Trials and Tribulations

[3manweave]

[June 5th, 2015]

Highland Heights, Ky. -- The Northern Kentucky men's basketball program has just finalized their schedule for the 2015-2016 season. They'll be embarking on their first season in the Horizon League after starting out their Division I trek three seasons ago in the Atlantic Sun conference. They will still be ineligible for post-season play (NCAA, NIT, CBI), but will be able to participate in the Horizon League tournament this season. Beginning in the 2016-17 season, they will be eligible for Division I post-season tournaments.

They are coming off a 9-21 mark last season, led by outgoing coach Dave Bezold. They begin the 2015 slate with UNC-Asheville at home before heading out to Toledo, Ohio to face the Rockets on the road. In fact, four of their first six games are away from the brand-new BB&T Arena, just completed in time for the upcoming season. After a December 2nd road game at Liberty University, they'll come back home and face Presbyterian, Campbell, and Eastern Illinois, all at home.

Conference games in bold

NOVEMBER
11/15/15: UNC-Asheville - Highland Heights, Ky.
11/18/15: at Toledo - Toledo, Ohio
11/22/15: Morehead State - Highland Heights, Ky.
11/25/15: at Austin Peay - Clarksville, Tenn.
11/29/15: at North Carolina A&T - Greensboro, N.C.

DECEMBER
12/02/15: at Liberty University - Lynchburg, Va.
12/06/15: Presbyterian - Highland Heights, Ky.
12/13/15: Campbell - Highland Heights, Ky.
12/20/15: Eastern Illinois - Highland Heights, Ky.
12/27/15: Cleveland State - Highland Heights, Ky.
12/30/15: at UI-Chicago - Chicago, Ill.

JANUARY
01/03/16: Milwaukee - Highland Heights, Ky.
01/06/16: at Wright State - Cleveland, Ohio
01/10/16: Oakland - Highland Heights, Ky.
01/13/16: at Valparaiso - Valparaiso, Ind.
01/17/16: Detroit - Highland Heights, Ky.
01/20/16: Wisconsin-Green Bay - Highland Heights, Ky.
01/24/16: at Youngstown State - Youngstown, Ohio
01/27/16: at Cleveland State - Cleveland, Ohio
01/31/16: UI-Chicago - Highland Heights, Ky.

FEBRUARY
02/03/16: at Milwaukee - Milwaukee, Wisc.
02/07/16: Wright State - Highland Heights, Ky.
02/10/16: at Oakland - Rochester, Mich.
02/14/16: Valparaiso - Highland Heights, Ky.
02/17/16: at Detroit - Detroit, Mich.
02/21/16: at Wisconsin-Green Bay - Green Bay, Wisc.
02/24/16: Youngstown State - Highland Heights, Ky.

[3manweave]

[June 6th, 2015]

A few days ago, the next-door neighbor to me had reported to police yesterday seeing a late-model black Toyota sedan at the scene of the crime, and had called them with a partial license plate number as the perpetrator drove off. Well...when they ran even the partial plate, one of the dozen or so results that came back for that make and model was registered to none other than David Smith, my realtor. It didn't mean that he was the one that did it, but the car was registered in Newport, which is where he lives most of the year when he's not at one of his half-dozen vacation homes all over the East Coast.

There were also two other David Smiths with similar cars, so who the hell knows. But this is a house that he sold me, so there IS a connection here. If he did it, was he looking for something; and if so, is it something illegal or hazardous that he knew about? I also saw on the news that David's son, Brett, had been missing for the last thirty-six hours. What the hell is going on?

[3manweave]

[June 8th, 2015]

NKU RELEASES OFFICIAL ROSTER

Highland Heights, Ky. -- Northern Kentucky head coach Rob Banks and his staff have finalized the roster for the upcoming season.

Code: Select all

## Pos Name                Hgt Wgt Class Hometown (School)
0  F   Jeff Garrett*       6-7 215 R-Fr. Gadsden, Ala. (Oldsmar (FL) Christian)
1  F   Jordan Garnett      6-6 210 So.   Indianapolis. Ind. (Warren Central)
3  G   Tyler White         6-3 185 Sr.   Lima, Ohio (Lima)
4  F   Deontae Cole        6-6 210 Jr.   Toledo, Ohio (Central Catholic)
11 G   Lavone Holland II   6-2 180 So.   Louisville, Ky. (Ballard)
13 F   Brennan Gillis      6-6 210 Fr.   Indianapolis, Ind. (Ben Davis)
20 F   Jake Giesler        6-7 235 Sr.   Fort Thomas, Ky. (Newport Catholic)
21 F/C Jalen Billups       6-6 245 Sr.   Cincinnati, Ohio (Shroder)
22 G/F Matt Rosenwinkel    6-2 225 Jr.   Rochelle, Ill. (Rochelle Township)
23 G   Todd Johnson        5-9 175 Sr.   Elkhart, Ind. (Memorial)
25 G/F Cole Murray         6-7 200 Jr.   Delphi, Ind. (Delphi)
32 F/C Jared Bryant#       6-7 255 Sr.   Cincinnati, Ohio (Roger Bacon)
33 G   Skylar Kolli#       5-9 150 Fr.   Indianapolis, Ind. (Int'l School of Indianapolis)
34 F/C Drew McDonald       6-8 265 Fr.   Cold Spring, Ky. (Newport Catholic)
44 G   Dean Danos          6-0 175 Jr.   Oak Lawn, Ill. (Bishop Noll)

* denotes sitting out season due to transfer rule
# denotes walk-on


[3manweave]

[June 9th, 2015]

(as reported on Cincinnati-area TV news)

A missing Newport, Kentucky teenager, Brett Smith, has been found alive in a remote cabin in rural Campbell County, according to the Newport Police Department. Smith has been missing for nearly five days, and his father, noted real estate mogul and area high school basketball coach David Smith, has been identified as a person of interest in a burglary about a mile from the Northern Kentucky University campus that took place the home of current NKU basketball coach Rob Banks.

Attempts to reach the elder Smith went unanswered, and it is speculated that he may have left the area.

The younger Smith, a junior-to-be at Newport Catholic School, is currently at Regional Medical Center, where he is being treated for dehydration. He is listed in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.

[3manweave]

[June 13th, 2015]

It was time to purchase scouting reports for the upcoming recruiting class. I purchased the Midwest Gold Report, and the basic report for the Southeast, which left me about $17,000 for recruiting and any AAU tournaments that we decided to attend. I think the first thing I am going to request next year is an additional budget increase. We still have a few weeks before recruiting offically kicks off, but I'm ready to get going and start putting my stamp on this program.

[3manweave]

[June 15th, 2015]

Brett Smith finally got out of the hospital yesterday after being treated for dehydration and some lacerations to his face and right hand, and was free to go home for the night. Once he had a good night's sleep, we brought him down to the station for questioning. To our surprise, he confessed to burglarizing Mr. Banks' home, but did so under duress, and told us his account of the story. He said his father had no involvement in the crime, but feared that he might be in danger.

He had gotten in his dad's car to go to the store to get groceries around 8:30 on the night of the burglary; but once in the car felt a gun at the back of his head, and an unknown masked assailant instructed him to drive to a certain location which turned out to be Mr. Banks' home. He told us that while his father was the intended target of this crime according to the assailant, that the man would kill him and his father if he didn't follow his instructions. He was then forced to break into the home and look for an undisclosed amount of money, but also to trash the place as much as possible to make it look like a random burglary.

However, the assailant didn't expect there to be an alarm system, nor did he expect that anyone lived there as Mr. Banks was out of town, and the 'For Sale' sign on the home had not yet been removed from the front lawn. Once the alarm went off, he said he began to panic and started vandalizing the living room, breaking the frame and punched the glass where the autographed jersey hung; and going on to break the wooden coffee table with a hammer he had found laying around, supposedly used to hang the frame on the wall.

I asked him why he didn't tell the man about the alarm system, and he said that he doesn't know many intimate details about the homes his dad sells. He's just focused on basketball, hanging out with friends, and getting the best grades that he can.

Bolting from the home's back door, he fled from the scene empty-handed, but the man was able to find him a few streets over and forced him into the car at gunpoint. That's when they drove out into the rural area, and the last thing he remembered was stopping somewhere in the woods before being discovered by police. The car had been abandoned about a quarter-mile from the cabin, and there was no sign of the unknown masked assailant.

Upon hearing this account, we received a search warrant and searched Mr. Banks' home from top to bottom, but didn't find any hidden money in the residence. The only explanation is that the elder Smith knew this might be happening soon, and took this undisclosed amount of money prior to Mr. Banks closing on the house and moving in.

Brett also said that he had an upper Midwestern accent, which meant that it was probably not someone from Kentucky or the South in general. Other than that, there were no other discernable characteristics except that he was dressed in black and wore a dark blue ski mask, and is likely on foot. All we can do from here is do a little digging into some of the elder Smith's past business dealings, and for Brett and Mrs. Smith to call us with any more information or if they feel unsafe.

[3manweave]

[June 20th, 2015]

The events of the last few weeks have really beaten me down. Brett Smith seems to be doing better, but his dad is still missing, and people are starting to fear the worst. Due to the ordeal, he also had to bow out of playing in some of the upcoming AAU events this summer, which is going to hurt his development a little.

To make matters worse, recruiting also starts in just a few days, and once that gets going I'm not going to have time for anything else.

A friend of mine on the school's baseball coaching staff, Ted Wilson, set me up on a blind date with a close friend of his to help me get my mind off things. Needless to say, it didn't go as we had hoped. I wanted to like her, and to have a second date...but talking about past relationships too much is a huge downer. I had dated some women while in Maryville, but nothing ever got too serious. They were put off by the amount of time I was gone recruiting, or coaching my team. It's the life I chose, and if they don't like it...

Oh well, back to the drawing board. But hey, at least my window is fixed, and my broken items have been replaced at no cost to me. Hooray for home insurance!

[3manweave]

[June 25th, 2015]

Today is the first day of recruiting. We have four scholarships to fill for the 2016-2017 season. We're starting with an initial board of ten players that we've identified over the past several months. The "PRK" is the WSSN position ranking for the prospect.

Code: Select all

Pos PRK Name            Hgt  Wgt  Hometown (School)
PF  130 Wallace Barker  6-9  215  Louisville, Ky. (Louisville Christian Academy)
SG  219 Daniel Fellers  6-2  175  Cynthiana, Ky. (Harrison Academy)
PG  254 Quincy Flint    6-2  200  Celina, Ohio (Celina)
PF  112 Greg Hastie     6-8  212  Indianapolis, Ind. (Pike)
C   281 Clay Haynes     6-9  242  Owensboro, Ky. (Apollo)
C   247 Mike Morris     6-10 277  Louisville, Ky. (Central)
PF  151 John Sanders    6-8  210  Petersburg, Ind. (Pike Central)
PG  244 Corey Young     6-2  172  Pineville, Ky. (Bell County)
SG  173 Vegas Young     6-5  211  Mt. Prospect, Ill. (Mt. Prospect)


[3manweave]

[June 29th, 2015]

We may have a possible break in the David Smith case. A 2014 Land Rover registered to Smith, of Newport, was found on its passenger side in a ditch just south of the Tennessee/Alabama border, but Smith was nowhere to be found. Authorities in the area searched a 200-yard radius around the wreckage site; not finding any sign of Smith. Investigation of the wreck determined that the car did not roll over, and there is a distinct possibility that he is still alive.

The 42-year old is a high school basketball head coach in suburban Cincinnati, and also owns Smith & Smith Properties, a real estate brokerage firm that also owns nearly $15 million in assets. His son, Brett, was found about ten days ago in a shack about five miles from downtown Newport, Ky., in a remote cabin in the rural area of Campbell County. He was suffering from dehydration at the time.

Anyone with any information is urged to come forward, or dial the tip hotline.

[3manweave]

[July 2nd, 2015]

With all of the craziness that has been going on with Coach Banks and the David Smith situation, we actually had time to sit down and begin formulating an on-court philosophy. Going through tape of last season, they ran predominantly a motion-style offense with about 1/3 of their shots coming from the outside. It actually matches up favorably to what we wanted to do going in, so the transition should be a lot smoother than originally thought.

However, Coach Banks would like to also integrate some high-post looks, which means we'll need to find bigs that can handle and pass the ball as well. We have some pretty good shooters, so I expect the motion system to be effective against man-to-man looks and some zone looks, like the 3-2.

We're also beginning some preliminary workouts with partial teams. One group of guys come in the morning to scrimmage, and then lift in the evening. The other group comes in to lift weights in the morning, and then have a supervised scrimmage. Even though he's a newcomer to the program, Lavone Holland is standing out as a leader, as he's been instrumental in getting these guys together and beginning to prepare for the upcoming season.

The seniors have also been exceptionally fervent in organizing whole-team workouts outside of the coaching staff's eyes. Many of them are playing pickup ball in the rec center, or are hoisting up hundreds of jumpshots per day.