ESPN preview of Conf USA
Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 6:56 pmESPN preview of Conf USA
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2560815
Doug Gottlieb
SMU with Matt Doherty should be interesting. The Mustangs return most of their talent, but suffer a huge loss with the graduation of Bryan Hopkins.
Andy Katz
SMU: Bamba Fall is eligible to play. He's a 7-1, 200-pound, run-like-a-deer shot-blocker who played in 18 games last season, blocking 53 shots. There were some concerns if he was going to be ready to go …Derrick Roberts is healthy after recovering from knee surgery …The only major hit off of Jimmy Tubbs' team is the loss of point guard Bryan Hopkins … There doesn't seem to be any negative effect from the NCAA violation allegations against Tubbs. We'll see if anything develops, but Matt Doherty doesn't seem to be seeing any impact. Doherty landed 6-4 Ryan Harp from Abilene Cooper (Texas) High this month and is looking to get seven players signed in this class.
Matt Doherty is on his seventh house as a coach, his fourth in four years.
"I don't want to do that to my family again,'' Doherty said. "My son and daughter are in third and second grade and it's the third school in three years. But this is a good job in a good city. I'm not looking. I've been to the top of the mountain and the view isn't always great. I've got one of the potential best coaching jobs because of the quality of life.''
Doherty was an assistant at Kansas, went to Notre Dame for one year, North Carolina for three, was out of coaching for two, at Florida Atlantic last season and now is at SMU.
"People that haven't coached at North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke or UCLA don't know what it's like,'' Doherty said. "It sounds glamorous, but it's a unique animal. I don't have to have that. I understand that and my wife and I really like Dallas. It's a great city.''
Doherty is adamant that SMU is a different job than when Mike Dement was here in the mid to late 1990s before former coach Jimmy Tubbs. Athletic director Jim Copeland is gone and former Central Florida AD Steve Orsini is on board and looking to pump up the program.
"We've raised seven million for a new basketball center and we'll start digging in November,'' said Doherty. "Everyone said the same thing about Notre Dame (that it can't win) and yet the crowd stormed the court after we beat Connecticut. There is a market here for us. There is history and we can wake it up.''
...
Hot idea
Finally, SMU and UTEP are going big-time in hoops -- facility-wise. They're building practice buildings specifically for basketball. That was unheard of in the state a few years ago before Texas started the trend. Now, look for everyone else to keep up with the Longhorns as best they can. Getting practice gyms at SMU and UTEP certainly will help these programs compete as destinations for high-profile players.
– Andy Katz
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2560815
Doug Gottlieb
SMU with Matt Doherty should be interesting. The Mustangs return most of their talent, but suffer a huge loss with the graduation of Bryan Hopkins.
Andy Katz
SMU: Bamba Fall is eligible to play. He's a 7-1, 200-pound, run-like-a-deer shot-blocker who played in 18 games last season, blocking 53 shots. There were some concerns if he was going to be ready to go …Derrick Roberts is healthy after recovering from knee surgery …The only major hit off of Jimmy Tubbs' team is the loss of point guard Bryan Hopkins … There doesn't seem to be any negative effect from the NCAA violation allegations against Tubbs. We'll see if anything develops, but Matt Doherty doesn't seem to be seeing any impact. Doherty landed 6-4 Ryan Harp from Abilene Cooper (Texas) High this month and is looking to get seven players signed in this class.
Matt Doherty is on his seventh house as a coach, his fourth in four years.
"I don't want to do that to my family again,'' Doherty said. "My son and daughter are in third and second grade and it's the third school in three years. But this is a good job in a good city. I'm not looking. I've been to the top of the mountain and the view isn't always great. I've got one of the potential best coaching jobs because of the quality of life.''
Doherty was an assistant at Kansas, went to Notre Dame for one year, North Carolina for three, was out of coaching for two, at Florida Atlantic last season and now is at SMU.
"People that haven't coached at North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke or UCLA don't know what it's like,'' Doherty said. "It sounds glamorous, but it's a unique animal. I don't have to have that. I understand that and my wife and I really like Dallas. It's a great city.''
Doherty is adamant that SMU is a different job than when Mike Dement was here in the mid to late 1990s before former coach Jimmy Tubbs. Athletic director Jim Copeland is gone and former Central Florida AD Steve Orsini is on board and looking to pump up the program.
"We've raised seven million for a new basketball center and we'll start digging in November,'' said Doherty. "Everyone said the same thing about Notre Dame (that it can't win) and yet the crowd stormed the court after we beat Connecticut. There is a market here for us. There is history and we can wake it up.''
...
Hot idea
Finally, SMU and UTEP are going big-time in hoops -- facility-wise. They're building practice buildings specifically for basketball. That was unheard of in the state a few years ago before Texas started the trend. Now, look for everyone else to keep up with the Longhorns as best they can. Getting practice gyms at SMU and UTEP certainly will help these programs compete as destinations for high-profile players.
– Andy Katz