. That is not true, the link I posted involved a coaching change, the new coach met with the players and convinced 3 to stay.
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