3star_recruit

Looks like a coronation for King Okafor. What an outstanding student-athlete!

Maybe, maybe not. If you aren't a player the school is interested in, they won't be paying for your visit even if they haven't used their full allotment of visits. Do you really believe the top 100 schools paid for 1800 recruits to visit their campuses last year?

This Newborne kid is put together. http://www.chipola.edu/pictures/athl/baske...ola%20men12.jpg

When I grow up, I want to be Kevin Lisch.

http://mb11.theinsiders.com/fillinoisinsid...cID=20464.topic

Sorry, I was being a bit myopic. I was focusing on UConn and didn't realize that your comment was really about Duke. I agree, K must have had a brain cramp to leave those guys on the floor in the first half.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney0...tory?id=1775146 Calhoun said his philosophy on taking players out with two fouls stemmed from his time coaching at Northeastern from 1972 to 1986. His first 10 years there, the university president didn't know his name. But after reaching the NCAA Tournament five of his last six seasons there, Jim Calhoun became visible. "People are a lot nicer not because of how we played the game," Calhoun said. "But if we won it." Shades of Soderberger?

When you've got the talent that UConn has, you can afford to sit one of your stars with two fouls.

Apparently Rick Barnes at Texas and Mike Brey at Notre Dame are also committing career suicide.

Are you're telling me playing at Cameron is the only way to accomplish those goals? How about playing one of the other twenty-four teams in the top 25 who occasionally lose a non-conference game at home and and is willing to play a return game?

Like I said, other than TV exposure, this game has no redeeming value whatsoever. I understand that some posters would prefer to lose at Duke than lose at West Virginia or SMS. So would I. But if the only choice is to play at SMS or to play at Duke, then this program is in trouble. There are twenty-four other teams in the top 25 besides Duke. I can't believe all of them rejected our offer to play home and home.

If you're not a top 25 team, playing at Cameron is suicide.

Welcoming fights you have virutally no chance of winning doesn't make you courageous.

"it is a dangerous home game actually for duke." Sure, if Bryant goes off for 40 points. Otherwise, it's a 30 point blowout for the Dookies.

Any time we get to be on national or regional TV is a good thing. Other than that, this game has little redeeming value.

It isn't any different.

I saw Breon Allen play at the Eagles Invitational. He jumps very well and has a decent perimeter game for a kid his height but he is on the frail side. Allen tipped the scales at about 6'6 170 lb when I saw him. Rivals lists him at 6'7 175 lb so it doesn't appear that much has changed. He was only the third leading scorer on his team at about 8 ppg. Based on his athleticism and ball skills he deserves our interest but based on his frame and production he is a project. This is the kind of kid who does better on the AAU circuit where he can play his natural position. The JS Online lists him as a forward/center because of his height, which he most definitely is not.

"We have him in remedial school, coming from a broken home which doesn't promote education!!!!!!!!!!!" I don't think anybody posted that Tommie was from a broken home -- that's a little too personal for a basketball message board. I agree that posters who have implied that his family doesn't stress education have crossed the line. But when I cite the poverty-level conditions of East St. Louis and the extreme deficiency of that city's school system, that isn't meant to give Tommie a crutch it's just recognizing the obstacles that are in his way -- obstacles that Tommie is going to work his tail off to overcome. If Tommie can somehow qualify, Reggie would probably be an ideal mentor for him. Reggie, academically and athletically, is where Tommie could be in four years.

Outstanding point. A picture is worth a thousand words and the pictures that Tommie sees in poverty-stricken, educationally bankrupt East St. Louis ain't near as pretty as the view in say, Creve Coeur.

I just can't believe that Brad would be willing to roll the dice and wait until June for Tommie to qualify, given all the injury problems we've experienced over the last two seasons. If one of our starting guards goes down for any extended period of time that could mean the difference between a postseason bid and a .500 season.

"Eddie Sutton is a class person. I got the chance to meet him for a few minutes this year when they came to play Mizzou, and he held himself in high regard" Your average serial killer is a personable guy. Surely you have something more substantial than a few minutes with Eddie to support that he is a class guy.

About every two years a good program loses their best player. Good programs continue moving forward and when I say "good" I don't mean just the basketball factories like Duke and Kentucky. If the returning players step up then even the loss of an All-American can be absorbed. See Xavier, Gonzaga, Stanford etc.

"jump shot, dribble penetration, distribution skills, rebounding and defensive game that one could arguably say is more vast than Jordan at a comparable time." Just let it go, AJ. You're just making it worse.

Agreed. We won't have much choice.

And Jameer Nelson is 1/10th the player Michael Jordan was. So whose comparison was more appropriate? :-)