Old Titan Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 A little bit about a lot: • Men's basketball players will be returning to campus the first of June for summer school and to work at Scott Sutton's basketball camps. The NCAA has changed what was a stupid rule, and now allows incoming freshmen to work at camps along with returning players. Incoming freshman big man Albert Owens will be here, though it's not like he needs the summer classwork for eligibility: he was an honor student in high school. • Speaking of eligibility, power forward Denell Henderson is making progress on his academic standing and is expected to be available in the fall. • Henderson's return, along with the expected minutes down low from Branden Conley, Andrew Wilson, and the freshman Owens, factored into Jorden Kaufmann's startling decision to transfer out. Apparently, certain family members were pretty vocal with the staff that he should be getting more playing time, and unfortunately he bought into that, instead of listening to what the coaches were telling him about improving his game. • D.J. Jackson is another player who could read the writing on the wall: redshirt combo-guard Dederick Lee out-played him all season in practice, thus moving ahead of him on the point guard depth chart for next year. Throw Jabar Singleton onto that list, along with the return of Obi Emagano in the backcourt, and Jackson's playing time was really going to suffer, especially since his attitude had also become such a problem. • Speaking of Obi: he's been participating in pick-up games at full-speed for some time. I'm told he's playing just as hard and making the same plays as before the injury, which is obviously fantastic news. • There's cautious optimism that Creighton transfer Darian Harris will qualify for immediate eligibility to play this coming season, based on current NCAA hardship guidelines. No such hope/appeal for Edmond Santa Fe's Aaron Anderson, who's fortunate to have even been able to transfer to ORU after having already played seasons at Fresno State and Central Oklahoma. • Nothing new on the upcoming non-conference schedule, other than the new coaching regime at TU has nixed a proposed idea of playing two (home-and-home) games each season for the Mayor's Cup, beginning this fall. It's now back to just one game this year: Saturday, November 15th at the Mabee Center, as ORU's homecoming game. • Weird things keep falling into place from a competitive standpoint with ORU's league opponents. In addition to the coaching turnover and so many prominent seniors graduating, there's this: Ian Chiles, IUPUI's leading scorer last year, is transferring to Tennessee. Denver appears to be the overwhelming choice as the preseason favorite, but I'll be surprised if ORU isn't mentioned as at least a dark-horse candidate for winning the league, based on so many experienced lettermen returning and Scott Sutton's track record in Summit League play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Thanks for the info OT. This year could be an interesting year, especially if we "jell" as a team and stay healthy. I also think/believe that the Summit could be a multi-bid league in the future which should make for a challenging time in the Summit. However, the league still has a long way to go. At least basketball gets way more attention than it did in the Southland. GO GOLDEN EAGLES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Great info, OT. I'm especially glad to hear about Henderson and Omegano. Hoping both of those stories have happy endings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbl78 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Thanks for the update OT. I commend the PR people in the Athletic Dept. for reaching out to you - great attempt to change the board conversation after a horrible baseball season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 • There's cautious optimism that Creighton transfer Darian Harris will qualify for immediate eligibility to play this coming season, based on current NCAA hardship guidelines. No such hope/appeal for Edmond Santa Fe's Aaron Anderson, who's fortunate to have even been able to transfer to ORU after having already played seasons at Fresno State and Central Oklahoma. NCAA is looking to close this loophole...2014-15 may be the final year for immediate eligibility. "Buried in the depths of a release on Thursday the NCAA is taking a step to end the process by which an athlete is granted immediate eligibility on the basis of personal or family circumstances. The reasoning behind the move is simple the hardship waiver has been, in the eyes of some, abused by some athletes and some schools to gain an unfair advantage in filling out a roster. Those who see the process as unfair seek to end it. There is a carrot however, the hardship waiver will still exist, just as a means of getting an additional year of eligibility. For example, player X from university Y has a family member who has taken ill. Player X would like to transfer to school A because that is the school nearest his hometown. Under the new system player X will have to sit out the season following his transfer no matter what. The difference is that if player X is granted a hardship waiver he will have the option of a 6th season to complete 4 seasons of on court play. This is a shocking, but that is actually a good idea. The proposal will be voted on in August," Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 Thanks for the update OT. I commend the PR people in the Athletic Dept. for reaching out to you - great attempt to change the board conversation after a horrible baseball season. LOL - no one in the Athletic Department reached out to me with this info; it's all grass roots stuff I've picked up here and there over the past week or so, from a couple of folks who are more connected than me. Fact is, there's probably a blurb or two in my post that the Athletic Department brass would prefer NOT be in there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 NCAA is looking to close this loophole...2014-15 may be the final year for immediate eligibility. "Buried in the depths of a release on Thursday the NCAA is taking a step to end the process by which an athlete is granted immediate eligibility on the basis of personal or family circumstances. The reasoning behind the move is simple the hardship waiver has been, in the eyes of some, abused by some athletes and some schools to gain an unfair advantage in filling out a roster. Those who see the process as unfair seek to end it. There is a carrot however, the hardship waiver will still exist, just as a means of getting an additional year of eligibility. For example, player X from university Y has a family member who has taken ill. Player X would like to transfer to school A because that is the school nearest his hometown. Under the new system player X will have to sit out the season following his transfer no matter what. The difference is that if player X is granted a hardship waiver he will have the option of a 6th season to complete 4 seasons of on court play. This is a shocking, but that is actually a good idea. The proposal will be voted on in August," I'm told that, even if it's changed this summer, the rule will not go into effect in time to alter this season's hardship petitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Anyone who is familar with OT knows that he doesn't carry anyone's water - on anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I'm told that, even if it's changed this summer, the rule will not go into effect in time to alter this season's hardship petitions. We may be helped by the fact that Oklahoma got a highly sought after transfer from Houston (and Kelvin Sampson - !) who is attempting to get immediate playing time under a hardship petition. Of course, that assumes some level of consistency and rationality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 • D.J. Jackson is another player who could read the writing on the wall: redshirt combo-guard Dederick Lee out-played him all season in practice, thus moving ahead of him on the point guard depth chart for next year. Throw Jabar Singleton onto that list, along with the return of Obi Emagano in the backcourt, and Jackson's playing time was really going to suffer, especially since his attitude had also become such a problem. according to ESPN's Transfer Tracker, DJ has landed at Cameron. so we could see him back in the Mabee for an exhibition game in the next year or two. OT, do you think Lee will start ahead of Singleton and Young next year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 The coaches wanted to red-shirt both Word and Lee last year to let them develop. I think they thought that Webber would be a more significant contributor (scorer) than he turned out. Word did not agree with a red shirt and that helped us for last year because we needed his outside shooting. Lee showed great promise in practices during the season - competing favorably with the other guards. Not sure how he is as a point guard - I think he played shooting guard in high school. The coaches are obviously impressed with his ability per some of the comments made by Sutton. He also helped us in recruiting Creighton transfer, Darrian Harris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Great info above....TheEagleman is appreciative!!!....Lee sounds like he might be an immediate starter at the two.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Anyone who is familar with OT knows that he doesn't carry anyone's water - on anything. Haha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOLO_Gold Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 • Henderson's return, along with the expected minutes down low from Branden Conley, Andrew Wilson, and the freshman Owens, factored into Jorden Kaufmann's startling decision to transfer out. Apparently, certain family members were pretty vocal with the staff that he should be getting more playing time, and unfortunately he bought into that, instead of listening to what the coaches were telling him about improving his game. This is crazy. Jorden seemed pretty consistent throughout the season ––it's hard to believe that he wasn't competitive enough to out work those guys. Hope to see a big improvement from Drew Wilson. I have no idea what to expect from Owens. • D.J. Jackson is another player who could read the writing on the wall: redshirt combo-guard Dederick Lee out-played him all season in practice, thus moving ahead of him on the point guard depth chart for next year. Throw Jabar Singleton onto that list, along with the return of Obi Emagano in the backcourt, and Jackson's playing time was really going to suffer, especially since his attitude had also become such a problem. Don't forget Aaron Young –– who I would imagine will compete with Jabar and Lee for that starting job. • There's cautious optimism that Creighton transfer Darian Harris will qualify for immediate eligibility to play this coming season, based on current NCAA hardship guidelines. No such hope/appeal for Edmond Santa Fe's Aaron Anderson, who's fortunate to have even been able to transfer to ORU after having already played seasons at Fresno State and Central Oklahoma. I was really disappointed when we missed on Darian the first time, so I'm pretty excited to see him play and hopefully contribute right away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 i think the change of scenery will be good for Kaufman. he can use the red-shirt to work on developing a/some low post move(s) and to improve his rebounding. Coach Sutton could not even trust him to block out on free throws. watching the Fox Sports games there were a couple of times you could see the frustration on Sutton's face when Kaufman would get pushed off the blocks or get beat on rebounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 according to ESPN's Transfer Tracker, DJ has landed at Cameron. so we could see him back in the Mabee for an exhibition game in the next year or two. OT, do you think Lee will start ahead of Singleton and Young next year? I'm embarrassed I forgot about Bobby Word: all he did was crack the starting line-up midway through the conference season. Not sure who's going to start in the backcourt, but the bottom line is this: Jackson was going to be buried behind at least Lee, Singleton, Word, and Emegano for playing time. He's in a better place now (even if it is Lawton). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orumbb_insider Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Unfortunately, this year I didn't stay for the summer. So, I won't have much information to offer this summer guys. However, I will do my best to find out as much as I can pretaining to schedules and the latest info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 Unfortunately, this year I didn't stay for the summer. So, I won't have much information to offer this summer guys. However, I will do my best to find out as much as I can pretaining to schedules and the latest info! Must.....resist.....snarky.....comeback...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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