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I know it's a little early, but when do we start to see SMU listed on Rivals and other recruiting services for the Eatons, Flowers', etc?

Eaton: http://scout.theinsiders.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&cfg=null&c=1&yr=2005&nid=449899

Flowers: http://scout.theinsiders.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&cfg=null&c=1&yr=2005&nid=1143027

Before you get too excited, Eaton listed SMU long before Tubbs was hired. I don't know about Flowers.

ponyboy, I'm glad you started this thread. I was thinking about the effects of hiring Coach Tubbs, and I can't help but wonder if his hiring also will help the football team with DISD kids. Say Coach Tubbs signs some kid from Dallas who, even if he isn't a national recruit like LaMarcus Aldridge, is seen as the BMOC at his school. Suddenly he's wearing an SMU hat, sweatshirt - whatever - and nobody's laughing because of his stature on campus. And at most schools, a lot of athletes play multiple sports, or at least are friends with players on the other teams.

So am I smoking something here, or is there a real possibility that Coach Tubbs and his position within the Dallas schools community might actually help Coach Bennett and Coach Roark get some Dallas football players here?

Interesting thought. I don't know, because I don't know how much weight the HS football players carry in the eyes of the basketball players, and vice versa. I think you'd need to find a kid who's a star in both sports (hello, Byron Eaton) for that to really catch on. And even then, it would be one school at a time.

It definitely won't hurt. Hiring Tubbs is good PR for the athletic department period. Bennett would be wise to leverage off of it.

I bet he already is. I wouldn't be surprised if they make a joint visit someplace if there's a kid who can play both sports (well). Those are two serious salesmen - I can't imagine an 18-year-old having the answers to turn them down if they recruited him in tandem.

I’m fairly certain that the two coaches have visited the Fair Park neighborhood together to pay Mr. Eaton a friendly hello. He would be a star at SMU in both sports and his family could see it all.

Corso, has UT ever allowed a player to play both football and basketball? Supposedly, UT has already offered Eaton for bball, and as I understand it, he will be rated higher in football than bball.

So is it a for sure that WE would allow a two sport player? Getting Eaton would be sweet indeed.

LA_Mustang wrote:I’m fairly certain that the two coaches have visited the Fair Park neighborhood together to pay Mr. Eaton a friendly hello. He would be a star at SMU in both sports and his family could see it all.

Corso, has UT ever allowed a player to play both football and basketball? Supposedly, UT has already offered Eaton for bball, and as I understand it, he will be rated higher in football than bball.

I can't think of one, but I spend a great deal more time thinking about SMU than the Horns, of course. However, I have a few spies down there I can call on to do some research for us. Stay tuned.

Eaton and Hopkins would be a hell of a tandem.

There would be some concern on the defensive end, since other teams would have a significant size advantage, but that might well be the quickest backcourt in the country if both were on the floor at the same time.

And while other teams might have a size advantage, they'd have a hell of a time trying to keep up with the Ponies in transition. There aren't a lot of teams with guards who could run with those two. Despite their relative lack of height, they might be able to cause some real headaches for opponents. I bet we'd see a lot of zone defenses, simply because a lot of teams wouldn't have the horses to run with .... the Ponies.