Sam Grooms has committed to Oklahoma

[Soonerborn03]

“OU Fans, be ready. OU is going to bring back the tradition of winning,” Grooms said. “I’m going to do my best to do my part, and the coaches will do their best. Come out and support us this year.”

Tradition of winning sounds like fun. I will be there!

 

[Darwin]

Thank you Mr. Grooms, welcome to OU.

By my unofficial count, we have 6 juniors next season. Time to go young, I don't want to lose more than 6 at one time when they graduate.

 

[NorthCarolinaSooner]

The only stat I care about is:



25-6



If he is a LEADER and can run the show, I couldn't care less about his overall stats. Winning is the stat I want to see.

 

[WTSooner]

I'm glad we've got Sam. If LK wanted him, there is a reason for that.

That said, I hope OU fans don't tear him apart if he is closer to Omar Leary and Chris Walker, than Terrell Everett and Michael Johnson. I can see Grooms being a solid QB that plays good D, but he is likely NOT a step up offensively from Blair. He might even be a step down, honestly.

I'm going to say that Blair retains his starting job, and that Grooms provides the pg minutes off the bench. I also think Pledger starts at SG over Newell.

Hopefully we can add one more solid player. I'd prefer a guard. Somebody that can compete with Newell for SG minutes off the bench.

 

[coolm]

I'm glad we've got Sam. If LK wanted him, there is a reason for that.

That said, I hope OU fans don't tear him apart if he is closer to Omar Leary and Chris Walker, than Terrell Everett and Michael Johnson. I can see Grooms being a solid QB that plays good D, but he is likely NOT a step up offensively from Blair. He might even be a step down, honestly.

I'm going to say that Blair retains his starting job, and that Grooms provides the pg minutes off the bench. I also think Pledger starts at SG over Newell.

Hopefully we can add one more solid player. I'd prefer a guard. Somebody that can compete with Newell for SG minutes off the bench.

:clap

 

[campbest]

I'm glad we've got Sam. If LK wanted him, there is a reason for that.

That said, I hope OU fans don't tear him apart if he is closer to Omar Leary and Chris Walker, than Terrell Everett and Michael Johnson. I can see Grooms being a solid QB that plays good D, but he is likely NOT a step up offensively from Blair. He might even be a step down, honestly.

This is all I am expecting out of Grooms, hope fans don't get their expectations too high.

 

[thebigabd]

This is all I am expecting out of Grooms, hope fans don't get their expectations too high.

I don't like the comparison of Omar Leary to Chris Walker. Omar really helped that team out, and could play at this level. Chris Walker should have been at UCO, or worse.

 

[soonernutt]

I hope this doesn't mean we've given up on Blair or anything of the sort. We certainly needed the depth no matter ... and Blair can certainly play the b/u if Grooms is the better point to start ... but Blair is by no means a lost cause nor a scoring option.

Anyone know if Grooms is a 3 to do 2 guy?

It's hard to imagine Grooms will be the starter right out of the gate. I think they'll probably split time a good deal with Grooms maybe taking the lead in minutes as the season progresses (assuming he is the better player at that point).

Like you said, depth is the major issue. Blair is not a bum at PG. Now we have two options, and that is a great thing.

Now, if we can add one quality big who can give us some rebounds and a few garbage points from day one, I think we'll have a shot at being a much more complete team than we've been in a couple of years.

 

[WTSooner]

Now, if we can add one quality big who can give us some rebounds and a few garbage points from day one, I think we'll have a shot at being a much more complete team than we've been in a couple of years.

I just really don't see many post minutes left. If we could sign somebody that is definitely better than Fitz/Osby/Goff, I'm all for it. But we have those guys, and Washington/Honore, as well as maybe Neal/Cam if we go small that can all play inside. I'm just not sure there is anybody available that is definitely better. Jurick included.

We will likely need to team rebound next year, and that is fine. It will keep us from running too much, which is fine with me, as I don't think the team is really built to run right now.

I said this in another thread, but I'd still like to add another true guard to battle Newell. Right now, he is the only true true guard off the bench (not counting Blair or Grooms).

 

[Cleavon Little]

Have to give it up to the board for scooping the state media! Just another reason to get your OU hoops news here first, then you can see it in the paper a few days later.

Congrats to the best sports board in Oklahoma!

:clap

 

[Big Old Booger]

His stats from his regional JUCO tournament - http://www.chipola.edu/fccaa/2011/mbracket.htm

vs St Petersburg (Win) - 2 points (on 2 shots), 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 5 fouls in 19:33 minutes

vs Daytona State (Win) - 1 point (0-5 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 2 rebounds, 4 fouls in 28:48

vs Tallahassee CC (Loss) - 7 points (2-6 FGs, 0-1 3FGs, 3-4 FTs), 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls in 33:09

 

[luckyc1423]

I just really don't see many post minutes left. If we could sign somebody that is definitely better than Fitz/Osby/Goff, I'm all for it. But we have those guys, and Washington/Honore, as well as maybe Neal/Cam if we go small that can all play inside. I'm just not sure there is anybody available that is definitely better. Jurick included.

We will likely need to team rebound next year, and that is fine. It will keep us from running too much, which is fine with me, as I don't think the team is really built to run right now.

I said this in another thread, but I'd still like to add another true guard to battle Newell. Right now, he is the only true true guard off the bench (not counting Blair or Grooms).

I disagree...for the right player there are plenty of minutes available....

I view it like this

Jurick > Goff > CJ Washington
I view fitz as a 4
osby as a hybrid 3/4

 

[WTSooner]

I disagree...for the right player there are plenty of minutes available....

I view it like this

Jurick > Goff > CJ Washington
I view fitz as a 4
osby as a hybrid 3/4

I'm not sold that Jurick is definitely better than Goff, though. I'm just not. And both are offensive liabilities from what I've read.

 

[CMSOONER]

I'm not sold that Jurick is definitely better than Goff, though. I'm just not. And both are offensive liabilities from what I've read.

We don't need them to be go to offensive players! We just need them to rebound and play good post D ala Kendrick Perkins.

 

[WTSooner]

We don't need them to be go to offensive players! We just need them to rebound and play good post D ala Kendrick Perkins.

Wrong.

We're already going to be weak on offense at pg. We cannot afford to be weak at center too. We don't have to be great there, but we cannot be weak, and expect to make the Dance.

Besides, we already have some guys that can defend the post and rebound, hopefully. I think Osby and Goff will both help there, and I think Fitz will be much improved with better coaching. That still leaves you Washington who was a pretty solid defender/rebounder this year, and Honore as the 5th post.

Simply adding more big bodies that don't do much is not the answer. We weren't bad on defense b/c our guys cannot defend. We were bad on defense b/c of their effort and technique.

 

[WTSooner]

We don't need them to be go to offensive players! We just need them to rebound and play good post D ala Kendrick Perkins.

Two more things:

We aren't going to find a center that can come in and be as good as Perk was for Boston. Period. Perk is one of the better post defenders in the league.

Boston can get away with having two weak offensive starters b/c they have 3 absolute studs at the 2/3/4 spots. OU doesn't have that kind of talent right now to offset having such weak offensive players at two positions. That is why I'm almost certain that Fitz and Osby will start at the 5/4 spots.

 

[greenbug]

Two more things:

We aren't going to find a center that can come in and be as good as Perk was for Boston. Period. Perk is one of the better post defenders in the league.

Boston can get away with having two weak offensive starters b/c they have 3 absolute studs at the 2/3/4 spots. OU doesn't have that kind of talent right now to offset having such weak offensive players at two positions. That is why I'm almost certain that Fitz and Osby will start at the 5/4 spots.

UCONN only had 2 scorers and won the title because they had a guy that could rebound and defend in the post.

 

[coolm]

Wrong.

We're already going to be weak on offense at pg. We cannot afford to be weak at center too. We don't have to be great there, but we cannot be weak, and expect to make the Dance.

Besides, we already have some guys that can defend the post and rebound, hopefully. I think Osby and Goff will both help there, and I think Fitz will be much improved with better coaching. That still leaves you Washington who was a pretty solid defender/rebounder this year, and Honore as the 5th post.

Simply adding more big bodies that don't do much is not the answer. We weren't bad on defense b/c our guys cannot defend. We were bad on defense b/c of their effort and technique.

meh...you make offense around 2 and maybe 3 scorers usually.

 

[suncoastsooner]

His stats from his regional JUCO tournament - http://www.chipola.edu/fccaa/2011/mbracket.htm

vs St Petersburg (Win) - 2 points (on 2 shots), 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 5 fouls in 19:33 minutes

vs Daytona State (Win) - 1 point (0-5 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 2 rebounds, 4 fouls in 28:48

vs Tallahassee CC (Loss) - 7 points (2-6 FGs, 0-1 3FGs, 3-4 FTs), 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls in 33:09

Being as though he went to Chipola at least he is coming out of a pretty darn competitive JUCO conference. Anderson made his name at UAB by locking down kids from that conference and making it almost his exclusive signing playground. Florida JUCOs are not allowed to have football programs so they really focus on basketball. All five of the schools that round robin each other are serious players in the world of JUCO basketball.

I'd be more interested in how he performed against NWFSC, Gulf Coast, and Pensacola JC as well as the other match ups against TCC during the regular season than what he did the opening rounds of the JUCO tourney.

 

[StoopsBros]