[TIMSCAR20]

So I won't be accused of hijacking my own thread, I have a two fold title. 1st I wanted to say that Coach Dunton told me this morning that we are having an alumni basketball game this year during homecoming! I am excited to play but more importantly to see some of the fellas from years past. I am personally still in contact in one way or another with about 30 or so guys I would say. Some that I coached, some more recent grads and of course my teammates and from Hildebrand's era. I think we can make this something special. If any of you guys are out there lurking, hit me up and let me know if you want to participate. Secondly, driving into work after talking about this with RD it got me to thinking about a list. Everyone likes lists so here is my All-Time Depth Chart for Libertyu hoops by position:

Center: Julius Nwoso
Power forward: Parrish Hickman
Small Forward: Gabe Martin
Shooting Guard: Bailey Alston
Point Guard: Matt Hildebrand

Bench: Peter Aluma (5) Jody Chapman (4) Jay Boykin, Darryl Williams (3) Larry Jackson (2) Chris Caldwell (2) Brian Woodson, Marcus White (1). That is a 13 man roster. If I got a 14th person like you dress at the division 1 level I would have to add Eric Sorensen (4) or Carl Williams (2)

Lets hear from some of the hoops guys about the alumni game and lets hear your list of all time Alumni depth chart members. Notice I didn't include current players like Dees or Blair but they certainly would get consideration after they move on even though Dees only played here 2 years. G-Mart only played here 2 years and the same goes for Hickman who transferred in from Michigan State.

[LUconn]

Did anybody put out their feelers to see who would come back for such a game before announcing it? Seems like some of the guys are over seas. I would give anything to see Gabe give old man Scarborough a close inspection of his crotch on his way to an easy 2.

[Sly Fox]

Are GOAT & formerplayer up for this?

I can't argue with your selections, Scar.

[TIMSCAR20]

GOAT and Former Player are 2 guys I would reach out to for sure. And LUConn, you should have been around the Vines after Gabe finished playing but was still in school. I had to guard him but it wasn't pretty. He is strong as an ox. Then we let him play with us against the current team and we spanked them. It was coach Leary, Me, Casey Coleman (assistant), Julius and Gabe. Juice and Gabe were on the glass and Steph me and Casey were lighting it up from outside. We had Woodson mad that day....Technically though I don't think they have announced it or may not even announce it to the public but I believe we can get enough guys back to make it a great occasion. There are a few guys still within 3 hours from Lynchburg:

Tim Scarborough
Chris Caldwell (DC area)
Greg McCauley
Matt Hildebrand
Paul Nazigian
Jody Chapman (Charlotte)
Jason Allison (VMI)
Ryan Mantlo (Cape Fear Juco in NC.)
Harry Williams
Karl Hess
Mark Chaffin
Ed Gomes
Dave Sissom (Roanoke area)
and many more who I can't think of right now. Plus we have a few guys on this board as well.

[Killn'emsoftly]

Scar... is an alumni considered someone who actually graduated from LU and has a diploma or someone who just played for 1 or 2 seasons... if that's the case the list changes

[TIMSCAR20]

We will take anyone who is a former player I would say. Although many of the guys if not all the guys I mentioned have graduated (for the alumni game that is). I gues as far as my depth chart, you might have to take a few guys off of that list. Give me your list though. I would love to hear your take Killin em.

[flameshaw]

Scar, I would have to flip flop Peter and Julius, but can't argue with the rest of it. I think Peter could have been a whole lot better, but he was caught up in his celibrity status. Great guy though, fed him many times, boy could he eat. Hope lots of old timers show up. If you need some names, let me know. George Sweet played year two and was pretty good. For a 6'10" guy, he had a great jump shot from the baseline.
Trying to think back that far had given me a headache.

[Killn'emsoftly]

Here's my All-Time Depth chart:

Center: Peter Aluma
Power Forward: Juluis
Small Forward: Martin - he was the glue to the '04 Champions
Shooting Guard: Alston, just because you say so SCAR
Point Guard: Hildebrand, only because he won a Championship

Next 5 off the bench: not necessarily by position:

Hickman - center
Jody Chapman - power forward
D. Williams - small forward
Larry Jackson - shooting guard, sentaional career carried the 97-98 team!
Marcus White - point guard - the best player all around player to ever play @ LU, never graduated though but was agreat teammate and very humble eveeryone respected the hell out of him!!!! Would have signed with Texas if had a better test score. Would have been a better scorer if he wasn't playing with Aluma and Jackson... the best on the ball defender the Big South has ever seen!!!! Only reason he is not on first team is because he played 2 seasons and didn't graduated... was the leader of LU in the primetime era.

12th man... Jason Allison --- actually he could be the next alumni to coach at LU

[grm]

I'd love to watch a game like that. It would be great. As far as Gabe goes, it was thrilling to watch him pick off a pass on the wing and take it in for a dunk, but the thing that shocked me was his strength. Not that I have any, but I got on the court with him one day, -just fooling around, you understand - and his strength down on the block was just amazing. Bill Russell once said that "long muscles" were strong too. - Must have been thinking about Gabe.

Anyway, it's all a great idea. When is homecoming?

[A.G.]

What about Carl Williams? You have to have a defensive specialist on the team. Led the nation in steals. Also could score at times. Also, Sorenson to bang and add some real toughness to this bunch.

[TIMSCAR20]

AG

I have Sorensen and Carl Williams on as my 13th and 14th guys. I was thinking the same thing. If you are trying to win a game, you need those types of guys. Killen em as far as Alston is concerned, just look at his numbers. 2500 points in 3 seasons! If you average 15 points a game at this level you are nice! This dude averaged nearly 30 a game. And if you think it was because he took a ton of shots, well he did. But he shot 52% from the field! That is crazy. His backcourt mate shot 48% as well. Very efficient scorers. Although I never took a shot I thought I couldn't make for fear of getting yanked Look at Caldwell, Jackson, Blair and anyone else who put up numbers and their percentages are not even close. Alston was the real deal.

[A.G.]

Even Mel couldn't screw up that team

[LUconn]

Like I always say, really only a few folks on this board are able to rank all time stuff because of how long they've been watching the program but I've always thought that LU's most underrated player is and will always be Vincent Okotie. That guy would have taken the last 2 LU squads to the finals. Height, athletisicm, a sweet jumper and an unstopable left hand. Unfortunatley he and any legacy he might have left was destroyed by Mel. He's always been one of my favorites. Especially from a dark era.

[A.G.]

Even if he doesn't play, Hess could REF the game.

[TIMSCAR20]

I have much love for Hess, McCauley, Minett, Yoder, Webber and all those cats that preceeded me. I should have qualified the list by labeling it division 1. There were some great players during those days as well including Eric Gordon who's son is going to Illinois unless IU has something to say about that. EJ is one of the top players in the nation. Not saying Dad was that good but I hear he was special for sure.

[Sly Fox]

Eric Sr was dominating in the old Mason-Dixon Conference. If he were a few years younger his name would have serious cachet around campus. But the DII days are seriously devalued but the youngsters.

[bigsmooth]

awesome deal SCAR! i will look fwd. to seeing this game. i would definitely put soresnon on this team. he is the kurt rambis of liberty basketball.

[TIMSCAR20]

Sorensen would be so honored to know that everyone thinks so highly of his efforts. For an undersized power forward, he refused to be outworked. I used to run the individual workouts when Soro played. Those are the "voluntary workouts before Oct 15th and they are really tough to get through because it is extra work and they can be pretty demanding. I had to start getting our managers to meet me on the court when I knew Sorensen was coming in because he went all out no matter what. If you put a 90 year old woman in the paint, she would get ran over. Soro had no let up. When I would insert myself into a drill with him I always ended up bruised or injured so that is why I started using the managers as sacrificial lambs (sorry Manger). I would love it if he and Mark Reed came back for this game.

[grm]

Great to see Mark Reed's name there.

[PAmedic]

I thinking of showing up for this game, making sure to bring O2, a first-in bag, and an AED for SCAR when he runs half the length of the court and goes into some kinda dysrhythmia.

[JReebs]

Scar - save me a spot on the bench for the alumni game!

[TIMSCAR20]

Nice Reebs, It will be great to have you there. I hope we get a good turn out. I will do what I can but the basketball office will have to reach out to the guys. I am sure they are on top of it.

[TIMSCAR20]

Ok,

I have a list of contacts of former players that can play in this game. Some of you guys are on this board. Some are in the Lynchburg area. I need help thinking of and rounding up more names. I wish I had my media guide and me email address book from my home office so this could be easier. However I have 48 names not including myself. I have contact info for some but not all. I know the basketball office is doing work on this too.

If you are an hoops alum or you know one that we should contact, post it here. I know George Sweet's name was mentioned to me. If you can PM me his contact info (Tally was that you that mentioned him?) that would be good.

edit: I really need help with names and contact info for the Hankinson era. There are only a few of those guys that I even know personally, Ward, Sneed, Caldwell etc.

[TallyW]

Scar... sorry.. it wasn't me.

I would suspect there could be some sort of Rabbit trail... talk to Caldwell... he'd have Sneed...etc.?

[TIMSCAR20]

Yes, on my spreadsheet I have that kind of info attached to certain folks as well. It must have been Flameshaw that mentioned George Sweet.