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Basically, the Tulsa World writers, and local Sports Talk guys, know ORU made a great hire and they can't stand it. So, they're making up stuff to complain about. Also, if Mills is getting a Baylor assistant to join him, that bodes well for us. That, combined with Perry staying on, means we could have a really good staff next season.

I saw Haisten at the event. He had Coach Mills cornered for a long time. Coach Mills spoke for just a few minutes. Specifically thanked Rodney Perry & Steve Upshaw. (Wilson also thanked Perry and mentioned the great job he had done in the interim.) Mills also mentioned speaking with Richard Fuqua who was in attendance - as well as inferring that he has reached out to other former players. The players were sitting in the front row. Seven existing scholarship players plus Spencer Sutton. RJ Smith was not in attendance.

I think being in the Valley for baseball, much like our time in the Southland, would definitely be more interesting and improve our RPI. But it's just impossible for teams outside of the power conferences to get at-large bids without an RPI in the Top 25. And while it would help our seeding if we got in, we wouldn't have the luxury of an "automatic" bid that we enjoy in the Summit. The Sun Belt has the defending national champion in Coastal Carolina and 6 teams(!) in the Top 100 and looks like it will only get in the tourney champion. The Southland has 3 teams in the Top 100 and is still usually a one-bid league. Dallas Baptist has an RPI in the Top 50 and won't get in without winning the MVC. And we saw how tough they are, taking a series from us in Tulsa. ORU was a 3-seed in Stillwater just two years ago. We have received higher seeds while in the Summit. Sometimes it's just about getting a good draw, and no matter what, beating the teams in front of us.

Hoover is no longer w/the Tulsa World, but I get your point. Check out his tweets and retweets about the press conference today; he's not even attempting to be objective. This story has been a twofer for the OK sports media -- get to bash ORU and defend the Suttons in the same story. The continued spread of falsehoods has been staggering for a bunch of "journalists." Haisten went on North Dakota radio and pronounced that ORU was all but dropping D1 and would soon be playing D3 or NAIA ball. Radio hack Pat Jones said that ORU had no business trying to play D1, should drop athletics all together, and just go with intramurals. It was all hands on deck to defend the Suttons to include misrepresenting ORU's recruiting policies and viability in D1 athletics. ORU won before the Suttons and they will win after the Suttons. That 7th D1 win next year will be sweet when the media is forced to face the reality that the Suttons under performed the last few years with the talent they had. Scott Sutton did a lot of great things for ORU, it is a shame the way it ended and Wilson/Carter are responsible for some of the blame in how it was handled. In another week or two -- Hoover, Haisten, Pat Jones, Traber, Holcomb, etc. will all go back to ignoring ORU. Lastly, ORU basketball is in a better place than it was on April 9th and I have hope that this thing will get turned around.

If Mike Brown is still at the Tulsa World, they should have him handle the ORU related content. He has historically been very fair and respectful to ORU. I am honestly a little surprised by John Hoover's continued negativity toward ORU shown in his response to this hire. The newspaper industry is dying and they need every reader and subscriber they can get. There are tens of thousands of people in Tulsa that have a significant connection to ORU and it is unwise to alienate these potential readers unnecessarily.

That could be the dumbest complaint I've ever seen. Maybe Hoover could next request for Mills to get off his lawn? Or maybe he just prefers his ORU coaches to "dab" (a pot reference if you "Google it") after beating TU rather than quoting song lyrics?

EDIT: Baylor basketball coaching staff --- https://sicem365.com/baylor-basketball/staff

John Hoover's takeaway.........predictable...

this facebook clip has an extra minute and a half than what was posted on twitter a couple days ago... like others said above, if he wins w/Sutton players, i wonder what the excuses will be from "pistols firing" OK sports media.

No one wants us in their regional as a #4 seed....

This is why we need to be in the Missouri Valley. I think this is a good time to promote our school to the powers that be. You can call me crazy but with basketball and baseball, we are a natural fit. I played baseball at Indiana State and we were tough. I would love to see us in the Valley.

That Warren Nolan projection in Fort Worth would be brutal! I also have no desire to see TCU or their pitching again. I can't say that I'm sad not to see Dallas Baptist in these projections either. But, Texas A&M would be another tough 3-seed to run into. They're ranked in a couple of the polls. OU was a top-10 team just a couple of weeks ago, and Texas is Texas. The disappearance of the usual top programs as hosts in the state of Texas and out west made for some tough regionals last year and will cause even more havoc this year. For example- ORU running into Arizona State in an elimination game last year. In any given season, there are 8 regionals west of Fayetteville, essentially splitting the country evenly. Last year there were only 3, this year there may be 4. Add to that, the Big 12 is going to place seven teams in the field this year with only 2 hosts (TCU, Texas Tech) with tough teams like OU, Texas, Baylor and Texas A&M making the field after missing out last year, but not good enough to host. Our RPI hanging around the 110 range will keep us in a 4-seed. This is an exceptionally bad year even by Summit standards. No other team has an RPI higher than 250, which would be the equivalent of playing an entire conference schedule versus 300+ teams in basketball. Our record versus the Top 50 is actually 3-4, which would be helpful in any other season.

+1 If he manages not to turn a double-digit halftime lead into a deficit before the first 2nd half media timeout AND/OR calls a timeout in the middle of an opponent's 18-0 run he should be offered a contract extension right there on the sideline.