Where In the World Is Herb Pope?

For those of you not in the know, there is one elite freshman out there who's not yet reported to the Domination Station that is the 2007-2008 season. Herb Pope, a top 25 recruit out of Western PA, was supposed to be a key contributor for a New Mexico State team that wasn't supposed to suck so much. Pope is a guy I touted highly coming into this season, claiming he had more raw talent than any player in the WAC. I said he was the best non-BCS freshman besides Derrick Rose and was the No. 9 freshman in the whole country preseason. I claimed he would outperform Kyle Singler in a Nov. 12 showdown with Duke that I predicted the Aggies would win. They lost by 25, are now 4-7 and Duke might be the best team in the country. I still believe all of that was possible, but my words have not yet had a chance to be vindicated because Pope hasn't played a game yet, due to eligibility issues.

Before we get to the present, you have to look at Pope's amazing past. A 6-8 forward with the floor skills of a guard, Pope had NBA written all over him in high school. He could shoot threes effortlessly, jump out of the gym and had post moves that were beyond his years. He was mentioned directly after guys like Mayo, Love and Rose as one of the top prospects of this class. He committed to his hometown school, Pitt, after his sophomore season and seemed destined for Big East dominance. But off the court, Pope's life was far from easy. He lived in a bad neighborhood. The problems he faced in the hood often spilled onto the court as he consistently got in trouble for brash behavior. But by all accounts Pope was just misunderstood. He did well in school, realized the ill effects of his neighborhood and tried his best to make an informed decision on where to go to college. He decided to go to New Mexico State over Oklahoma, Maryland and Texas, but not for reasons that had anything to do with basketball. He committed to Las Cruces because it was the farthest thing away from Alquippa. No one could find him there.

(This NY Times feature, also linked above, on Pope is absolutely outstanding).

But just days before he was to play in the '07 Roundball Classic in Chicago, he was shot at a party in his hometown. He narrowly escaped long term injuries, but soon had a new decision to make. Reggie Theus had taken a job with the Sacramento Kings and Pope was without a coach. The Aggies promoted assistant Marvin Menzies and Pope eventually decided to stay, deciding the distance from his home was the most important factor. He rehabbed all summer to get ready for the season and was all set to make a Beasley-ian impact.

As if the kid hadn't been through enough, as if his past hadn't haunted him the entirety of his short life, after he nearly lost his life, he lost basketball as well. Just days before the season began, Pope's eligibility was put under review because of one class he took in high school. It was expected to be resolved quickly, perhaps in time for that Duke game, but the case is still lingering. Word is that if the issue isn't resolved soon, Pope may just redshirt this season.

I'm not going to pretend to know the details of the eligibility situation. Some people will be angry that it isn't resolved, others will say the kid is just bad news, but, honestly, there isn't a lot of new information out there. And that's part of the reason I did this post; to shed light on a freshman talent that hasn't sniffed the spotlight that much-fawned recruits like Beasley, Rose, Gordon, Love and Mayo bask beneath. For what Pope has been through, shouldn't this be his chance to finally make it known what he can do on the court, rather than be defined by what happened off of it? Wasn't that the whole point of leaving Alquippa, to make The Herb Pope Story about basketball again?

Selfishly, I want to see Herb Pope play, so an amazing talent doesn't get undeservedly lost in the shuffle as another troubled prospect who couldn't escape his past no matter how hard he tried. As a basketball fan who knows how rare a player like Pope can be, I say, forget the high school class, the kid needs to play. But I've got to think that although basketball would be a great diversion for a kid trying to forget all the struggles he's already had to endure, Pope might not be in as big a hurry as I am. I think Pope can take solace in the fact that he's actually in college. That's more than his neighbors, his detractors and, most importantly, the thugs who shot him can say (those scumbags are in prison, for awhile). And while the stud freshmen enjoy the attention and make plans to leave programs that were turned upside down just to have them, I doubt Herb Pope -- a kid who has every reason to be selfish, arrogant and downright angry at the way his career has unfolded -- wants to go anywhere. After all, basketball will always be there, peace of mind may not.