College Basketball "off-season" Thread (players leaving/coaching changes/recruiting)

..there's a small chance. He has to play well.

I believe he's a 2 year player....but from everything said his #1 goal is to help out his mom.
 
Jeff Capel Interview

Submitted by Aran_Smith on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 4:28pm.


At 33 years of age, head coach Jeff Capel is one of the brightest young coaches in the nation. Entering his third season at Oklahoma, Capel will look toimprove on a 23-12 season which included a tournament birth. With next year's likely number one pick in the NBA draft in Blake Griffin, the Sooners havehigh expectations, rated by some as a top 10 team entering the 2008-09 season.





Jeff Capel

NDN: What has been the key to your success in making the transition from player to elite level coach in such a short period of time?

JC: Well I've been very fortunate as a head coach to have gotten two great jobs. First at VCU where I had an athletic director and president that were verygood. I was very fortunate. I took over for coach Mack, Mack McCarthy and there were some really good, talented players left and we were able to build on that.The tradition there at VCU. The community embraced us and what we were trying to do. And then being able to recruit really good players there, that allowed mean opportunity to come to the high major level at OU and once again I'm working for a great athletic director and University president. We have greatresources at OU and it's a program with a great tradition which allows us to continue to recruit high level players. Any coach will tell you that you haveto have to have good players in order to be successful and I've been very fortunate at both places I've been.

NDN: At what point did you realize you weren't going to play ball for a living and make the decision that coaching was your calling?

JC: Well you know it's funny I never thought that I wanted to coach. I grew up with a coach and saw some of the things that he went through. (It was) notsomething I thought I wanted to do. Towards the end of my playing career, I played in the CBA for a year and a half, played overseas for about a month. Butonce it started to kind of wind down, I knew I wanted to be around the game in some way, and I remember getting cut from the CBA. This was in 2000, I justremember saying to my agent I want you to find me another job. I want to keep playing. And when I got home, I couldn't find the strength or desire to workout, and get back in the gym, and I knew right then that that was it. I've been in love with this game since I can remember but I didn't want to cheatthe game. I found myself going to my dad's practices. My dad was the head coach at Old Dominion University and I would go to his practices and watch. Ifound myself on the sidelines making little comments and that was sort of what let me know that I wanted to get into coaching.

NDN: How have Coach K's philosophies influenced your coaching style and in what ways have you developed your own way of doing things?

JC: Well it's all of them. I've been fortunate to have played and been around great coaches. Obviously Coach K has been a huge influence, I'velearned so much from him during my time there and the relationship we developed after school, on just how to handle certain things, on how programs should berun and just different things. But also I've been blessed to have a father that's a great basketball mind. I had a high school coach that was a greatcoach. Then I had a chance to work with Mack McCarthy, who I think is a brilliant basketball mind, so I've been really fortunate. Some of the assistants wehad at Duke Tommy Amaker, Mike Brey, those guys, Quinn Snyder Tim O'Toole, Pete Garnett, I was really fortunate to be around those basketball minds. SoI've incorporated all of those things and tried to do it my way, with my style.

NDN: What has been the biggest challenge coaching in the Big 12?

JC: Really the biggest challenge for me has been going to a different region. You know, I'm from the East Coast. I had only been out of the East Coast... Iplayed in the CBA in Grand Rapids Michigan. That was about as far West as I had gone. So you're in a completely different part of the country. There wereno recruiting ties. I had never been to the State of Oklahoma. I had only been to the State of Texas once! And that was my last year at VCU, we played at theUniversity of Houston. So that probably the most difficult just heading West and trying to establish relationships with people you need to establishrelationships with, high school coaches, AAU coaches, in this region, and it's something that we've worked very diligently at. And I think we'vemade some in roads there. We're not where we need to be, but we certainly have made progress.

NDN: Oklahoma hasn't seen this level of success and promise since the 80s circa Stacey King and Billy Tubbs. What has this basketball resurrection meant tothe community?

JC: Well I don't necessarily agree with that to be honest with you. If you look at Kelvin Sampson's tenure from 1995 to two years ago when I took thejob, they had a three year period where they went to a Sweet Sixteen, a Final Four and an Elite Eight. Kelvin won more games than anyone in the history of theprogram. He was the all time winningest coach in the Big 12 during his time there. I didn't realize, coming from the East Coast, how great a programOklahoma is. Certainly I knew about the success of coach Tubbs and the teams he had with Waymon (Tisdale), and Mookie (Blaylock) and Stacey (King) and SkeeterHenry and all those guys. Then with Coach Sampson and the guys he had and the success they had especially from 2000 on. But coming out here, my first year herewe were down, it was the first year in 25 years OU hadn't been to the postseason. By the end of my first season we were down. Really the big part of it hasbeen getting better players to be completely honest with you, and getting a guy like Blake Griffin changes everything. If you look at our first recruitingclass it was made up of four guys. But really the key was getting a guy like Blake Griffin. He changed everything. And now when you have a guy like BlakeGriffin it enables you to have an opportunity to get someone like Willie Warren. You know I think if we didn't get Blake, I don't think there's anychance that we'd get Willie Warren. Sometimes with any program, when you're trying to get something going, or get something back going, or get to acertain level, sometimes all it takes is getting that one guy. And a guy like Blake kind of made it cool to maybe want to go to OU. The same thing with WillieWarren. So hopefully we can keep building off of that, and win some of these recruiting battles we're in. And also developing players, getting some of theguys that are maybe a little under the radar and developing them. If you look at what happened with Longar Longar, his last two years we felt we did a good jobwith him. My first year with Nate Carter, averaged 17 points in conference play. It's all those things, so we're trying to... Our program has been tofour Final Fours and the one thing we haven't done is win a national championship and that's something we want to try to do.

NDN: Can Oklahoma hope to compete with the UConns, UCLAs and Floridas year in and year out on the recruiting trail?

JC: I definitely think so. You know that's it. We have tradition. There have been some really good players that have come through here. You look at thesuccess in the NCAA tournament. You look at the success of getting to the postseason. One of the things we have to do is show that we can put guys in the NBA.That's what the high level and the elite level kids want to do. Getting a guy like Blake Griffin helps us with that. It shows that you can come here andyou can become an NBA player, become a lottery pick which Blake is going to be. When Blake came out of high school, he was a McDonald's All American,certainly one of the top 25 players in the country. But no one thought of him in the same breath as these other guys that left last year. I think that allchanged when you got into December and January of last season. I think Blake would have been a top 5 pick if he would have come out this past year. And so nowall of a sudden you have a guy in your program that's looked at as the possible number one pick in the NBA draft, and now that gets the attention of otherelite level kids. That you can come here, you can develop, and have the chance to go to the NBA. I think that's certainly the case with Willie Warren also.I'm hoping we can continue to get guys like that.





Blake Griffin

NDN: Is there any doubt in your mind who the top pick in next year's draft will be?

JC: You know, not in my mind. But I have the luxury of seeing Blake every day. And for people that saw him last year, he's a completely different player.He's so much better right now. We've been doing workouts since the 25th of August. And if you see him now, see him shooting the ball with so muchconfidence, showing that part of his game, obviously he's always been able to really handle it and pass it. If it's possible to believe this, he'sactually more explosive and more athletic now than he was last year. If you see him, he looks leaner, he looks thinner, but he's actually heavy. He had agreat summer. He really worked and changed his body. And he's just playing at a very, very, very high level. You know, I think that there may be some guysthat put up better numbers, but as far as for the next level, I think we have the best player in the country.

NDN: What makes Blake Griffin so special? Is there one thing that you can point to, is it his work ethic, is there one thing that you can point to and say okaythis is what makes him so good?

JC: Well I think it's hard to with just one thing. Obviously he's been incredibly blessed with great talent. He's been blessed with great genes anda great body. But the other thing he's been blessed with is an incredible work ethic, and a desire to be really, really good. And it's not a phonydesire. You know I don't think I've ever met a guy that doesn't want to be a good player. But so many guys are not willing to put in the time. AndBlake does that. He's a guy that's fallen in love with the process of becoming great, of becoming the best he can be. And he does it in every aspect,from the way he eats, from the way he trains his body, from being in great shape to working on his body. And has such a desire, he plays so hard, so when youadd all of those things up, and like I said from the beginning the talent that he's been blessed with, I think those are the things that make him such aspecial and unique talent.

NDN: Do you ever worry that he almost plays too hard? Going full bore every minute that he's out there could potentially lead to an injury or that type ofthing or you just let him go and it's not something you worry about.

JC: I don't worry about it at all. We want him to be Blake and that's just who he is. And he's going to be that way whether I worry about it ornot. That's just how he's wired. We don't worry about it at all, one bit. It's another thing that makes him so special and really you'drather have every player play as hard as he does.

NDN: How do you assess Willie Warren's ability and where do you see him fitting into the team this year and in the future?

JC: Well he's a kid that's very talented. He has the ability to score from all over the floor. He can shoot it from deep. He has a good mid-range game.He can score off the bounce. He has floaters, and because of his body and athleticism, he's able to finish through contact. And because of his athleticability, he's able to finish on top of people. And because he's able to score the basketball, I think that one thing that's maybe underrated abouthis game is, I think he has really good feel for how to play. I think he's good passer. And you didn't see that maybe that much in high school and theAAU circuit because he needed to score for those teams to have a chance to win. I tell guys like Blake, like Willie, like Tony Crocker, I don't want themto fit in, I want them to be the people they are and be really good players. And certainly within the team concept of what we're doing, I don't thinkhe'll have a problem with that.

NDN: Is allowing a player to play their natural pro position on the college level a college coaches responsibility?

JC: Well it depends on what you mean by that. When I was in school, my sophomore year, people don't realize, but the four-man for North Carolina was JerryStackhouse. They started Jeff McInnis, Dante Calabria, Donald Williams, Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace, but with that group, if you want to put them in atraditional position, Stackhouse was the four-man. And he's a shooting guard in the NBA. We don't try to define guys by a position, by numbers. We tryto define them by players. And so that's what we do. Obviously we want to put our guys in the best position for them to have success. Certainly weunderstand guys want to be pros, and maybe when they come in, maybe they're not ready to play their natural position that they will play in the NBA. Forour team right now, that's something that we'll work on in the preseason. That's something we'll work on in the off-season to where they'recomfortable enough to where they can do that and do that with success. The worst thing I think you can do is if you have a guy that's coming in and isstuck in between positions and he's thinking about the NBA so much and he thinks he needs to be a 3 where he's really a four, well all of a sudden youpromise him and you go and play him at the 3 and then he doesn't have success. I think that looks even worse. So one of the things we try to do, I talkabout it with Blake, I talk about it with Willie: become a really good college player first. Lets not skip steps. Lets not unpack your bags. Let's not comein here and just pack a little bit, to hurry up and get out the door. Let's get completely entrenched in what we're doing and if you do that and becomea really good college player, the NBA will take care of itself.





Jeff Capel

NDN: If you could add any one player from any other roster in the country who would it be and why?

JC: Great question. Has to be just one?

NDN: Yep.

JC: I would say with our team a guy like Stephan Curry. I was thinking of Tyler Hansbrough or the kid from VCU Eric Maynor. But it would probably be StephenCurry. His feel for the game, ability to shoot it, spread the floor out. A combination of him Willie, Blake, and the rest of our guys, I think would be prettyinteresting.

NDN: What do you make of the one year NBA rule, and is it bad for college basketball?

JC: You know what, I don't know. I'm kind of on the fence with it. I think that these guys should have an opportunity to come out of high school. Ireally and truly do. I don't understand why we prohibit these guys from doing that. Personally I think it's a little bit hypocritical of both levelscollege and the NBA. If you look at the first team All NBA this year, they have 2 years of college experience and that was with one guy Chris Paul. If you lookat who the NBA promotes, it's Kobe, it's LeBron, Garnett, Dwight Howard now. Those guys never saw college basketball. Certainly with anything,you're going to have some guys that are successful and some that aren't. You look at guys that went to college for 2-3 years. Michael Olowokandi wentto school for 4 years and he was a number one pick but I don't think his career panned out the way people thought it would. To a certain extent I thinkthat if they decide to put them in, I think that a situation where they have to stay for 2 years, because then what it gets you is a true student athlete.Right now the way the system is set up, with one and done, I mean you knew Michael Beasley was only in school for one year, Derrick Rose was only one year,Eric Gordon, guys like that, Kevin Love, there was no doubt and those guys if they could, probably wouldn't have gone to college if that rule wasn't inplace. So then what you set up, once those guys go to college, technically second semester they don't have to do anything. And they can just sign up forclasses (and not go). You know, same thing with Kevin Durant, Greg Oden. Now what you hope for in the recruiting process is that you get to know these guys.And that you get guys that are committed to education. But the fact of the matter is, being completely honest, some of these guys have no desire to go,they're just using it as a stop on the way to the NBA.

NDN: For some of these guys there's no real purpose for it, they're ready?

JC: I agree. I mean I don't know how college could have helped LeBron James. Some people say imagine Kobe if he had gone to college. Well I don'treally know what it would have done. He's only the best player in the world right now. Would that have made him better? I mean I think college can helpanyone, don't get me wrong. Because of the experiences that you get, and the things that you learn. But I don't think for some that it's necessary.For instance Bill Gates, for what he did or what he does. You don't have to go to college to be educated. You can be educated on your own. Tennis playersare turning pro at 14 years old, some of them. Other sports you have an opportunity, baseball. So I think they should be able to as well.

NDN: When a team like Kansas makes it to the Final Four are you pulling for a conference rival to win or is that impossible?

JC: No I was pulling for them. The only way I wouldn't have been pulling for them is if they would have been playing Duke. But yeah I was definitelypulling for them. I think it's huge for our league. One of the things the Big 12 hadn't done up until that time was win a national championship. Thelast national championship was when it was the Big 8, it was in '88 when Kansas won. So that's something that as a league, we hadn't done. And as aleague we feel that we're constantly fighting for respect. I felt that last year we had the best conference in the country. If you look from top to bottomwe had 6 teams in the NCAA tournament, we had 2 teams in the Elite Eight, with Kansas and Texas, and certainly I felt that Kansas was the best team in thecountry aside from winning it, so by winning that gave validation to the league of how good we really were.

NDN: Is the move of the Sonics into a smaller market a good thing for OU basketball, increasing the interest in basketball as a whole, or could it water downsome of the fan support?

JC: Well I hope it's a very positive thing. One of the things I think that is very interesting. I think that this part of the country that we're in, Ithink that many people consider it a football area. I think that that's the way that Oklahoma is portrayed. Whether it's true or not I don't know.But I think that it's interesting that the only professional team that we have in the State is an NBA team, basketball. I know that there's a lot ofpassion about the Thunder among the people in Oklahoma, people are really proud to have a professional sports team and are ready to root for them. Hopefullywhat it does is increase the interest in basketball in the State. And hopefully the fan support for the (OU) team continues to grow.

NDN: What type of season can people expect from OU this year? Will not having a top notch true point guard make it difficult to reach the Final Four?

JC: Well I don't know. We're trying to figure out who we are right now. I certainly like our talent. We have the most talent we've had sinceI've been here. I think we have some depth now. We're a little bit bigger. More athletic. I think our returning guys have gotten better. And I thinkthat we've added some talented newcomers. I like the possibilities of what we can become. But we have to work to get there. As far as our point guard, Ithink there are very few true point guards anymore. So I certainly think that we have good enough guard play now, with our guys getting better with AustinJohnson, Omar Leary, Tony Crocker, and when you add guys like Willie Warren and Ray Willis. I think that we'll have a shot if we can stay healthy and guyscontinue to improve, and work hard. If we earn the right to be good than I think that we'll have a shot to become a really good basketball team. So to getto the Final Four a lot of things will have to fall into place. My focus for us right now is to become a really good basketball team. And if that happens thanI really like our chances.
 
October 1, 2008
[h1]New Experience for Jones[/h1]
Jed Tai
OregonPreps.com

Talk about it in Hoya Premium Court
Now that school has started, Terrence Jones has settled into agroove. The lanky 6-foot-8, 205-pound forward has been honed in on his classes at Jefferson High School, and when the dismissal bell rings he's off to opengym where college coaches have been dropping by. Recently Jones took the time out to make an unofficial visit to one of the schools that has offered him and itwas for something he'd never experienced before.

[table][tr][td]
670156.jpg
[/td] [td]
spacer1.gif
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Nathan Traller[/td] [/tr][/table]Last Thursday, Jones went down with Jefferson head coach Pat Strickland and one of his teammates to OregonState to watch the Beavers' epic upset of the USC Trojans. "That was my first college football game I've been to and I was really excited,"Jones said. "It was amazing especially since they won. It was also the first time for me seeing Oregon State too. It was great how everything was aroundus."

Jones arrived in Corvallis a little before the game, where he got a chance to eat some food and look around campus a bit. He also got a chance to chat withcurrent OSU players and coaches and overall it was a learning experience.

"I liked the players and the gym," Jones said. "I had met the coaches before, so the main thing I wanted to do was get more information out ofthe players and how they felt about things. I talked with Lathen (Wallace), who used to play at Jeff, and he told me that he liked everything."

Given it was his first unofficial campus visit where he did more than play basketball in the gym, Jones enjoyed himself. He's remaining completely open inhis recruitment however as schools such as Cal, Oregon, Georgetown, UCLA, and Washington have all dropped by the Jefferson gym during the September evaluationperiod.

As always, stay tuned to OregonPreps.com for the latest on the top players in-state.

...

Even though Robinson might not land some of these guys, it's apparent he has their interest. They will be outa the cellar of the Pac 10 quick and be a niceprogram.
 
With so much down time this semester, i'm gona put up a blog.

Basic preview for the year..

Top 25
1. UNC
2. Uconn
3. Duke
4. Michigan State
5. Pitt
6. Louisville
7, Oklahoma
8. Gonzaga
9. UCLA
10. Arizona State
11. Notre Dame
12. Texas
13. Purdue
14. Tennessee
15. Wisconsin
16. Memphis
17. Georgetown
18. Marquette
19. Davidson
20. Florida
21. Villanova
22. UNLV
23. Miami
24. Saint Mary's
25. Siena
26. VA Tech
27. Arizona
28. Ohio State
29. Baylor
30. Clemson
31. Kansas
32. UAB
33. Syracuse
34. Wake Forest
35. Xavier
36. Texas A&M
37. USC
38. Creighton
39. Providence
40. West Virginia
41. Kentucky
42. Illinois State
43. Alabama
44. Vanderbilt
45. Kent State

National Champions -
Uconn/Louisville - under 1 condition they are the #2 seed in the East and play UNC in Boston. IF NOT..UNC are your champs. SMH.


POY-
You know who will be voted this award. Deserving? Watch him play defense and play without the ball. And you have your answer.

Freshmen of the Year-
Devin Ebanks/JaMychal Green/Jrue Holiday

Coach of the Year -
Bo Ryan...I'm done doubting his squads. Respect is overdue from me.

First Team AA
Tyrese Rice
Stephen Curry
James Harden
Sam Young
Tyler Hansbrough

Second Team
Johnny Flynn
Jerel McNeal
Tyler Smith
Blake Griffin
Luke Harangody

Third Team
John Brockman
Hasheem Thabeet
Earl Clark
Lester Hudson
Wink Adams

Mid Major AA Team
Stephen Curry
Lester Hudson
Wink Adams
Kenny Hasbrouck
Lee Cummard

Freshmen AA Team
JaMychal Green
Devin Ebanks
Greg Monroe
Jrue Holiday
Kemba Walker

All Defensive Team
Jerel McNeal
Chris Kramer
Darren Collison
Hasheem Thabeet
Jarvis Varnado

Breakout Players
Big Men ; Cole Aldrich, Jeff Allen, Craig Brackins
Wing Players ; Edwin Ubiles (national level), Ryan Thompson, Weymi Efejuku, Lazar Hayward, James Anderson, Dar Tucker
Guards ; Osiris Eldridge, Chris Wright, Chris Lowe, Manny Harris

Most Overrated : Domibrick James, Ty Lawson, Brandon Costner, Lawrence Hill

Freshman who kicks it up another level in March/April : Kemba Walker

Most likely to go nuts and the school be forced to terminate; Bobby Gonzalez.

Will deserve to be fired; Leonard Hamilton, Gary Williams, Norm Roberts

Best Hires : Travis Ford, Keno Davis
 
Tobias Harris, a 6-foot-7 wing player from Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, New York (on Long Island), has helped his AAU team, the Unique All Stars to a 3-1 record in pool play in the IS8 Fall League.
While keeping busy on the court, Harris will also take some unofficial visits, according to his father, Torrel.

"Tobias is visiting West Virginia this weekend," Mr. Harris said, taking advantage of a week off in the IS8 League.

He added: "Then Tobias will take a visit to Marquette on October 25th and 26th."

Previously, Mr. Harris said that Georgia Tech, Baylor, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Miami, and North Carolina State have been added to a list that included ten other schools.

The list now also includes besides the schools above: Wake Forest, Southern Cal, Connecticut, Syracuse, Rutgers, Maryland, Louisville, Maryland, Georgetown, and Virginia.
Click to expand...
 
Man if Osiris has a breakout year that would be awesome ive always pulled for dude..he went to a high school where basketball was damn near non existent
laugh.gif
 
im liking that pick for green for FOY, alabama looks like a sleeper in the sec with steele and incoming freshmen this year.
 
October 2, 2008
[h1]Aldrich ready to make impact at Kansas[/h1]
Bob McClellan
Rivals.com College Basketball Editor

Cole Aldrich took five months of beatings in practice from a future NBAfirst-round pick and two future NBA second-round picks.

So maybe no one should have been surprised when Kansas' backup center administered a beatdown of his own to North Carolina in theFinal Four.
[table][tr][td]
1002-KANCOLEALDRICH_250.JPG
[/td] [td]
spacer1.gif
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
spacer1.gif
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Cole Aldrich had a huge night against North Carolina.[/td] [/tr][/table]"That was a really fun and exciting game," Aldrich recently told Rivals.com. "Sasha (Kaun) and Darnell (Jackson) got in foul trouble. Coach wentto me, and I had to put up some minutes before halftime so we could get through the half. I played my game like I had all year, tried to hustle and rebound andblock shots."
Aldrich's contribution was invaluable. In the most shocking first half of the season, the Jayhawks raced to a 44-27 lead over the shell-shocked TarHeels. Aldrich, a 6-foot-11 freshman, posted six points, six rebounds and three blocks in 13 minutes. He finished with eight points, seven rebounds and fourblocks in 17 minutes as KU prevailed 84-66.

"I still hear comments about it now," Aldrich said. "We're almost seven months removed from it and people still talk about it. But it wasa great game. It's a warm feeling."

Now all Aldrich has to do is repeat it … every game. All of those NBA picks are gone. He's the lone holdover in the frontcourt for the defendingnational champions. While there is no way humanly possible he can pick up all of the slack left behind by first-rounder Darrell Arthur and second-rounders Kaunand Jackson, he'd better be ready to play a major role.

"You know there is always going to be pressure," Aldrich said. "We're at a high level, at a school that just won the nationalchampionship. There's pressure here whether you're in the starting five or coming off the bench."

Aldrich was a Rivals.com four-star prospect and a McDonald's All-American. But he said he didn't expect to come in and get a lot of playing time,and he didn't. He averaged 8.3 minutes per game, and with it 2.8 points and 3.0 rebounds.

"I knew coming in that freshman year is not easy, whatever level you're at," Aldrich said. "Whether it's D-III or high D-I, it'stough to get good playing minutes. Plus, I knew I had three guys ahead of me who were pretty dang good. I knew to learn as much as I could. Practice was mytime to get in and get minutes."

Whenever he got reps in the post, it was against a future NBA pick. Aldrich believes if he could survive practice last season against his former teammates,he is ready for whatever his sophomore season holds.

"When practice first started, it was quite rough," Aldrich said. "They were much stronger than me. They knew the different angles. They weremore experienced. I had no idea what I was doing. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

"There were times they tortured me. It wasn't always fun, but I fought through it. Whether they were dunking on me or blocking my shots, it made mebetter to keep fighting."
[table][tr][td]
spacer1.gif
[/td] [td]
1002-KANCOLEALDRICH1_250.JPG
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
spacer1.gif
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Practicing against talented teammates prepared Cole Aldrich to take over in the post this season.[/td] [/tr][/table]Jackson, who signed a three-year guaranteed contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, said Aldrich was a quick study.
"We used to put it on 'Baby Cole' in practice, but he caught on real quick," Jackson said. "When we were coming downcourt, he madesure he hit us first. He learned that real fast.

"As long he believes in himself and keeps working hard and listening to (assistant) Coach (Danny) Manning, he'll be all right."

The Jayhawks are in for a fight in the Big 12 as they try to defend their title with seven newcomers on the roster. Aldrich is getting to know the freshfaces. They include some highly regarded junior college transfers and some equally highly regarded freshmen.

There is talent, but it's going to take time and patience.

"The junior college guys have some experience at a higher level, and when you lose the experience that we had, that's something we reallyneeded," Aldrich said. "As far as the freshmen, Travis Releford isreally good. He just finds his way to get rebounds and scores. He's a glue guy. He's not flashy. He finds things to do and does them well."

Whether things are going well this season or not, Aldrich can expect to hear from his former teammates.

"I still talk to Darnell and get pointers from him," Aldrich said. "That's one of the greatest things about our team - we all still talkto each other."

Jackson said he and Aldrich text each other frequently.

"I tell him to do what you did during the NCAA tournament and carry it over and make sure the younger guys are on the same page," Jacksonsaid.

Even though they may appear to be unattainable, Aldrich said the 2008-09 Jayhawks have the same goals as last season's team. "We want to win theBig 12 regular season and go on to the (NCAA) tournament and the Final Four," Aldrich said. "They're tough goals, but that's what you playfor."

And what you get beat up in practice for.
 
October 1, 2008
Former Wahoo standout joins Virginia Sports Network




A former UVA standout on the basketball court is coming back to the Cavaliers fold.

Cory Alexander, who played point guard for the Wahoos from 1992 to 1995, is joining the Virginia Sports Network as the basketball analyst for UVA games on the radio.

Alexander replaces Jim Hobgood. While in Charlottesville, Alexander scored almost 1,300 points and dished out over 400 assists.

He went on to play seven seasons in the NBA, and even had a couple of stops in Roanoke in the NBDL with the now defunct Roanoke Dazzle.

UVA begins their 2008, 2009 season on November 16 at home against VMI.


 
While I can envision Kansas making the tourney, I see them struggling mighty this year. Alot of new, young, inexperienced pieces on that squad and their bestplayer, arguably, has a penchant for getting hurt and from what we have read this summer a penchant for getting out of shape.
 
agree...they have Collins and Aldrich who themselves haven't proven to be 30+ minute starters...

then a bunch of unknowns
 
The two Morris boys being cleared to play through the Clearinghouse helps Kansas a lot though. They would have been pretty thin without those two.

I'm looking forward to Texas A&M playing at Alabama. Alabama should have a pretty solid squad this year, but I think we'll catch 'em before thefreshmen get settled in and get comfortable (hopefully...).
 
Originally Posted by ShannonsCrooks

While I can envision Kansas making the tourney, I see them struggling mighty this year. Alot of new, young, inexperienced pieces on that squad and their best player, arguably, has a penchant for getting hurt and from what we have read this summer a penchant for getting out of shape.
Click to expand...
I think they will be a lot like we were after Nichols/Watkins/Roberts left. Granted I know NONE of these guys were close to the Kansas squad. Butwhen they left. A lot of new guys came in and played big minutes where they hadn't before.
 
Originally Posted by allen3xis

With so much down time this semester, i'm gona put up a blog.

Basic preview for the year..

Will deserve to be fired; Leonard Hamilton, Gary Williams, Norm Roberts

Best Hires : Travis Ford, Keno Davis
Click to expand...
Should change that to Who deserve to be fired, but given another year for Norm. Smh, and to think we could have had Keno or Ford thisyear.
mad.gif
 
Originally Posted by allen3xis

confirmed...Terrell Vinson to Loyola Marymount.

Strange. Very Strange.
Click to expand...
Bayno pullin in recruits already...

hoping in a couple seasons to see LMU challenge for the WCC title
 
LMU should be better then they are. they can feed off UCLA and USC rejects and pick up players that cant get into those schools and be fine. plus the femalesthere are top NOTCH. stanback should put up numbers there
 
yeah i'ma do it.


October 2, 2008 - Last night in West Baltimore, a decision was made that may shock the Hoya Nation, as Terrell Vinson decided Hoya Land was not for him, instead opting for LoyolaMarymount. Though LMU was one of his finalist schools, along with Maryland, as late as week or so ago, The Hilltop was his preferred destination (seeRecruitment Process Ending For Vinson).

The first inkling something had changed occurred this weekend at the Maryland Invitational, a travel team event held at the University ofMaryland's Comcast Center. When asked about the Hoyas, Terrell replied in a manner that indicated Georgetown would likely not be his future college home.

[table][tr][td]
spacer1.gif
[/td] [td]
698353.jpg
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]i95Ballerz.com[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
spacer1.gif
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Multifaceted Terrell Vinson, who has worked hard to acquire perimeter skills, will not be taking them to G'Town.[/td] [/tr][/table]Immediately red flags went up, but in the interest of responsible reporting, it was decided that bit of information,absent context and conclusion should not be revealed. After having finally reached James Gilyard, Vinson's father today around 4:00 pm EST, the situationcan be shared.

"It's done" immediately said Gilyard of his son's decision after exchanging greetings. "He's going to Loyola Marymount.

To paraphrase KRS-One (for any who don't know, one of the greatest rappers to do it), "How'd we jump off to this"?

First off, the Georgetown staff talked to Terrell last week, and that conversation apparently led the 6'7" forward to aggressively look elsewhere.That would dovetail with his reaction last weekend, one that was substantially different from previous interviews.

Second, Bill Bayno, LMU's first year head coach has worked hard in recruiting Vinson.

"He's been talking to Bayno, and felt he legitimately cared about him" shared Gilyard of Bayno's connection with Terrell. "Bayno was theone who stayed with him. The home visit sealed it".

Bayno has experience recruiting the Charm City, having done so as an UMass assistant coach during the nineties, nabbing Donta Bright in the process. In fact,he happened to be in the D.C./Washington area, grinding on the recruiting trail last night.

Los Angeles' weather was never a deterrent to LMU for Vinson, but the losing culture was for both he and his family (the school went 5-26 in 2007-2008).Reportedly, an influx of not only new talent, but energy within the organization changed their perspectives.

"The kids he's bringing in are good" opined Gilyard, an assessment informed by five players for 2008 -two Division I transfers including ex-SetonHall Pirate Larry Davis, L.A. native LaRon Armstead, a junior college transfer in Vernon Teel, and Ashley Hamilton, a touted Brit who played for Great Britain's under 20 squad.

Bayno's Class of 2009 haul consists of not only Vinson, but according to Gilyard "A big man from Compton (Edgar Garibay)", California, and Given Kalipinde: Another D.C. area player,Kalipinde is a 6'3" two guard originally from Lusaka, Zambia, who now attends Episcopal in Alexandria, VA. Known for the ability to score and pass,Kalipinde apparently gave Montrose Christian (MD), Terrell's former school 35 points last year (Click here for an i95Ballerz.com article that mentions Kalipinde).

That's the way the recruiting ball bounces. In fact it bounces more like a football - any which way - then basketball. NeverthelessHoyaReport.com would like to shout out Terrell Vinson for his hard work on the floor, and his family, which raised him as he should have been.

First, he's poised to have a stellar senior year at Baltimore's Saint Frances Academy. Terrell will follow that up with a great career at LoyolaMarymount and in the West Coast Conference.




III must be pretty confident moving forward for '10 and '11 to say thanks, but no thanks to him.
laugh.gif


it had become no secret he was recruiting the program more so than vice versa.

anyway...

what's the deal with this Loyola coach
nerd.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest News

View All News

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

Site contents may not be incorporated into AI training data or any other derivative works without prior express written consent.

Links to participating merchants may generate referral or affiliate commissions that help support our community. See our policies for details. NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom