The father of Northwestern’s No. 1 recruit Jaren Sina said his son was unlikely to honor his commitment to the Wildcats if Bill Carmody was fired. Seton Hall, Missouri and several other teams are pursuing Sina with hopes that he will rebuff the ‘Cats now that Carmody is gone. Mergin Sina, Jaren’s dad, did not

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The
father of Northwestern’s No. 1 recruit Jaren Sina said his son was unlikely to
honor his commitment to the Wildcats if Bill Carmody was fired. Seton Hall,
Missouri and several other teams are pursuing Sina with hopes that he will
rebuff the ‘Cats now that Carmody is gone.

Mergin
Sina, Jaren’s dad, did not return a phone call Saturday. 

Pat
Taphorn, the father of Northwestern recruit Nathan Taphorn, a forward from
Pekin High, said he was disappointed but not surprised to learn of Carmody’s
firing.

“We
liked coach Carmody a lot so it’s hard to hear it and accept it but we knew
there was a chance and prepared ourselves for it,” Taphorn said. “The big
variable is getting someone else in that spot and figuring out what kind of
person they are, what their system is about and whether Nathan will fit into
that system. I know Jim Phillips will get someone in that spot that’s pretty
highly regarded.”

Here’s
what NU athletics director Jim Phillips had to say about he possibility of
losing Sina and Taphorn.

“I
made initial contact with them and I will have a chance to speak to them [Saturday
night],” Phillips said. At the end of the day, I hope they chose Northwestern
for a variety of reasons, including, of course, coach Carmody and his staff.
That certainly influenced their decision. But what I hope they realize is this
is a place that would welcome them. They would have a chance to be part of our
Northwestern family. It is one of the finest academic institutions in the
country, it plays in the best basketball conference in the country. There’s an
awful lot of good things to tell them about. Ultimately, I’m going to support
whatever they want to do.”