Tom Penders and Matt Doherty

[FordtoTolbert]

The greatest team in SMU hoops history was the Doc Hayes "St. Louis gang" of the late 50's....maybe we need to recruiit in St. Louis, or Baton Rouge, the greatest city in America.

[friarwolf]

The key to Doherty's success if recruiting local talent. Dement / Tubbs had a hint of success doing this with the Sasser / Davis / Ross group. We almost made it to the NCAA's with that group. There is a hot bed of talent in our own backyard. Will the Tubbs firing prevent us from getting some of this talent? Will SMU's restrictive admission policies continue to prevent us from getting this talent? Time will tell. I just don't believe Doherty (or any coach for that matter) will have any success recruiting 'left-overs' from other states. Get the top kids in your own backyard and then the wins will come. Easier said than done though.

Sorry BJ, not buying. Doherty's key to success is recruiting talent and coaching it. Once again, check out any of the major basketball programs and see how much home grown talent there is. Duke has zero in state kids this year, Kansas has 4 in state kids, GT has 6. Great local players like Shady or Sloan would be great but we need talent - that can also qualify under current academic requirements. That's probably one of the best things Doherty brings to us - a national reputation with recruiting ties throughout the US. He has the ability to cast a much wider net.

[Big10Ponyfan]

See there you go again -most assuredly Basketball of all games played is about physical talent-those that don't have it fire their coaches every 2-5 years. The kids that "work-hard" play intramurals in College.

Oral Roberts 78
Kansas 71
Final

Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS.

ORU coach Scott Sutton: "Our kids played with great toughness and were competitive and didn't back off.''

Nice job by a bunch of kids who play intramurals

[PonyFan]

The key to Doherty's success if recruiting local talent....

One of the most overstated -- and inaccurate -- statements ever. If a kid can play, he can play, and it doesn't matter if he hails from Highland Park, South Dallas, or Seattle or Miami, or anywhere in between. The fact that talent has to be local is just wrong. What's that going to do, pack the house with fans? No, winning will do that. The fact that Coach Doherty can go get a kid like Papa Dia from Connecticut, over offers from OU and Louisville, shows that he can pull real talent. He also has given indications, from what I've seen and heard (and that little national coach of the year award over his fireplace), that he can coach a little, too.