Trevor Dunbar is a sell out

Nemesis Sounder wrote:

Probable candidates for Oregon head job when Vin finally leaves for a desk job somewhere (he is 61 years old):

1. Andy Powell

2. Robert Johnson

3. Dan Steele

4. Rob Conner

5. Pat Tyson

.

Are you joking? Robert Johnson?? Pat Tyson?? You've got to be kidding.

Robert Johnson looks like a pretty viable candidate when the time comes: http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4363&SPID=243&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=186315&Q_SEASON=2011

not sure if this has been mentioned. the real reason trevor transferred is because...

oregon/nike needed another star runner after losing lukas. an easy recruit was trevor and to get him to transfer, nike promised him a nice contract after he graduates.

Ha! Sorry, thought they were referring to the Robert Johnson who owns this website...Rojo.

I'm not trying to manufacture controversy/scandal. I don't get thought why in the year 2011, people think any sort o criticism is scandalous or you are hating on someone. The fact of the matter is the kid transferred in the middle of the year to a rival school. That certainly wouldn't be tolerated in virtually any other sport.

That being said, I certainly think one of the worse things about college sports is how when a coach leaves athletes aren't automatically given a release.

I think one of the worse things about American society is there is no loyalty by anyone anymore and I'm not sure there is a solution to it.

To me, this is a fascinating story as in general people are taught at the earliest age in American society to look at for numero uno and not think about the larger team, company, etc.

But I don't necessarily blame a worker/individual for not having great loyalty for most companies as the company certainly doesn't have some huge loyalty to them.

It also is the perfect example of why people should be skeptical of press releases/blogs (even interviews) as the athlete is just telling you what they want you to here.

As for the article, here are the relevant quotes from Dunbar:

not sure if this has been mentioned. the real reason trevor transferred is because...

oregon/nike needed another star runner after losing lukas. an easy recruit was trevor and to get him to transfer, nike promised him a nice contract after he graduates.

__________________________________________________________

Where do you people come up with this crap.Do you really think Nike would promise a kid from another school a contract if he comes to Oregon.

rojo wrote:

The fact of the matter is the kid transferred in the middle of the year to a rival school. That certainly wouldn't be tolerated in virtually any other sport.

XC and T&F are two sports, so it is hard to compare this to say basketball or football. XC is arguably the more important sport to UP. I think Dunbar did them a favor by staying for the XC season.

absolutely! lukas bailed and oregon needed a star replacement fast. trevor has been at portland for 3 years, been happy, run fast, etc. why would he transfer under those circumstances to a lesser team for only a year or so that he has left in college. trevor is thinking post-collegiality, oregon needed him now, and nike helped to make the deal happen.

Listen, I love Portland program and it is true they don't have the coaches salaries, overall budget for recruiting and travel, etc, but they certainly aren't lacking in the fall (resources for cross country). Further, they put ALL of their scholarships in the distance area and that is a huge advantage.

I think it is simultaneously quite charitable by Trevor to compete in cross country for the Pilots as that is the only season they really care about and that they would release him.

(Keep in mind, very few schools yank a kids aid for anything athletic-related with the exception of SEC and a few Big 12 schools, so there is in fact a good deal of LOYALTY as described in Rojo post of the University to the student-athlete.

That being said, Connor and his program isn't thinking about how a kid can break 13:20 and very, very few college coaches would have the presence to do so EVEN IF SOMEONE IS TALENTED ENOUGH TO DO SO. A great example is the fact that Trevor has had just about the same years results each year at UP.

I personally don't think he can be much better than 20th at NCAA XC and 13:35 in a time trial race.

That would be a major infraction for anyone at Nike to contact him. Oregon isn't going to just violate the rules for some kid who is a good NCAA runner.They also wouldn't do it for a great runner. Do you really think Nike gets that involved in some small time matter like Dunbar. This isn't the NBA where shoe companies are fighting over who to sign for a contract.

What kind of money do you think a kid like Dunbar is going to make coming out of college for running? How much name recognition would Dunbar have for Nike? The answer to both of those questions is not much.

Yeah, he sold out when he went to Portland instead of going straight to U of O. He dad is a Duck. What was he thinking?

Trevor completed his XC season with Portland! He didn't jump ship in the middle of a season or quit before nationals. That was important. He did the right thing.

When you sign an NCAA agreement it is for one year and then can get renewed. It is not a complete 4 year agreement.

Before an athlete can TALK to another school they have to get permission from their own AD so he had to talk it over with his school first before even approaching Oregon. Since the Pilots gave him the ability to run without having to sit out it sounds like they are OK with him leaving to go where he think he can succeed.

You guys should be congratulating both schools and AD departments for being cooperative and for allowing a kid to try something else without making him attend an extra year of school to do it. Sometimes a change of scenery is all that is needed to kick start your running again.

I would way rather run for portland any day. oregon is full of kids that were fast in high school and have terrible attitudes. with their budget they are like a bunch of spoiled brats. portland is full of tough guys that were alright in high school and work their asses off everyday to beat people like at oregon that they could not do in high school. portland has beat oregon at regionals 2 out of the last 3 years. UPXC FOR LIFE!!!!!!

This post kind of makes me laugh. I mean - UP is the team with all the foreigners and yet Oregon's American filled roster is getting hated on harder. Nike done them bad eh?

like father like son

Hank Moody wrote:

This post kind of makes me laugh. I mean - UP is the team with all the foreigners and yet Oregon's American filled roster is getting hated on harder. Nike done them bad eh?

"All the foreigners?"

Let's see, at Nationals Portland had 2 foreigners - Kipchumba (Kenya) and Malde (Norway). Osoro grew up in America, though he is Kenyan born.

In 2008, Portland got 7th at Nationals. Look at their roster then - 6 Americans and 1 Kenyan. And the kicker? All 6 Americans went to high school across the river in Washington!

But I think you're missing the point here. I think most people do. Who cares where a team gets their runners? The fact is, Portland views itself as a team that works harder with less resources than any other top school in the nation. Portland has had all sorts of foreigners over the past 20 years - Germans, Brits, Kenyans, Kiwis, Norwegians - as has Oregon.

The fact is, Portland gets less credit than it deserves. It has nothing to do with foreigners - Malde and Osoro and Kipchumba are faster than you because they train harder than you.

````I ran for Portland about 30 years ago, long before the Pilots' current success. I don't have anything personal against Trevor. I just think Portland supporters are tired of Oregon poaching other folks' athletes. Even when I was at Portland, our best runner transferred to Oregon the day before classes started in the fall, which really disrupted our season. Oregon has their own personnel issues this fall (i.e. Lukas), so what do they do? They poach to make up for recruiting failures. That's what irritates Portland supporters.%%%%

Small world. I was on that team too. I was a freshman that year and it was a bizarre atmosphere to walk into the first day of practice to hear that our number 1 runner left for UofO. But I gotta say, those of us who later left for Pac10 schools were not "poached" by UofO or anyone else. And I doubt that Trevor was either. As a scholarship athlete you are essentially on a year-to-year contract, you are free to leave and the University is free to cut your scholarship. Those of us who left, left on our accord for various reasons. Remember all the promises that were made to us about having a new track in a year in the new soccer stadium ? Its 30 years later and there is still no track ! Trevor likely left for many of the same reasons we did, better opportunities at a better academic school and a better campus social environment. But none of us were poached. I have fond memories of my two years at UP, but leaving was the best thing I ever did - and I suspect the same will be said for Trevor when all is said and done.

pilot old-timer wrote:

I agree with you orbitboy. I certainly wouldn't grant a release to Oregon. When I ran for the Pilots, Mike Johnson was coach and he took the hard-line approach, which is the route I would go. But, Coach Conner is a different sort--much more low key than the average college coach.

Hey Old-timer, CJ was a major factor why most of us that left UP did, and I'll leave it at that. But let's not forget that Coach Johnson jumped ship to UW the first chance he got, which was the year that he promised everyone we would have a new track (which still does not exist). So coaches can leave to coach at a rival school - but they shouldn't let athletes go to a rival school without sitting out a year of competition ? I do feel bad for Coach Conner, but that's the way it goes in college athletics - its part of the deal. I would also guess that the friendship between Rob and Trevor's dad had something to do with the release.

I'm just trying to understand where all the Oregon hate is coming from. Like I said previously - I'd much rather see you guys win.

I just think it's funny that Portland gets this rep that you are portraying. It's a myth that Portland is this "blue collar mecca", that doesn't have resources.

You guys have a good amount of money and it goes completely to distance. Yeah you don't have a track but Forest Park is a better place to run then than just about anywhere.

You guys may not get a ton of FL guys but your recruits are solid. Especially your foreigners coming in. Kipchumba was surely a better recruit than any American kid coming in. guys like Kinsella were studs in HS. And for every Kinsella that's came through you have two kids from Spokane who somehow never developed in this program where, "everyone develops"...

You don't know who I am but you are kidding if you think Kipchumba is faster than ANY OF US because he works harder. I know for a fact (as do you) that guy hardly trains. But yes, Kipchumba would leave my ass in the dust...hope he does work this year in the 10k at nats!

Can't comment on the other two but unless they have been all-american (they haven't right?) I actually don't think they are indeed faster than I! But that's besides the point.

I'm a big time Portland supporter. I am. I like Conner, I like your guys squad. It sucks Dunbar is leaving. I just don't agree with how Conner and your team portrays you guys as some sort of underprivileged program. That's all.

Hope to see you guys do work come cross season!