Looks like the Warhawks got off to a late start this year

[BigTime]

for not making their grades.

http://www.ulmwarhawks.com/ViewArti...81&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205713854&DB_OEM_ID=19000

ULM Getting a Late Start to Preseason Practice
Release: 10/17/2012

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MONROE, La. -- While midnight madness and the official beginning to the college basketball season spread throughout the country last week, the ULM men's basketball team has had to sit back and wait for its chance to get started. The Warhawks won't begin official practice until Oct. 26 due to some remaining Academic Progress Rate (APR) sanctions on the program. Head coach Keith Richard has spearheaded the charge in turning around the ULM program both academically and athletically over the past two seasons. Richard took time out of his schedule this week to discuss ULM's APR resurgence and preview the upcoming men's basketball season.

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The rest of the country started practice last week while you guys have to wait. How has that affected your preparation for the upcoming season?
We're going to be two weeks of practice behind every one else this season. This is part of our APR penalty phase which we are still under. The phase we are in this year is that we lost 10 percent of our overall season, which accounts for these two weeks of practice. We also lost 10 percent of our games, which means we lost three games this year. This is a tough two weeks for our staff and our team. Our players are ready to start official practice, our coaches are ready to go full time into coaching them, and right now we have to wait. As I told our team, even though these penalties are not a result of their doing or our staff's doing, they are penalties that we have to abide by and it's just adversity that we have to overcome. We're going to be two weeks behind. We'll start practice next Friday (Oct. 26) and we're going to have to get a lot in in a short amount of time.

The reason that we still have some in-house APR penalties is that the APR penalty structure is based on your four previous years. When we got here, the previous score was so low and we're still carrying that score. It's because of that particular score that we still have some in-house penalties.

How has the program progressed academically in your two years at ULM?
Three years ago, we inherited one of the worst APR scores in the country. Now going into our third year here, we just had one of the best APR scores in the country. I am really proud of our players that were with us for the past two years that really made a difference in the classroom. We gave them a lot of support, held them accountable and they really responded. It's because of the academic progress that those young men have made over the past two years that we're starting to see some relief from these APR penalties. We got all our scholarships returned to us. The first two years we had five taken away and we now have them all returned because of what the kids did in the classroom. We had a postseason ban on us last season, which means we couldn't go to the conference tournament. That has now been lifted and now we can go back to our conference tournament. So much good has come out of something so bad when we got here. It's all due to the commitment of the players that have been in the program these past two years. Those players have brought academic integrity back to our men's basketball program.

How has the APR success over the past two seasons helped your recruiting?
For the first time since I have been here, we're actually in the recruiting game, which I am really excited about. When scholarships are taken away from a program, where it really hurts you is in recruiting. It affects your depth, it affects your ability to redshirt kids and it affects your ability to have direction in recruiting. By getting all of our scholarships back for this year, we have really for the first time been able to develop a road map for recruiting - to have some strategy in recruiting. That is something we haven't been able to do for the past two years. Our staff is working really hard at recruiting and it feels for the first time like we are a Division I recruiting program.

What are your expectations for the team this season?
I told our team that we're going to be picked last in the Western Division of the Sun Belt. We were picked last two years ago and we finished last. We were picked last a season ago and we finished last. We're going to be picked last again and a lot of it is due to the APR problems we have had in this program. I do believe that this is the first year of rebuilding our team on the court. It took two years to build our team academically and now we get to really concentrate and map out our future on the court. Can this team overachieve and surprise the other coaches in this league? I am anxious to see. We're still a little short depth wise. We still need another year of recruiting to fulfill our depth at every position. But with that said, we're happy with some of the guys we have added to this year's team and I am looking forward to see if they can help us take a step in the right direction in this first year of our rebuilding.

How do you think the schedule sets up for the team this season?
The unique part of the schedule this year is that we play 20 Sun Belt Conference games, which is a little different from the 16 we have played in the past. This year every team will play a true home-and-home with each team in the conference and I like that. For us, trying to take a step forward on the court for the first time since I have been here, I like the fact that we get two opportunities against everybody in the league this year instead of just one.

Who are some of the returners that stand out to you?
When you look at our returning players this year, two things really stand out. First is that Charles Winborne and Trent Mackey both shot a really good percentage from 3-point range last year. Both were in the mid 40's. It will be interesting to see if both of them can do that again and maybe even expand on those numbers a little bit. That is a starting point for us and something positive coming back from last year. The second thing that sticks out is the play of Marcelis Hansberry at the point guard position. We have not had very good point guard play the past two years because we haven't had a true point guard. Marcelis being one of those guys. But he played really well for us towards the end of the season. The last month of the season may have been the best he has played since he has been here. His development into this year and throughout this year will probably go a long way in how we will do this season. He is never going to be a true point guard and we realize that, but he does have to take on the responsibility of running a team. That is something he has had to figure out and he has struggled at times. It is a new year and a new beginning for him and I am curious to see how he does.

Who are some of the newcomers that could have an immediate impact this season?
We signed three junior college players - Jayon James, Amos Olatayo and Millaun Brown - this past spring and summer with the expectation that they would be able to come in and play immediately. I think you will see all three out on the floor a lot this season. Amos has the type of athleticism that we see night in and night out in the Sun Belt. Now we have a player with that type of athleticism and he needs to play that way. Jayon is an interesting player because he is a forward, but he has guard skills. He needs to be a mismatch for us out on the floor and a good mismatch. We are looking forward to seeing how he does. Millaun is a 6-foot-7 post player that needs to be a solid rebounder and defender for us. Each player brings something we haven't had before.