Tweet me!Yancy Gates, a former five-star recruit, and the corner stone of the 2008 Bearcats recruiting class, is starting to feel the pressure mount.
Gates, who was expected to come in an immediately dominate the paint in the Big East is beginning to fall victim to not only his own inability to produce at the level he would like, but at his inability to fulfill the sometimes almost impossibly-high expectations of the fans.
Now, nearing the end of his second season in a Bearcat uniform, Gates is feeling the heat more than ever. With his offensive production dwindling, and his defensive rebounding literally having disappeared over the past couple of weeks, fans have begun to wonder whether or not Gates will ever turn into the player they had hoped.
On Monday, his head coach Mick Cronin met with members of the media, and discussed the progress of his talented big man, along with what he hopes to get out of him in the future.
"I don't know how fair that is," said Cronin referring to some of the expectations placed on Gates so early on in his career. "A lot of guys have the talent to be the best, the challenge is to get them to where they are. That's the problem with the whole ranking system with recruits, and its hardest on a guy like Yancy because of the expectations. The other guys don't have to deal with that because they don't have the stars by their name."
What Cronin says is true, and what many fans need to ask themselves is if Gates had been rated just a 3, or even a 4-star out of high school, would any of this criticism exist? After all, how many fans really knew anything about just how good Gates was outside of the little stars that appeared next to his picture on a website. And, as Cronin will tell you, Gates isn't the only one suffering from these unfair expectations.
"Look at a guy like Lance (Stephenson)," said Cronin. "I don't know how it's all going to work out, but Lance is probably going to win Big East Rookie of the Year. But, depending on who you ask, people will say 'what's wrong with Lance?' It's because of expectation levels."
But still, fans are forced to wonder if Gates is doing everything in his power to get where he needs to be. Cronin commented on that as well, saying that Gates is working hard, you can't just flip a switch and turn him into what everyone wants him to be.
"Yancy has always been a guy that's a project, and he remains to be one," said Cronin. "And he's a aware of that. He challenges himself."
He continued,
"You know I don't have the magic wand. Coaching a guy is one thing, but you can't make someone somebody that they aren't. You can teach a guy free throws and teach a guy footwork, but at the end of the day, you can't make somebody something they're not."
In the end Cronin left it at this,
"He's just got to be the best player Yancy Gates can be, and just make sure he's doing everything he can to get there," said Cronin.
Sure Gates hasn't developed as quickly as we'd all have hoped, but it's important to keep things in perspective. Some of the best big men in history didn't develop until late in their careers, and who knows, Gates could fall into that category as well. But one thing's for sure, if the Bearcats hope to push the program back over the hill in 2010-2011, they're going to have to do it on the shoulders of their talented, home-grown star.
