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FOX 23: Paul Mills overhauls ORU basketball with eight new players


Dr. Cornelius

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Paul Mills overhauls ORU basketball with eight new players

 

QUICK FACTS:

  • ORU men's basketball head coach Paul Mills has added eight new players to the Golden Eagles roster
  • Oral Roberts went 11-21 (5-9 Summit League) in Mills' first season last year
  • ORU kicked off the Paul Mills Camps on Tuesday and expects over 1,200 players to attend over the next couple of weeks
  • Mills says he has 1-2 scholarships still available for next season and plans to recruit heavily in July and August, including a trip planned for Africa
  • Mills on the players he has on the roster now: "What's exciting is you have guys who want to go through this journey and see this through fruition to get ORU back to the top of the Summit League. We have to get better talent and we've be able to do that with this upcoming class."
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11 minutes ago, Dr. Cornelius said:
  • Mills says he has 1-2 scholarships still available for next season and plans to recruit heavily in July and August, including a trip planned for Africa

I thought with Milton (Conway, AR) signing a few days ago there were no more scholarships for the 2018-19 season...

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17 minutes ago, Dr. Cornelius said:

I thought with Milton (Conway, AR) signing a few days ago there were no more scholarships for the 2018-19 season...

The Milton kid from Conway is a 2019 graduate who has merely committed, and can't sign until November.  He would be a freshman in the 2019-2020 season.

And for some reason, discussing the "2020" season makes me feel like we're talking about "Space Jam"

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Based on the video, it does not appear that any of the new guys are on campus yet.  That just looked like the returning players from what I saw.

13 players currently listed on the roster for next season.  Is Mills expecting a non-qualifier or two?  Perhaps the grad transfer is a walk-on???

Interesting note about a trip to Africa.  I think Baylor has had some success getting kids from Sudan.

_________________________________________________

Fans still love Gill, Walls, Crenshaw, McClellan etc. because they stuck it out and turned the program around.  Here's hoping Mills and company found a few of those type guys in this new class of recruits.

Gotta have buy in an get guys to hang around for 4-5 years if this thing is going to be rebuilt.  How about the class of Javan White, Kris Martin, Daquan Jeffries, Chris Miller, and Chris Crawford?   That class produced 1 P5 player and 2 Mid-Major players  ----- only Chris Miller remains.  Results like that are unsustainable.  

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Normally, the new guys don't show up until July if memory serves me right. We have two new Europeans - I wonder if they will have clearinghouse issues?

I have to think that the 1-2 scholarships mentioned in the story are for 2019-20.

We have had a lot of success with African - specifically Nigerian - players: Akin-Akin Otiko, Moses Ehambe, Obi Emegano, etc. (Although these guys weren't from Africa but first/second generation immigrants.) Glad to see we are pursuing any leads there. I have to think we have some specific recruits in mind. I think Sam Patterson has recruited there in the past.

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I like the t shirts that emphasize “Iron sharpens iron”

i get the sense that those that left, either didn’t want to buy into Mills’ approach, or Mills didn’t think we’re talented enough...just my opinion.

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19 minutes ago, ORUTerry said:

We have had a lot of success with African - specifically Nigerian - players: Akin-Akin Otiko, Moses Ehambe, Obi Emegano, etc. (Although these guys weren't from Africa but first/second generation immigrants.) Glad to see we are pursuing any leads there. I have to think we have some specific recruits in mind. I think Sam Patterson has recruited there in the past.

Trickey's D1 transitioning teams had Michael Mading (cousin of Manute Bol) out of Sudan.  Needless to say, he was not the player Manute was.

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12 minutes ago, ORUIllini said:

I like the t shirts that emphasize “Iron sharpens iron”i

I want one of those t-shirts....

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All those players leaving was by design. The guy has a 5 year contract...How many of those years would you waste trying to win with talent that was 1 not recruited by you and 2 not winning when you arrived. Mills clearly stated that he was bringing in better talent in the video so you can expect to see better talent. Players didn’t abandon ship, coach cleaned house. 

 

 

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I doubt Javan leaving was by design but I am excited to see how this team will come together this fall.

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9 hours ago, ORUFam said:

All those players leaving was by design. The guy has a 5 year contract...How many of those years would you waste trying to win with talent that was 1 not recruited by you and 2 not winning when you arrived. Mills clearly stated that he was bringing in better talent in the video so you can expect to see better talent. Players didn’t abandon ship, coach cleaned house. 

 

 

ORUFam welcome to the board!  Mills' quote from the video of "gotta bring in better talent" also resonated with me, at lease it got my attention and made me think more about those that left, which probably was by his design.

Going forward, it all now falls on Mills to get HIS guys to produce on the floor and start racking up some W's.

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Let me make sure I understand what some of you are saying.  Javan's leaving was by design a player who averaged 10 and 9.  I don't think so and anyone who knows basketball will tell you the same thing.  I know you folks are on that Kool-aid, but C'mon mane!  

Also if it was by design the Summit League Coaches say thank you.

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Javan was the one they tried to keep.  That was a talent loss no doubt.  But the other 3 guys who left didn't do a whole lot.  Two aren't even really d1 caliber.  So you can easily argue that the sum of talent is greater now.  More talent on the roster means better competition in practice and a better team.  Iron Sharpens Iron

It's hard to be really good when you have 6 or 7 legit players.

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Jontray is a loss too.  He had really improved and would have provided solid guard depth.  If I was the coach, I would have wanted to hold on to Jontray as well. Hopefully these incoming freshmen stick around for at least 4 years.

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White was a talent no doubt but you guys are going to see 6’9 with handles and the ability to hit the pull up jumper next year. Guards who can shoot the 3 and get to the rim and play above the rim.  This team will be far more ATHLETIC Why do I say this?  If the goal is to win the Summit and it is then you have to take down SDSU and SD the top 2 teams year in and year out. These teams are basically pick and pop drive and kick to open shooter teams.  Gaurds attack seems kick to shooter when help comes.if you zone these teams they have great shooters to shoot over zones right? How do you beat that. Simple,better talent means better athletes. Better athletes  means Guards who can defend the perimeter players of SDSU and SD without help That alone is agame changer. On the offensive end you run past them and jump over them as much as possible because you have better athletes. There is not a lot of athleticism in the Summit and bringing in better athletes is how Coach Mills plans to do it. The best Coaches don’t win you D1 basketball games but the coaches with the best talent does. This is not just wishful thinking. There is film out there on a few of these new recruits. 

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21 minutes ago, ORUFam said:

White was a talent no doubt but you guys are going to see 6’9 with handles and the ability to hit the pull up jumper next year..

I assume you are referring to Kerwin Smith (grad transfer from GCU). If he can come in and contribute that would be a big help - It's just puzzling that he had so many DNPs for GCU last season and basically didn't play the final half of the year.

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1 hour ago, ORUFam said:

...you guys are going to see 6’9" with handles...

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...and don't make me post a picture of "6-3 with love handles".

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