Justin Wright-Foreman's Legacy

[EvanJ]

Hofstra Career Field Goals:

1. Jenkins; 847
2. Laurel: 838
3. Nisenson: 810
4. Stokes: 802
5. JWF: 781
6. Agudio: 780

CAA Career Field Goals:

1. David Robinson: 1,032
2. John Newman: 933
3. Odell Hodge: 866
4. Carlos Yates; 865
5. Jenkins: 847
6. George Evans: 815
7. Stokes: 802
8. Kenny Sanders: 787
9. JWF: 781
10. Agudio: 780

On Saturday, JWF passed UNCW's Brian Rowsom, meaning that Hofstra is the only current CAA schools with player(s) listed. Navy, Richmond, Old Dominion, and George Mason have player(s) listed.

JWF has made 292 field goals this season, which is fifth in CAA history. He's 2 behind David Robinson's third highest season and 5 behind Blue Edwards, who has the most in a season by a player other than Robinson. Robinson's record is 350.

[Wags]

https://twitter.com/HofstraMBB/status/1 ... 4353933312

[EvanJ]

Purdue (11th in the AP Poll and 9th in the Coaches Poll) is the worst ranked team among the four teams with finalists other than JWF.

[Wags]

Updated through the CAA quarterfinals - JWF moved into 3rd today:

[1] 2,513 (286 to tie) Charles Jenkins (2007-11)
[2] 2,276 (49 to tie) Antoine Agudio (2004-08)
[3] 2,227 Justin Wright-Foreman (2015-19)
-------------------------------------------------------------
[4] 2,222 (5 ahead) Steve Nisenson (1962-65)
[5] 2,148 (79 ahead) Loren Stokes (2003-07)
[6] 2,102 (125 ahead) Rich Laurel (1973-77)
[7] 2,045 (182 ahead) Bill Theiben (1953-56)
[8] 2,105 (222 ahead) Speedy Claxton (1996-2000)
[9] down are 1,818 and fewer points

[Polito]

That West nomination is big time.

Let's finish this right JWF. All the rest will fall into place.

[Wags]

Updated through the CAA semifinals (can't believe JWF had to get that close to Agudio before tomorrow to pull it out tonight):

[1] 2,513 (244 to tie) Charles Jenkins (2007-11)
[2] 2,276 (7 to tie) Antoine Agudio (2004-08)
[3] 2,269 Justin Wright-Foreman (2015-19)
-------------------------------------------------------------
[4] 2,222 (47 ahead) Steve Nisenson (1962-65)
[5] 2,148 (121 ahead) Loren Stokes (2003-07)
[6] 2,102 (167 ahead) Rich Laurel (1973-77)
[7] 2,045 (224 ahead) Bill Theiben (1953-56)
[8] 2,105 (264 ahead) Speedy Claxton (1996-2000)
[9] down are 1,818 and fewer points

[Polito]

And so it all comes down to this. 1 game for the chance to cement his truth for all time.

Big time players make big time plays in big time games. Go get em JWF. In the words of “300”, come back with your shield, or on it.

[Polito]

Some of you will still be all about this individual crap, but he’s just another great HU guard - zero legacy - so disappointed.

Enjoy the f ing loser NIT - didn’t deserve it - played pitiful. Such a f ing waste.

[Hofstra]

Some of you will still be all about this individual crap, but he’s just another great HU guard - zero legacy - so disappointed.

Enjoy the f ing loser NIT - didn’t deserve it - played pitiful. Such a f ing waste.

To sh t on a dude who gave it his all for 4 years is unreal. He wasn't a bum like some of these seniors we've had in the past, this dude was a class act. You're upset, we get it, but dude, the guy is all class. Will always be one of the best players at our university. People will talk about him forever at Hofstra.

[RIP_HOFUSA]

I agree with Hofstra, yea this is super frustrating but he was a great, great player. Being a student I know people that know him well and he’s always in pain. His body has taken a lot of punishment already in his career. Blessed to watch him play this long. However, he can’t be the GOAT here at Hofstra having missed the big dance, in my mind.

[triplec2195]

Cooler heads need to prevail here and yes maybe the greatest player ever to wear a Hofstra uniform. This loss wasn't on him more about weak defense and missed one and ones but great come back down 16 they literally came back from the grave. It really showed the actual character of this team and if Justin makes it into the NBA he will have cemented his legacy and then some.

[Polito]

Nope. Has plenty to do with foreman, you guys may not want to hear it or admit it, but this was a total choke job as usual under JM and HUs star. All when it matters most.

This program is such a hard luck case it’s so freaking embarrassing. We may never see another damn dance in our lifetime.

We need to stop sugarcoating everything and start to own the bullshit that we see. Do I want anyone fired? Absolutely not. Unfortunately I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that this is the best that we’re going to get. Give Cohen the talent that we have and this guys dancing nearly every year. Hell he already is almost dancing nearly every year.

Was it a great regular season? Absolutely! Was JWF awesome all year? Absolutely! Did they go dancing? Nope. Is that all that really matters in the end? Absolutely.

I’m upset, of course, I sure as hell hope that all of you are too, and we stop this pansy participation trophy almost made it so close we were right there BS.

I love the kid as much as the next person, I appreciate all that he has done, he has had a tremendous career - without a doubt he is one of the best ever at HU that is no question. But the bottom line is when it is all said and done he’s just another great guard. He never let this program to the dance - hard to hear folks, but it’s the truth. Stop sugarcoating and own it. This program embarrassed tonight, let down, and choked. AGAIN. And sadly that is becoming par for the course.

[Flying Dutchmen]

We need to stop sugarcoating everything and start to own the bullshit that we see. Do I want anyone fired? Absolutely not. Unfortunately I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that this is the best that we’re going to get. Give Cohen the talent that we have and this guys dancing nearly every year. Hell he already is almost dancing nearly every year.

Well let’s start by not sugarcoating how good our talent is. It’s been JWF and everyone else. Frankly I think our talent is mediocre. I love Pemberton but the dude can’t shoot. Taylor was great, but limited. Buie is not a great offensive player either.

We have no depth either, yeah Joe chokes the bench and I hate him for that, but its not like the bottom 5-7 players on the roster are great. Coen sucks, he’d probably coach us to 4th place this year. People think he’s the superior coach, I think hes the superior recruiter, and I’m right. He’s still at Northeastern because hes a mediocre coach.

This is why as pissed as I am that we lost, I do think we got a good run out of our talent.

JWF can’t be the hero if he scores 29 in the CAA Fianl and we’re not even close. Dude had 71 the last two games, he carried us this year as much as Speedy or Jenkins ever did.

[Wags]

Give Cohen the talent that we have and this guys dancing nearly every year.

Not so sure about that, because Cohen's players are smarter. It takes more than talent. It takes basketball IQ and knowing what to do on the floor. Some of that can be coached, some of it is innate and instilled in players long before they get to the college level. Cohen recruits those types of players. Hofstra recruits talented players, but players that just don't seem to learn (though it seemed like they had, defensively, for a good part of the year, compared to last year... until the last 10 games, through the tourney).

I don't think the Hofstra coaching staff neglected to tell its team not to give Pusica so much room. I bet they harped on it. Yet all game long, I'm asking... how many does he have to hit before they actually get near him and get a hand up? What does it have to take before they finally learn? And they never did. So they lost. Very tough lesson when cutting the nets is stake.

And you see it on offense, too. Hofstra uses talent and ability to score, and to usually score well (when they don't play NU, like I said countless times earlier this season, which is why, all along, I didn't want to draw NU in SC). But, in contrast, Northeastern is fluid, moves the ball, plays with great teamwork, they look for each other, they make the extra pass, or two, or three if necessary, to pass up a good shot for a better one. That, and Hofstra's inability to clean up its own glass (especially in the first half), despite Taylor's 15 boards, cost Hofstra the chance to dance.

That's a team-wide failure, players and coaches, throughout. To pin that on the team's best player, who had a phenomenal year, and who bounced back from a rough 1/7 start to finish a pretty efficient 8/15 tonight, with all due respect, I think is misguided and unfair.

If we're asking JWF to come up big in a big spot (and I don't disagree with you that we should), then I'll point to last night. He put that team on his back when nearly everyone else failed to show up. Without that, there IS no championship game for Hofstra. Without that, they're getting bashed last night for not even making the title game as a 1 seed. I don't think you can put this on JWF. This was team loss. He was culpable tonight to a degree, but this was far more a team-wide failure defensively and the fact that NU is simply made up of a roster of smarter players who understand the game a little better and who know how to execute better. Everything Hofstra did offensively tonight looked like a struggle, even when it worked. Nearly everything Northeastern did offensively tonight, looked like basketball should look, with teamwork. The numbers even bear it out: Hofstra has just 8 assists on 23 FGM (35%), Northeastern had 19 assists on 26 FGM (73%)

Anyway, just for you, Polito (because I know you really want to see this tonight, of all nights ), updated through the CAA finals:

[1] 2,513 (215 to tie) Charles Jenkins (2007-11)
[2] 2,298 Justin Wright-Foreman (2015-19)
-------------------------------------------------------------
[3] 2,276 (22 ahead) Antoine Agudio (2004-08)
[4] 2,222 (76 ahead) Steve Nisenson (1962-65)
[5] 2,148 (150 ahead) Loren Stokes (2003-07)
[6] 2,102 (196 ahead) Rich Laurel (1973-77)
[7] 2,045 (253 ahead) Bill Theiben (1953-56)
[8] 2,105 (293 ahead) Speedy Claxton (1996-2000)
[9] down are 1,818 and fewer points

[triplec2195]

No question that NE looked like a fine tuned basketball machine while we were more indicative of a one on one pickup game team. We still could have won this game but giving Pusica open looks was the nails in our coffin among other things but I give this team a lot of credit having the resolve to come back from the depths of despair to tie this game. We couldn't sustain it though and the three's just killed us. Post game Joe was asked about going to man to man but said they were more effective against man to man and the COC game was proof of the pudding.

Also Justin now the number 2 scorer of all time here and he did it only scoring 40+ points in his freshman year. Give him a freshman year and he's easily the all time leading scorer in HU history. Not bad for a college pedigree!

[Wags]

No question that NE looked like a fine tuned basketball machine while we were more indicative of a one on one pickup game team. We still could have won this game but giving Pusica open looks was the nails in our coffin among other things but I give this team a lot of credit having the resolve to come back from the depths of despair to tie this game. We couldn't sustain it though and the three's just killed us. Post game Joe was asked about going to man to man but said they were more effective against man to man and the COC game was proof of the pudding.

Also Justin now the number 2 scorer of all time here and he did it only scoring 40+ points in his freshman year. Give him a freshman year and he's easily the all time leading scorer in HU history. Not bad for a college pedigree!

And in that case, quite possibly one of the select few who have ever scored 3,000. Shame he couldn't get to the NCAAT. He's really been one of the greatest scorers not only in Hofstra history, but in college hoops history over a three-year period.

[Polito]

I can def buy into Cohen being a great recruiter, that's clear - but have a hard time buying that he's not a great coach too - not like he's landing 4 star kids - he's finding some real diamonds in the rough and turning them into CAA champions. He also flat out schooled JM and his staff last night - like tuned them up in embarrassing fashion.

And if he's so bad because he's still at NU, what does that make JM? HU is his final stop, ain't nobody kicking down HU's doors for him.

They shot lights friggin out last night, spent the game chilling without a defender in sight on the perimeter, their guys were fired up confident and hungry, HU's looked weak timid and soft as charmin, and their game plan absolutely destroyed HU's 'plan', whatever the hell it even was - but they will of course go 1 and done in the dance after knocking HU back to Hempstead with their tails between their legs.

Their the best team in this conf, they earned it, but that ain't saying a whole lot these days unfortunately.


JWF is one of the greatest HU players in history. Fully agree - we all get it. But he didn't dance. Period. Just like Stokes, Agudio, Jenkins, and Green. I'm not blaming him, I love the kid and am grateful for his choice to come here, stay here, and play all out here - he did all he needed to to cement his Hofstra legacy. But beyond this board and the program itself, doesn't mean jack squat. He didn't cut nets. Even JM himself has stated that's what separates the men from the boys and that was his personal challenge. It's a damn shame. But he played his part in the choke job, along with every teammate and coach.

This loss not only set HU back to the crappy NIT, likely without even a home game (pretty sad), but also crushed his draft stock - I think he can still go, but he ain't gonna be the hot name he would have in the NCAAT. He would've easily matched Speedy's 1st round pick - and before the doubters come out, every hated on Speedy's chances too, except a few of us on the old boards back then. JWF would've been a 1st rounder and HU would've been squarely back on the map.

Chris Clemmons from Campbell, and Daum from South Dakota St the exact same thing. No one gives a rats rear end about whatever lower tourney their choke jobs relegated them to. And they're considered even better than JWF by most. Played themselves out of some money. Will still play pro somewhere, here or overseas, but they all hurt their paydays big time.

Very frustrating obviously - I'm sure no-one more than him. I am grateful to have seen him play here live, incredible story and player. Despite my deep disappointment, I 100% hope he still goes and gets his shot - and balls out to make the most of it.

[Jojogunne]

FYI, it's Coen.

[Flying Dutchmen]

I can def buy into Cohen being a great recruiter, that's clear - but have a hard time buying that he's not a great coach too - not like he's landing 4 star kids - he's finding some real diamonds in the rough and turning them into CAA champions. He also flat out schooled JM and his staff last night - like tuned them up in embarrassing fashion.

And if he's so bad because he's still at NU, what does that make JM? HU is his final stop, ain't nobody kicking down HU's doors for him.

They shot lights friggin out last night, spent the game chilling without a defender in sight on the perimeter, their guys were fired up confident and hungry, HU's looked weak timid and soft as charmin, and their game plan absolutely destroyed HU's 'plan', whatever the hell it even was - but they will of course go 1 and done in the dance after knocking HU back to Hempstead with their tails between their legs.

Their the best team in this conf, they earned it, but that ain't saying a whole lot these days unfortunately.

I think Joe and Coen coach on the same level, flawed but above-average, and I think that's why they both coach in the CAA. Joe can't coach D, Coen's teams are passive, they don't attack the hoop, and they allow other teams to attack the hoop. Coen gets better overall recruits though. Like when have we ever gotten a player like Occeus or Quincy Ford. This year they had a huge size advantage, they shoot crazy well, and it got them over the top. I don't think we'll ever be a good defensive team under Joe, but if we can get some bigger athletes, we can get enough stops to let our offense win with a performance like last night. We scored 74 points in 67 possessions, which is a strong scoring rate against a top 100 team like Northeastern.

As for gameplan, I mean we just didn't hit shots, to me that was a testament to Northeastern's length advantage, we didn't look comfortable on the perimeter. But it's not like Coen was coaching circles around us after his team gave up a 16 point lead in 10 minutes. When all things were equal, Puscia stepped up and drained ice-water 3's, and we missed one and ones. They just had a little bit more this year.

Our issue is either we're stubborn and don't make fundamental changes that get us over the top, or we can't get enough recruits. That should be it's own off-season thread.

As for JWF's draft stock, I don't think it drops with this loss. I was talking about it with "Hofstra" last night, back in 2000, our run to the NCAAT really helped Speedy get into the first round of the draft. This year, every one of our games were either on TV or on a video stream, there's so much more exposure now. No doubt a NCAA Tournament game could have been a huge boost though.

As for JWF's legacy, no dance hurts it, no doubt. If he can lead us to a few NIT wins, that would be big, because we only have two postseason wins ever, but it's still not the same. The dance just puts you in rarefied air at Hofstra. Personally I would look at him a little differently. I look at Speedy as the best, Jenkins 2nd, and JWF with Juan'ya, Stokes, and Apodaca. JWF is a way better scorer than those guys, but Juan'ya had the best PG skills, Stokes and Apodaca made more defensive impact and had great overall game intelligence.

[Wags]

As for JWF's draft stock, I don't think it drops with this loss. I was talking about it with "Hofstra" last night, back in 2000, our run to the NCAAT really helped Speedy get into the first round of the draft. This year, every one of our games were either on TV or on a video stream, there's so much more exposure now. No doubt a NCAA Tournament game could have been a huge boost though.

It's a terrible way to evaluate, but reaching the NCAAT, and especially making noise in it, makes a difference. That's because when an NBA GM selects a mid-major star over someone else who might be better known, he has to answer to everyone - the owner, the coaches, the fanbase, etc. If he misses on a guy who doesn't take a mid-major to the NCAAT or who doesn't help pull off an upset or more there, he gets criticized more. But if he misses on a mid-major player who garnered a lot of national attention because of the NCAAT, he has more of a leg to stand on if criticized. That's just how it is, but in actuality, none of that should matter much, and it's not being a responsible NBA GM to operate that way, even though it's often done.

What matters is the skill and development shown over a mid-major player's 3 or 4 years in college, whether or not that player reaches the NCAAT. If Hofstra had beaten Northeastern on Tuesday night, would JWF's skills have suddenly been any better? And are they any worse because they didn't win that game? It's all so ridiculous how much weight is placed on playing in one or two, or three particular games vs. an entire college career. Again, it's often done. But it shouldn't be, and that's why NBA GMs often miss.