A Sea Of Red

Cider Jim wrote:I saw in the today paper that a Kentucky big man is transferring who played his high school ball in town at VES.

Glad that you've mentioned that. I'm sure they may be doing this already, but we need to start looking at prospect at VES as well. It would be nice to have some talented players close to home.

cruzan_flame13 wrote:

Cider Jim wrote:I saw in the today paper that a Kentucky big man is transferring who played his high school ball in town at VES.

Glad that you've mentioned that. I'm sure they may be doing this already, but we need to start looking at prospect at VES as well. It would be nice to have some talented players close to home.

Like most of the good players who have come through VES in recent years, he was a boarding student and is not from Lynchburg. He actually hails from Chapel Hill, NC.

For those who are concerned about our roster not being "local" enough, consider this. Next year's roster will have at least 5 athletes who either are VA natives, played their HS basketball in VA, or their family now lives locally:

Elijah Cuffee - Played senior year at LCA (and both parents are Liberty grads) Raised in Poca, WV.
Scottie James - Mother is a professor at Liberty. Brother played for Amherst HS and is on LU scout team.
Darius McGhee - Played last 2 years of HS ball in VA and comes from Roxboro, NC (less than a half hr South of VA border)
Brendan Newton - Born and raised in Roanoke
Georgia Pacheco-Ortiz - Played 2 years at Deep Run HS in Norfolk

If we sign David Ware, who is from the Fredericksburg area, that would be 6. Almost half the scholarship roster, plus Blake Preston, Josh Price and Caleb Homesley are all from North Carolina.

BTW, Spring signing period begins tomorrow, but it continues til May 16, so with no verbals, I'm really not expecting to hear anything for a while.

Signing period is here. This doesn't affect transfers, and I am almost certain at least one of our 2 scholarships will be used for a grad transfer. To my knowledge, the only HS player we have offered is David Ware. I don't really expect him to sign for a while. After flying under the radar in spite of his gaudy stats, he is getting late interest, and is wisely looking at all his options.

With the addition of Keenan Gumbs, both of our Seniors next year will be Texans.

I am optimistic nonetheless.

To the surprise of noone, Teague is gone from UNCA.



With Thomas and Vanetta graduating, new coach Mike Morrell (former Texas assistant) is going to have an uphill climb.

olldflame wrote:To the surprise of noone, Teague is gone from UNCA.

With Thomas and Vanetta graduating, their yet-unnamed new coach is going to have an uphill climb.

UNCA hires Texas’ Assistant Mike Morrell as the new head coach via fanrag.com

https://www.fanragsports.com/news/roths ... ssion=true

Hah! I didn't change it fast enough. Makes sense that Macio would wait til the new coach was hired before making his decision final, but he was gone anyway.

Georgie's former HS teammate Damontez Oliver is transferring from Campbell. Solid rotation player who averaged 5 points and 2 boards last year as a Soph.

Whoah! Marcus Burk is also gone! If Clemons comes back, he won't have much help. He might be jacking up 40 shots a game.

Any word on the assistant coach job?

olldflame wrote:Any word on the assistant coach job?

I have heard that BJ Williams is top on McKay's list... But, they are trying to nail down contract terms. Might just be a rumor, but heard he is asking for a HC salary and a 10 year contract.

Still hard at work as always I see Proto...Im having a double knee MRI on Monday so that isn't exactly high on my priority list

BJWilliams wrote:Still hard at work as always I see Proto...Im having a double knee MRI on Monday so that isn't exactly high on my priority list

You don't need to play - just sit on the bench and teach.

Marcus Conrad is now the second member of our staff Ron Sanchez has poached to join him at UNCC. He will be doing Player Development, as he did at LU. Don't be surprised if Ritchie gives Alex McLain a call for that opening. Alex did a great job as a Grad Assistant for 2 years.

Still no word on the Assistant Coach position. If it is who we are hoping, the timing makes sense. Waiting til someone has finished school before moving.

Excited to see the last couple lines in damiens article where mckay said they were going to institute changes to out of bounds last possession and other special situations. That alone is worth 2 to 3 wins this past year if properly executed.

Also good to hear that hes looking for athleticism and individual defensive strength for the last spot among fit. Also said hes ok taking it forward which is fine too.

Ritchie referred to the interest in the open positions as "humbling and expansive". Looks like he doesn't think we need to get someone familiar with the pack line. Between the returning players and coaches, it's pretty well ingrained.

olldflame wrote:Ritchie referred to the interest in the open positions as "humbling and expansive". Looks like he doesn't think we need to get someone familiar with the pack line. Between the returning players and coaches, it's pretty well ingrained.

For almost all of our coaching positions, the interest is "humbling and expansive". Not sure we have taken advantage of that, like we should have. Hopefully IM will do a better job, and/or maybe consider an alternate approach.

flameshaw wrote:

olldflame wrote:Ritchie referred to the interest in the open positions as "humbling and expansive". Looks like he doesn't think we need to get someone familiar with the pack line. Between the returning players and coaches, it's pretty well ingrained.

For almost all of our coaching positions, the interest is "humbling and expansive". Not sure we have taken advantage of that, like we should have. Hopefully IM will do a better job, and/or maybe consider an alternate approach.

Ritchie will be doing the hiring on this one. By "humbling", I'm sure he meant there were some men who are well known, with a lot of experience, including former head coaches, who applied for or inquired about the job. That doesn't mean, however, that he should or will hire one of them as an assistant (although I am hoping he will).

Coach McKay has filled one of two staff vacancies. We cover that and more in our men's basketball notebook

http://www.aseaofred.com/mens-basketball-notebook-2/

A Sea of Red wrote:Coach McKay has filled one of two staff vacancies. We cover that and more in our men's basketball notebook

http://www.aseaofred.com/mens-basketball-notebook-2/

A lot to like about the hire of Joe Pierre III for the player development position. Coach's son who grew up around the game, and worked for a really good coach in a successful program the past 2 years. Love the fact that he has been trying to get a job at Liberty for a couple of years. That's a good sign he will be 100% on board with the mission. Interesting factoid that manson pointed out is that since we have not filled the 3rd assistant coaching spot yet, Pierre will be allowed to recruit on the road this Spring. That may not make much difference for the 2018 class, but he can help get a lot of leg work done for future classes, and it's a great opportunity for a young guy to dip his foot in the recruiting waters.

I like having guys on staff who want to be here and simply aren't taking the position because it is the best available option.

The fact that Ritchie seems to have made a point of saying Joe Pierre will be eligible to recruit off campus may well indicate we will be waiting a while to fill the assistant coach position. I'm thinking/hoping it will be well worth the wait.

And Ritchie wastes no time putting Joe to work. He is in Dallas; I assume at a grassroots tourney or showcase.

There are large AAU tourneys in Texas for basically the next three months. The big ones are obviously in the DFW Metroplex and Greater Houston. Glad to see our staff still working Texas talent.