Re: Rotnei Clarke

[Old Titan]

Regardless, RC needs to ensure that he's making the correct choice on one of the most important decisions that he'll make in his life (this is up there with his decision for Christ, who he will marry and what his vocation will be during his adult life). 

If we're doing the right thing by Rotnei, we should be praying that God guides his steps to what His will is for RC.  If that takes him to ORU, that's great, but it will still be great if he has sought God and made a decision that doesn't include ORU.  All of the other schools considered will survive with or without a star recruit.  As 82 pointed out earlier, we have still had a successful program without Steve Hale and Mark Price, but there's not doubt that it certainly would have been easier with them.

Exactly.

Bingo.

+1.

Yahtzee.

Boo-yeah.

etc. 

[Hollywood_HOGan]

I'm not sure how you quantify the cost of Rotnei's recruitment, Ash, but I'll take it for granted that you're smarter than me on those matters. 

Regardless, RC needs to ensure that he's making the correct choice on one of the most important decisions that he'll make in his life (this is up there with his decision for Christ, who he will marry and what his vocation will be during his adult life). 

If we're doing the right thing by Rotnei, we should be praying that God guides his steps to what His will is for RC.  If that takes him to ORU, that's great, but it will still be great if he has sought God and made a decision that doesn't include ORU.  All of the other schools considered will survive with or without a star recruit.  As 82 pointed out earlier, we still have had a successful program without Steve Hale and Mark Price, but there's no doubt that it certainly would have been easier with them.

exactly

awsome post

[Titanic Eagle]

I was there at the UK game. The arkansas fans were not "booing their own team". They were showing their displeasure with coach houston nutt. Nutt will probably be fired at the end of the year. I've been to countless football and basketball games. The only time hog fans have ever booed like that was for coach nutt. The Hog fans have NEVER booed their basketball team like that. Not even when we were awful awful awful during the early Heath era.

I was also at the Kentucky game.  A boo is a boo, nobody knows where it's targeted.  If I was a visitor, I'd have guessed that the boos were directed at Michael Smith, whose fumble gave KY the touchdown just before halftime.  The boos reflect poorly on the fans no matter where they're targeted.  If you listen to the players, they sure seem to think the boos are aimed at them as a team.

[Hollywood_HOGan]

I was also at the Kentucky game.  A boo is a boo, nobody knows where it's targeted.  If I was a visitor, I'd have guessed that the boos were directed at Michael Smith, whose fumble gave KY the touchdown just before halftime.  The boos reflect poorly on the fans no matter where they're targeted.  If you listen to the players, they sure seem to think the boos are aimed at them as a team.

Well, coach nutt sure didnt have any problem throwing Mike Smith under the bus after that game.

Seriously, even if the fans were booing the players (they were not), you really think they were ALL directed at ONE player? C'mon now.

Again, i have been to countless Razorback games and the Arkansas fans have never booed like that even when we were terrible in the early Heath era and the really lean pre nutt years in football.

If you had read some of the Arkansas football articles, the players are defending their coach AGAINST the banners, the BOOS, and the black shirts.

I guarantee, there will be no boos at the exhibition game friday night with Rotnei Clarke in attendance.

Good luck this season.

[ORUTerry]

My boys and I attended the Auburn-Arkansas game a couple of weeks ago. It was a brutal game to watch. Arkansas played poorly, but had a chance to win it at the end. They scored with about 1:30 to go but let Auburn march down the field (poor special teams play) and kick a field goal. The fans we were around grumbled about the coaching/play calling (can't blame them) and the quarterback play - but were definitely supportive of the team.

I have several Arkansas customers (that's how I got tickets to the game) and they are all ready for Nutt to leave. Several have been longtime supporters, but have given up on him.

I have also visited Bud Walton arena and it is a great place to watch a game - as long as you are not the opponent. They are loud and boisterous.

[Titanic Eagle]

Well, coach nutt sure didnt have any problem throwing Mike Smith under the bus after that game.

Seriously, even if the fans were booing the players (they were not), you really think they were ALL directed at ONE player? C'mon now.

You missed my point.  I'm a Hog fan in Fayetteville with an old ORU connection.  I didn't say I thought the boos were directed at one player, I said a visitor might think that since the Hogs were playing decent except for that one play (the visitor next to me, seeing the Hogs for the first time, also remarked how poor our quarterback was). 

ORU fans are ridiculously positive and Hog fans can be cruelly negative, so that is a factor in recruiting.  I will concede that Hog fans are not as negative about basketball and suffered the early Heath years quietly.  But I've heard Hog fans yell cruel things at Hog basketball players who made mistakes.  You need a thick skin to play in such an environment (probably the same at any big time program).  Jason Jennings, for example, had too thin skin to handle the fans' taunting and his coach's quick trigger.

Compare that to how supportive this board is.  Of course, it's not exactly a true picture since any negative post will quickly get locked or deleted by the ORU ministry of information.  This post getting deleted in 3 ... 2 ...

[orumom]

Compare that to how supportive this board is.  Of course, it's not exactly a true picture since any negative post will quickly get locked or deleted by the ORU ministry of information.  This post getting deleted in 3 ... 2 ...

This message board is not supported by ORU. It is run independently by volunteers who also pay for it and share it with the rest of us.

I'm sure they would appreciate it if you would advertise or sponsor the site for them. 

[ManiacAlum]

Also in that Kentucky game, UK scored a late touchdown to take the lead to go up by 4 and was preparing to go for 2. Houston Nutt called a timeout to get the right personnel on the field (I guess)...now, I understand that you want to have the right guys on the field to stop the 2, but that 3rd timeout was WAY more valuable than UK being up by 6 points. You still need a TD. Even if the Hogs couldnt have scored on the next possession, they could have punted and stopped UK using all 3 timeouts, forcing them to punt it back INSTEAD of Arkansas going for it on 4th down and giving UK a short field to put the game away with another touchdown. Total time and timeout mismanagement. If I was an Arkansas fan, I would be pretty upset about that...

You can't really boo a kid for fumbling, nobody WANTS to screw up.

That being said, i love the Razorback fans, they're loud and a passionate base. I always know that there's a Arkansas game on because my neighbor that lives below me will either be cheering loudly or throwing things at the wall. Can't blame him, I'm the same way during ORU games 

Anyway, I'm off subject, but just wanted to throw in that observation...

[Hollywood_HOGan]

http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/206093

thought i would post a Rotnei Clarke article. Probably already stuff everybody knows but its the most recent article.

Hope to see alot of ORU fans in the bud on 12-3.

[tmh8286]

Well, you never really know what's going on in a person's mind, but from what he said in that article he likes Arkansas - a lot!

Then again, hasn't that been the case with every school he's visited?  Haven't we felt, by the things that he's said after visiting other schools, that that was the one he was going to?  I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks what his decision is.  From this article we at least know that he'll announce the first day of the early signing period.

I may be finding it hard to sleep on the night of Nov. 13.

[ORUTerry]

It is a race to the finish..... Rotnei has kept the suspense going the whole time. The process will be over in two weeks and we can all focus just on basketball.

[ORU_Ed]

Exactly Terry!!

Let's focus on what we have.  It's wonderful to dream, but let's make sure we're appreciative of all we DO have as a basketball program.  Whether we take the meteoric shot or just keep making steady strides, great things are coming for ORU basketball. 

We have ORU basketball THIS WEEKEND!!!

That's where our concentration/discussion should be.

GO  07/08 Eagles!!!!

[tmh8286]

Great post, Eddie!

[Hollywood_HOGan]

Exactly Terry!!

Let's focus on what we have.  It's wonderful to dream, but let's make sure we're appreciative of all we DO have as a basketball program.  Whether we take the meteoric shot or just keep making steady strides, great things are coming for ORU basketball. 

We have ORU basketball THIS WEEKEND!!!

That's where our concentration/discussion should be.

GO  07/08 Eagles!!!!

when does ORU play aTm?

I cannot wait to see ORU play OSU this year on TV.

[tmh8286]

when does ORU play aTm?

ORU plays Texas A&M on Nov. 13, in College Station, in the Preseason NIT.

[OKC Eagle]

Exactly Terry!!

Let's focus on what we have.  It's wonderful to dream, but let's make sure we're appreciative of all we DO have as a basketball program.  Whether we take the meteoric shot or just keep making steady strides, great things are coming for ORU basketball. 

We have ORU basketball THIS WEEKEND!!!

That's where our concentration/discussion should be.

GO  07/08 Eagles!!!!

"I would hope you would support who we are, not who we are not."  Gene Hackman - Hoosiers Clip

[ORUJason]

?I?ve seen everything I needed to see,? he said. ?I think it?s getting a lot clearer.?

That is a quote from Rotnei during his Arkansas visit, which is part of the article which is linked 4 or 5 posts back.

As always, Rotnei is very kind in his quotes, but is also very non-committal.  He seems to choose his words very wisely and not give too much away.

An Arkansas fan could hear that quote, and assume that it is becoming clear after this visit that he is going to commit to Arkansas.

But if you work under the assumption that he is already comfortable with the ORU coaching staff, players, and overall spiritual atmosphere of the team and university, then you could read that quote to say that he didn't see what he needed to see at Arkansas during his visit, so his choice to attend ORU is that much clearer now.

In reality, if he chooses ORU, it will be because the vision and atmosphere of the university lines up with what he really wants out of his college experience, and because he knows that he can be a "rock-star" as Bill Haisten put it.  If he is everything he is hyped to be, then he has an opportunity to be a 2 or 3 time Summit League player of the year, a la Caleb Green, Chad Wilkerson, etc.

He can probably be a 2-3 year starter at Arkansas or OSU if things go well, but regardless of what they have promised, in reality, he could also be used mainly as a 3-point threat and a backup point guard depending on the depth of the team and the coaching philosophy.

There is definitely risk in going to OSU or Arkansas.  If either of those schools is truly promising to run the offense through him, I suspect that they are telling him what he wants to hear.  Do you think Obi Muonelo is going to defer to Rotnei so he can score 25 points per game?  Realistically, the best opportunity for maximizing playing time will be at ORU.  So the question is, and all along has been, what is the most important thing to Rotnei....

[Bogus Smith]

I have always enjoyed what you have to say, Jason.  This is just another example of your well thought out view on things.  Thanks for your insight.