ITS senior writer Larry Lewis counts down the fop five TU basketball recruiting classes since 1980, starting with 1993.
LINK: No. 5 - 1993 class
LINK: No. 5 - 1993 class
Top TU Recruiting Classes since 1980 -- #5, the 1993 class -- FREE CONTENT
- Thread starter Chris Harmon
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With all the recent Tubby Smith talk, this is a timely article. For those too young to have experienced the Tubby era, I consider JD Barnett & his tenure similar to Doug Wojcik & his tenure. Both coaches did a mediocre job & turned off fans. Attendance dwindled during both eras. Wojcik had better recruiting assistants, so Tubby had a tougher program to take over than Danny Manning did when he arrived.
Tubby came in & recharged enthusiasm for TU basketball. He was a breath of fresh air after 6 years of Barnett. Tubby raised attendance & expectations. Tubby's signing of Shea Seals was a huge event. It signaled another NCAA run.
Before Tubby, Tulsa's all time NCAA tournament record was 1-6. Tubby went 4-2, with 2 consecutive sweet sixteen appearances. Tubby turned down OU ( OU's AD, Donnie Duncan, was not happy) & Houston ( then a very good program in the SWC) after the first Sweet Sixteen.
Tubby later got a verbal commitment from Michael Ruffin. Steve Robinson was left with a full cupboard to keep the run going for a couple years, before he left ( fortunately for TU) & Bill Self took over & began his great run.
Tubby came in & recharged enthusiasm for TU basketball. He was a breath of fresh air after 6 years of Barnett. Tubby raised attendance & expectations. Tubby's signing of Shea Seals was a huge event. It signaled another NCAA run.
Before Tubby, Tulsa's all time NCAA tournament record was 1-6. Tubby went 4-2, with 2 consecutive sweet sixteen appearances. Tubby turned down OU ( OU's AD, Donnie Duncan, was not happy) & Houston ( then a very good program in the SWC) after the first Sweet Sixteen.
Tubby later got a verbal commitment from Michael Ruffin. Steve Robinson was left with a full cupboard to keep the run going for a couple years, before he left ( fortunately for TU) & Bill Self took over & began his great run.
J.D. and Wojcik were a lot alike. Wojcik recruited a little better. J.D. was a better bench coach. But personalities were very similar.
Funny that I heard Wojcik, when he was first hired, joking about hearing J.D. stories, I'm sure from Izzo, who worked at TU for a month under J.D.
Funny that I heard Wojcik, when he was first hired, joking about hearing J.D. stories, I'm sure from Izzo, who worked at TU for a month under J.D.
Both J.D and Wojcik were Jekyll and Hyde when dealing with media. Great one day, then psychotic the next day. Both could be really mean for no good reason.
I asked a good, non-threatening question in his last season after a win over his old school, VCU, and J.D. was just unbelievably rude. The day before, he had quickly returned a call and was great.
When he was hired, one publication called him a poor man's Bobby Knight, the most likely to throw a chair.
When he was hired, one publication called him a poor man's Bobby Knight, the most likely to throw a chair.
