[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

I can't remembered who else offered LB, but he was ranked #98 in the pre-July ranking of the Class of '03. And really, at that point in our program, 90% of all DI offers would have been a step up from us.

So whats Different from then and now? haha

[LUconn]

Hopefully they got rid of the entourage if they're gonna keep talking trash about the program and it's greatest player.

[jcmanson]

I can't remembered who else offered LB, but he was ranked #98 in the pre-July ranking of the Class of '03. And really, at that point in our program, 90% of all DI offers would have been a step up from us.

So whats Different from then and now? haha

You went from being a LB hater to a Liberty hater. Why don't you just stop. Sure we've been a bad DI team, we all know that, we are trying to right the ship that's why we got a new coach.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Im joking geez... but Liberty is not a GREAT DI team in case you didnt know, Sorry guys... I love our team, but we arent a contender for anything

[jcmanson]

Im joking geez... but Liberty is not a GREAT DI team in case you didnt know, Sorry guys... I love our team, but we arent a contender for anything

In case you misread my post, re-read it. I said that we've been a bad DI team for a while, noone is denying that.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

and thats all im saying, so dont hate on me for saying it

[jcmanson]

I don't hate you, I was just stating that noone said we were a great, or even good DI team. We know that, but we don't come on here every day saying, "we suck, why do we even lace 'em up, let's just quit and not have a team anymore." We know we're not a good DI team now, but we hope that we will be, and will be soon.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

I don't hate you, I was just stating that noone said we were a great, or even good DI team. We know that, but we don't come on here every day saying, "we suck, why do we even lace 'em up, let's just quit and not have a team anymore." We know we're not a good DI team now, but we hope that we will be, and will be soon.

Those words never came out of my mouth, but thanks for the quotes tho I love Liberty Basketball and I will still be at the games and hope that we can go to the tourny, and I hope that we will be too, i Hope we will be as soon as this season.

[jcmanson]

I didn't say you said them, I was just implying that we're not going to come on here and bash our team. We will try to stay positive, and not rely on the negatives (i.e. not being a good DI team).

[RagingTireFire]

I love Liberty Basketball and I will still be at the games

I'm surprised they let you in the building.

[shukcb04]

Looks like, based on the schools competing with him, that Liberty - from a purely bball standpoint - probably couldn't have competed for him. If McKay turns the program around, maybe they could be like Davidson, who had apparently been competing for this kid.

Don't base who we get on who else is going after him Shuck. I know you are new around here and not really a fan of Liberty basketball but I can tell you from personal experience that we have recruited and landed several players at Liberty that had choices to go to much bigger schools and much bigger conferences. Players don't choose schools like fans think thay do. In football Liberty has the top workout facilities than most if not all schools in the state. That means something to a student athlete. Atmosphere, teammates and many other variables go into landing a recruit. The coaching staff and relationships have a lot to do with it as well. Everyone has such a short memory but Winthrop is on the national scene now thanks to Gregg Marshall and Gregg Marshall alone. Before he got there WU was a laughing stock and now everyone acts like they have been good since Naismith created the game. The same for Liberty football and hoops. There have been some good years in both and Liberty has put many guys in the NFL going back to the early 80's. Shuck you can stick around and learn a thing or two about LU athletics. Believe me, all the mis perceptions you and others may have around Lynchburg will change in the next couple of years.

I said from a purely basketball standpoint. The atmosphere, relationships built, and a lot of the other things you mentioned arent from a purely bball standpoint.

[TIMSCAR20]

We have had other big time recruits besides Jeremy Day. Not to mention the transfers from schools like Michigan St, USC, WVU. Marcus White had an offer from Texas. He didn't get his SAT score and that is how we got him. Nick Wright had Texas AM I believe. I know we turned down Dominique Kirk who started for Texas Tech as a freshman. It is well documented that he cried when he found out we didn't havs scholly for him. I know RD and JM beat out big schools for more recruits than Jeremy Day. I will have to ask them.

[Sly Fox]

While I echo your comments, Scar, I'd like to correct a small detail. Dominique Kirk went to Texas A&M. And allegedly we were in on Acie Law at the same time.

[shukcb04]

I don't really know what the recruiting process for transfers is like on the D1 level, but I would say landing dwight brewington and tj bannister was impressive.

[paradox]

I can't remembered who else offered LB, but he was ranked #98 in the pre-July ranking of the Class of '03. And really, at that point in our program, 90% of all DI offers would have been a step up from us.

If i recall correctly i believe NC State was one team who offered.

After Blair's freshman year at LU it was rumored that he was interested in transferring to NC State, but it never materialized. It's not known what level of interest NC state had back then, if any at all, but they definetly did not offer anything to Blair prior to his LU days. In other words, he did not choose us over them.

[TIMSCAR20]

It was late Sly, Of course I knew Dominique Kirk was at Texas A&M. LB was a late bloomer and he had offers to bigger schools after he had committed to Liberty. He and Chris Paul tore up the Charlotte Summer league that summer before he arrived on campus. CP was so impressed with LB and most were extremely surprised that no one bigger had gotten him to come to their school. All of this is pointless though. Why are we only impressed with a guy if UNC or Florida is interested? Are there not great players everywhere or only if they play on TV every night? Do you think Arizona Reid couldn't play in the SEC? Or Reggie Williams who led the nation in scoring? Say what you want about the style of play but Reggie was a big scorer and has been for 3 years now. He is the real deal and so is LB and Arizona Reid. The big south has had great players, yes even by our snobby standards. Aluma, Nwoso and Annabonam are 3 guys Liberty got that could have gone high major if it were not for the fact that they lived on the other side of the world and were not well known. I have played summer league with pros and college players and I have seen division II or III players be the best players on the court on a given day. Anyone that knows basketball more than casually as a fan (I believe Dox knows his stuff and a few others on here), knows that Larry is special. Will he make it in the NBA? Probably not. But I can name 150 guys that played at the so called big schools that aren't going to either. One other note. Chris Caldwell played high school ball with Daniel Gibson from the Cleveland Cavs and TJ Ford at Texas. Caldwell was better than those guys...As far as transfers, how could I forget TJ and Brew? My only point is that Liberty is not and does not have to be a compromise for your career. I stole that one from Coach Danny Rocco but he believes that and makes sure that it is true. That is why the caliber of athlete we are attracting in football continues to blow everyone away. Libertine can speak volumes on this subject I am sure.

[paradox]

We have had other big time recruits besides Jeremy Day. Not to mention the transfers from schools like Michigan St, USC, WVU. Marcus White had an offer from Texas. He didn't get his SAT score and that is how we got him. Nick Wright had Texas AM I believe. I know we turned down Dominique Kirk who started for Texas Tech as a freshman. It is well documented that he cried when he found out we didn't havs scholly for him. I know RD and JM beat out big schools for more recruits than Jeremy Day. I will have to ask them.

Scar:

White COULD HAVE had an offer from Texas, but when he became a prop 48, they completely lost interest, and he ended up here with what turned out to be only 2 years of eligibility. He was never offered a scholarship from Texas.

Also, Nic Wright was a disaster, and not even a legitimate D1 prospect at any level. If Texas A&M even showed the slightest interest in the guy, then it only goes to show that even the big programs know how to waste a little time every now and then. I highly doubt that Wright had another offer from even the smallest of D1 programs.

Hankinson had a verbal from Antonio Burks who ended up with a much better offer from Memphis and eventually a stint in the NBA. But again, he chose to play at a higher level and was only going to come here if the opportunity to play higher did not exist.

I'm not surprised that we passed on Kirk. A buddy of mine begged Meyer to take a look at Joe Crispin long before Penn State or any other school got involved. LU's response: we're set at that position with Marcus White. I'm not saying that Crispin would have selected us over PSU. What I am saying is that we could have landed him long before he signed with PSU in the late summer after his senior prep season. Crispin led his team to the sweet sixteen during his senior season at Penn State and then played for the Lakers the next year, and later the Suns, Heat, and Cavs. He could have been our Feenstra and we may have cracked the sweet-16, but again we were apparently set with Marcus White, who failed to even compete during his senior season due to grades.

In all honesty, I expect McKay, Soucie, and Layer to be capable of landing much better recruits, then we've seen here in the past. I also believe that they'd be less likely to pass on a Crispin or a Kirk. But let's nor delude ourselves here, no one is gonna pass on the Big Ten or ACC to play here, unless the player is a missions or pastoral major.

[Stevev]

I vaguely remember when Randy Dunton was the coach as an interim when he had a verbal from I believe his name was Patrick Okafor to come to LU and then backed out and ended up in a major program (not sure who it was but I think the college was in Texas) and did very well there. Then Interim coach Dunton was let go and replaced with Mel Hankinson which might have prompted the decision for Patrick to get out of the deal. Not sure if anyone has touched on this in this thread or if anyone is old enough to remember seeing his name in USA Today under LU's signings.

[LUconn]

Do you really think a player is just looking at the conference as he makes his selection? Let's see, I could ride the pine for 3 or 4 years at Clemson or I can start immediately and play 4 years at CCU. I choose the ACC!

[Realist]

Do you really think a player is just looking at the conference as he makes his selection? Let's see, I could ride the pine for 3 or 4 years at Clemson or I can start immediately and play 4 years at CCU. I choose the ACC!

True. There aren't "set rules" or guidelines players follow. Clemson and USC tried to get Torrell Martin after showing little interest after his junior year---Marshall committed to him very early on---Torrell took it as an affront that they didn't want him immediately.

[Sly Fox]

I covered Patrick Okafor briefly at Houston when I first moved to town. He never fully blossomed at UH. There are Okafors all over this city and most aren't related. But I believe Patrick is related to Emeka.

As for Nic Wright, I believe Tony Barone could've offered Nic. Tony was an atrocious judge of talent as some of our Aggy posters on this board can attest. I covered high school basketball in Austin during his senior season and he wasn't even on my radar until I saw the letter of intent to LU. Nic's Uncle Joey was part of Tom Penders' best team at Texas (Elite Eight run with BMW).

White had a very nice rep as a baller coming out of high school.

As for who formerplayer balled with in high school at Willowridge, he was indeed teammates with T.J. Ford who replaced him at point once CC headed to LU. He also was teammates with Ansu Sesay. And Scar is confusing Daniel Gibson with Daniel Ewing (Dukie turned Clipper). D-Gib is way too young and he went to Jones High School.

[olldflame]

Actually Hankey had letters of intent from not only Antonio Burks, but his 6'10" teammate Chip Richmond who was a top 100 recruit. The problem was they both were non-qualifiers academically, and everyone knew it. This happened during the brief window of time when the courts had ruled the NCAA academic guidelines illegal, before it was overturned on appeal. From what I understand, Richmond and Burks signed with LU because of our open admissions policy. Then when the academic guidelines were reinstated, this was not an option. Burks played some JUCO ball, and eventually had a very good career at Memphis. I never heard what happened to Richmond.

[TIMSCAR20]

I covered Patrick Okafor briefly at Houston when I first moved to town. He never fully blossomed at UH. There are Okafors all over this city and most aren't related. But I believe Patrick is related to Emeka.

As for Nic Wright, I believe Tony Barone could've offered Nic. Tony was an atrocious judge of talent as some of our Aggy posters on this board can attest. I covered high school basketball in Austin during his senior season and he wasn't even on my radar until I saw the letter of intent to LU. Nic's Uncle Joey was part of Tom Penders' best team at Texas (Elite Eight run with BMW).

White had a very nice rep as a baller coming out of high school.

As for who formerplayer balled with in high school at Willowridge, he was indeed teammates with T.J. Ford who replaced him at point once CC headed to LU. He also was teammates with Ansu Sesay. And Scar is confusing Daniel Gibson with Daniel Ewing (Dukie turned Clipper). D-Gib is way too young and he went to Jones High School.

Thanks Sly, I knew you would have the facts straight on the TEXAS boys. How about Larry Jackson. Was he offered some big time scholly's? I just can't remember.

[Sly Fox]

I don't remember specifically. But I believe he might've had TCU & SMU in the mix. Of course he can fill us in the next time he drops by the board.

[Stevev]

I do remember Chip Richmond and Antonio Burkes signing letters of intent under Mel H. Chip got a lot of hype since he was a top 100 recruit and all Memphis area player but Antonio was equally impressive and put up numbers similiar to Chip at the same big high school in Memphis. But they both were gone in Hankinsons second year for whatever reason (I think that it was academics related). Antonio went to Hiwassee JC and was rated highly there and had a great 2 years at Memphis at point guard. I don't remember Chip's name every coming up anywhere.