Big 12 Basketball is about to get a shot in the arm

[NaptownChief]

CnnSi has Texas Tech ranked 24th in their preseason poll.

Here is some notes on Coach Knights recruiting success:


Once hired by Texas Tech, Knight focused his attention upon the junior colleges in hopes of finding a "quick fix." The results were outstanding, as the Red Raiders signed a full complement of five recruits, all from the juco ranks, and all highly regarded by most scouts.

First, Knight personally greeted high-scoring (27 points per game) 5-foot-10 1/2 Panola (Texas) JC sophomore point guard Will Chavis at the airport when the quickster from Philadelphia flew in to visit Lubbock, and a commitment followed within 48 hours. Next, the Red Raiders got the nod from a pair of frontcourt men of Eastern European descent. Ermal Kuqo, a 6-10, 270-pound Albanian center who spent his sophomore season at Seminole State (Okla.) JC, turned down overtures from Illinois, Kansas State, Charlotte, George Washington and others in order to play for Knight. Note that while Kuqo, an academic qualifier who signed the previous year with Tulsa but remained in junior college when Golden Hurricane coach Bill Self left for Illinois, is ranked among the top 50 juco sophomores by most scouting services. One coach in his conference considers him to be highly overrated.

Also ultimately picking Texas Tech as his collegiate destination was 6-8, 225-pound small forward/power forward Pawel Storozynski, a sharp-shooting native of Poland who posted big numbers this past season at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College. You may recall that Storozynski actually gave South Carolina a verbal commitment late in the season but then looked elsewhere when Eddie Fogler stepped down as the Gamecocks' head coach. Pawel chose the Red Raiders over Illinois, Kansas State, LSU, Baylor, Tennessee and Oregon.

Most recently, Knight has corralled two more juco sophs, 6-6 small forward Kasib Powell of Butler County (Kan.) Community College and 6-8 power forward Billy Pharis of Westark (Ark.) JC. Combined with the other three signees, this gives Texas Tech arguably the best spring recruiting class in the nation

[Recker24]

Luke Recker leads our program?? No that would be the Nation's leading rebounder, Reggie Evans. Double Double in almost every game last season. Why are you talking about the past pal. Here's your answer, because Indiana basketball has no future. Iowa killed you 2 times last season, and all you can talk aboput is 5-10 years ago. Who gives a sh*t about the past. The times is now, and the Haks are dominate. The 5 we have are unbelievable, and the depth is remarkable. So Pally, How do you like them freakin apples punk.

[Rausch]

Was watching ESPN classic...


How many times must I suffer the last 5 seconds of the Missouri/UCLA game?

Reckerwannabe,

Over that past year, these guys and I have tossed around plenty of friendly smack concerning our respective conferences and teams. You haven't been here that long. A little freindly jabbing is expected and accepted....but I think you should tone it down a bit.

Several Hawk fans including myself and Kphob are regulars here....enthusiasm is great, but I think you should tone it down a bit for a while..you'll come off less like a yapping pup and people will respect your opinion more..

-chief fans use the same argument as Indiana BB....we won the most games in the 90's, and beat the faiders x years in a row....Its the only grace we have after last years hairball.

[NaptownChief]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Recker24 [/i]
[B]and all you can talk aboput is 5-10 years ago. Who gives a sh*t about the past. The times is now, and the Haks are dominate. [/B][/QUOTE]


You remind me of those little yipping lap dog's that barks all tough when you are separated by a locked door...

To answer your question about who gives a $hit about the past? People who have a successful past, that's who...So I completely understand why you don't my little Chihuahua....

Someday you will be smart enough to figure out that if the past doesn't matter then neither does the present because the present will be in the past as of tomorrow....

BTW, while you are at the height of your hardon over Iowa basketball you still finished behind us in the conference...But I guess it is easy to overlook that since how that happens just about every single year...


Run along my little Chihuahua, run along...

[Recker24]

Yeah I apologize to the Hawk fans for getting a little excited there. I just hate it when Indiana fans think they are still among the elite. This will be my last post on this topic JL, because I can see you can't grasp reality. Here is a dose of it for you. There isn't one NCAA basketball preseason poll that has Indiana rated in the top 15. Iowa is already ranked in 4 polls. 1 has them high as 6th, and the lowest IOWA goes is 8th. Forget the past. The future is here. Now, when people talk about the BIG 10, they don't mention Indiana....They talk about Illinios, Mich.St, and Iowa. That is a fact,
Sincerely,
The Chihuahua
How do you like them apples????

[NaptownChief]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Recker24 [/i]
[B]There isn't one NCAA basketball preseason poll that has Indiana rated in the top 15. [/B][/QUOTE]

You mean to tell me that I not only have to listen to you tell me that 5 National Championships doesn't matter for $hit cause they are in the past all the while placing stock in something as worthless as a preseaon poll?

I'm glad you are done debating the topic cause you have clearly proven that I don't need to waste any more of my time discussing basketball with a real knucklehead...

Nearly everyone in the nation except UCLA, Duke, & UNC is jealous of your 5 championships.

But, Iowa is going to be strong for several years. IU will make the tourney next year but won't contend for the BigTen.

Congrats on your previous fortune. We'll give a little but you should also concede UofI's potential in the near future.

Welcome aboard, Recker.

I don't care if you run that smack but what brought us all here was the Chiefs and for that reason, we're all pretty tight. That's why our smack regarding the BigTen is pretty mild. You'll probably mellow some as you get to "know" jl80 & others. Always glad to have another Hawk fan, though! Where are you from in Iowa?

[ChiTown]

but my alma mater spanked Iowa last year in Manhattan, KS. I know, I know, KSU basketball is horrible. But my point is any team that lost to my team last year can't hold their heads up too high.

ChiTown
~waving a victory flag in shame

[NaptownChief]

KPhob,

Iowa has a good future with a guy like Alford at the helm...I have pulled for Iowa hard ever since he showed up....with the exception of the IU games and I will continue to do so despite guys like Pecker24...

Just a little surprised that someone would be crazy enough to attack IU just because they won a pair of games against them(none in Assembly Hall I might add)...Chumps like Pecker24 get caught up in the national media hype that loved bad mouthing Knight and IU just cause he didn't win a title in the 90's...Considering Knight's standards that he set of winning a title every 5 or 6 years the 90's was a let down. But that is only when you hold it to his supreme standard...The 90''s was IU's darkest decade, yet they had the best record in the Big Ten and won 2 Big Ten titles...Not bad for a down decade, uh? Last I checked, Iowa's best decade was not as good as IU's worst....So for some chump to come out attacking like he did was pretty pathetic...