Christian Cornelius clarified the circumstances of his departure today, in response to an email that I sent him yesterday. Here are the main points that Christian elaborated on.
-His reason for leaving is because of his health and a belief that it takes more than he can provide to consistently play at this level.
-He wishes that he could continue playing but that sometimes the pain in his knee would become unbearable when it came to playing in 2.5 to 3 hour practices that emphasize playing hard with great intensity.
-His departure is totally unrelated to Torres, and he has no idea why Torres left the team or what his reasoning was.
-He says he had nothing against the coaches or players and only wishes them the best of luck as they continue to get better and improve.
-Christian says he understands that when players leave a program it can never be viewed as a good thing, but he says he honestly believes that the defections can help the team by allowing other players to show more of their natural ability on the court.
In my observations Christian always played hard and kept a good attitude during his time at SIU. He was also able to earn a college degree during his time here which should be the main goal for all student-athletes. When a player feels that he's not able to compete at a certain level, it's usually best to move on, and I think this is case for Christian Cornelius and the Salukis.
