Berry Tramel column

[Speedy17]

Mulkey tweet today:

Kim Mulkey, master shade thrower:

“In women’s basketball, once you lose it, you’re not getting it back ... I can name some in this league that are struggling to get it back that have won championships.”

 

[sybarite]

Mulkey tweet today:

Kim Mulkey, master shade thrower:

“In women’s basketball, once you lose it, you’re not getting it back ... I can name some in this league that are struggling to get it back that have won championships.”

And, there are some for whom the loudest cheers will be when they meet the fate they deserve.

 

[sybarite]

https://twitter.com/Raoul_000

You might want to go here and see Sherri's comments on AAU, as well as Fennelly's.

 

[kimard]

She also said she would've voted her one of her players Freshman of the Year if they asked her. Well... guess what Kim, they didn't.


Q. Kim, you mentioned that Alexis can play on any stage because of what she is been before she arrived on campus. Has she answered most of the questions you had, if any.
KIM MULKEY: I didn't have any questions, honestly. The only thing Alexis doesn't have that Kristy had is minutes played and game experience as you go along in the playoffs. She has the talent. She brings different things to the table than Kristy does. She is quiet, sometimes when I call out something I need her to be a little louder so that others not around her know what we're doing. But talentwise, there is not -- what beautiful jump shot that kid has.
She has done remarkable. She really has, but I'm not surprised. You have to remember when Kristy was healthy I moved Kristy to the 2 quite often and let Alexis play the point so it's not like we're throwing the ball out there to her for the first time. She has been doing this all year for us. I thought she stood a chance to be Freshman of the Year in this league, but she plays on a team and she was behind Kristy Wallace. But I would have voted her Freshman of the Year if they would have asked me.

 

[Speedy17]

https://twitter.com/Raoul_000

You might want to go here and see Sherri's comments on AAU, as well as Fennelly's.

And what coach at OU hits all the Summer Softball going on across the country to recruit, it is Patty Gasso. Every single player on OU softball plays Summer ball and they hit tournaments all over the country. You can complain that kids are going everywhere to play or you can go recruit. Ask Patty Gasso, how she spends her Summers. That is how you win, you recruit.

 

[sybarite]

And what coach at OU hits all the Summer Softball going on across the country to recruit, it is Patty Gasso. Every single player on OU softball plays Summer ball and they hit tournaments all over the country. You can complain that kids are going everywhere to play or you can go recruit. Ask Patty Gasso, how she spends her Summers. That is how you win, you recruit.

I do respect your softball knowledge. I would re-examine recruiting and OU women's basketball----as well as basketball in general. Sherri mentioned that she recruited using the AAU sources. But, it is declining in value.

Are you aware that despite some level of success, the men's team has never recruited a top five player from out of state of whom I am aware. Sherri did with The Paris sisters. She has had some in the top ten, including this year. Originally, Dungee, Mulkey, and Ana were all in the top ten. But, getting basketball players to come to OU from out-of-state has been difficult---for men and women. All of the big stars of OU men have been in-state recruits or recruits who turned out a lot better than anyone would have thought---like Hield, Blaylock, or Grant. Tisdale, Adams, Griffin, Young---home grown.

Every sport is different as to recruiting base. Softball, Gasso can get them. Different type of prospect. Gymnastics---different type of prospect. Football, when OU was able to get really great recruits, a large part of it was that the opposition didn't recruit the black athlete. We had it pretty good in New Orleans, Miami, and Texas.

 

[Speedy17]

I do respect your softball knowledge. I would re-examine recruiting and OU women's basketball----as well as basketball in general. Sherri mentioned that she recruited using the AAU sources. But, it is declining in value.

Are you aware that despite some level of success, the men's team has never recruited a top five player from out of state of whom I am aware. Sherri did with The Paris sisters. She has had some in the top ten, including this year. Originally, Dungee, Mulkey, and Ana were all in the top ten. But, getting basketball players to come to OU from out-of-state has been difficult---for men and women. All of the big stars of OU men have been in-state recruits or recruits who turned out a lot better than anyone would have thought---like Hield, Blaylock, or Grant. Tisdale, Adams, Griffin, Young---home grown.

Every sport is different as to recruiting base. Softball, Gasso can get them. Different type of prospect. Gymnastics---different type of prospect. Football, when OU was able to get really great recruits, a large part of it was that the opposition didn't recruit the black athlete. We had it pretty good in New Orleans, Miami, and Texas.

Recruiting is a lot of work and is primary to college coaching. I just wish OU could get the top players in Oklahoma. Sherri has been losing the state not just out of state. I get really frustrated because Sherri loses some players these days and it is awful when you go out there and only have 8-9 bodies who can play and you are sitting on 14 scholarships. That should NEVER happen.

As for Patty, she works the summers though and there is a reason that she gets the top recruiting classes. Since you brought up OU football in this one, Lincoln is recruiting well out of state. There is not but 3-5 players in Oklahoma that can compete at the highest level in football these days. Bottom line is that the most important job for a winning coach is recruiting. If you are not doing it well, you are not going to win at the top level in any sport.

 

[sybarite]

I keep hearing about all of these great players from Oklahoma who are leaving the state. Arkansas got one a year ago. If she is ever a starter, I expect Arkansas to be mediocre. Oklahoma doesn't really produce a lot. Danielle Gant is about the only one that I would like to have had, and she didn't qualify at OU. Still trying to figure out how she did at A&M. A&M got another one who had committed to OU. Sounded a lot like some problems that Dungee had. Sherri has to find gems. We got lucky with Courtney. She attracted Amanda and Abi, maybe DRob and Aaryn. But, she may have been a one-time deal. Shaina is a Canadian, and she may help us land another Canadian. We may get lucky with an Archbishop Mitty recruit (Aaryn was from there, or DRob, one or the other). But, the typical basketball recruit, male or female, isn't attracted to Oklahoma----as a state.

 

[atlantasooner]

syb,
I would counter
Bobby HIeld, Hollis Price were not in state kids. But not top ten recruits either.
So it's tough. But Sherri is not competing against 100k bribes to top recruits either.
Lon pretty much can write off the top twenty recruits at the start of recruiting. Sherri,
LIncoln, Gasso don't have that issue.
When Sherri really dropped the ball, and appears to be repairing the problem is recruiting top level talent from Texas.
Madi and Tatum hopefully are a sign of continuing migration of top talent north to Norman.

 

[atlantasooner]

I keep hearing about all of these great players from Oklahoma who are leaving the state. Arkansas got one a year ago. If she is ever a starter, I expect Arkansas to be mediocre. Oklahoma doesn't really produce a lot. Danielle Gant is about the only one that I would like to have had, and she didn't qualify at OU. Still trying to figure out how she did at A&M. A&M got another one who had committed to OU. Sounded a lot like some problems that Dungee had. Sherri has to find gems. We got lucky with Courtney. She attracted Amanda and Abi, maybe DRob and Aaryn. But, she may have been a one-time deal. Shaina is a Canadian, and she may help us land another Canadian. We may get lucky with an Archbishop Mitty recruit (Aaryn was from there, or DRob, one or the other). But, the typical basketball recruit, male or female, isn't attracted to Oklahoma----as a state.

Sherri has a more difficult role than Lon here. Lon with the right mix of top 50/top100 kids can win an Ncaa title.

Sherri has got to get multiple top 20 kids to win a title. She never knows when she's going to run into another all time Uconn team. There are no Butler's in the women's game.

 

[sybarite]

I think Lon and Sherri can both write off top level recruits. We simply don't recruit top ten talents to OU in either sport-----

except:

Courtney #1, Ashley #6, Amanda #7

Now, Madison #7. Maybe Tatum.
Where would you rank Ana and Shaina?

That's two pretty fair classes, after losing two highly-rated recruits.

If OU were to get Laticia Amihere, Haley Jones, Scott, Gabi Gregory, Brown, or a good post----how many of these would it take to make you believe that the program was on solid footing.

Gasso is different. Different recruiting base.

 

[sybarite]

Sherri has a more difficult role than Lon here. Lon with the right mix of top 50/top100 kids can win an Ncaa title.

Sherri has got to get multiple top 20 kids to win a title. She never knows when she's going to run into another all time Uconn team. There are no Butler's in the women's game.

Winning it all will be difficult as long as Geno is around. He is the women's Wooden.

But, most of the others could be beaten if Sherri could get about nine solid players that don't go down with an ACL. Baylor and Sherri have been to the same number of Final Fours. Every time OU has been there, UConn has had an undefeated season. But, OU seems to have lacked one thing when they were in the Final Four.

2002: We needed height, rebounding
2009: We really needed outside shooting to take the pressure off Courtney. Welch, Higgins, Brown, Moore---had all had ACL problems
Could have used some legitimate officiating in the semis.
2010: Again, we needed an outside shot. We tried Carlee as an outside shooter in the NCAAs.

One player, a role player, might have resulted in a title. I did like Baylor in 2005 before Kim exhibited her character, and they put all the role pieces together with one star when everyone else had kind of a down year. They graduated one, had one quit the team, and lost three times to OU the next year.

 

[SoonerSpock]

Baylor WBB has been consistently making the targeted GSR and APR targets assigned by the NCAA. They have averaged 3 academic Big 12 players annually for the last 8 years which is not on the level of what OU has done in that area. Baylor as a university has been consistently leading the Big 12 in GSR.

It appears to me many here use their dislike for Kim to distort the circumstances at Baylor when the reality is Baylor does an outstanding job academically with their athletics including WBB players are graduating many with honors and becoming productive citizens in the business world.

Syb's logic of I don't know of a Caton Hill type basketball player graduating from Baylor therefore all Baylor players are non-productive waste is just Syb's dislike for Kim attempting to flourish with bogus innuendos.

He then wants to use his innuendos that we don't want to be like Baylor to justify that Sherri's failures on the court. Typical Syb! When you cannot justify Sherri's doing a poor job you deflect the conversation to a different perspective that has nothing to do with Sherri failing to perform at the level she paid to perform.

How Kim does what Kim does in Waco has nothing to do with what Sherri should be doing in Norman. She needs to take care of her own house and beat Baylor 5-7 times a decade. 7-13 over 10 years is not what is wanted but it would be a damn site better than the 1-16 since 2011 after going 8-3 in 2006-2010.

Kim was correct when she said: “In women’s basketball, once you lose it, you’re not getting it back ... I can name some in this league that are struggling to get it back that have won championships.”

 

[sybarite]

You kind of like your assumptions. Don't you. Why don't you tell me why Mulkey is not exactly beloved among her peers? Or, do you think she is?

 

[Sooner81]

Baylor WBB has been consistently making the targeted GSR and APR targets assigned by the NCAA. They have averaged 3 academic Big 12 players annually for the last 8 years which is not on the level of what OU has done in that area. Baylor as a university has been consistently leading the Big 12 in GSR.

It appears to me many here use their dislike for Kim to distort the circumstances at Baylor when the reality is Baylor does an outstanding job academically with their athletics including WBB players are graduating many with honors and becoming productive citizens in the business world.

Syb's logic of I don't know of a Caton Hill type basketball player graduating from Baylor therefore all Baylor players are non-productive waste is just Syb's dislike for Kim attempting to flourish with bogus innuendos.

He then wants to use his innuendos that we don't want to be like Baylor to justify that Sherri's failures on the court. Typical Syb! When you cannot justify Sherri's doing a poor job you deflect the conversation to a different perspective that has nothing to do with Sherri failing to perform at the level she paid to perform.

This!!!!!!!!

 

[SoonerSpock]

You kind of like your assumptions. Don't you. Why don't you tell me why Mulkey is not exactly beloved among her peers? Or, do you think she is?

That is just your opinion. There were a couple of writers that said Kim was wrong when she sit with the other AAU parents on her daughter's AAU team and that was a violation which the NCAA addressed just not to your desires.

I have seen nothing published by any of her peers demeaning Kim in anyway whatsoever. From my perspective it exist only in your dreams. You must remember not everyone sees the world through your jaundiced eyes. I don't particularly like Kim but I damn sure respect her for the job she does coaching basketball which is what she is paid to do.

For certain I am not going to dwell on Kim when discussing Sherri's performance. It is not germane. Sherri has established her own standards for performance now she needs to live up to them.

 

[sybarite]

Really? You have not seen her peers comment on her behavior? Want to talk to Jeff Walz, the Tech coach, Fennelly, etc.

Seem to do a lot of comparing of Sherri to what you would like for her to be. If you want to compare her to someone good, try Geno. He is worth some admiration.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

That is just your opinion. There were a couple of writers that said Kim was wrong when she sit with the other AAU parents on her daughter's AAU team and that was a violation which the NCAA addressed just not to your desires.



I have seen nothing published by any of her peers demeaning Kim in anyway whatsoever. From my perspective it exist only in your dreams. You must remember not everyone sees the world through your jaundiced eyes. I don't particularly like Kim but I damn sure respect her for the job she does coaching basketball which is what she is paid to do.



For certain I am not going to dwell on Kim when discussing Sherri's performance. It is not germane. Sherri has established her own standards for performance now she needs to live up to them.

+1


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SoonerSpock]

Really? You have not seen her peers comment on her behavior? Want to talk to Jeff Walz, the Tech coach, Fennelly, etc.

Seem to do a lot of comparing of Sherri to what you would like for her to be. If you want to compare her to someone good, try Geno. He is worth some admiration.

I don't want to compare Sherri to anyone. I want to see her recruit the needed talent to be a serious contender for the conference championship most year and would like to see her win 2-3 titles per decade while making the S16 about 3-5 times a decade. I don't want to see her competing against the pukes for 3rd in the conference.

She has allowed the program to falter to the point she has little chance to consistently recruit on par with Baylor and Texas. However she should be able to compete with them half the time when she gets 2-3 quality recruiting classes on a team. For certain being seeded for the Big 12 tournament the last 8 years at 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 6th, 2nd, 5th, 3rd and 4th is not acceptable.


http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/8/year/2011

 

[atlantasooner]

I think Lon and Sherri can both write off top level recruits. We simply don't recruit top ten talents to OU in either sport-----

except:

Courtney #1, Ashley #6, Amanda #7

Now, Madison #7. Maybe Tatum.
Where would you rank Ana and Shaina?

That's two pretty fair classes, after losing two highly-rated recruits.

If OU were to get Laticia Amihere, Haley Jones, Scott, Gabi Gregory, Brown, or a good post----how many of these would it take to make you believe that the program was on solid footing.

Gasso is different. Different recruiting base.

I need 4 back to back classes where at least one top 20 player is added. If that talent base can be built up then winning at the previous level of 2001-2010 can be accomplished.
The real question is does Sherri have the drive to recruit like this every year?
Was 2018 an aberration or the new normal.
Bob recognized he was done. And I give him all the credit for that. Walking away from a Baker led team and $5million could not have been easy.
However, he internally took score and realized it was time.
No one wants to see Sherri fired or pushed out. I want to see her go out on top, and move on.
Joe C can then hire the best coach moving forward.