Is Capel blackballed by AAU coaches?

[Section31]

Seems like BS to me. Do they not steer kids to OSU, Baylor and Tech? Those programs are hardly of national relevance right now. Baylor has made a couple of NCAA Tournaments but never seriously competed for the Big XII Championship or a National Title. OSU missed three NCAA Tournaments in a row and they were one and done for two years. That is not a team of national relevance. Tech is the worst program in the South right now (although Capel is giving Knight a run for his money). What about other regional schools such as Arkansas, LSU, SMU, TCU, Houston, Tulsa, Utep, New Mexico, New Mexico State, and North Texas - are DFW kids steered away from those schools because they are not "of national relevance".

If these coaches cared about the kids at all, they would steer them to schools that graduate players and are a good fit for the kid in terms of style. Very few will make the NBA and the few that do will only play a year or so.

Post of the decade!!!! :clap

 

[SoonerDAZE]

Seems like BS to me. Do they not steer kids to OSU, Baylor and Tech? Those programs are hardly of national relevance right now. Baylor has made a couple of NCAA Tournaments but never seriously competed for the Big XII Championship or a National Title. OSU missed three NCAA Tournaments in a row and they were one and done for two years. That is not a team of national relevance. Tech is the worst program in the South right now (although Capel is giving Knight a run for his money). What about other regional schools such as Arkansas, LSU, SMU, TCU, Houston, Tulsa, Utep, New Mexico, New Mexico State, and North Texas - are DFW kids steered away from those schools because they are not "of national relevance".


I have no idea if Capel is blackballed but this "of national relevance" theory just doesn't pass the smell test as a reason. The only schools in the region that are "of national relevance" right now are KU and Texas. A&M and Missouri are on the cusp. Everyone else is pretty far from national relevance right now.
If these coaches cared about the kids at all, they would steer them to schools that graduate players and are a good fit for the kid in terms of style. Very few will make the NBA and the few that do will only play a year or so.

My statement only took into consideration one thing: the assertion that Capel was being blackballed in the DFW, and as such, not one athlete associated with "top" AAU programs in the area would come to OU.

As a reply to that statement, I reasoned that, in general, if OU doesn't significantly raise the level of talent, and if that doesn't result in elevating our national level of exposure; the young men would continue to steer clear of Norman. Obviously, there are MANY more factors that come into play in these decisions - both legal and illegal.

If you want to compare DFW signings to all of these schools, there are many more facets involved in those decisions than simply the coach. I have personal knowledge of one player in the class of 2011, who signed at one of the schools you listed, who doesn't even necessarily like the coach with whom he signed - and to top it off, it was against the input he was receiving from his AAU coach. He signed because he likes the talent and thinks he can make a difference there.

The problem with making generalized statements is, you can typically find singular examples to shoot holes in it. My original statement was in direct refute of a generalized statement that Capel was being blackballed, and as a direct result, not a single DFW player playing with the top AAU programs would end up at OU.

What I'm reiterating here is this: Capel is NOT being blackballed in DFW. If kids are choosing to go elsewhere, it's because of many, MANY reasons - not the least of which is our current lack of talent and national recognition.

Now, if you'd like to debate why UNT, Tech, Baylor, and the rest are signing DFW kids and OU isn't, I'm up for that. But be specific, because in each signing there are specific reasons that particular decision was made. And not a single one that I know of includes anything resembling Capel being blackballed because of the way he's handled a few interpersonal situations in the past.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Post of the decade!!!! :clap

+1

And here is a crazy suggestion; maybe instead of spending a bunch of time "glad handing" AAU coach's he learned his lesson is using the system to identify targets and then building a relationship with the HS coach. There is very little time to actually talk and get to know these kids anymore, and I'm not going to make a blanket badmouth statement as pertains to every AAU coach, but I'd take the word over the HC coach more than anyone.

Honestly, and I'm not sure how practicable that it is, but if I wanted to run a clean program and get good "fits", I'd go to AAU events to scout how local kids (Oklahoma and North Texas IMHO) look in those events, then I'd do my best to cultivate a relationship with the HS coach...sure, you'll loose on a recruit or two, but I think that we (college basketball fans) might be surprised at how many good players we get by not playing "the game". JMHO though.

You get HS coaches in this region (and more specifically their parents) on board with "we want team players that are good kids, and whether or not your kid is an NBA or professional level player, we are going to do everything we can do to get them a degree, and surround them with like-minded players" you can win a bunch of basketball games.

 

[Section31]

My statement only took into consideration one thing: the assertion that Capel was being blackballed in the DFW, and as such, not one athlete associated with "top" AAU programs in the area would come to OU.

As a reply to that statement, I reasoned that, in general, if OU doesn't significantly raise the level of talent, and if that doesn't result in elevating our national level of exposure; the young men would continue to steer clear of Norman. Obviously, there are MANY more factors that come into play in these decisions - both legal and illegal.

If you want to compare DFW signings to all of these schools, there are many more facets involved in those decisions than simply the coach. I have personal knowledge of one player in the class of 2011, who signed at one of the schools you listed, who doesn't even necessarily like the coach with whom he signed - and to top it off, it was against the input he was receiving from his AAU coach. He signed because he likes the talent and thinks he can make a difference there.

The problem with making generalized statements is, you can typically find singular examples to shoot holes in it. My original statement was in direct refute of a generalized statement that Capel was being blackballed, and as a direct result, not a single DFW player playing with the top AAU programs would end up at OU.

What I'm reiterating here is this: Capel is NOT being blackballed in DFW. If kids are choosing to go elsewhere, it's because of many, MANY reasons - not the least of which is our current lack of talent and national recognition.

Now, if you'd like to debate why UNT, Tech, Baylor, and the rest are signing DFW kids and OU isn't, I'm up for that. But be specific, because in each signing there are specific reasons that particular decision was made. And not a single one that I know of includes anything resembling Capel being blackballed because of the way he's handled a few interpersonal situations in the past.

...but, but, but this just CAN'T be true. We have GREAT "OU fans" who know different...(heavy on the sarcasm)