Tag:Oklahoma
Posted on: November 21, 2009 11:00 pm
Edited on: November 21, 2009 11:22 pm
Score: 131
Smart's third game at VCU results in huge win
The best thing about getting the VCU job as your first job is that it's the VCU job.
It's proved to be a springboard to bigger and better things.
A culture of winning exists around the program.
You're set up to be successful.
But all those things could also be interpreted as bad things for Shaka Smart, because -- as I detailed in a column back in June -- there's nothing simple about being a first-time head coach inheriting a team losing the best player in school history. With Eric Maynor in the NBA, that was the situation Smart walked into, and he knew it. But he also knew the VCU fanbase -- having just watched Jeff Capel and Anthony Grant win consistently -- wouldn't be interested in hearing any excuses for a possible, if not probable, slow start.
"The fans don't care about that," Smart told me this summer, about a month after he was hired away from Billy Donovan's staff at Florida, just like Grant before him. "Their deal is: 'Hey, this guy before you was winning, and we brought you in here to do the same or more.'"
Smart did "the same or more" Saturday night.
His third game as a head coach resulted in an 82-69 win over the 17th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners coached by Capel, whose contract at VCU required him to return to the Siegel Center as a visitor if he ever left for another job. Capel did indeed leave for another job after the 2005-06 season; he replaced Kelvin Sampson at OU. The byproduct (because of the contract) was the Sooners having to serve as the first ranked opponent to ever enter the Siegel Center.
They exited double-digit losers.
Willie Warren missed 11 of 14 shots, including all eight 3-point attempts. The CBSSports.com Preseason First Team All-American battled cramps in the second half, finished with eight points and six turnovers, then sat on the bench with a towel draped over his head and watched the VCU students storm the court and celebrate. Off to the side, Smart mostly remained calm and cool. It was a big win, sure. But as he told me when he took the job, this is what he was brought to VCU to do -- to be successful on a relevant level, to maintain a national profile for the Rams, to win big games just like his predecessors, and maybe even beat one of them, if possible.
Category: NCAAB
Posted on: November 13, 2009 3:10 pm
Edited on: November 13, 2009 3:11 pm
Score: 132
Dear Gary (on Harrison Barnes' decision)
Here's Friday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: Gee what a shock. YOU picking against Duke . A true rarity.
-- Jeff
I didn't predict/guess that Harrison Barnes will announce for North Carolina because of anything that has to do with Duke. I have my reasons, and one of those reasons is because one of the coaches involved in the recruitment (not a UNC coach, by the way) told me he thinks it'll be the Tar Heels. I also have another reason, and I'll share that one with you later, if I'm correct.
In the meantime, here's a text I just got from a coach involved in the recruitment:
"I honestly have no idea."
Pretty suspenseful, huh?
Category: NCAAB
Posted on: November 13, 2009 8:07 am
Edited on: November 13, 2009 8:09 am
Score: 142
Final prediction/guess: Barnes to UNC
Harrison Barnes will announce his college decision Friday at 4 p.m. ET.
At this moment, nobody seems to know where he's headed.
Officially, the nation's top recruit is considering Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and UCLA, but most believe -- and I've forever reported -- the choice will be Duke or UNC. For the longest time, I've thought Barnes would pick Duke, team with Kyrie Irving and help Mike Krzyzewski get back to the Final Four. And he still might. But my final prediction is that Barnes will sign with North Carolina and become the next great Tar Heel.
To be clear, that's my prediction/guess, nothing more.
If I'm right, I'll explain why I switched to UNC later today.
If I'm wrong, we'll forget all about this and just remember that I predicted Duke a long time ago.
Either way, it's happening at 4 p.m. ET.
Far as recruiting announcements go, it doesn't get bigger.
Category: NCAAB
Barnes will commit next Friday
Shirley Barnes, the mother of top-ranked recruit Harrison Barnes, confirmed to CBSSports.com that her son will announce his college decision Nov. 13.
"H called the coaches," she wrote in an email. "They are aware that he's going to announce by signing his Letter of Intent on Nov. 13."
(That's next Friday, if you don't have a calendar handy.)
Barnes is a 6-foot-6 wing from Ames, Iowa.
He'll pick between Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and UCLA.
His final visit will be to Iowa State this weekend.
Category: NCAAB
Aldrich and Warren not consensus All-Big 12?
The Big 12 released its official preseason honors Thursday, and the first thing I noticed was that Texas' Avery Bradley won Freshman of the Year instead of Kansas' Xavier Henry. Truth be told, that's how I'd vote, too (as my All-America teams show). But I wasn't sure if the league's coaches would see things similarly. So I found that interesting.
Anyway, that's the first thing I noticed.
But the next thing I noticed was insane: Cole Aldrich and Willie Warren were not consensus All-Big 12.
Is it as silly as the Tim Tebow snub by Steve Spurrier?
Probably not.
But I'd love to hear somebody explain how Aldrich and Warren -- both of whom are CBSSports.com First Team All-Americans -- don't belong on the All-Big 12 team, because there is at least one coach who voted that way. Meantime, Sherron Collins and Craig Brackins were unanimous selections, and I'm OK with that. But not voting for Aldrich and Warren is inexplicable, I think.
Here's how the All-Big 12 team should look:
- G: Sherron Collins (Kansas)
- G: Avery Bradley (Texas)
- G: Willie Warren (Oklahoma)
- F: Craig Brackins (Iowa State)
- F: Cole Aldrich (Kansas)
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Avery Bradley, Cole Aldrich, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Willie Warren, Xavier Henry
Recruiting notes from the weekend
There were some significant recruiting developments this weekend.
Here are some of them:
Irving visits Duke: Kyrie Irving, ranked fifth in the Class of 2010 by Scout.com, visited Duke, then Tweeted about it. "Duke official was great! I enjoyed every single second," he wrote. "Everything there fits me and is right for me...you never know what will happen ." Duke has long been considered the favorite to land Irving, a 6-foot-1 point guard from New Jersey. Still, Texas A&M is among the schools hanging around, primarily because Aggie assistant Scott Spinelli was college roommates with Irving's father, Drederick Irving.
Selby narrows list: Josh Selby, famous for decommitting from Tennessee in July, has narrowed his list of potential schools to six, and UT is not one of them. The final six are Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Baylor, Miami and Syracuse. All indications are that Selby -- a combo guard ranked 14th in the Class of 2010 by MaxPreps.com -- will make a final decision in the Spring.
Jones narrows list: Class of 2010 standout Terrence Jones trimmed his list of potential schools to seven -- specifically Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma, Washington and Oregon. MaxPreps.com ranks Jones as the No. 12 prospect in the Class of 2010.
USC gains fifth Class of 2010 pledge: Kevin O'Neill accepted a commitment from Maurice Jones, according to Scout.com's Evan Daniels. Jones is a 5-7 point guard who reportedly averaged 28 points and 13 assists last season in high school. He's the fifth Class of 2010 prospect to commit to USC despite an ongoing NCAA investigation.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Arizona, Baylor, Duke, Indiana, Josh Selby, Kansas, Kentucky, Kyrie Irving, Maurice Jones, Miami, Oklahoma, Oregon, Southern California, Syracuse, Terrence Jones, Texas A&M, UCLA, Washington
Nation's top player schedules visits
Scout.com's top-ranked player in the Class of 2010, Harrison Barnes, has scheduled his remaining visits.
They are:
- October 2: Oklahoma
- October 9: UCLA
- October 16: Kansas
- October 23: Duke
- November 6: Iowa State (unofficial)
Barnes -- a 6-foot-6 wing from Ames, Iowa -- has already visited North Carolina officially.
Category: NCAAB
Capel lands another elite prospect for OU
Jeff Capel's quest to establish Oklahoma as a perennial Big 12 power on the same level as Texas and Kansas continued Sunday when Cameron Clark committed to the Sooners after a weekend visit to campus.
"It just felt right," Clark told Scout.com's Dave Telep. "It felt like the right situation to be in; that was the main thing."
Scout.com ranks Clark as the 30th-best prospect in the Class of 2010.
He's a 6-foot-6 wing from Texas who chose OU over Oklahoma State and Marquette.
Clark's commitment ensures Capel will sign a Top 30 prospect for the fourth straight year. He got Blake Griffin (No. 16) from the Class of 2007, Willie Warren (No. 19) from the Class of 2008, and Keith Gallon (No. 11) and Tommy Mason-Griffin (No. 27) from the Class of 2009 before landing Clark (No. 30) from the Class of 2010.
Fifteen of Scout.com's Top 30 prospects from the Class of 2010 are now off the board.
The top two prospects -- Harrison Barnes of Iowa and Brandon Knight of Florida -- remain uncommitted.
Category: NCAAB
Elite wing from Texas names three finalists
Cameron Clark trimmed his list to three schools Monday night, according to Scout.com.
They are:
- Marquette
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
Scout.com ranks him as the 30th-best prospect in the Class of 2010.
Category: NCAAB
Barnes cuts list; Xavier gains commitment
Harrison Barnes, Scout.com's top player in the Class of 2010, has narrowed his list of possible colleges.
That list (according to Scout.com):
- Duke
- Iowa State
- Kansas
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- UCLA
No timetable has been made for his final decision.
Meantime, Xavier got a commitment from a Top 100 prospect on Sunday. Justin Martin, a 6-foot-7 forward from Indianapolis, committed to the Musketeers just before leaving from a weekend visit to campus. Scout.com ranks him as the 87th-best prospect in the country.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Duke, Harrison Barnes, Iowa State, Justin Martin, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, UCLA, Xavier
Griffin split games of HORSE with the Subway dude
Former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin is making the rounds in New York this week, doing loads of promotional appearances in advance of Thursday night's draft. On Tuesday, he even found time to play that fat-guy-turned-skinny-guy from Subway in a game of H-O-R-S-E.
Or S-U-B-W-A-Y, actually.
And thank God, it was caught on tape.
(Click this link to check it out.)
According to Jared from Subway (who is still looking good, by the way), the sandwich seller (Jared) and Clipper savior (Blake) split a couple of games. And though this is startling, it should not be considered a big deal because A) Griffin won't make his millions shooting, and B) Jared isn't someone Griffin is likely to face in the Western Conference (unless the Grizzlies sign Jared to a 10-day contract, which is more likely than you think.)
Later Tuesday, Griffin appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon , at which point it became apparent that Fallon follows college basketball about as much as most people follow his TV show, which is to say not at all. He seemed shocked to learn that Blake has a brother named Taylor who also played at Oklahoma. Then Fallon challenged Blake to an awkward dunk contest and predictably lost.
So to recap: Blake Griffin dunks better than Jimmy Fallon but is a comparable shooter to Jared from Subway.
Consider than your official scouting report.
Category: NCAAB
Warren will return to OU
Freshman Willie Warren will pass on the opportunity to be a lottery pick and return to Oklahoma to give Jeff Capel an experienced and dynamic scorer with which he can surround a heralded recruiting class, multiple sources have confirmed to CBSSports.com.
It's a develop that should put the Sooners in the updated version of the preseason Top 25 (and one) .
Warren averaged 14.6 points and 3.1 assists per game as Blake Griffin's sidekick this season, but he showed a unique ability to score when Griffin went down with a concussion in February. Griffin missed most of the Texas game and all of the Kansas game, clearing the way for Warren to get 27 and 23 points in his absence. It's likely those numbers will appear more regularly next season, and Warren should be under consideration for All-America honors.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Oklahoma, Willie Warren
No surprise: Griffin will enter NBA Draft
DETROIT -- Blake Griffin will hold a news conference later Tuesday to announce his intention to enter the NBA Draft.
"(There will be) no surprises," a source close to the OU program told CBSSports.com early Tuesday. Consequently, Griffin has played his final game for the Sooners, who rode the CBSSports.com National Player of the Year to the Elite Eight of this season's NCAA tournament.
Griffin averaged 22.7 points and a nation-leading 14.4 rebounds as a sophomore.
The 6-foot-10 forward will almost certainly be the No. 1 pick in June's NBA Draft.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
Capel about to sign extension with OU
DETROIT -- Jeff Capel is on the verge of signing a more lucrative extension with Oklahoma, a source told CBSSports.com on Friday morning. Details of the deal are unclear, but a source said it should be done later Friday, and that an official announcement is expected sometime this weekend, if not sooner.
Capel just finished his third season at Oklahoma.
He's been to two NCAA tournaments and one Elite Eight.
This new deal is a result of Capel's emergence as one of the bright young coaches in the country. He received interest from a number of schools in the past month, among them Georgia and Arizona, to varying degrees.
Category: NCAAB
Tags: Jeff Capel, Oklahoma
Dear Gary (on Blake Griffin's future plans)
Here's Friday's Dear Gary ...
Dear Gary: Congratulations to Blake Griffin (for winning the straw poll). I heard he is staying. Is that true?
-- Killac
Stay?
Stay where?
At best, Griffin will stay at Oklahoma for another six or eight weeks. After that, he'll be gone, and if somebody really told you otherwise you should stop listening to them. Forever. Because they don't know what they're talking about.
Category: NCAAB
