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aboz56

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    MLB.tv trial question

    in Pale Hose Talk

    Posted

    Has anyone else done the 5-day trial and canceled it? I sent an email to cancel to the listed address today but never got a confirmation back or anything. I was assuming it would be an automated thing, but I guess not.

    Gillispie hired at Kentucky

    in A and J's Olde Tyme Sports Pub

    Posted

    So UK hires a coach who got arrested for DUI's twice and is also a slimeball when it comes to recruiting. I guess good ol' Mitch Barnhardt had to go against his conservative ways and dig to the bottom of the barrel for this hire. You guys think Sampson is bad, Gillispie has gone on record to say he AVERAGES 8,000 text messages a month.

    One, probably two to transfer at IU

    in A and J's Olde Tyme Sports Pub

    Posted

    For the IU fans who read Soxtalk:

     

    Xavier Keeling made it official today and a radio station and a TV station in Indianapolis are reporting that Joey Shaw will be leaving the program as well. The Keeling transfer frees a scholarship for DeAndre Thomas and if Shaw does decide to leave, that will free a scholarship for the 2008 class.

    Recruiting Thread

    in A and J's Olde Tyme Sports Pub

    Posted

    EJ clears the air about his recruitment, sounds like he told the Illini coaching staff that he was going to consider IU after the coaching change...

     

    Gordon ‘I’m just looking forward’

    Hype surrounds Hoosier star wherever he goes

     

    By MIKE HUTSELL

    Mike.Hutsell@newsandtribune.com

     

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. —

     

    Eric Gordon is relaxed now.

     

    To him, it’s just a matter of what’s ahead. It’s not what happened.

     

    Perhaps the most talked about men’s basketball recruit in a much- heralded Class of 2007, the Indianapolis star doesn’t like to discuss much about the past.

     

    He’d rather not talk about his much-debated switch on a verbal committment from Illinois to a signed letter of intent Indiana University.

     

    “To me, that’s all behind me,” said Gordon. “I know there’s questions about that wherever I go. People want to talk about it, I know it’s going to happen. But for me, I’m working toward moving ahead.”

     

    At Tuesday’s McDonald’s All-American Media Day, Gordon was quiet, almost soft-spoken. Almost an exact opposite of the public perception of the North Central star — who said following his junior season that he would attend Illinois but then started visiting Indiana following the hiring of new head coach Kelvin Sampson in the summer before his senior year.

     

    After a full summer and fall of questions concerning the status of his commitment to the Illini, Gordon announced on the day of Indiana’s Midnight Madness that he his mind had switched and he would sign with his homestate Hoosiers on signing day.

     

    The changed sparked a nation-wide debate that spanned from message boards to national news outlets about his recruiting saga. The questions centered around him visiting other campuses while being committed to another school. About accepting phone calls from another coaching staff without letting the school he committed to know his decision was wavering.

     

    “The decisions that I made, I made because I thought they were what was best for me and for my family,” Gordon said. “When I said Illinois, it was what was best for me at that time.

     

    “I talked with my family when Indiana made its coaching change and I visited the school a few times. After I weighed everything, it just seemed more like the program that I wanted to be a part of. It was the most comfortable fit for me.”

     

    And about that perception that Gordon left Illinois hanging in the wind while deciding to make the change — he swears it was never the case.

     

    “The people that needed to know what I was doing, I was up front with,” Gordon said. “All of the coaches knew what I was doing. The people that were most upset about it were the ones that had no idea what was going on the whole time.”

     

    Those people were also likely the most vocal about the whole ordeal. Within days of his switch being made final, Gordon started receiving letters from the disgruntled fan base. It was within minutes of the choice that he started hearing media debates about the ethics of the whole process.

     

    “People were mailing me quotes from newspapers saying ‘this is what you said’”, and basically calling me a liar,” Gordon said. “That type of thing hurts when you hear it because I honestly wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. I was just doing what I thought was best for me.”

     

    And it’s those type of responses he says he’s expecting the first time he enters the Illinois campus as a Hoosier this upcoming season.

     

    “It will be like I’m on America’s most wanted or something,” Gordon said, slightly smiling at the notion. “I know they’re going to be ready for me. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it, but at the same time I’m going have to realize it’s just another game. It’s 40 minutes, just like every other game we’ll play.”

     

    That’s what Gordon wants to believe. That it is time to move ahead. He’d like to bury the perception of the Illini fan base and become just another Big Ten basketball player this upcoming season.

     

    That could happen, if Gordon was just another basketball recruit. The reality is that Gordon is a kid who the McDonald’s All-America media guide dubs “the best all-around high school basketball player in all of the country.”

     

    He’s a player likely to be the run-away winner of the Indiana Mr. Basketball vote after a senior season that saw him average 28.9 points per game while leading North Central to a 21-5 record and runner-up finish in the state finals.

     

    And it definitely won’t happen after nights like the one Gordon had on Feb. 1, when he poured 47 points on a Loyala (Ill.) Academy team featuring Michael Jordan’s two sons in front of a national-television audience on ESPN with Jordan sitting in attendance — a game in which the Panthers cruised, 88-47.

     

    “I knew he was there,” Gordon said about playing in front of Jordan that night. “I didn’t want to say I was putting on a show in front of him, but it was sort of neat that it happened that way. I didn’t get to talk to him that night, I would have loved to meet him but he got out of there before I had a chance.”

     

    All of that though, is part of the past Gordon is trying to learn from but at the same time move ahead.

     

    For now, he only worries about the things that are in his own hands. After Wednesday’s McDonald’s Game at Freedom Hall, he’ll focus on finishing out his senior year and picking up his diploma in May.

     

    After that, he’s got a scheduled appearance in Michael Jordan’s Roundball Classic this June and by the time the summer semester commences in Bloomington he’ll be ready for his full-time role as a Hoosier.

     

    “I’m ready,” he said. “I’m ready to get down there, to be a part of the program. To start practicing and play for a great coaching staff, to play at Assembly Hall in front of the fans.

     

    “It’s where I want to be. I’m just looking forward.”

    Altman Leaves Arkansas for Creighton

    in A and J's Olde Tyme Sports Pub

    Posted

    QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 26, 2007 -> 05:54 PM)
    Arkansas basketball fans are the single most delusional fan base in sports. Reading their message board, you will find comments like that their heading coaching spot is spot is the most coveted job in all of basketball. And it's not just one or two silly comments, it's the entire board. Some think their just going to go right in and pluck Bill Self from Kansas. I don't even know where they get this stuff from.

    Agree 100%

    Baltimore claims Sean Tracey

    in Pale Hose Talk

    Posted

    My first reaction when I read this was...who cares.

     

    This guy hasn't been a prospect for a while in my eyes, I'm glad he's gone. At this point to me all he did was fill a roster spot in Charlotte.

     

    Good riddance and learn how to throw strikes.

    Recruiting Thread

    in A and J's Olde Tyme Sports Pub

    Posted

    Second time in as many weeks that I saw EJ and he was really good, but not great last night. ECC had two guys and sometimes three guys on him the entire night yet he still found his way to 25 points.

     

    Credit Pete Trgovich, coach of East Chicago, for not letting Gordon beat them last night. They made NC's other guys step up and they just weren't as good as the supporting cast that ECC had. Moore was solid in my view, but not spectacular. Sure, he outscored EJ, but they were playing him straight up with a less physical and smaller player. When EJ switched on to him at times, he didn't do much at all. Gordon had to guard Angel Garcia, simply because NC didn't have anyone else who could stick with him.

     

    Rex, as far as the scouting report on Garcia, he looks like a high major player to me. He's big, yet he can step outside and shoot it and he can also get into the lane. I'd like to see him get stronger, but he should definitely be on IU's radar for 2008. Just not sure if he fits the bill of the type of big guy Kelvin is looking for simply because he doesn't seem to like to "bang" inside and does shoot a lot from the perimeter if given the chance. Nonetheless, I fully expect IU to make an offer. Pitino was there last night in the front row watching him and I could see him moving up to the top 50 range if he plays well this summer.

     

    As far as your mention of Ballard being my HS, no, I did not go there. A lot of press in the local paper today about Mackey and him going to IU. While the situation is a lot different since Mackey grew up in Ohio for the most part and didn't grow up a UK fan, I have a feeling that when UK hires a new coach they are going to make a strong push for Mackey and try to pry him away from IU. Hopefully it won't turn out like the EJ situation did, but you never know. I could see some similarities in the situation, yet since Mackey didn't really grow up in Kentucky, maybe he will stick with IU. He seems to be solid with them right now based on his comments in the papers here over the last week. He even wore socks with the IU logo on them in the game last night. I also heard that Bruce Pearl was very unhappy with the way KS handled the EJ situation and has stated that he will continue to make a push for Mackey.

     

    He Gawn, ECC did have a bigger crowd last night, but that is not uncommon when a team from the Region makes it down to state. They travel as well as anybody whenever that happens and they definitely were behind their team last night.

    Tubby new coach of gophers

    in A and J's Olde Tyme Sports Pub

    Posted

    Wow, a lot of you are totally out of touch when it comes to evaluating Tubby Smith. With my connections to the situation (which many of you whom I talk to know what I'm speaking of), I can say without reservations that Tubby Smith did an absolute poor job of recruiting at Kentucky. In fact, boosters have wanted him out for a long time now. He's swung and missed on recruiting for several years now. Lofton, while not highly regarded, wanted to come to Kentucky. He never even got attention from UK. His senior class that is graduating this year had absolutely nothing. His junior class has been a bust and he's really got no sophomores either. There was a ray of hope early this year with Jodie Meeks, Perry Stevenson and Derrick Jasper, but none of them were really immediate impact guys. He's consistently lost out on major recruits, which is not acceptable at Kentucky or any other major program. This year it was coming down to the wire with Jai Lucas and Patrick Patterson, neither of which I thought UK was going to land.

     

    Two of the best juniors in Kentucky, both top 50 players nationally, Scott Hopson and Bud Mackey, have already committed to Mississippi St and Indiana, respectively. The third junior from the state who is also a top 50 player, is heavily favoring Tennessee and Florida. You can't just let talent in your backyard get away like that.

     

    His style of play is the main reason nobody wants to play at UK. He likes to play in the 50's and 60's. Following a guy like Pitino, many UK fans want a return to those days. Tubby wasn't the man to give it to them. Remember, he won a title with a team that Pitino left in his lap. He's also a major jackass behind the scenes.

     

    So if all of those things are factors to be excited about, then it's a great hire for Minnesota. Bottom line is that the guy is not good at selling himself to recruits and if you can't sell a program like Kentucky, then how in the world do you expect this guy to sell kids on Minnesota. This was Tubby Smith leaving a situation where the heat was turned up to the point he couldn't take it anymore at a dream job for most coaches and taking the money elsewhere while he could still get it.

    Recruiting Thread

    in A and J's Olde Tyme Sports Pub

    Posted

    QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 06:29 PM)
    Hate him all you want, he'll be the best player in his class when it's all said and done.

    How closely do you follow recruiting? Have you seen any of this class play? I've been following Mayo since he was in 6th grade, when his uncle opened up ojmayo.org to promote him and the circus began. Physically, Mayo peaked in about 9th grade. He started playing in high school games at Rose Hill Christian in a small town in Kentucky in the 7th grade. He's been ranked the No. 1 player in the class for several years, but now after watching most of these guys play, I'm fairly confident in saying that he's not the best player in his class. He plays absolutely no defense at all, he's got an awful attitude and he hasn't really improved at all for a couple of years now and his body hasn't improved at all for about 3 years now.

     

    Whether or not he turns out to be the best player, who knows, but he's not on the right track from an off the court standpoint and he has horrible on the court habits that if not corrected, could make him the next Felipe Lopez. Out of the class as it currently sits, Singler, Beasley, Rose and Gordon are definitely better players at this point in time than Mayo and a good case can be made for Love as well.

    Recruiting Thread

    in A and J's Olde Tyme Sports Pub

    Posted

    QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 12:34 PM)
    Hey guys, be sure to check out Angel Garcia from East Chicago Central also if you go. He is on IU's radar for the 2008 class and has mentioned IU prominently.

     

    Also, if you catch the 3A game, let me know what you think of Evansville Bosse. They have two mid-level D-I prospects in Cardell McFarland and Matt Lander. I'm curious to know what you guys think.

     

    Thanks and enjoy!

    Spoke to a couple people in the know and Garcia wants to go to IU, but IU has other guys they are targeting ahead of him at this point. Phillip Jurick from Tennessee most notably who has IU and Tenn listed as co-leaders. I also spoke to someone who feels that Garcia is very raw and is slightly overrated by Rivals.

     

    Kyle Kuric, a junior from Evansville Memorial, is now getting major interest from IU. He's holding offers from Southern Illinois, Butler, Central Michigan, Evansville and Indiana State. IU and Purdue have yet to offer, but I've also heard that he is going to wait for an IU offer as long as he can because he really likes the Hoosiers. Both parents went to IU and word is Mom really wants him to go there.

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