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| | Tuesday, November 28 Sendek's sensational offseason continues | ||||||||
| By Andy Katz ESPN.com How about Herb Sendek for comeback coach of the year? And he hasn't even coached a game yet. Sendek first got a new contract from a new athletics director Lee Fowler in the offseason after it looked like he could be under some scrutiny for failing to get to the NCAA Tournament in four seasons. Then, Sendek went out and completed one of the top 10 recruiting classes a few days into the week-long early signing period that began Wednesday. The Wolfpack signed potential superstar shooting guard Julius Hodge out of St. Raymond's in the Bronx. The rest of the class could start with Hodge in center Jordan Collins (DeMatha High/Hyattsville, Md.), small forward Levi Watkins (Montrose Christian High/Rockville, Md.), point Dovonte Edwards (Chapel Hill High/N.C.) and power forward Josh Powell (Riverdale High, Ga.). "The recruiting reflects momentum and progress in our program," Sendek said. Sendek, ever the presidential one in his reserved comments, has connected well with recruits over the past few seasons. He signed high-profile players like Damien Wilkins, Adam Harrington (who transferred to Auburn), Marshall Williams (who left the program), Anthony Grundy and McDonald's All-American Scooter Sherrill. "What we're trying to do is find interchangeable players, players who are versatile," Sendek said. The secret to Sendek is that he is personable, even though he doesn't always come across that way to the public. He's in a tough spot on Tobacco Road under the shadow of Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and the specter of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Wolfpack seem to be always reminded of the 1983 title game and the late and loved Jimmy Valvano. But Sendek has been able to use the Wolfpacks' history to his advantage in luring some of the top regional talents. Having to recruit to a new 19,000 pro arena has helped, as well. This was the first recruiting class that Sendek could take to the arena, rather than show them a hole in the ground or a diagram. The hoopla over this recruiting class isn't expected to overshadow the Wolfpack in the same way Seton Hall's top 10 recruiting class dominated the talk about the program last November. The Pirates shook off the talk about this year by running to the Sweet 16 in March. N.C. State has the same potential with Cliff Crawford the likely starter at the point, Grundy at shooting guard, Wilkens, Sherrill and a trio of Ron Kelley and Kenny Inge as well as Damon Thornton, assuming he is released to play with the team again after being suspended for running afoul with the law. "Our present players are concentrating on the season at hand and I don't think they'll get caught up in next year," Sendek said. "This recruiting class won't take center stage." Not yet. That honor goes to Sendek for now. Recruiting fallout Most coaches, speaking on condition of anonymity, are split on what they would do if they had a similar situation to Dan Monson at Minnesota. Monson is in a must-get situation with Duluth (Minn.) forward Rick Rickert. His parents want him to go to Minnesota, but Rickert committed to Arizona. They didn't sign the national letter of intent Wednesday and still hadn't as of Friday. The early-signing period ends next Wednesday. Monson, who can't comment specifically on Rickert, said he doesn't have a pattern of recruiting players who have already committed. But, in Monson's defense, this case is unique. The family is split and the family is almost willing the Gophers' staff to continue the recruitment. Minnesota hasn't, at least to ESPN.com's knowledge, done anything against the rules other than continue with their weekly phone call. Schools had unlimited calling Monday through Wednesday. Minnesota was on the phone with Rickert until 5 a.m. one of the nights. Arizona is understandably frustrated, but the Wildcats shouldn't fret yet. If Rickert does want to attend and his parents don't sign the letter than he can still go to Arizona and receive a scholarship. They just may have to sweat out the whole season and late signing period. Plenty of players still attend a school if they don't sign a letter, like UCLA's Jason Kapono, who did that two years ago. "If the kid and his parents are on the same page then I don't think you should keep recruiting him," said one assistant. "But if there's a split and the parents want you to recruit him then you might have to. It's a tough call." Rickert hasn't made any overtures that he's going to wait until the spring just yet. Meanwhile, Louisville escaped a scare when Houston-area point Carlos Hurt (who moved to Louisville over the summer) pulled back his decision to put off his commitment until the spring and signed with the Cardinals. Minnesota didn't harass local Minneapolis shooting guard Alan Anderson when he committed and then signed with Michigan State. Barnes gets burned While Minnesota is still recruiting Rickert, Mississippi never had the chance to keep Keith Langford. Langford, a guard from Crowley, Texas, committed to Mississippi in June, but the commitment was regarded as soft all summer. What does that mean? That Langford was fair game to everyone else in the country with the Rebels the easy target to beat. Langford ended up signing with Kansas. "It?s a tough business," Mississippi coach Rod Barnes said. "If you get a commitment, you end up being a sitting duck. Teams can say anything. You're the only team to beat." Barnes said when he got the commitment from Langford he stopped recruiting shooting guards. Now he'll have to get one in the spring. "I made a commitment to him and he made one to me," Barnes said. "I called and wished him well. I don't have any hard feelings but it did leave us in a bad situation. For my sake, I wish we would have known earlier." Barnes said the toughest thing is the time spent recruiting a player that is wasted when the commitment doesn't stick. "It's unfortunate," Barnes said. "We?ll just go after it in the spring."
Lost amid the Coaches vs. Cancer opener is the NABC Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. and the return of Buzz Peterson to Carolina. Ironically, Peterson was supposed to host his alma mater when the Tar Heels open up Appalachian State's new arena Nov. 17. Instead, Peterson will coach Tulsa against Arizona State Friday in the opener, hoping to play North Carolina Saturday night if the Tar Heels beat Winthrop. If the matchup occurs, Peterson doesn't have to worry about motivation. Tulsa lost to North Carolina in the Elite Eight in the South last March. "It's not going to be hard to motivate them because they know how close they were,'" Peterson said. "But we better get past Arizona State first." Peterson said he still had to buy a ton of tickets for the Appalachian State-North Carolina game for family and friends in the Boone, N.C., area. The Golden Hurricane could be as quick as last year, albeit not as experienced at small forward and center. Peterson said he'll still stay small with Greg Harrington, Dante Swanson and Marcus Hill on the perimeter with David Shelton and Kevin Johnson, a former home schooled player, inside. Shelton led the Hurricane in scoring off the bench last season. The depth will largely consist of Charlie Davis, LSU transfer Marcus Ledoux, freshman Jack Ingram and suspended center DeAngelo McDaniel, who was expected to come off the disciplinary list for this weekend's games. Peterson wasn't thrilled about playing a game 19 practices into the season, especially with a new team. Arizona State's Rob Evans is entering his third season and he's not thrilled, either. He said the Sun Devils were scheduled into the game before he got there from Mississippi. "I'm not in favor of it," Evans said. "I'm looking at our kids and wondering if we're ready for this. Then I realized we really shouldn't be, because we've only practiced for a few weeks." North Carolina, which will likely start freshman Adam Boone at the point, although Joseph Forte will log some time bringing up the ball, will have a trapezoid free-throw lane at the Dean Smith Center. The NCAA is experimenting with the wider lane in exempted tournaments. "Why are we tampering with the game?" Evans said. "The rules have always been on the book, all they have to do is enforce them." The trapezoid lane wasn't met with enthusiasm at the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament Thursday night. The Preseason NIT will use the wider lane, too. "I don't like it," Villanova coach Steve Lappas said. "In fact, I hate it. We keep messing around with the game. We finally got a real good center in the low post (Kentucky transfer Michael Bradley) and we've got put him four feet further from the basket." Lappas had his staff put lines on the court during practice to get the players used to the lane. But he's worried that officials will call more three-second calls.
The buzz around Texas isn't limited to George W. Bush. Word in the state is Billy Tubbs is back. After two straight subpar seasons at Texas Christian, Tubbs could be the sleeper team to emerge out of the Western Athletic Conference. "We're quicker and deeper and more athletic than we've ever been," said a confident Tubbs. The reason for Tubbs' optimism rests with his newcomers. Greedy Daniels, the once wild point at UNLV, has settled down since arriving in Fort Worth. "Everyone will be shocked at that boy," Tubbs said. "He's quick and making plays like we've never had at TCU. He can be really good, and at times bad, but he sees the floor real well and can create." But here's the shocker, Tubbs is playing Daniels at shooting guard. The defensive stopper is no longer a lock to be a playmaker. Tubbs wants Daniels' activity, but he doesn't necessarily need him handling the ball. Thomas McTyer will instead start at the point with Ryan Carroll returning on the wing. Tubbs is going with 6-9 junior college transfer Marlon Dumont at one forward and 6-10 Derrick Davenport in the middle. Davenport is more of a defensive pest but Dumont is the offensive force at power forward that the Horned Frogs missed when Lee Nailon left. TCU's strength is its depth with Tubbs' ability to bring Myron Anthony, Bingo Merriex and Larry Allaway as the first three off the bench on the wings. Estell Laster and Nucleus Smith will rotate in, as well. "Dumon's a helluva dunker," Tubbs said. "We'll keep juggling this lineup." Tubbs actually has the luxury of redshirting two players -- James Davis and Corey Valsin. Does that mean he's returning to TCU when the Horned Frogs enter Conference USA? "Buzz Peterson has five years at Tulsa and a big buyout, so I'll coach five to 10 more," quipped Tubbs about Peterson's connection to TCU athletics director Eric Hyman. "I got golfed out this summer and now it's too cold to golf so you've got to coach. I plan on being here. I brought in four kids and we're signing possibly four freshmen." But first things first. Tubbs has some payback games this season, notably Princeton (he lasted four minutes against the Tigers last season), Butler, Tulsa and Fresno State in the WAC. Weekly Chatter | ALSO SEE Have a question for the Weekly Word? Missed the Word? | ||||||||
