The Big 12 has 3 out of the top 4 teams in the ESPN Top 50 Rankings. They have KU, OU, and UT at 2,3, and 4 respectively. Also Missouri is at 23 and Texas Tech at 29th. I was surprised Oklahoma State wasn't on the list. Iowa State should be much improved this year. If it weren't for A&M bringing down the conference talent level then the Big 12 would be hands down the best basketball conference in the nation. Well even A&M has gotten some good recruits coming in.
Damn, time plays tricks on you. I could have sworn ol Hollis is on his 7th year of eligibility. It's called the Jeff Boschee ratio. But yeah, the Big 12 is going to be a rough go. Texas -- TJ, JT, and Mouton are a solid core. Deg is coming back, Boddicker (hopefully he'll do something this year), and then the two freshmen. Losing Fredie Williams hurts big IMO, that guy was a witch defensively. KU -- Of course losing Gooden hurts, but you still have Collison who's solid, and then Wayne Simien is going to be REAL good IMO. He is a MAN underneath, and that was as a freshman. Boschee is finally gone, but with Hinrich and Miles the backcourt is still solid. OU -- All they really lost was McGhee, is that correct? Still have Dietrick, White, Price, Ere, the transfer fella, and the big island dude. They will be tough again, as all of Kelvin's teams are. That coach is as solid as they come. Tech -- boooooo Bobby Knight. I was surprised they did as well as they did last year. I don't know what to expect this season. Maybe they'll progress, but part of me thinks they'll be no better, if not worse. Ellis was solid for them and he's gone. Mizzou -- Stokes and Rush are gone, but Rickey Paulding showed huge strides from two years ago to last year, mainly as a shooter. He must have shot the ball like crazy in practice, because before all he could do was drive and dunk. His progress will be fun to watch. Plus they got the big fellas coming back again, even though they aren't that talented. I believe they have some freshman backcourt help coming in as well (which is why Stokes transferred for the most part) The top 5 are going to be solid, the bottom 7 I'm not sure yet. Oki State doesn't seem too promising as I don't think Mo Baker will be back, Glendon Alexander is a thief, and I'm not sure if Jonzen is going to be back. Colorado has those big pair of twins, and a solid guard back from last year if I'm not mistaken, but I don't see them giving anybody too much trouble. Iowa State lost Shane surfer boy Power, so I don't know who they have that's any good...Jake Sullivan? nah... The rest don't look all that good. Seems like a top heavy conference, even more so than last year.
They also lost Daryan Selvy.....but we also gain 2 of the top Oklahoma recruits, 6-8 PF Kevin Bookout and 6-5 G DeAngelo Alexander. We also got 6-11 Larry Turner....Carruth(the UK transfer) isn't eligible this year.... Price, Ere, White, Bookout, Jabahri Brown, Turner, Blake Johnston, Jason Detrick(he might redshirt), DeAngelo Alexander, Johnnie Gilbert......whew! this team is so deep, it's scary!
Yeah, I don't know how they got him, but they managed to get a guy called Antoine Wright, who I've seen ranked in the top 25 in the country and among the top five small forwards in the country. Even stranger, he's from Massachussetts. I think Watkins has some connections there...that's the only way to explain it. Hopefully it's the break the Aggies need to get over the hump.
i think UT will be even better because of there incoming freshman stud. His namr is Brad Buckman and he was an all-american. Hes already head over heels better than boddicker and hes an offensive player who is also a monster defensively. Very strong rebounder and will most likely start. Watch for UT to make some noice!
Antoine Wright was ranked #5 player in the country on ESPNs top players. A&M is going to suprise alot of people this year, and the recruits are starting to come in.
Hey Cliff I highly doubt Buckman will start, given the way Barnes runs things. But I think he could get decent playing time -- Barnes like to shuffle. Right now I think you are looking at a starting lineup of: 5- James Thomas 4- Deginald Erskin 3- Brandon Mouton 2- Royal Ivey 1- TJ
A&M was the first school to recruit Wright. Well before other schools knew about him, the Aggies were all over him, as they saw his potential. It wasn't until a summer camp that his stock skyrocketed. All the big schools went after this guy. Fortunately, he stayed loyal to the Aggies, just as the Aggies did to him. It was stated that an Aggie coach told him his Sophomore year that someday he will be a huge recruit. Wright didn't believe it, but sure enough here he is on the top of the charts. I've seen him in the top 5 on many charts. Also, don't forget about Marcus Watkins, the coach's son. He finished #1 in scoring in the all-greater houston area. He'll be a walk-on this year. Slowly, but surely, Aggie basketball is getting to where it should be. I say "should be" because what other school with enrollment over 40,000 doesn't have a good basketball team?
What happened with that whole thing that UT didn't have a scholarship left for Erskin? Does anybody know what I'm talking about?
I have a pretty reliable source in UT basketball. Buckman will start period. What he brings that Erskin doesnt is SIZE, SHOT, and another force in the middle except for Thomas. The deal with Erskin is they dont give him a basketball scholarship but instead the school is giving him enough financial aid in other areas so that he can afford to go to UT. to Pre: the way barnes runs things is he likes big men who can shoot. Buckman is already just as good as a shooter as Bod is and thats all Bod can do. With TJ penetrating and dishing buckman can dunk with the best of them finishing and can hit the outside shot all day. Buckman will start, period. Right now YOU ARE LOOKING AT A STARTING LINEUP OF: 5- Thomas 4- Buckman 3- Mouton 2- Ivey 1- Ford
Barnes has stated that center Chris Wright is the best shooter on the team (better than Harris). He may be a factor next year.
Hey cliffie, no need to get riled up -- wasn't trying to slight you in any way. I am going on 1) a friend I have that is close to the team, who thinks that Buckman will have a hard time supplanting even Boddicker, and 2) what I saw of Buckman at Mickey D's. Now, if your source is close to Barnes and knows what's going on inside his head, then fine -- come October and Buckman is starting I'll be the first to tip my hat your way. But making an assumption in early August that a freshman will be starting over two experienced players who share some of the same qualities as him, well that just seems kind of sketchy to me. It's one thing that he's a freshman, another is that while he's a solid shooter and more athletic than Boddicker, he is not an imposing force physically at all, which I think we can all agree that Boddicker is. I'm all for Buckman starting if he proves he can step in and not hurt the Horns on the defensive end, because Lord knows Boddicker didn't show us much last year with his scoring punch. But for now, I'd rather wait til practice starts before putting punctuation marks at the end of my sentences
Buckman might not start at first, but by 5 games into the season, he will most definitely start. You say that he might start and be a good player (something like that) if he isn't a liability on defense. Buckman is one of the best defenders you will see as a freshman. He can block shots like no other and is very strong. He is a all around player. How can you judge Buckman by one game (Mickey D's) when that one is against the best talent and you dont want to look selfish? If I recall correctly, Buckman had around 10 points in that game. He is an incredible player (went to more than 15 of his games this past year) and he will start.
First Brad is a friend of mine and in an austin american statesmen artice Barnes said that Buckman and Wright are both outstanding shooters from the perimeter. As for Buckman on he defensive end hes better defensively than offensively. Put it this way brad is a close personal friend of mine and Nick....(barnes son) is a personal friend of mine. Barnes plan is for Buck to start. Hes the second best defensive big man on the team. Ive seen Okafor and Buck play on the high school level and brad is a better shot-blocker coming out of high school than okie was. Now he might not be as good on the college level but trust me hes a beast on the boards and he wont let to many layups come his way. Brad also had 8 rebounds in the first quarter of the mcds game and finished with around 12 rebounds. Rocket Crazy: do you go to Westlake? I was on the team with brad.
Sorry, even though I'm going to UT, they are way overranked...I haven't seen Buckman other than in Mc Donald's so I can't say much other than he wasn't impressive there, but I'm not dumb enough to judge a player by a game.
I hate to break this news to all the hawk-bashers out there, but KU's gonna be good again. Collison and Hinrich are both first team pre-season all americans, Miles will begin to dominate at the point (only a sophmore now), Langford will come into his own (as he demonstrated as a true freshman in the Sweet 16), and, of course, Simean will become a man this year. To top that off, they've got a new recruit coming in (from Juco) named Jeff Graves. He's 6'9" and around 270# and is strong. The rich are getting richer, even in the face of the OU's and UT's.
who said anything about KU sucking? Of course they'll be good. But Miles dominating? Call me biased, but I wouldn't even call him a top 2 PG in the Big 12 this year.
Mduke, please forgive me to insinuate that Miles will be even close to the level as HPrice. However, he outplayed TJFord in head-to-head games; so maybe count him second. Anyway, gee, doesn't that leave around 28 to 34 other PG's for him to overmatch?
Did Miles outplay TJ? I'm not sure about that, could be wrong. I know more experts were impressed with TJ at the McDonald's game then Miles. I think both wil lbe great players though.
