A Sea Of Red

Otherwise known as the Jesse Sanders Show. Supporting cast = Chene Phillips (soph) and Kelly Assinesi (frosh).

2011-12 Men's Basketball Outlook: Point Guards
October 27, 2011

With the 2011-12 men's basketball season less than two weeks away, LibertyFlames.com is featuring a four-part series that will preview the upcoming year. Today's article provides a look at the Flames' point guards.

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm? ... ewsID=7929

I am wondering if the world has tipped off its axis for just a moment. There has to be some explanation that I cannot fathom for CJ to misspell anything much less the school star player's name.



Everyone knows how I feel about this position. Jesse is the best PG in school history. Yeah, I know some have scored more (Hess & Hildo). But none have played the position better.

'Sorry, Sly, but it's been a hard couple of day for me, okay? WVU is leaving the Big East for the Big 12? I'm still in mourning that the 'Eers left a real conference for one with a bunch a cowboys, ranchers, and dirt farmers. And they were so close to joining the SEC, but WVU's darn academics got in the way.

But for the record, I went back and deleted the U. My apologies to the whole Sanders nation.

Matt Hildebrand and Brian Woodson won Championships.

And Jesse still has that opportunity.

truthorconsequences wrote:Matt Hildebrand and Brian Woodson won Championships.

Ha Brian Woodson..thats just funny..while he was a talented player he was on a very good championship squad that consisted of Gabe Martin, Ryan Mantelo, Jason Sarchett, Larry Blair, and David Dees so I wouldnt classify him as a player who led the team to a championship, and I certainly wouldnt put him in the same ranks of Jesse Sanders

I agree completely but the Hildo reference holds validity. Of course, Hess won a national championship.

Jesse is definitely top 3 PG going INTO his senior year - Hess and Hildo are the other 2. He has the ability to cement himself at #1 with a solid year individually and the team as a whole.

jcmanson wrote:Jesse is definitely top 3 PG going INTO his senior year - Hess and Hildo are the other 2. He has the ability to cement himself at #1 with a solid year individually and the team as a whole.

I never saw Hildo or Hess play but in the last decade I would put Sanders easily as the best pg and since Im assuming Hildo or Hess did not play at Liberty when we were division 1 that cements him as the best

Hildo was the star of our overachieving squad that won the Big South Tourney in '94. The Flames put a massive scare into top-ranked North Carolina until midway through the second half of our NCAA 1st Round matchup.

Hess played back before we made the move to NCAA.

Look at our media guide, Hess HAS to be in the conversation I don't care what level he played at.

http://www.flamefans.com/forums/viewtop ... =GOAT+Hess

Liberty Point guards are something that I know a little something about. If someone doesn't think Brian Woodson is one of the best of all time they weren't watching that 2004 or 2005 team. He was a big time talent that had an attitude problem and thus bounced around in his college career. He was recruited to Notre Dame on the same trip as Troy Murphy. That team doesn't come close to doing what they did without him.

Also you guys are forgetting the most talented PG to ever put on a Liberty Uniform. Also from Texas. Marcus White. He was as skilled and athletic as any guard Liberty has ever had. Grade problems and an eventual expulsion have diminished his legacy. However had that 1997 team won the Championship instead of us melting down in the last 10 min of the game vs Charleston Southern, he would be mentioned a lot more on this board.

Karl Hess was a division 1 caliber Guard without a doubt according to people who's opinions I respect greatly, Kevin Keys and Coach Dan Manley. Even if you haven't seen him the numbers he put up at the level they played are incredible. I don't get caught up in conference affiliations and levels of play like a lot of fans. In fact I played against a lot of top division 1 talent as a youth in Philly and at Liberty and I can say that some of the best players I ever played against were at Virginia Union. They were tough.

Hildebrand was special as a 4 year starter much like Jesse. Hildo took his licks as a freshman but his teams were very talented his next 3 years. He was a leader and a winner no doubt. His FT percentages were in the 90s for most of his career. He sealed his legacy by leading the team to the 1st Conference Championship at the NCAA D-1 level then he played a monster game against top talent in the NCAA tournament.

Jesse has a chance to be the most decorated and perhaps the most winning PG in the Divison 1 era. If he caps his SR year the way Hildo and company did, he may go down as the best ever in terms of legacy. On pure talent I have to go with Marco White.

Marcus was a phenomenal talent. If he had been on campus longer I agree that he would be a greater part of this discussion.

Thanks SCAR. ..appreciate the historical perspective.

If we are talking the best point guards in LU/LBC's 40-year history, ole SCAR himself has to be in the top 10 all time at that position. Who do you think was feeding Bailey Alston for all those jumpers he made in Schilling? And don't even get me started about that ETSU dunk...

Thanks Jim, I appreciate the love. I recently shared the photo of that play with one of guys on that team who I am friends with Keith "Mr" Jennings. He was 5 feet 7 but he played in the NBA for a few seasons with Chris Weber and Chris Mullin at Golden State.

I didn't log the minutes that most of the guys on this discussion did and I certainly didn't have freedom to do what I was capable of doing. Besides that I was really a 2 guard like Bailey but I was smart enough to realize that I better learn how to play WITH Bailey if I was ever gonna get off the bench. As a Walk on I did ok for myself but thanks to Kyle Ohman I am not even the most successful walk on in the program.

I may be the best TV analyst but NAZ and Hildo are coming at me this year on Flames Sports Network TV.

Scar I agree with you about Brian Woodson. He was very talented but he was very disruptive in the locker room and was somewhat of a cancer within the team that is why I do not feel he can hold a candle to J Sanders. Talent wise he blows Sanders out of the water but when it comes down to it intangibles elevate a player beyond his talent.

Marcus White was on campus 3 years, played 2 seasons. Was a prop 48 kid. Freaky athlete, possibly best defender, and rebounder as a PG in College hoops.. Transferred to Biola and avg over 20 points for 2 years. So he could score....

Led Liberty to 2 championship game appearances. Woodson 1. Hildo 1. (Marcus got hurt in semi final game or flames would have won in '97)

Was more well liked on campus and respected by many. He was rough around the edges but it was all a front. He could have impacted that campus more than anyone in school history. Barry rice always thought antwain Fletcher QB was the campus leader, but it was Marcus.. Marcus interacted with students and he lived on campus which makes a difference.

Jeff Meyer admits to this day he didn't put Marcus and Aluma in position to be better (translation meyer offense at the time wasn't good for Marcus game)
He played before there was Internet, flames TV, so its hard for most of you to understand how good
he was.

Jesse is tough and unfortunately he's had guys leave, get hurt, coaches quit on him (RMK). But he's hung tough and has fought the good fight. Repect him for that.

As one of the ever-shrinking group of survivors of the Karl Hess era, my first thought is that although I know at times he played the position out of necessity, I never really thought of Karl as a PG. He was definately a shoot-first guard, but he did ring up some assists when opponents double and triple teamed him. One of the keys to our NCCAA championship run was the arrival of a transfer named Webb (drawing a blank on the first name) which enabled Karl to focus on getting open and shooting from the off guard position.

If Jesse stays healthy and finishishes strong, I would rate him as the top PG in program history, whether we get a championship or not.

Bigsouthking wrote:Jesse is tough and unfortunately he's had guys leave, get hurt, coaches quit on him (RMK). But he's hung tough and has fought the good fight. Repect him for that.

This can't be emphasized enough. I have nothing but respect for Jesse.

bballfan84 wrote:Scar I agree with you about Brian Woodson. He was very talented but he was very disruptive in the locker room and was somewhat of a cancer within the team that is why I do not feel he can hold a candle to J Sanders. Talent wise he blows Sanders out of the water but when it comes down to it intangibles elevate a player beyond his talent.

Excellent points. Brian is a good friend of mine but I always told him he was impossible to coach. Despite those shortcomings he was still able to lead that team to a championship.

I will say that the talent level between Jesse and Brian isn't that far apart as some would think. Jesse couldn't do the things he does on the court without having some serious talent. I think it gets overshadowed by how hard he goes. We tend to think his success is just a bi-product of hard work which to an extent is true but there is some real talent there as well.

SCAR wrote:

bballfan84 wrote:Scar I agree with you about Brian Woodson. He was very talented but he was very disruptive in the locker room and was somewhat of a cancer within the team that is why I do not feel he can hold a candle to J Sanders. Talent wise he blows Sanders out of the water but when it comes down to it intangibles elevate a player beyond his talent.

Excellent points. Brian is a good friend of mine but I always told him he was impossible to coach. Despite those shortcomings he was still able to lead that team to a championship.

I will say that the talent level between Jesse and Brian isn't that far apart as some would think. Jesse couldn't do the things he does on the court without having some serious talent. I think it gets overshadowed by how hard he goes. We tend to think his success is just a bi-product of hard work which to an extent is true but there is some real talent there as well.

I agree with you on Jesses talent level it def gets overshadowed sometimes. All in all hes a great player and a Liberty great