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Signing Day

Who is Kendrick De Luna of TMI Episcopal Academy of San Antonio,( who is reporting De Luna has been offered a spot at TU; don't know if it's a scholarship offer or a walk-on offer).
 
DeLuna class of 22. Has a bunch of middle to upper level offers including Illinois and OSU
 
When is signing day? Anything new on getting a big man
I think you asked earlier today in Hurricane Alley, which I answered. Here's the story from today...

On Wednesday, April 14 -- the first day of the regular basketball signing period -- Tulsa's three additional commitments became official signees.

 
I think you asked earlier today in Hurricane Alley, which I answered. Here's the story from today...

On Wednesday, April 14 -- the first day of the regular basketball signing period -- Tulsa's three additional commitments became official signees.

Let's face it....If our last several signing classes had contained a Horne, a Griffin, a Pritchard,
and a Chapman, with a decent to good "BIG" to be named later, we wouldn't have been in
the situation we were in the last half of this past season....Depending on the quality of that
"Big", in terms of a rim protector and rebounder, this could be a really good class....One
Caveat, however.... Haith can't ignore them like he did most of his '20 class freshmen.....That
class could have never have been here, given the way he didn't use them, and it would not
have changed our season, or the looks of the program now.....Only Idowu survives to prove
that the class actually existed......A pity on several fronts.....
 
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Let's face it....If our last several signing classes had contained a Horne, a Griffin, a Pritchard,
and a Chapman, with a decent to good "BIG" to be named later, we wouldn't have been in
the situation we were in the last half of this past season....Depending on the quality of that
"Big", in terms of a rim protector and rebounder, this could be a really good class....One
Caveat, however.... Haith can't ignore them like he did most of his '20 class freshmen.....That
class could have never have been here, given the way he didn't use them, and it would not
have changed our season, or the looks of the program now.....Only Idowu survives to prove
that the class actually existed......A pity on several fronts.....
Urbancic survived and I do have hope for him. Looked like a good piece of the puzzle. Now for the third year in a row I am waiting for Earley to explode on the scene. We need someone to put some (non-fouling) fire into him. Maybe if the new rule allows 6 fouls, he will have a shot.
 
I think fouling out is the dumbest thing in basketball. I realize that not having the rule would re-create 90’s basketball. And that’s a good thing.
 
Urbancic survived and I do have hope for him. Looked like a good piece of the puzzle. Now for the third year in a row I am waiting for Earley to explode on the scene. We need someone to put some (non-fouling) fire into him. Maybe if the new rule allows 6 fouls, he will have a shot.
Unless Earley magically turns it on like Jackson did in his Junior year, I just don't see it happening with him. He plays heavy for his size.
 
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Unless Earley magically turns it on like Jackson did in his Junior year, I just don't see it happening
with him....He plays heavy for his size.
Yes....His career so far has consisted of injuries and regression.....The dude has one forte...He is
an amazing rebounder, a skill that TU needs so desperately.....Sadly, he has not displayed the
other skills that can keep him on the floor to do it......
 
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Let's face it....If our last several signing classes had contained a Horne, a Griffin, a Pritchard,
and a Chapman, with a decent to good "BIG" to be named later, we wouldn't have been in
the situation we were in the last half of this past season....Depending on the quality of that
"Big", in terms of a rim protector and rebounder, this could be a really good class....One
Caveat, however.... Haith can't ignore them like he did most of his '20 class freshmen.....That
class could have never have been here, given the way he didn't use them, and it would not
have changed our season, or the looks of the program now.....Only Idowu survives to prove
that the class actually existed......A pity on several fronts.....
Senior, I find it a little interesting that so many on this board criticized
Frank for playing too many players early in the season causing us to lose games to lessor teams and hurting our chances for post season. This year maybe the opposite and now everyone complains, why didn't we play more players.
Haith is the coach and maybe he is that bad. However he evaluated the best players through practice and decided which gave him the best chance of winning. Maybe the guys that never played and entered the portal were all that; but I suspect they were not ready for division 1 major ball.
 
I was a big proponent of not subbing 4 or 5 at a time like he did for several years. This year's substitution patterns were much better as far as numbers go. I do think he could have inserted one Freshman at a time for extended minutes and gotten a better idea of how they played "under the lights" (He did this with Williams) Using one of them with the regulars when you have a weaker opponent down would not hurt.

I was more concerned with the terrible regression of the defense last year and the poor execution of an offensive scheme which seemed to center on missing a record number of three point shots or forced shots at the 30 sec buzzer.
 
Yes....His career so far has consisted of injuries and regression.....The dude has one forte...He is
an amazing rebounder, a skill that TU needs so desperately.....Sadly, he has not displayed the
other skills that can keep him on the floor to do it......
Early's biggest downside, IMO, is his inability to grasp the concepts of our defensive rotations. His few minutes this year, he made glaring mistakes on that end of the floor. I think he has the potential to be really good offensively. He's got decent feet on that end of the floor. It's weird how he has good footwork on the offensive end and his feet seem glued to a spot on the defensive side. Early has good hands as well on the offensive side. What TU lacks is a bona fide big mad development coach. I know Kwanzaa is working with the post players but he was a guard playing small forward and there is just no way you can develop post players with that philosophy.
 
I was a big proponent of not subbing 4 or 5 at a time like he did for several years. This year's substitution patterns were much better as far as numbers go. I do think he could have inserted one Freshman at a time for extended minutes and gotten a better idea of how they played "under the lights" (He did this with Williams) Using one of them with the regulars when you have a weaker opponent down would not hurt.

I was more concerned with the terrible regression of the defense last year and the poor execution of an offensive scheme which seemed to center on missing a record number of three point shots or forced shots at the 30 sec buzzer.
Yes....That's a good review of what happened....The preconference games did leave me scratching
my head a little bit about the large amount of playing time given to Haywood, when he showed
almost none of the skills he was attributed to have.....His threes were from too far out, and were
way too far off, and many were taken outside the flow of the offense.....As the season progressed,
it became obvious there weren't any alternatives to him that could play defense...

Looking at the season as a whole, the team had weaknesses that couldn't be hidden....We didn't
have any one player or combination of players that could defend inside, rebound on the defensive
end, or present a viable threat on the offensive end.....Our centers seemed to get more over-
whelmed as the season progressed.....

Our PG play was spotty....Joiner had both good and bad games at PG.....He was a really tough
rebounder, a good defender, and could shoot the three quite well, particularly when he played
the SG position...He did have the habit of dribbling away the shot clock without initiating any
offensive play....And, of course, too many TOs...KES needs to improve his court vision to become
any thing close to an adequate PG...Hard to do at this late date....Good PG play would NOT have
made this a good shooting ball club, but it certainly would have helped make it a better one ....

While we belly ached about in-game coaching decisions, the over riding coaching failures of
this past season may well have been in the recruiting process itself....Competent, consistent
play from the PG and Center positions would have made this a totally different ball club.....
 
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What TU lacks is a bona fide big man development coach. I know Kwanzaa is working with the post players
but he was a guard playing small forward and there is just no way you can develop post players with that philosophy...
I agree wholeheartedly......In thinking back however, Danny Manning who gained his fame for the
development of big men at KU, couldn't seem to get it done at TU.....WHO and at what TALENT
LEVEL you are given to work with may well be one of the big difference makers.....
 
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Senior, I find it a little interesting that so many on this board criticized
Frank for playing too many players early in the season causing us to lose games to lessor teams and hurting our chances for post season. This year maybe the opposite and now everyone complains, why didn't we play more players.
Haith is the coach and maybe he is that bad. However he evaluated the best players through practice and decided which gave him the best chance of winning. Maybe the guys that never played and entered the portal were all that; but I suspect they were not ready for division 1 major ball.
It's actually not that interesting at all. In the past, he's had a history of benching some of his best players (DaQuan Jeffries) to get minutes for mediocre upperclassmen (Geno Artison). This year, the mediocre upperclassmen (KES, Haywood) got extended run while anyone with a shred of upside rotted on the bench.
 
Is Haith really renewing the scholarship for Haywood? That is the guy that needs to go along with the old guy that is always talking.
 
Good Haith press conference. I really liked & agree with his comments about Pritchard. He also left the door open for Bryce.......we might sign one more or two more.

His comments about transfers are enlightening. It really is a new world for football and basketball coaches. I think hiring coaches that players like & respect should be an even bigger factor to consider. A JD Barnett or Doug Wojcik will have a much lower chance of success in an open transfer world. Conversely, ADs better be prepared in advance to replace popular coaches quickly. A popular coach leaving can devastate a program if a good replacement isn’t hired quickly. Once kids enter the portal, it’s hard to get them back.
 
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Yes....That's a good review of what happened....The preconference games did leave me scratching
my head a little bit about the large amount of playing time given to Haywood, when he showed
almost none of the skills he was attributed to have.....His threes were from too far out, and were
way too far off, and many were taken outside the flow of the offense.....As the season progressed,
it became obvious there weren't any alternatives to him that could play defense...

Looking at the season as a whole, the team had weaknesses that couldn't be hidden....We didn't
have any one player or combination of players that could defend inside, rebound on the defensive
end, or present a viable threat on the offensive end.....Our centers seemed to get more over-
whelmed as the season progressed.....

Our PG play was spotty....Joiner had both good and bad games at PG.....He was a really tough
rebounder, a good defender, and could shoot the three quiet well, particularly when he played
the SG position...He did have the habit of dribbling away the shot clock without initiating any
offensive play....And, of course, too many TOs...KES needs to improve his court vision to become
any thing close to an adequate PG...Hard to do at this late date....Good PG play would NOT have
made this a good shooting ball club, but it certainly would have helped make it a better one ....

While we belly ached about in-game coaching decisions, the over riding coaching failures of
this past season may well have been in the recruiting process itself....Competent, consistent
play from the PG and Center positions would have made this a totally different ball club.....
The clearest differences when we made our 6 game run were:

1. Idowu was scoring consistently inside. As the season progressed, he ended up missing the same shots he was making during the run.
2. Austin Richie was making 3s consistently.

That's what you really need offensively right? Both an inside and outside threat? As the season went along, Idowu really fell apart and we had no inside presence whatsoever on the offensive end.
 
The clearest differences when we made our 6 game run were:

1. Idowu was scoring consistently inside. As the season progressed, he ended up missing the same shots he was making during the run.
2. Austin Richie was making 3s consistently.

That's what you really need offensively right? Both an inside and outside threat? As the season went along
Idowu really fell apart and we had no inside presence whatsoever on the offensive end.
Yes....Both had good early offensive runs, but eventually the better AAC teams learned how to defend
Idowu....He had been a very average rebounder/defender all the while....Richie had trouble on defense,
and he only averaged 2.1 rebounds per game....His 2 0r 3 "threes" came at a pretty high price....Sadly
we had no adequate replacements for either player....
 
Good Haith press conference. I really liked & agree with his comments about Pritchard. He also left the door open for Bryce.......we might sign one more or two more.

His comments about transfers are enlightening. It really is a new world for football and basketball coaches. I think hiring coaches that players like & respect should be an even bigger factor to consider.

One thing about the portal is almost dead certain.....If this transfer frenzy continues going forward,
aren't coaches going to look at developmental (not ready to play varsity) players differently?? I would
think that the first year is about all that you have any guarantee that the player will be in your program...
Even red shirting a not quite ready to play "Big" would not guarantee the player's continued presence...

Won't we see players who would have earned a D-1 scholarship on potential in the past who fall into
that category have to go the Academy orJUCO route to get an eventual D-1 scholarship?

I'm confused!!!
 
If ORU had faltered in their Conference tournament, there would have been a line of cars outside the Mabee Center wanting to talk "Portal" to a couple of ORU players. P5 scavengers........ This is going to ruin any Mid-Major program who in the past has been smart enough to sign sleepers who become All-Conference Freshmen. They are now attacked by the P5 wolves immediately.
 
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The clearest differences when we made our 6 game run were:

1. Idowu was scoring consistently inside. As the season progressed, he ended up missing the same shots he was making during the run.
2. Austin Richie was making 3s consistently.

That's what you really need offensively right? Both an inside and outside threat? As the season went along, Idowu really fell apart and we had no inside presence whatsoever on the offensive end.


You are correct about was happening when we were successful he was also giving Jackson consistent time with Richie.

However what happened wasn't that Idowu suddenly missed or was defended different. It wasn't that Richie shot less. It was that neither really saw minutes after the second Houston game and certainly not together. Idowu isn't a good defender though and has limitations. That Houston game was also the end of Williams development/play and Shumates only serious playing time where we saw what he could possibly do at this level.

Following that game I think maybe they all got one or two games with decent minutes.

Part of what drove me up the wall with Richie is that you can tell Haith stressed the fake shot and drive to him, when we needed him bombing away to draw defenses out. So our outside shooting became our two transfers launching and shooting lower percentages and the defense never concerned with our perimeter offense.
 
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