Path to the Hall of Fame

[randy]

4/1/94
(3) #15 LSU - 70, (2) #14 Auburn - 73
(1) #5 Iowa - 71, (2) #8 Kansas St - 57

4/3/94
(1) #5 Iowa - 70, (2) #14 Auburn - 57

Iowa successfully defended their national title!

[randy]

Dana Cook
- 2nd Team All-American
- Southland Conference Player of the Year
- Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year
- Southland Conference 1st Team All-Conference

Jason Carr
- Southland Conference 1st Team All-Conference

David Coulibaly
- Southland Conference 1st Team All-Conference

I was awarded Southland Conference Coach of the Year

[randy]

4/4/94

I decided to cut SG Todd Reed, as his GPA (1.5) did not improve despite 1 year of tutoring. Too bad for him.


4/9/94

Sam Houston's team prestige improved to 10 (previous: 4).

The "best" job offer I got was from Savannah St (team prestige: 13). I decided to stay with Sam Houston St

Due to the slot vacated by Reed, we can extend a scholarship offer
- 1st choice: JuCo PG Justin McClinton (#28 national)
- 2nd choice: JuCo PG Flye Griffin (#50 national)

We first visited McClinton and offered him the scholarship


4/16/94

McClinton does not see himself playing for me. We turned our attention to Griffin

My entire coaching staff will be back next season


4/23/94

Flye Griffin signs LOI


4/30/94

My petition for a budget increase was denied

We say goodbye to Brian Johnson, a SR walkon who played 2 seasons for the school. His career stats: 57 games (6 starts), 15 mpg, 4.8 ppg, 90% FT, 2.7 apg. He graduates with a GPA of 3.4

[randy]

5/1/94

We decided to buy only the Great Plains Basic Report, as we have quite a number of scholarships to fill this season

I requested my AD to schedule good teams at home

Tutoring for everyone with GPA < 3.0; study more for those with GPA above 3.0

For those with good grades already (5 players with GPA of 4.0), I instructed them to change their style of play to suit our inside game (drive and/or post up)


6/5/94

None of my players have decided to transfer out this year. But I will try to see if there are good players available in the transfer pool, and contact them.

More tutoring / studying / change of playing style


6/9/94

2 players from the transfer piqued my interest:

- SG Charles Burditt, JR, Butler, 4.5.5.0 stars!, rank #15 in his class, 1993 Norton award, 23.2 ppg, 40% 3PT, 1.7 GPA
- SF Aki Lewis, SO, Syracuse, 4.5/4.5 stars, rank #58 in his class, 14.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.3. GPA

Lewis won't likely sign with us. Burditt is intriguing, but he has very low work ethic. Signs of Todd Reed last season - an excellent player but can't get eligible.


6/16/94

I decided to roll the dice and will try to sign Burditt. To open up a slot, I decided to cut SO SG Brian Wadell (0.5/0.5 stars).


6/19/94

Burditt accepted our scholarship. I immediately put him under intensive tutoring. If he gets eligible, we'll have a former Norton awardee in our lineup next season!

[randy]

6/26/94

SR PG David hunter joined the team as a walk on.

We have a total of 8 scholarships to fill. Most likely, I'll be looking for 1 PG, 2 SG, 2 SF, 2 PF, and 1 C. It's going to be a busy recruiting year

I completed my initial shortlist, and started watching videos. My shortlist consisted of JuCos and HS Seniors from Texas

[randy]

8/7/94

PF Dana Cook (#20) and PG Flye Griffin (#47) were both nominated to the Norton award.

More tutoring / study sessions


8/21/94

Trimmed down the recruitment shortlist. Looking mostly for athletic guys

[randy]

9/5/94

Burditt still at 1.7. GPA. More tutoring


9/11/94

Offered 3 scholarship slots to 3 SRs


9/18/94

None committed; none rejected.

Finalized schedule. 5 home + 8 away games (including a 5-game road trip)


10/2/94

We're picked to finish 1st in the Southland

Burditt gets a 2.5 GPA! I can't wait for next year.

11 players with 4.0 GPA

We haven't signed anyone yet

[randy]

11/6/94

I decided not to redshirt anyone


11/13/94

Starting lineup
1: PG Flye Griffin, JR JC, 6-1, 180, 4.0/4.5
2: SG David Coulibaly, SR JC, 6-2, 174, 3.5/4.0
3: SF Jason Carr, SR JC, 6-6, 221, 4.0/4.5
4: PF: Dana Cook, SR JC, 6-8, 228, 4.5/5.0
5: C: Jamaal Rowles, JR, 6-11, 251, 3.0/3.5

Key Reserves
3/4: PF Joe Majerus, SR JC, 6-7, 191, 3.5/4.5
1/2: SG Osei Granville, SR JC, 6-4, 173, 2.5/2.5
4/5: PF Keyon Griffin, JR, 6-7, 221, 2.0/2.5
2/3: SF Jonathan Smith, SR JC, 6-4, 197, 2.0/3.5
4/5: PF Mark Belton, SR, 6-8, 217, 2.5/2.5

Bench
1/2: SG Sam Thomas, SR JC, 6-0, 189, 2.0/3.0
1: PG Keith Jackson, SO, 5-11, 172, 1.0/1.0
1: PG David Hunter, SR walk on, 6-1, 202, 2.0/2.0
4/5: C Anthony Hatter, SO walk on, 6-8, 234, 1.0/1.0

Ineligible (transfer)
2/3: SG Charles Burditt, JR, 6-5, 179, 4.5/5.0


Defense
1: F Griffin
2: Coulibaly
3: Majerus
4: Cook
5: K Griffin

Ball Handling (plus FT)
1: F Griffin
2: Coulibaly
3: Granville
4: Cook
5: Rowles

Shooting
1: F Griffin
2: Coulibaly
3: Granville
4: Carr
5: Cook


Initial Strategies
- Off Freedom: 75%
- Off Focus: Heavy Inside
- Set Plays: Motion
- Defense: Man
- Press: Man (27%), HC Trap (73%)

[randy]

11/14/94: Texas El Paso (0-0) @ Sam Houston St (0-0)
UTEP is +7 in team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. UTEP's best player is their starting PF, according to scouting report
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 75%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

15:14, Up 4-2
Both teams feeling rusty on opening game day

10:05, Up 14-6
UTEP keeps throwing the ball away with 8 turn overs. Carr has 2 fouls

3:47, Up 19-13
F Griffin also with 2 fouls


Halftime, Up 22-20
UTEP got it close due to 9 more FTAs. We were called for 11 fouls. Cook also committed his 2nd
Horrible shooting by both teams: 34-21%


Start of 2nd Half

18:53, Up 24-20
Cook has 12 pts. F Griffin called for his 3rd; he has to sit again

16:47, Up 32-20
10-0 run to start the half, forcing UTEP to call a time out

11:03, Up 36-26
We're 2-7 FT, missing our chances to pull away. Foul trouble on my guards forced me to use my walk on PG

6:39, Up 42-34

3:47, Up 50-40
UTEP not being able to make run due to their turn overs


Final score: Texas El Paso - 48, Sam Houston St - 58


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 24, 8, 0 (*)
Rowles 12, 7, 1
Carr 10, 4, 1, 2 blks
Coulibaly 4, 1, 11, 6 stls, 3 blks (what a game!)
Majerus 4, 4, 1
F Griffin 4, 1, 2
Granville 0, 3, 1
K Griffin 0, 1, 0
Smith 0, 0, 0
Hunter 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 46-32%
REB: -1
TO: -8 (11-19)
Paint: +26 (36-10)
2nd Chance : +3
Fast Break: +12
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. Coulibaly dominated the game with his defense and superb passing.
2. UTEP shot 4-19 (21%) from 3PT. We did not attempt a single 3PT shot
3. ISR = 2.0
[/INDENT]

[randy]

11/17/94: Sam Houston St (1-0) @ Middle Tennessee St (0-1)
MT is +4 in team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. MT narrowly lost to Creighton in their first game, 75-76. Their starting SF score 27 in that game
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 75%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

15:42, Up 7-5

11:06, Up 17-10
Turn overs begin to pile up now on MT; they now have 5

7:57, Up 25-12
We're taking advantage of our FTs, now 13-14 (93%)

3:53, Up 33-18


Halftime, Up 37-25
MT is 1-11 (9%) from 3PT. Cook leads all scorers with 10 pts


Start of 2nd Half

15:53, Up 45-30

11:36, Up 49-39
MT has hit 3 3s in this half

6:35, Up 57-44
Carr with 18 pts

2:38, Up 65-53
We were up 17, but MT is on a 5-0 run


Final score: Sam Houston St - 70, Middle Tennessee St - 56


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 22, 7, 0, 3 blks (*)
Coulibaly 9, 0, 1
Rowles 8, 9, 0
Granville 8, 2, 1
Carr 6, 4, 3
K Griffin 6, 6, 1
Majerus 6, 1, 2
F Griffin 5, 3, 5, 2 stls, 2 blks, 4 tos
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 45-36%
REB: +12
TO: -5 (11-16)
Paint: +22 (36-14)
2nd Chance : +4
Fast Break: +2
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. MT shot 6-11 from 3PT in the 2nd half
2. All of Cook's 7 rebs came on the offensive end
3. ISR = 3.0!
[/INDENT]