Barnes comment on the OU visit from an ISU view

[Sam]

Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

“It was a good visit. Coach Capel has really turned that program around. He’s taken Oklahoma from the bottom of the Big 12 to this year, being ranked number two behind Kansas. I have been really impressed with how he is making that school more known for basketball than it was before, when it was just a football school,” Barnes said.

Harrison must not remember the Sampson years and the 3 straight big 12 tournament titles but I do agree on how the impact of Capel + Blake is making OU known more nation wide for Hoops.
Source

 

[j2d2]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

Makes me wish that Capel would stress more the basketball history of OU, but it's hard to fault his recruiting. Still, it wouldn't hurt to mention it in passing, at least.

 

[RonMexico]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

If Oklahoma was near the bottom where the hell were we?

-ISU Fan

 

[elmocarp]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

Makes me wish that Capel would stress more the basketball history of OU, but it's hard to fault his recruiting. Still, it wouldn't hurt to mention it in passing, at least.

If you have to tell a kid that you have basketball history, then maybe you don't have the level of history that kid is looking for. I mean, it would come off pretty lame to try to be like, "No really, we really have been great at basketball...I promise." You don't want to draw attention to the fact that despite the level of OU's tradition, no one knows about it. A kid doesn't want to imagine himself toiling away in obscurity. For Capel to tell these kids that he is trying to elevate the program is true and much more attractive to the kids.

 

[BanjoCharley]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

Harrison must not remember the Sampson years and the 3 straight big 12 tournament titles but I do agree on how the impact of Capel + Blake is making OU known more nation wide for Hoops.
Source

How old was he then?

 

[Cheno]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

Harrison must not remember the Sampson years and the 3 straight big 12 tournament titles but I do agree on how the impact of Capel + Blake is making OU known more nation wide for Hoops.
Source

I think Harrison's comments just goes to show you what top recruits thoughts were about OU over the years, whether right or wrong.
He's 100% right in that Capel is making OU more known for basketball. He's doing it because he's landing the big fish on the national scene and having players drafted into the NBA. That is what these young high school all-americans see. They have no clue how many straight 20 win seasons or how many Big 12 tournaments a team has won. They see the big dance and the NBA. Harrison Barnes is as articulate, knowledgeable and mature a top rated kid as there has been in years and those are his thoughts on the OU program. Many of which weren't right, but that was the perception and perception is everything. The job Coach Capel is doing cannot be understated. He's simply turning this program into something it has never been. It's a beautiful thing to watch.

 

[DenverSooner]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

If you have to tell a kid that you have basketball history, then maybe you don't have the level of history that kid is looking for. I mean, it would come off pretty lame to try to be like, "No really, we really have been great at basketball...I promise." You don't want to draw attention to the fact that despite the level of OU's tradition, no one knows about it. A kid doesn't want to imagine himself toiling away in obscurity. For Capel to tell these kids that he is trying to elevate the program is true and much more attractive to the kids.

In my opinion the problem with OU's perception is the OU fan base. Most of our fan base does not understand how strong our program is. If we don't get, it is simply unrealistic to think the rest of the country will get it.

We have to change our perception of ourselves to change our national perception. When people in OKlahoma say OSU is the basketball school, we have to challenge that statement and point out that OSU has only finished higher than OU in the Big XII once since its inception. Furthermore, we have to tell them OU dominated OSU even more in the Big 8 era. The smae thing is true with every other school in the Big XII (except Kansas).

Once we change the image in the State, I believe our National image will improve. I actually believe OU has a better National image than in state image. Just look at what the ISU fans say.

 

[Tony]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

If you have to tell a kid that you have basketball history, then maybe you don't have the level of history that kid is looking for. I mean, it would come off pretty lame to try to be like, "No really, we really have been great at basketball...I promise."

Well yes, that would be a pretty lame thing to say. Of course, I would imagine that a smart guy like Jeff Capel would be able to come up with a much-less-lame way of demonstrating to recruits that while, yes, he is working to raise the profile of Oklahoma's basketball program on a national level, it's important to realize that there is a rich basketball history and track record of success in Norman.

 

[campbest]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

In my opinion the problem with OU's perception is the OU fan base. Most of our fan base does not understand how strong our program is. If we don't get, it is simply unrealistic to think the rest of the country will get it.

We have to change our perception of ourselves to change our national perception. When people in OKlahoma say OSU is the basketball school, we have to challenge that statement and point out that OSU has only finished higher than OU in the Big XII once since its inception. Furthermore, we have to tell them OU dominated OSU even more in the Big 8 era. The smae thing is true with every other school in the Big XII (except Kansas).

Once we change the image in the State, I believe our National image will improve. I actually believe OU has a better National image than in state image. Just look at what the ISU fans say.

OU has good tradition, but Barnes is 17-18 years old, how is he supposed to know about OU's accomplishments. When OU went to a final four he was like12 years old, recruits don't remember that. Tradition is important, but for a majority of the kids coming out now look at recent success and putting players in the NBA. Stick to that approach, it will go a lot further at a school like OU.

 

[BigTime]

The biggest problem with hyping the Sampson glory years to recruits is that we didn't have a single guy drafted in the first round, and we only had one player stick in the league during that whole time. Let's face it, those elite kids all think that they are for sure going to play in the pros. Therefore, tradition that doesn't involve putting guys into the league is not really what they are interested in.

Now our fanbase on the other hand should always remember and take pride in what we were able to accomplish during the Sampson years. I have a ton of great memories from that era. See the Bookout interview if you want to relive a few.

 

[AdaSooner]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

I think Harrison's comments just goes to show you what top recruits thoughts were about OU over the years, whether right or wrong.
He's 100% right in that Capel is making OU more known for basketball. He's doing it because he's landing the big fish on the national scene and having players drafted into the NBA. That is what these young high school all-americans see. They have no clue how many straight 20 win seasons or how many Big 12 tournaments a team has won. They see the big dance and the NBA. Harrison Barnes is as articulate, knowledgeable and mature a top rated kid as there has been in years and those are his thoughts on the OU program. Many of which weren't right, but that was the perception and perception is everything. The job Coach Capel is doing cannot be understated. He's simply turning this program into something it has never been. It's a beautiful thing to watch.

Cheno has it right. Die hard fans like us who know the history of OU basketball don't have to be told that our hoops program is easily in the top twenty in the country and one we should be very proud of. But, let's face it, folks, even some Sooner fans who have lived and breathed football their whole life, don't have a clue about how good OU has been over the years.

Having said that, however, there is no denying that Coach Capel has taken men's basketball at OU to a level in recruiting we have never seen before. I can remember the times when I got excited if OU was even being considered by a top twenty five player. I have bought every recruiting magazine I could find for over three decades, and I can tell you it didn't happen often.

If someone had told me back then the Sooners would sign four McDonald's All-Americans the past three seasons, and be on the verge of making it four, I would have thought they were crazy. That is not a knock on Kelvin or Billy or anyone else, it's a statement of facts. It doesn't bother me one bit to brag on the job Jeff Capel is doing, because I'm also one who has recognized the aforementioned coaches numerous times for their contribution to our program.

 

[Sid]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

I think Harrison's comments just goes to show you what top recruits thoughts were about OU over the years, whether right or wrong.
He's 100% right in that Capel is making OU more known for basketball. He's doing it because he's landing the big fish on the national scene and having players drafted into the NBA. That is what these young high school all-americans see. They have no clue how many straight 20 win seasons or how many Big 12 tournaments a team has won. They see the big dance and the NBA. Harrison Barnes is as articulate, knowledgeable and mature a top rated kid as there has been in years and those are his thoughts on the OU program. Many of which weren't right, but that was the perception and perception is everything. The job Coach Capel is doing cannot be understated. He's simply turning this program into something it has never been. It's a beautiful thing to watch.

I agree. Sometimes the truth hurts. I think Harrison's comments are right on the money. Whether people want to admit it or not, that was the perception of OU basketball outside Norman Oklahoma. As you stated, the big fish who are blessed with LEGITIMATE NBA talent ONLY care about March Madness and the NBA. That's the way it should be.

Because of Jeff, opposing coaches can no longer use that liability as a club to whack us over the head when they are talking to a recruit. Our mediocre recruiting efforts in the past had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with being a football school.

I'm not surprised at all at what Jeff is accomplishing in recruiting. We just needed a coach who was not lazy and was willing to put in the effort that's necessary to compete with the BIG BOYS. That's what we have in Jeff. He didn't buy into that football school CRAP and as a result we are reaping the benefits. As long as JC is our coach, it’s only going to get better.

:jcapel

 

[Tony]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

OU has good tradition, but Barnes is 17-18 years old, how is he supposed to know about OU's accomplishments. When OU went to a final four he was like12 years old, recruits don't remember that. Tradition is important, but for a majority of the kids coming out now look at recent success and putting players in the NBA. Stick to that approach, it will go a lot further at a school like OU.

Harrison Barnes can go to Duke if he wants. We aren't talking about a dumb person here. In fact, almost none of the people we recruit are dumb. They can process more information than "Coach X can put me in the NBA" and "Coach Capel is young and I can relate to him and talk about rap music." It's dumb of us to over-analyze what was likely just a throwaway line from Barnes, but if he truly believes that OU has routinely been at the bottom of the Big 12, then that is absurd. It's not going to confuse young Harrison for him to find out that we do have some basketball tradition here. That doesn't mean you don't tout your recent achievements or talk about how you can put players in the NBA, it's treating these recruits with the respect of realizing they are a bit more than the 2-dimensional caricatures some think.

 

[luckyc1423]

I believe the fact that we have not had alot of great "nba" success or "national" success in terms of individual talent could be recruited as a good thing...

what I mean by that is when kids walk into UNC and see the jordan trouphies, see all the other great players throughout their history they think wow I want to be a part of this...
Well I think Jeff Capel can sell this to recruits....why go to a program and be a part of something when you can came to OU and be that something...be good enough for us to build a statue of you, be good enough to hang your jersey up or trouphies...make our tradition into what our football program has...dont be apart of it, build it

A player like blake griffin means alot more to OU's tradition then it would to UNC....so if I am a kid I would like that I would be loved that much

 

[SoonerNorm]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

I think Harrison's comments just goes to show you what top recruits thoughts were about OU over the years, whether right or wrong.
He's 100% right in that Capel is making OU more known for basketball. He's doing it because he's landing the big fish on the national scene and having players drafted into the NBA. That is what these young high school all-americans see. They have no clue how many straight 20 win seasons or how many Big 12 tournaments a team has won. They see the big dance and the NBA. Harrison Barnes is as articulate, knowledgeable and mature a top rated kid as there has been in years and those are his thoughts on the OU program. Many of which weren't right, but that was the perception and perception is everything. The job Coach Capel is doing cannot be understated. He's simply turning this program into something it has never been. It's a beautiful thing to watch.

Great post, Cheno. That is the reason I get tired of seeing the chatter about how much better we are than OSU. First, we shouldn't even be comparing ourselves to OSU as we are a better program than they are and it diminishes our program with these silly arguments as to whether we are better than the Cowboys or not. I hope the Cowboys are comparing themselves to us but no way do I want us to compare ourselves with them. I want OU compared to KU, KY, Duke, UNC, etc, not OSU, and certainly not Baylor!

We are gaining on those great programs and every coach/team in the country knows it. Jeff is different than any other coach we have ever had. He is a recruiting machine. He doesn't intend to take a backseat to anyone and he believes we CAN win a national championship. The guy is working his tail off to get the kind of recruits he needs to do just that.

My concern is not with OSU....I am not even concerned whether or not Jeff will win a NC at OU (I am very confident he will)....my concern is still whether our fans are ready to do their part and show up and get loud at every home game. I tip my hat to BigTime and all who work with him to make a difference. Their efforts should never go unnoticed or under-appreciated. But, we can do better as fans, MUCH better. The quicker fans make the effort to give 100%% to support this program, the quicker Jeff will be able to get that NC trophy.

We have recently read where OU may be on the verge of making some facility upgrades and that is welcomed news. That tells me that Joe C realizes what he has in Jeff and he is ready to spend the money to give Jeff every advantage he can to make it easier for him to succeed at the highest level. All we need now are fans who can compete with other fans at the highest level.

 

[Sid]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

We have recently read where OU may be on the verge of making some facility upgrades and that is welcomed news. That tells me that Joe C realizes what he has in Jeff and he is ready to spend the money to give Jeff every advantage he can to make it easier for him to succeed at the highest level.

?​

 

[BigTime]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

Great post, Cheno. That is the reason I get tired of seeing the chatter about how much better we are than OSU. First, we shouldn't even be comparing ourselves to OSU as we are a better program than they are and it diminishes our program with these silly arguments as to whether we are better than the Cowboys or not. I hope the Cowboys are comparing themselves to us but no way do I want us to compare ourselves with them. I want OU compared to KU, KY, Duke, UNC, etc, not OSU, and certainly not Baylor!

We are gaining on those great programs and every coach/team in the country knows it. Jeff is different than any other coach we have ever had. He is a recruiting machine. He doesn't intend to take a backseat to anyone and he believes we CAN win a national championship. The guy is working his tail off to get the kind of recruits he needs to do just that.

My concern is not with OSU....I am not even concerned whether or not Jeff will win a NC at OU (I am very confident he will)....my concern is still whether our fans are ready to do their part and show up and get loud at every home game. I tip my hat to BigTime and all who work with him to make a difference. Their efforts should never go unnoticed or under-appreciated. But, we can do better as fans, MUCH better. The quicker fans make the effort to give 100%% to support this program, the quicker Jeff will be able to get that NC trophy.

We have recently read where OU may be on the verge of making some facility upgrades and that is welcomed news. That tells me that Joe C realizes what he has in Jeff and he is ready to spend the money to give Jeff every advantage he can to make it easier for him to succeed at the highest level. All we need now are fans who can compete with other fans at the highest level.

If you don't see the merit in trying to educate both Sooner fans and Cowboys fans alike on the FACTS about the bedlam series, then I have lost a ton of respect for you. Obviously, no one would compare the two programs if people already knew the facts, but reality has shown that media members, cowboy fans, and sooner fans seem to have this misconstrued concept of the two programs mostly based on the fact that OU is such a great football program which overshadows a top 25 all time hoops program.

I applaud and thank guys like seniorsooner and skyvue for helping me to put together that post that compares the two programs. It has turned a lot of heads. I have seen it on several aggie and sooner boards. I have seen it in a newspaper blog and heard parts of it on the sports animal.

Not everyone is as educated as you are about the facts, norm. People need to know. Once everyone has learned the truth, then yes, obviously it would be time to stop talking about it. We are getting closer in educating the fanbases, but we still aren't there yet. You are off base here imo.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

If you don't see the merit in trying to educate both Sooner fans and Cowboys fans alike on the FACTS about the bedlam series, then I have lost a ton of respect for you. Obviously, no one would compare the two programs if people already knew the facts, but reality has shown that media members, cowboy fans, and sooner fans seem to have this misconstrued concept of the two programs mostly based on the fact that OU is such a great football program which overshadows a top 25 all time hoops program.

I applaud and thank guys like seniorsooner and skyvue for helping me to put together that post that compares the two programs. It has turned a lot of heads. I have seen it on several aggie and sooner boards. I have seen it in a newspaper blog and heard parts of it on the sports animal.

Not everyone is as educated as you are about the facts, norm. People need to know. Once everyone has learned the truth, then yes, obviously it would be time to stop talking about it. We are getting closer in educating the fanbases, but we still aren't there yet. You are off base here imo.

Here is what is wrong with that approach in my opinion. First, you are NEVER going to sway a Cowboy fan. Just a complete waste of time to try.

Second, if we spend time comparing us to OSU, the inference is, we are better than the group at Stillwater and here are the facts to prove it. That leaves the average person (not necessarily a fan) of thinking oh, OSU isn't all that and if we are comparing ourselves to them, then we aren't much better. I don't want people to put us in that same arena with OSU at all!

We need to get off that wagon and compare ourselves to the best. If we are stacking up well against the best (and we are definitely getting there) then people will see this program for where it is and more importantly, where it is going. JMHO

 

[BigTime]

Re: Barnes comments on the OU visit from an ISU view

Here is what is wrong with that approach in my opinion. First, you are NEVER going to sway a Cowboy fan. Just a complete waste of time to try.

Second, if we spend time comparing us to OSU, the inference is, we are better than the group at Stillwater and here are the facts to prove it. That leaves the average person (not necessarily a fan) of thinking oh, OSU isn't all that and if we are comparing ourselves to them, then we aren't much better. I don't want people to put us in that same arena with OSU at all!

We need to get off that wagon and compare ourselves to the best. If we are stacking up well against the best (and we are definitely getting there) then people will see this program for where it is and more importantly, where it is going. JMHO

It is more so to help educate our own fanbase and the local media. Trammel acknowledged it, so it must of done something (even said that he would rank OU slightly ahead of OSU in an all time poll).

The flaw in your thinking, Norm, is twofold.

1. If we don't do it (we being the most die hard OU hoops fans out there), then who will? You wouldn't like it if the current perception was that OSU has a better women's basketball program than OU, when the facts paint a different story. It would bother you. Well, this bothers me, norm. It has gotten better, but we are still not there yet.

2. It has had a DIRECT effect on recruiting over the last couple of years. Obi stated that he chose OSU over OU because they had better basketball tradition. I would love to have Obi on this team. If the perception out there was that OU had the better program, then maybe we would have landed the talented 5 star out of Edmond.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

I hope we can move on to comparing ourselves to the elites soon enough, but we need to be sure and get things right at home first, and starts with our own fanbase and the local media.

 

[SoonerNorm]

BigTime, you are a great fan but we will just have to agree to disagree on this point.