The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Assistant Coaches:

I had planned on keeping all 3 assistants, but Ivoree Snoddy, my 3rd assistant and recruiting coach, who had one more year of his contract was poached by UNLV as their 2nd assistant.

We had a really tough time hiring. The coaches we were most interested in and who were rated as high as we would have liked turned down our offers. We went after a lot of different coaches and finally were able to land Mike Johnson who had been the 2nd assistant for Appalachian State. Even though Mike doesn’t have the experience we would have liked, he will be our recruiting assistant. He does have higher ratings for other coaching components than Ivoree had. We’re going to have a lot of scholarships to fill this year, so hopefully Mike can step up and perform well in that role.

[Wayne23]

O-kay... we'll give you another year...

[PointGuard]

Time Together in Youngstown

The reconciliation back in Youngstown has had some highlights and some lowlights. Both Jacky and I were open with our thoughts and feelings. After spending a month together, Jacky and I have decided that its best for the two of us to go our separate ways. We’re both career people with two careers whose paths coincided for a while but that now are going in distinctly different directions. We will be filing for an uncontested divorce using a mediation service. Since there are no children and we both have jobs that are financially secure, the process will be relatively simple.

[PointGuard]

Last Season’s Recruiting:

Obviously since we had no scholarships to fill last year, we were basically unrated, but when recruiting class rankings came out, 4 Pac-12 schools (UCLA, Arizona, California, and Stanford) were in the top 7 with Oregon at #25 and USC at #27. So our competition just got stronger.

Youngstown State had the 79th best recruiting class so maybe that means they are going to rise back up the Horizon League.

Recruiting Plans for this season:

I sat down with Mike Johnson, my new recruiting assistant, to discuss recruiting for this coming season. We have 5 seniors graduating this year. So unlike last year when we had no scholarships to offer, having 5 this year means we have to work out butts off. We’re need to land a good PG and 3 big men. With he remaining scholarship, preferably we can get either a strong guard or another big man.

We’re buying basic scouting reports for our region (Great Plains) and also the West and National. We also will be attending the Indy Elite Camp for top-rated recruits and the Houston Classic for Great Plains recruits.

Surprising News

When June rolls around, I’m initially surprised when PF Shawn Owes decides to transfer away. But then upon further consideration, since he didn’t get much playing time as a freshman and his relationship with both the team and me was never really strong, his leaving becomes more understandable. We have enough depth inside that his departure won’t be a problem this season, but I think he eventually would have been a strong player for us had he stayed beyond this coming season. Rather than add yet another scholarship to fill by recruiting, I hope to be able to land a good transfer player and begin researching available transfers, focusing on guards and centers.

Transfers

We made an initial offer to a very highly rated PG who played as a freshman at North Carolina, but he opted to transfer to Indiana. We then made an offer to PG Justin Wilson, who as a freshman started nearly every game for Notre Dame, and he accepted our offer. Wilson is a 6-5 sophomore from Hammond, Indiana. As a high school senior he was rated as the #48 recruit in the country. Last season he averaged 7.7 ppg and 3.1 apg while hitting 44% of his FG attempts and 34% of his 3P attempts. He has great vision and passing skills. He’s a great ball hawk. While he didn’t display it last season, we expect his rebounding to be strong for a PG.

Shawn Owes got picked up by North Carolina so he did well. But his playing time for the Tarheels may be even more limited than it was for us.

Pro Draft

A lot of good players from Pac-12 teams were drafted (of course none from Colorado), but the best news was that C Andre Lilly (who I had recruited while at Youngstown State) was the #29 selection. Way to go Andre!

Pre-Conference Scheduling

When our pre-conference schedule is finalized, we have achieved the goal of significantly upgrading the level of competition for our preparation for what will be a demanding Pac-12 conference schedule. Our pre-conference schedule is as follows:

Youngstown State (I’m really looking forward to taking on the Penguins)
Mississippi
DePaul
Alaskan Classic (we will play Memphis is the first round)
Bradley
Auburn
Florida State
Minnesota
Missouri

[Ddevore65]

The mysterious fan #3 from the bar during the PAC-12 tournament is seen on the phone. Who he is talking too isn’t clear.

Fan #3 - I did what you said Mr......

Voice - No names you idiot, you never know who is listening.

Fan#3 - Sorry sir....anyway I did as you instructed with the threatening letter

Voice - Yes we will have to turn up the heat. Your message didn’t seem to cause too much of an impact. At the booster luncheon, that idiot AD also seems committed for at least another year.

Fan#3 - The good news sir is that kid Owes transferred out. He took the money.....

Voice - Good, good. If that Coach Dust doesn’t take a hint that he isn’t wanted here, then we will have to sabotage him from within. I took care of that recruiting assistant, got him sent off to another school.

Fan #3 - So what’s the plan for this year?

Voice - To continue to discredit the coach and sabotage his recruiting efforts. That and we continue to look for kids on the team to target, get them to either quit or disrupt the team. One way or another, this will be his last year at Colorado. I’ll see if we can find out who he is targeting in the transfer group, but more importantly the recruiting trail. And if that doesn’t work, I have another idea to discredit the coach. Now get to work on plan B, we will make it so he wished he’d never have left Ohio (laughs as the call ends).

[PointGuard]

Phone conversation between KD Durst (KD) and Steve Porter (SP)

SP: Hello?
KD: Hey, is this the famous Steve Porter?
SP: Maybe more infamous than famous, but who’s this?
KD: Hey Steve, this is KD Durst. How you doin’, man?
SP: Coach? Geez, this is a surprise! Never expected to hear from you after you left Youngstown. I hardly ever answer calls from numbers I don't know, but for some reason the area code caught my attention.
KD: How’s life at the newspaper?
SP: There is no life at the newspaper, at least for me. And little life at the paper as a whole since hardly anyone reads the newspaper any more.
KD: Did you quit?
SP: Hell no, They got rid of me shortly after you left.
KD: Damn I’m sorry to hear that. So what are you doing now?
SP: Trying to get by. I’m doing a little free-lancing and have a blog going that I’m trying to get to rise to the point where it can make me some money. But mainly I’m working at Walmart.
KD: The hell ya say! Walmart? You’re not a greeter are you?
SP: Ain’t a lotta jobs here in Youngstown so had to take what I could get that would bring in a steady paycheck, meager as it is. And no, I’m not old enough to be a Walmart greeter. In fact, the company has been phasing those out so since even the Walton’s needed to cut costs. The company took quite a hit after those mass shootings at their stores several years ago that caused a lot of their customers to be afraid to come to their stores. So, a lot of things got trimmed, including pay. If it weren’t for minimum wage laws, as crappy as they are, we’d probably be paying the company to work for them.
KD: Well, then I guess my call may be of possible interest to you. Look, a vacancy just opened in our athletic department’s communication and media department. I’m not sure how much it pays, but I thought about you when I heard about it. It’s the Assistant Communications Director who reports directly to the head of the department, the Association AD for Communications. Her name is Penny Margolis. I’m not on the best of terms with our AD, but Penny and I get along well and she’s the one who said she needed to find a reliable person to fill the Assistant position.
SP: Umm, sounds pretty interesting. What do ou think of living in Boulder?
KD: It’s a GREAT place to live. More expensive than living in Youngstown, but a fantastic college town atmosphere, progressive, and at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Definitely get some cold weather and snow in the winter, but not as continuous as in northern Ohio.
SP: That's really enticing. Yeah, I’m interested. I had thought about trying to latch on at YSU, but there was never an opening plus some of the stories I wrote rubbed those in the athletic department the wrong way.
KD: I’ll send you information about the job. And if you put in an application, I’ll put in a good word for you with Penny.
SP: Wow, thanks Coach! You know things haven’t been the same with Penguins’ basketball since you left. And I’ve been keeping track of how the Buffaloes have done. Tough start for you, but you seem to have already begun to turn things around, just like you did for Youngstown State. Maybe even quicker.
KD: Heh! Well, we’ll see how things go. The Pac-12 is a helluva lot tougher to make progress in than the Horizon League was. Nice talking with you, Steve. Hope you like what you find out about the job here. If you apply and get the job, I can help you find a place to live. I have some good contacts.

[PointGuard]

Two weeks later: Steve Porter (SP) and KD Durst (KD) meet for dinner in Boulder.

KD: Congratulations! Penny told me she hired you for the Assistant Communications Director position.
SP: Yeah, this has all happened so quickly. She and I spoke on the phone, then I submitted my application and resume. Next thing I know I’m here being interviewed this week and am offered the job. She barely got the words out of her mouth before I accepted.
KD: I'm pretty sure Penny researched the hell out of you. She probably read most of your bylines. And the ones where you raked me over the coals probably were what won her over. [Laughing} Like I said before, I think you’re going to like Boulder and Colorado University. Penny’s a heckuva a nice person so I think you'll like working for her. Just be careful. She's focused on getting things done right so be sure to do your homework.
SP: I’m flying back to Youngstown tomorrow. One thing about being single and never making a lot of money is that I don’t have a lot to pack up. I'll return here next week since Ms Margolis says she needs me on the job as soon as possible.
KD: By the time you get back, Paul Morris will have pulled together a list of the best apartment options for you.

[PointGuard]

Recruiting

We cast a wide net throughout the summer and early autumn and gained interest from a larger number of recruits. We focused primarily on PG’s, PF’s, and C’s but also evaluated some SG’s and SF’s.

In early September we landed our first recruit when PF Mel Dye, who is 6’7” and from Canton, SD. His high school coach said he’s a hard worker and a great leader on and off the court. As a junior last season he av eraged 17.1 ppg and 5.8 rpg. He has a good inside shot and is very athletic. He’s ranked as the #160 recruit in the nation. But he’s not strong academically and has just a 2.4 GPA in high school, so hopefully he will meet our minimum SAT score.

In mid-September two highly rated recruits to whom we offered scholarships don’t choose us, one opting for Iowa and the other for Creighton. We though we had a good shot to get both of them, but then at the last minute they just seemed to tune us out without telling us why. It seemed strange that both did the same thing at almost the same time, but what are you gonna do? Maybe just our bad luck.

But two other recruits accept our offers. First to accept was PG John Phelan. He’s 6’3” tall and comes from Inola, Oklahoma. As a junior he averaged 16.3 ppg, 3.7 apg, and 3.1 rpg. He was a top-25 player at the Houston Classic and had a decent showing at the Indy Elite Camp. His coach has told us he isn’t a leader but doesn’t cause problems. He’s a good outside shooter who likes to shoot 3’s and he has very good passing skills. He’s ranked as the 105th best recruit in the nation. The next day we got the exciting news from the 50th ranked recruit, PF Ike Minihan, that he will be coming our way next season. Ike is 6’8” and is from Oak Grove, Missouri. He’s an excellent scorer from both inside and outside. He’s also a great rebounder and defender.

We then reset our sites to try to fill the remaining 2 scholarships. We make an offer to a talented JC big man, but he decides to go to Louisville. again we seemed right on the verge of landing him and then he shut us off without explanation. With our two remaining scholarships we made offers to two PF’s. One has given us mixed signals so he probably won’t accept our offer. But PF Derricus Ivener, who is 6’8” tall and comes from Lennox, SD accepted our offer in mid-October. Derricus was in the top 25 at the Houston Classic and according to his coach, he has a tremendous work ethic. As a junior he averaged 16.6 ppg and 10.2 rpg. He shoots very well from both inside and outside and is a very strong rebounder. He also has excellent athleticism. He’s ranked #179 in the country.

So as autumn concludes 4 of our 5 scholarship offers have been accepted. While we have the last one pending, if the fifth recruit we offered to doesn’t commit, I’m happy to wait until spring to see if there will be some highly rated recruits available who just didn’t commit earlier. In the meantime we’ll just try to develop and increase interest with the recruits on our list. Even though we lost out on some high rated recruits, overall our recruiting efforts thus far have been very successful.

[PointGuard]

A warning

Steve Porter, who got to know me well while I was coaching at Youngstown State and he was covering our team for the local newspaper and now is Colorado University’s Assistant Communications Director, talked with me last night. He said he stopped by a local tavern and was sitting at the bar having a drink. From a ways down the bar he heard a guy making a bunch of derogatory remarks about me. So Steve moved to a table nearer to the guy so he could hear better. He said while nothing specific was revealed it sounded like someone this guy knows wants me out as coach of the Buffaloes and has a plan to get me fired. Being new to the area, Steve doesn’t know anything about the guy who was talking, but he does have a good description of him if it’s needed.

I told Steve not to put too much faith in what drunks at a bar say. Hell, if I were to worry about every “fan” who might get upset with me I’d be a wreck. I just can’t worry about such things. Besides I don’t know of anyone who has reason to go to the effort to create a “plan” to oust me.

Steve said I may be right, but it only takes one weird guy to create big problems. He said even though I’m not worrying about this, he’s going to keep his ear to the ground. He said that being a reporter in the past gives him some ability at ferreting things out.

[PointGuard]

Fisticuffs

SG Camah Griffin and PF Mat Hunter got into a serious argument after practice was over in mid-October, and it developed into a fight that was broken up by a couple of their teammates before either got hurt. The relationship with the team is low for both players, although they have gotten along well with the coaches. That may suffer after I deal with them about this. These two guys have had problems in the past, but it never came to an actual fight.

When I spoke with Mat about the incident, he simply didn’t want to talk about it saying there was no problem. I let him know a fight with a teammate WAS a problem and suspended him for a week. Our strong relationship took a hit, but so be it. I’m not putting up with that kind of crap.

Camah took an entirely different approach when I spoke with him. He said it wasn’t his fault and I needed to be talking to Hunter. He told me to drop it, but I didn’t so he also earned a one week suspension. When I delivered that news to him he actually took it well saying maybe he needed a break to get his head together.

When the two returned to the team, Camah’s relationship with his teammates edged upwards a notch while Mat’s remained very low.