I was listening to 610 yesterday, and they were talking about just how bad the U of H men's basketball program is, maybe the worst in the nation. U of H is in a really tough situation. There is good basketball talent in the Houston area, but just not in the quantity as in other parts of the country. If the big schools don't get the top recruits, then Texas will get them, since they've developed an excellent program. With Bobby Knight in Lubbock, Texas Tech will start to get good local recruits, also. Houston can also forget about competing with inter-conference teams like Cincinatti, Louisville, and Xavier... Charlie and Rich were mentioning that U of H might have to move to a minor conference like the Southland or the SWAC to be competitive....is this the only way to fix U of H? It's really sad to see a school with such a great basketball tradition be in such a dismal state...
The talent aspect is simple: UH needs to start improving & winning consistently. We have a decent class coming in next year (we'll have an actual PG next year & as many legit D1 prospects on roster than we've had in a while), so hopefully we'll show a significat amount of improvment, or at least hit .500. It may take awhile, but once the top talent starts to view UH as a winning program again, they'll start signing with us. The program aspect, i.e. attendance, TV deal, sponsorships, etc., that's a different story. I mean, we have this enourmous deficit in the athletic dept, but UH has never really established the big-time fund-raising mechanism that schools like UT and A&M have, so there's a "silver-lining" in that respect. The biggest thing our athletic dept has to do is change its business strategy. In a city with so many entertainment options, particularly with the sports franchises in this area, the UH athletic dept has to approach ticket sales, sponsorships, etc. as if they were a quasi pro franchise. Can they compete with, say, the Texans on the business side and with the same type of sophistication, of course not. But UH can definitely copy their model on a smaller scale, and carve out a nice niche for itself in this market.
Remedy A Step 1) Schedule the weakest non conference schedule possible. Step 2) Beat the dregs of D1 Step 3) Get dogged for having a weak schedule during conference play as the CUSA big dogs stomp them, but get publicity for great early record. Step 4) Get better recruits Step 5) Play weak schedule still Step 6) Beat some CUSA teams and end up slightly over .500. Step 7) High overall record gets OH in tourney or NIT Step 8) Get better recuits Step 9) Play weakest schedule possible again Step 10) Actually end up with good conference record. Step 11) Lose first round, but don't get blown out..maybe even sneak a win Step 12) Start scheduling progressively harder schedules in future Remedy B Step 1) Setup Yao Ming's girlfriend with a nice place. Step 2) Wait 20 years.
UH needs to improve the basketball facilities. Also, more student participation is needed. I have no clue on how to increase student participation, other than winning.
Looks like the Houston Chronicle high school player of the year is heading to U of H next season. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1820463 Seems the last point guard who won this honor has turned around another program in the state (UT)...
I'd suggest three things: (1) Big time player who stays and developes alng with a developing program. Smith is a good start. (2) Big time/Big name coach who automatically brings more talent and exposure - see Pitino, Calipari, Bobby Knight. Avoid cases like Harrick. (3) A coach who udnerstands basketball, especially college basketball. Again, see Bobby Knight. Say what you want about the guy, he could easily come into the program next year and immediately start to turn it around just based off his coaching expertise. Of course, this doesn't have to be a well known coach. IMO, there are so many poorly coached teams out there that despite any talent differences, a well coached team in college shoudl be able to take advantage.
UH needs to start recruiting low post players to come in as freshmen and hang for four years. Over the past few years the bulk of our low post players have been transfers. They took a year to adjust, produce one good year and then they're gone. Jeremee McGuire was a JUCO who just started to contribute this year and now he's gone. Ferguson, another JUCO, got a taste and may start contributing next year before he leaves. UH ends up with a number of quality guards and they do now. Smith, Owens and Hensley will make for a great backcourt next year.
UofH BB is killing me... To think what the program was and what it is today...It's sad... And then ESPN Classic puts the 83 title game on and damn... UofH needs a lot of interior help but I just don't think they'll get the recruits they need to take it to another level... UofH won't and shouldn't leave C-USA, but something needs to happen...
Lavin would probably be great for us, but when we had drexler, the furutre sure did look bright. A big name like that just draws players to the sugar. Houston has such a great basketball network as a city it would not take much to bring in the recruits. We just need a magnet that can lure them in.
I will readily admit to not following college bball much other than March Madness...but Lavin has been on the hot seat at UCLA almost since he took over. Surely, since just after Harrick's recruit's starting leaving. Here is a fairly written article describing some of the issues surrounding Lavin: http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/pac10/CBAugust16th.htm And here is another good article from where the following quote comes from: MARINA DEL REY, Calif. -- Steve Lavin lives in a four-story, 5,000-square-foot home in this beautiful waterfront suburb of Los Angeles. An incredible place, replete with oversized living room, tons of bedrooms, an outdoor pool/hot tub and even an elevator. The thing is, only three of the rooms are even furnished. The game room -- a bachelor pad dream -- is filled with unpacked boxes. The living room, dining room and most bedrooms are completely barren. Nothing hangs on the walls. http://www.wrestleline.com/collegebasketball/story/6130102 If it were up to me, I'd pass. To much controversy inhibits program growth. Bob Huggins is not my favorite coach, but I give him decent grades for coaching ability and A minus for recruiting. Cincy got him from Akron U in the MAC. Perhaps there is someone else at this level that could resurrect the UH program?
UofH will be ok and mccallum isn't going anywhere in the near future. they were an nit team last year, but lost 6 of their first 7 players(including 3 starter who made unexpected exits:williams, gaines, oliver). Despite as bad a season as they had this year, they still won a not horrible 6 conference games. from this year they lose their two starting posts, but return everyone else. They'll add 7 new players in a class that should rank among the top 25 in the nation. Lanny smith was the chronicle player of the year over ebi, perkins, minor, wafer, etc, and he should start at point next year. Parker pinkilla and darius brannon should see significant minutes. Andrew Francis (a national top 60 recruit by hoopscoop) and Elijah Miller are projects that might get time next year. In addition to these five scholarship players, they'll add andy ikeokor (a 6-8 transfer from tennessee) and Grega Nachbar (brother of boki and sometime clutchcity poster). For the first time in over ten years they'll have a full roster of legitimate d1 scholarship players. they're also close on landing joseph jones (the top junior postplayer in the area) for 2004. look for a bubble nit team next year and a bubble ncaa team in 2004-05
"There is good basketball talent in the Houston area, but just not in the quantity as in other parts of the country." That is BS. If they could just one or two all-city players a year (2nd or 3rd team), they'd be fine. I'm not quite sold on Smith, but he's a good start. DoitDickau has a good post going over all the new recruits they got. Notice how most of them are from Houston? If Alton Ford, George Williams, etc stayed on the team, they wouldn't be so bad. Do you all forget last season they beat Memphis in the conference tournament and I think went to the NIT?
