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DMN reported the other day that Coach Dement should be considered at Baylor. As you might gather from my handle, I'm a big fan of Coach Dement, and I sure don't want to see him leave, especially for Baylor. Talk about starting a program from scratch.

RI Stang reported in another thread that Dement should be calling Lawrence Roberts as a possible transfer target. Isn't he the kid who already has played for four schools or something?

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Here's part of a story on the Baylor website touting Roberts as a preseason all-America/Wooden Award candidate:


Roberts Named Preseason Wooden All-American

Junior forward one of 50 early candidates for nation's most prestigious basketball award

WACO, Texas - Baylor junior Lawrence Roberts was named to the 2003-2004 Wooden Award Preseason All-America Team, the John R. Wooden Award selection committee announced Wednesday.

Roberts is one of 50 student-athletes named as preseason candidates for the Wooden Award, presented to the nation's most outstanding basketball performer and considered college basketball's most coveted trophy.

The 6-9 forward spent the summer working out with the USA Pan Am Games team, but missed the final cut after an injury to his knee. Roberts was one of 16 finalists for the team.

In 2002-2003 Roberts led the Big 12 with 10 double-doubles in league games and was the leading rebounder in conference games (11.4 per game). He was named All-Big 12 for the second straight year after averaging 15.2 points and 10.4 rebounds, one of three Big 12 players to average a double-double on the year. In 2001-2002 Roberts set a Big 12 freshman scoring record with 498 points en route to being named a freshman All-American and to the Big 12 All-Freshman team.

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Another thing about the Baylor website - they have a poll on their site asking how many games people think the Bears will win this year in football. Is this legal? I realize fans-driven websites can do that, but to see it on an official university website was surprising. (And, out of 1,128 who have voted so far, 49 voters actually said the Bears will win 9 or more games, and 25 said 7 or 8. Amusing, to say the least.)







[This message has been edited by Dement-ed (edited 08-10-2003).]

Would SMU let Baylor even talk to him right now? He is under contract for this year and the school year is about to start. I wouldn't like to have to look for a new coach right now because choices are limited for name coaches and recruiting season is hot right now for basketball. As much as I am less than thrilled with Dement's game coaching skills, he's probably better than a last second alternative would yield for us.

I'm not sure there's someone better available, either. I would think that, as an act of good faith toward Coach Dement and toward the folks at Baylor, he would be granted permission to talk to Baylor. But I assume he'd want to stay here and finish what he's started, rather than start a brand-new program down there.

Baylor is gonna luck into John Lucas as coach. I don't know if Lucas would be a good college coach but he would give them a shot in the arm. Oohhh, no pun intended. But Lucas does have experience with drug problems, sounds like thats just what they need right now. I'm kidding, sortof.

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RI Stang reported in another thread that Dement should be calling Lawrence Roberts as a possible transfer target. Isn't he the kid who already has played for four schools or something?

[This message has been edited by Dement-ed (edited 08-10-2003).][/B]</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

CPC is not really sure what you mean about Roberts going to 4 different schools? If you go back and read the article you posted yourself, you can see that he is about to be a junior and has been at Baylor since he was a freshman.

As much as you and RI Stang may want him too, Dement cant pick up a phone and call a player and ask him to transfer. The contact has to be initiated by the player. It would be a violation for any coach to try and encourage a player at another school to leave, unless that player first contacted the 2nd school about transferring there.

I don't think Roberts considered SMU out of high school and I doubt we have a scholarship to give. Or do we? My memory is getting fuzzy, did we decide to hold one and not use it this spring? In any case, I think if Baylor hires Lucas, all players will stay. If they don't, I see mass transfers. But I imagine Roberts would end up at Houston, its his hometown I believe. Worst case would be Rice, for us. Roberts in theory could make either Rice or SMU into quite a formidable team. Rice has several studs including Harris, and a BHop-Roberts combo with Simpson and Isham could be strong. Speculation, speculation, nothing more.

SMU still has an unused scholarship because they offered Nathan Doudney before he picked Gonzaga.

It is likely that all Baylor players will rethink their position. That won't occur this year for most though. Most will wait to see how harsh the penalties are and who gets named as taking money. I don't think except for some freshmen or sophs who could sit out a year that much will happen and I doubt even that happens in 2003.

Incoming recruit Tyrone Nelson has said that he will ask Baylor to release him from his letter of intent. The 6'10" center from Hempstead, TX has a 3 star rating from Rivals and said that he is interested in OU, Georgia Tech, and possibly others. I'm not sure if he ever expressed any interest in SMU but I know we would love to have him.

CPC,

What are the rules regarding transfers from teams on probation? I know that a kid has to initiate when transferring from a program normally, but does that change when a program has been put on probation? I thought I remembered reading that when we got the DP, there were all sorts of coaches on campus the next day recruiting some of our guys.

As for the possibility that Roberts and others would transfer, I agree that if they can get Lucas, most will probably stay. However, there is also speculation that Lucas may not be a top choice of the administration since he has no college coaching experience, and may not be completely up to speed on all of the rules, especially considering where the Baylor program is right now.

Lastly, if Baylor continues to find more and more violations, the possibility exists that they will add another year of no post-season. If that occurs, do I understand it correctly that JUNIORS would then be able to transfer with no penalty? As I understand it, for each year you're banned from post-season play, then a player with that many years left of eligibility is allowed to transfer and not sit out.

If that is in fact true, and more violations do occur, then Roberts would be eligible this year.

RI- Where did you see that they could transfer without penalty. I think SMU released all of their athletes when the DP occurred but I've never heard of a lot of players leaving because of a probation. Does anyone know what the rules are?

It has been reported that the Baylor seniors can transfer without penalty (without sitting out a year). Below is a portion of the latest article on ESPN.com:

Sloan has given permission for the players to transfer with a full release. Sloan did this after he put the school on two year's probation, including a postseason ban for the 2003-04 season. The three seniors -- Matt Sayman, Terrance Thomas and R.T. Guinn -- are the only players who could transfer without a penalty under NCAA rules. The NCAA allows players to transfer without sitting out a year if the postseason ban is equal to their remaining seasons of eligibility. But none of the three are expected to leave.

The other returning players -- Ellis Kidd, Jr., John Lucas, preseason Wooden All-American Lawrence Roberts, Kenny Taylor, Tommy Swanson -- are expected to return. Newcomer Harvey Thomas is also supposed to stay at Baylor. Freshman Tyrone Nelson has asked for a release from his national letter of intent and freshman Carl Marshall might bolt as well.

The players who do leave must go to a school that has a scholarship available or face the same scrutiny of how they would pay for college without the financial assistance from the university.



[This message has been edited by RI Stang (edited 08-11-2003).]