Blog Entry from Coach Brown: 04.25.07

[UA_MA_2000]

Another blog entry from Coach Brown, discussing the productive recruiting and training efforts this Spring! Today's entry is set forth below in full:

 

The spring recruiting period has been a very productive one for our program. Two weeks ago we signed 6’7 280 PF/C Al Turley from Houston, TX. This week we have added 6’2 180 combo guard Robert Moores of Pratt CC, KS and 6’5 210 small forward Jerel Hastings of Lon Morris CC, TX. These two young men are very talented and will improve the overall depth of our basketball team.

 

Robert played for one of the most talented junior college programs in the Jayhawk Conference. He was the teams 2nd leading scorer, leader in assists, 3’s, and steals. He can play multiple positions on the perimeter. He has the ability to nail the long range jumper and he can get to the rim. I love the way he defends. He has great feet and excels at pressuring the basketball. Very few colleges realized that he was graduating and would have three years to play. I think they all assumed he was going back to Pratt for another year. Lucky us!

 

Jerel is an excellent athlete who has that special ability to draw fouls. He does a great job of attacking the basket. He is an excellent offensive rebounder and finisher. Jerel is a good mid-range shooter and can defend four spots on the perimeter. Lon Morris CC won the region championship and advanced to Hutchinson, KS where they finished 6th at the NJCAA National Tournament. He was the teams 2nd leading scorer, leading rebounder, and leader in FT’s made and attempted. He can do a little of everything. He played high school ball at Dallas South Oak Cliff HS and won a state championship as a senior. He signed with Stephen F Austin University and had a rough freshman year because of injury. He tore up his knee and had surgery during the early part of his freshman season. He missed 9 games as a result of the injury and came back too quickly. He was 100% this past season and was the best player on a very talented Lon Morris CC basketball team.

 

The team is working very hard this spring. We are spending a lot of time in the weight room and on individual player development.

[KingDane]

I am usually pretty skeptical. For instance, after watching Yocum play in a HS game, I had concerns about his stamina. I was never proven wrong, but Coach Brown also never felt he earned an opportunity to prove me wrong. I'm not quite on board with Raffa mostly because of the size of his school. The step up from Wildwood Catholic to D-1 is significant. Hope he comes in and exceeds our hopes.

 

On the other hand, I'm very excited about next year particularly the possibilities in the front court. Turley - the #15 overall HS player in the State of Texas playing in a Houston 5A school. What a horse he's going to be. I'm assuming Gifford's going to come back with a little more bulk to go with his solid moves and soft touch around the basket. Add Wilson, Covington, Connelly, and we've got to have the most impressive big men combinations in the AE.

 

Nice job, WBrown!

[Clickclack]

I am usually pretty skeptical. For instance, after watching Yocum play in a HS game, I had concerns about his stamina. I was never proven wrong, but Coach Brown also never felt he earned an opportunity to prove me wrong. I'm not quite on board with Raffa mostly because of the size of his school. The step up from Wildwood Catholic to D-1 is significant. Hope he comes in and exceeds our hopes.

 

On the other hand, I'm very excited about next year particularly the possibilities in the front court. Turley - the #15 overall HS player in the State of Texas playing in a Houston 5A school. What a horse he's going to be. I'm assuming Gifford's going to come back with a little more bulk to go with his solid moves and soft touch around the basket. Add Wilson, Covington, Connelly, and we've got to have the most impressive big men combinations in the AE.

 

Nice job, WBrown!

 

My take on Raffa is, it will take him some time. The great thing is he can play spot minutes in the beginning since Lillis will start at the point anyway. I'm hoping he works hard, doesn't get down on himself for lack of playing time/not starting and be ready if and when the opportunity presents itself. I think he has a chance to be special but he will need to keep his eyes and ears open and learn like it's going out of style.

 

Regardless, this has been a very good off season on the recruiting trail. This man if worth every penny we pay him.

[Dane96]

Raffa will be special...PERIOD.

[Clickclack]

Raffa will be special...PERIOD.

 

You are not helping me in keeping my expectations realistic.

[haggyland]

Raffa will be special...PERIOD.

 

I'm with D96 here.

Even if the competition was not always D-1 quality all year, Raffa was a marked man, facing double and triple teams. Also, whenever his team faced top notch competition (national powerhouse St. Patrick's, for instance), Raffa still delivered.

 

My only concern was that he might have had trouble playing an inside-out game, especially with taller post defenders in college, but it should work itself out.

[Clickclack]

Raffa will be special...PERIOD.

 

I'm with D96 here.

Even if the competition was not always D-1 quality all year, Raffa was a marked man, facing double and triple teams. Also, whenever his team faced top notch competition (national powerhouse St. Patrick's, for instance), Raffa still delivered.

 

My only concern was that he might have had trouble playing an inside-out game, especially with taller post defenders in college, but it should work itself out.

 

 

My bigger concern with him is his defense, it's been well documented that he is quick, good ball handler with solid court vision who can get to the bucket and score at will. How is his two way game? Time will tell, I'm just trying not to hype this guy but there is certainly allot of potential.

[Clickclack]

Not so fast on UAlbany recruiting

April 25, 2007 at 8:15 pm by Mark Singelais, Staff writer

 

We stand corrected because UAlbany coach Will Brown wrote today on his Web site he added a third recruit during the spring signing period, 6-foot-5, 210-pound small forward Jerel Hastings of Lon Morris Community College in Texas.

 

That’s in addition to power forward Albert Turley of Houston and point guard Robert Moores of Pratt (Kansas) Community College.

 

This creates some confusion because at first glance, that would mean UAlbany has 14 players under scholarship for next season, one over the NCAA maximum. So that suggests either someone is leaving the program or just isn’t going to be on scholarship next season (unless there’s some other explanation). All indications were that freshman guard Tim Ambrose, who sat out for academic reasons this year, was going to get a scholarship next year. Perhaps that has changed. We’ll try to find out more for you later.

 

Let's see if he can dig up and explanation.

[Patch]

I'm sure coach knows what he is doing.

 

I'm sure he knew what he was doing when he decided to stay at UA.

 

We can speculate all we want but it's apparent to me that Coach is keeping his word and working hard so we have a chance to compete "EVERY" year for an AE title.

 

It's apparent that when he committed to stay at UA knowing he was losing a great deal from last year's team. He was also committed to keep us competitive.

 

The next few months should be very interesting as far as seeing how things work out.

[olddog71]

I'm sure coach knows what he is doing.

 

I'm sure he knew what he was doing when he decided to stay at UA.

 

We can speculate all we want but it's apparent to me that Coach is keeping his word and working hard so we have a chance to compete "EVERY" year for an AE title.

 

It's apparent that when he committed to stay at UA knowing he was losing a great deal from last year's team. He was also committed to keep us competitive.

 

The next few months should be very interesting as far as seeing how things work out.

 

I agree with almost everything you say here, Patch.

 

When Coach Brown did not post any additions to his website for a month, I knew he had to be very busy. Sure, some of us can claim that the contract negotiations took up his focus for a week or two, but it could not explain the total absense from his website.

 

He's a very smart man, and I'm guessing that he knew he had to capitalize on our second trip to the Big Dance both before the Virginia game and soon afterward to obtain the most effective recruiting possibilities.

 

I'm also guessing that the momentum from our two appearances would keep good players looking at UA; whereas, his departure for another institution might not make prospective players "portable" to the new school where Brown might be going.

 

A lot of our detractors like to think that the graduation of Jamar and Jason is going to make our fortunes sink measurably, but the new recruits from the last two weeks make that prospect far less likely. As Bosiydid points out, the OOC season will probably be rough, but we should be rolling by conference time. Our teams usually function that way.

 

Yes, Raffa should get a lot of minutes, even in his first season, but he will have to learn Brown's defensive system. The coach demands our players concentrate on learning these skills. If Raffa doesn't, he will probably be looking for another school.

 

I have enough confidence in Brown to recruit the players we need to be successful. We have come a long way in such a few years. If players don't work out exactly as hoped, then Brown now has somebody else who can step up.

[UA_MA_2000]

Echoing the comments of previous posters, not only in this thread but other threads of the past, I do not understand why there are so many "haters" out there (i.e., LCC fans) who think we will fall on our faces this year with the departure of Siggers and Wilson. Re: Siggers, it is tough to lose him, but we were good two years ago too when he wasn't our #2 go-to guy! Two years ago, it was Jordan, last year Siggers, and this year it will be someone else who steps up in that "slashing and drive to the basket role." Setting aside the first UVM game this year where Siggers went wild for 30+ points, I am more than confident that there are several players --- from last year's roster --- who can step up and provide the 10-15 points per game that Siggers typically provided. I think we will get more point production from our frontcourt this year as well. And one never knows when, at any point during the game, it becomes Iati-time. Iati, if I recall correctly (and I might be mixing up my memories of games here), was instrumental in that final home win against Boston University this year with his stellar shooting. Iati-time can strike at any moment during a game.

 

As far as Wilson leaving, well, yes, it's always tough to lose a guy with that kind of ability, but I, again, think back to the Bucknell game when we made a fierce 2d-half comeback with Wilson in the locker room tending to cramps. Grant it, I think we only scored 54 points to win that game, but a win is a win, and those guys really hadn't played together much as of that point (yet they still found a way to win)! This team never seemed to miss a beat with Wilson out, and 9 guys are returning this year, in addition to the nice looking recruits that are coming in. We may not win games by 20 points like we did at times this year (how again did we go up on UMBC at home this year by 32 points at one point in the first half????), but we will win a good share of games, including the LCC game this year. Moreover, let's not forget our frontcourt that plays offensive line for the NY Giants in their free time.

 

And we have Carl Ross.

[B9j2j6s]

As far as Wilson leaving, well, yes, it's always tough to lose a guy with that kind of ability, but I, again, think back to the Bucknell game when we made a fierce 2d-half comeback with Wilson in the locker room tending to cramps. This team never seemed to miss a beat with Wilson out, and 9 guys are returning this year, in addition to the nice looking recruits that are coming in. We may not win games by 20 points, but we will win a good share of games, including the LCC game this year, especially with our frontcourt that plays offensive line for the NY Giants in their free time.

 

And we have Carl Ross.

 

As I've stated before losing Jamar COULD BE addition by subtraction. As great as Jamar was his leaving now forces all the returning players to raise their games. We saw a glimps of what this team was possible of opening night.

[UA_MA_2000]

As far as Wilson leaving, well, yes, it's always tough to lose a guy with that kind of ability, but I, again, think back to the Bucknell game when we made a fierce 2d-half comeback with Wilson in the locker room tending to cramps. This team never seemed to miss a beat with Wilson out, and 9 guys are returning this year, in addition to the nice looking recruits that are coming in. We may not win games by 20 points, but we will win a good share of games, including the LCC game this year, especially with our frontcourt that plays offensive line for the NY Giants in their free time.

 

And we have Carl Ross.

 

As I've stated before losing Jamar COULD BE addition by subtraction. As great as Jamar was his leaving now forces all the returning players to raise their games. We saw a glimps of what this team was possible of opening night.

 

I absolutely agree!!

[UAalum72]

As I've stated before losing Jamar COULD BE addition by subtraction. As great as Jamar was his leaving now forces all the returning players to raise their games. We saw a glimps of what this team was possible of opening night.

Some may think that sounds like whistling past the graveyard, but that's what the time between seasons is for.

[UA_MA_2000]

As I've stated before losing Jamar COULD BE addition by subtraction. As great as Jamar was his leaving now forces all the returning players to raise their games. We saw a glimps of what this team was possible of opening night.

Some may think that sounds like whistling past the graveyard, but that's what the time between seasons is for.

 

Not our graveyard!