gspence, I understand what you're saying and agree for the most part. But to suggest that "Capel failed, not TMG" is dead wrong. That's like saying my parents were to blame because I chose to party and drink a lot when I was young. Trust me, that is not what I was taught at home. It nearly killed my parents when I decided to "sew my oats" in my late teens and early twenties.
The point is, these kids are responsible for their actions, too. You can't lay all of it on their parents, teachers or coaches. When the time comes to leave that protective nest, they had better be prepared to deal with everything that lies ahead, by working hard and learning some of life's lessons from the people who care about them.
Thank God I never forgot what my parents taught me, so I turned out okay. Well, actually some might argue with me about that.
I hear ya ada, and I probably shouldn't have worded it that way because I was in NO way indicating that TMG doesn't have any blame in this. I am however saying that Capel deserves a lot. Personally I feel if we are re-shaping the roster and cleaning house like we are, then we should just go after one of these coaches from a mid major that's made noise in the tourney and start over. Capel's had 4 years, we shouldn't be re-starting in his 5th when he has missed the tourney and NIT twice.
He failed because he is supposed to be this players coach who can relate to the players, but he recruited a bunch of guys who don't even really want to play college basketball, at least the way you need to in order to win, and apparently class is not important to some of them either. He's missed in so many recruits.
Let's take a look at his recruiting classes so far, not counting the current one.
2009.
Tiny, TMG, Fitz, Pledger, and Hardrick.
TMG- Showed great promise and ability but character issues and didn't want to goto class. Best pure offensive PG at OU since Mookie but is GONE after one year.
Tiny- Again also showed promise but can't play a lick of defense, is amazing lazy on the court half the time, has a bad attitude on the court most of the time and argues with teammates and also doesn't want to goto class. Took $3000 from a "Financial advisor" and is also likely GONE after one year.
Fitz- Another guy with some talent, seemed to be a better character kid from all reports yet celebrated the biggest win of the season by shoplifting from Dillards. Should be back but jury is still out on if he learned from his incident and if he will get in better shape to reach potential.
Pledger- See above, plus needs to get quicker and find his consistency on his shot again. I thought this kid was going to be the best shooter we've had since Hollis at the beginning of the year, then he just lost it at times.
Hardrick- Needs to transfer, don't offer scholarships to kids in 9th grade unless they are a LeBron James type talent, too much can happen. He's a low major D-1 player at best.
2008
Willie Warren- Great freshmen year, but still some character issues. So much promise. I'd still like to see him come back and redeem himself. He seemed to always say the right things so I think his heart is in the right place, but this team lacked the leadership and chemistry from top to bottom to allow him to have a better year. He is still at fault as well though. Hopefully he will come back to redeem himself but I doubt it.
Ray Willis- Transferring. On paper he seemed like a solid recruit but I have NEVER been impressed with his game. There are so many local kids who would have loved to play at OU who would put in the work and want to be here that are as worthy of a scholarship as he was.
Juan Patillo- Transferred. Awesomely athletic and played some great games for us last year, but had problems from the get go and typically you like to use scholarships on players who play more than 20 career games for you.
Orlando Allen- 2 years and has given us nothing but some positive bench cheering and a few rebounds. Another guy that did nothing in JUCO to prove he deserved a scholarship to a place like OU. I know some JUCO coaches who thought this was a terrible offer for OU from the beginning.
Kyle Cannon- Another failed recruit. We signed 2 guys who didn't even play their soph years in JUCO. At least Cannon had a good Freshmen year but never showed anything once he got on campus. I mean how much did we even see some of these guys? It just seems like we've taken kids because we put all our eggs in one basket and had to scramble for back ups on guys like this.
2007
Blake Griffin- The one big thing Capel has done right in his tenure at OU and the reason he still has a job. If Taylor transfers then we never get Blake. Blake meant so much to building the program back after losing the Reynolds/James class and now all that Blake did is dead. He had us on the map last year and now it's not even ESPN worthy news that we have all these problems. Hopefully Blake has a great career in the NBA and helps us out in the future.
Tony Neysmith- Transferred. Similar to Willis, on paper a guy who looked worthy of a scholarship, but got to campus and never amounted to anything. Can't shoot a lick and never got on the court enough to show if he could offer anything else.
Cade Davis- The 2nd best recruit in the Capel era behind Blake and that's not a good thing. I say 2nd best unless WW comes back. Cade is the type of kid we NEED more of. I am not saying don't recruit nationally but give a better look at some of these Oklahoma kids that want to be Sooners and can play.
Chris Early- Never even suited out, gone before we had a chance to forget him. Wasted ship
2006- Part Sampson, part Capel, had odds stacked against him but only Tony Crocker stayed all 4 years.
Tony Crocker- Guess I should say he is slightly ahead of Cade as Capel's 2nd best recruit, even though he was originally signed by Sampson. Crock was a nice player for us in the 2 Blake years.
Bobby Maze- Could have been a good one, don't understand why Bruce Pearl can coach him but Capel had to let him go. I thought he's supposed to be able to coach these kinds of kids? Guess not.
Keith Clark- Another guy who wanted no part of the class room, could have been BIG TIME if he had the right coach.
So there you have it, I mean the failure rate is down right scary. Yes I know Sampson had transfers as well and what not, but he also won from the day he stepped on campus and didn't stop winning. Say what you want about him, but you can't even talk about the two coaches in the same sentence right now.
I really want Jeff Capel to succeed at OU, I just don't think it's going to happen.
