Previewing our first opponent on Friday (Pacific)

Here's some background on our first opponent on Friday in the 2nd round game of the NCAAs in Austin, TX, which is Pacific.

Bob Thomason is retiring after this season (his 25th in Stockton). He's the winningest coach in Big West conference history with 414 wins. He's been their conference coach of the year 5 different times, most recently in 2005-06. They are 5-1 on neutral courts this season. They're 22-12 overall (13-5 in their conference). 

They shoot 45% from the field, 38% from the land of 3. At the line, they shoot just 69%. They have a 3 guard set they use. In their conference title game win over Irvine, their bench outscored Irvine's bench 31-2. 

That being said, this is a team that we should beat down with our quickness and if Reggie ever needed a breakout game, this would be it, because they have no one to stop our size down low. This is a game where I suspect our bigs are going to have monster games. 

Expect us to move on to the 3rd round on Sunday vs either Illinois or Colorado. 

2013 ACC Champions

As you know by now, we won the 2013 ACC tournament as well as winning the regular season title. It was a hellva an accomplishment for this team with a very special group of players like Shane Larkin (who was named MVP of the tournament), Durand Scott, Julian Gamble, Trey McKinney-Jones, Kenny Kadji, Reggie Johnson, etc. What a ride they have given us this year. 

Hopefully now we can keep the momentum going in the NCAAs starting on Friday in Austin, TX vs. Pacific. 

2013 National Signing Day

Yesterday, we did get a good, but not great class. The reason I don't call it a great class is because of the miss at DT, which is a need position, and we screwed up at Booker T. Washington High School last week with the stunt our staff pulled with pulling Kirk's 'ship at the championship parade. If you heard Ice Harris the next day, he tells you from the inside how this all went down and he tells you this was our staff's screw up. Harris said that we had some silents that we had or so we thought. One of those was Terrell Brooks, the JUCO DT out of TX, but Tuesday Night, he chose to go to Baylor. You could tell that the BTW fiasco, was going to be ugly and yesterday, that turned out to be the case.

Let me say that I'm a big fan of Al and what's he done so far. However, when you saw him on ESPNU yesterday, he looked like a beaten man. He knows that we screwed up at BTW and had better get this fixed very quickly with not only Ice, but the rest of the coaches in Miami-Dade, or next year, could be a replay of yesterday, only worse. When 6 announced yesterday, he told our staff basically FU, when he committed to FSU and Kirk 5 minutes later goes to Arkansas. Two major studs from a pipeline inner-city school lost because of the staff's stupidity. 

Next year, we're talking about not only BTW, but MNW (whom we did well with), and Central and I hope this staff learns from its screw-up at BTW last week. 

Now, to Keith Bryant. If you read Matt Porter's article in the Palm Beach Post yesterday after Bryant signed, the comments his brother made were pretty damning. Keith Bryant decided a month ago where he was going and when Jimbo Fisher made that visit to Bryant's home, that sealed our fate. You have to counter with Golden in that situation, not send assistants to his home. Another reason we  cooled on him after he de-committed from us was the fact that we were going after the JUCO DTs (Lavon Hooks and Toby Johnson). Lavon Hooks ultimately chose Ole Miss and Toby Johnson will decided on February 19th where he will go to College. The damage had been done, Bryant it turned out was out of reach a month ago. 

As for Jaynard Bostwick. This was a big loss early in the day yesterday, when he went to Florida. This is one we'd been after for a while now. In the end, Mom won out over Dad. It hurts more because we have his cousin, Armbrister on the team. Tough to take especially when you consider its a bitter rival like Florida that stole him away from us. 

Simply put, you can't have two stud DTs in your own backyard get away to bitter rivals like Florida and Florida State and that hurts that we don't have either Bryant or Bostwick today as CANES. 

Overall, we signed a good class. We signed 16 players, which to be fair to Golden, was the number he talked about in his final presser of the season. Some said, myself included, we would get 20, but 16, considering what we did, wasn't too bad. The down side was just 4 from South Florida (2 from Miami-Dade and 2 from Broward). The eye opener is that we signed 3 from NJ (Olsen, Knighton, Muhammad) and a 4th from NYC (Staten Island Tottenville Gus Edwards). Golden made it clear in his first presser back in 2010, we were going to be very active in the Northeast and yesterday proved that point. 

Now, there are going to have to be some fences mended at BTW and Golden has to nip this problem in the bud very quickly and with Mario and OC Coley aboard, come 2014, when the NCAA cuffs come off, we're going to come out like gangbusters and clean up South Florida. 

No letdown for Hoops squad

after last night's 71-47 thrashing of the Noles in front of another sellout at the BankUnited Center. We had the edge on the boards 44-32 and 15-2 on 2nd chance points, meaning we dominated on the offensive glass, in fact, of the 44 rebounds we had, 12 of them were offensive. We held FSU to 31% from the field (16-52) and 18% from the land of 3 (3-17). 

If there's a concern I have, its from the charity stripe. We were just 64% from there (9-14). In close games, we need to be better from there. FSU did go to the line 17 times and made 12 of them (71%). Fast break points is something we're going to have to defend a little better against. We were outscored there 9-4 in that category. We need more production from the bench, FSU's bench outscored our bench 28-19.

It was an impressive win, but we need to be better in a few areas, because if we want to make a deep run in March, we have to improve a few areas. More production from the bench, and better transition defense are two key areas we need to shore up. Reggie was just 1-8 from the field in 22 minutes of action. 5 points, 6 boards, but also had 2 blocks. In March, that won't cut it, Reggie has to be a bigger force down low and we must get him the ball and ride him as much as we can. 

Overall, big win for us, we'll enjoy it a little bit today, but come Wednesday night, its back to business, this time on the road in Blacksburg, VA vs the Virginia Tech Hokies at 9 p.m. 

As for the rankings this week, I don't think we'll hit the Top 10 yet, I think we'll hover around say 12-15 when the rankings come out. 

My take on the Coley hire and recruiting effects

The James Coley hire today was HUGE in many respects. First, from a recruiting perspective. This hire for us and we take away FSU's biggest weapon in South Florida. This assures that we'll be locking down South Florida for next 5-10 years easily.

Second, he and his family live in the area and he went to Norland (in the shadow of Sun Life Stadium).  Third, he and Mario (Cristobal) are very close and you add Coley to the mix, and once the NCAA cuffs are off of Golden, we're going to be a major force nationally in recruiting as evidenced in this small class already. 

For the recruits still on the fence, I want to piggyback what Peter Ariz posted earlier this evening on this point and give my take on how each situation plays out. 

• Thomas: I had said for weeks even before the Coley hire that "6" was a lock to be here. After the Coley hire, I think we've clinched "6". Unless something really unforeseen happens, "6" will be a CANE on NSD. Peter said that Denzel Perryman was with him for a good part of last night's game at the BUC vs Duke and when you add to the fact that Barrow and Golden have been on him for a long time now, and also the addition of Coley as well as another piece of information Ariz received, I think its 99% he chooses us.
• Collins: The atmosphere at last night's game really give us a major boost with Collins above all else here. According to Ariz, he was with Duke for most of the night, and his mother, who really wants him to come here, was also at the game. Has you've all seen already, Collins stood and threw up the "U" as students chanted his name and he soaked it all in. He was seen on campus with his mother well after the game was over. Ariz thinks he would be very surprised to see him anywhere other than Miami. However, I would add some caution here. This weekend, he's supposed to take an OV to Arkansas, who has been pushing very very hard to get him there, specifically Bielema, who's been wanting him since he was at Wisconsin, before bolting Madison for Fayetteville. Florida was also in the mix too for a while, however, with the addition of Coley, and the NCAA issues, now more and more likely on the back burner, our staff can minimize those issues a lot now. I think Florida is fading here and our hand has been strengthened dramatically in the last 24-48 hours here.  
• Stacy Coley: Ariz in his update, spoke with his Head Coach, Former CANE RB Donnell Bennett, and he told him that he really loved the atmosphere at the game last night. For him, this was a rare appearance because it seems to me he's keeping the process very close to the vest. To see him there, is big from our standpoint. Here's where James Coley can pay big dividends here. He's going to be more hands-on here. While Lawrence Dawsey has been handling Coley's recruitment to FSU, ever since Eddie Gran bolted north for the Queen City, and they are close. You have to tip your hat to Carroll here in the short time he's been on Stacy. The thing in our favor here is  that Bennett wants him at UM and I agree with Ariz on this, it will the factor that puts us over the top here. I think its more and more likely Stacy Coley will be a CANE on NSD. 
• Bryant: Now, here's where Coley isn't a factor. Odell Haggins has been the one handling Bryant's recruitment for a couple years now for FSU. Ariz said that D had a visit with him today at his H.S. in Delray. In our favor is Golden, who, I think is the best closer in the country and with the disarray at FSU this off-season and the momentum building for us in the 24-48 hours, I put the chances of Bryant coming here at 75/25. 
• Grace: Yes, Charlie Strong is making a (pardon the pun), strong push to get him to go to Louisville, however, in the end, I'm with Ariz on this, I'd be stunned, if Grace isn't a CANE at 2 p.m. on NSD when he announces on ESPN. His teammates (Lewis and Howard) are on the roster and you can be sure, they're in his ear even now as we speak. 
• Edwards: A wild card that Ariz mentions here is Staten Island (NY) Tottenville RB Augustus "Gus" Edwards. He will visit here on 2/1 for his final OV. He's a Syracuse commit right now (committed on 7/10/12). He was looking at FSU before the big bombshell news that Coley was coming here. Coley was his recruiter in Tallahassee. This is one that needs to be watched closely here. I would disagree with Ariz here on the point that Edwards was going to come here. However, with the addition of Coley, I'm tending to go more and more with the possibility of Edwards and Collins coming here. If we were to add Edwards, in addition to the three recruits from NJ already, it would back up the statement Golden made in his very first news conference when he was introduced as the new CANES coach back in 2010, we will be very active in the Northeast and be a major presence up there. 

We'll see how things play out on NSD, but I think we're in very good shape here. 

Recruiting for week of 1/21/13

This weekend, we had a few visitors come in for Official Visits. Most of them loved their time here, and hopefully it'll pan out come National Signing Day on February 6th. 

We did get a huge pickup this weekend with the signing of Ufomba Kamalu from Butler CC in Kansas. He's a big boy at 6'5" 280 and the staff expects him to be on the D-Line and move over to DT. Now, what does this mean from a standpoint of Keith Bryant and Jaynard Bostwick? Probably not much at all. We need more depth on the D-Line, especially on the interior, and I think this is the immediate impact player we've been looking for on the JUCO level for months now, since we lost out on Lavon Hooks and Toby Johnson. 

This was the weekend where we're going to start to get an idea oif who's coming and who's not. Next weekend, we have two players coming in, but from the DC area: LB Yannick Ngakoue from Washington DC Friendship Academy and DT Donta Wilkins from Dumfries (VA) Potomac. With Ngakoue, this is his last OV he's taking. I would suspect though that this is a target Florida State is after hard, and more so if they don't get Matthew Thomas from Miami (Booker T. Washington). Keep this in mind, his teammate from last year is Eddie Goldman, who went to FSU last year. Maryland is in the mix too, and they're going to do everything they can to keep him home, especially with the move to the Big 10 in 2014. 

As for Wilkins, this is a kid that is committed to Virginia. However, with the visit here, I would suspect its a free trip for him, but this is a sleeper to watch, especially if we don't end up getting either Bryant or Bostwick. He's 6'2" 305 and a run stuffer and a pass rusher, which we need and like Ngakoue, this is his last OV in the process. 

If Grace goes to Louisville on Thursday, then look for this staff to focus hard on Ngakoue as that 2nd LB with Thomas. This coming weekend is going to be important here. 

My take on the NOA

I read the CBS Sports.com report and here's my take on it. 

From a football perspective, I don't think you're going to see anymore post-season bans imposed on the Football end. However, you will see Scholarships reduced over the next 2-3 years. However, from the Basketball end, it might a totally different story. I think there's a chance you might see a post-season ban and limits on visits and contact with recruits. 

With that being said, if you figure the NOA is officially released next week, you then have the 90 day window to address the allegations in the NOA in writing, which would put it at April 15-16th, two days after the Spring Game at Sun Life Stadium. Then, as the source in the CBS Sports story mentioned, you're looking at Mid-June for the CANES brass to appear before the COI (Committee on Infractions). 4-6 months after that, a final ruling. which would be at the earliest October 15th, but no later than near the end of this year (December 15th). That would be right in the middle of recruiting for the '14 class. 

The way I think this plays out. I don't think we're going to use the full 90 days, these in both the Hecht Center and in the Ashe Building, really want to get this done, right away and put this behind us ASAP. The new NCAA penalties take effect on August 1st, and there's a possibility that we might get hit with the new tougher sanctions here. Though, I don't expect that to be the case when its all over.