Pre-season NIT Announced

by **Mitch McConnell** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 1:16 pm

Confirmed we're playing Colorado St. in the Stanford pod.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... ings-place

by **Mustangsabu** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:14 pm

Awesome! Now I don't know much about this tournament, but I'm guessing we would have to win 2 games in Stanford to go to NYC and be on ESPN?

by **smusic 00** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:15 pm

I think they televise the whole tourney, no?

by **skyscraper** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:14 pm

http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-ba ... 11aab.html

ESPN will provide coverage throughout the event, televising games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com. Games on ESPN and ESPN2 will be simulcast on ESPN3.com. This is SMU's second appearance in the Preseason NIT. The last was at the start of the 1998-99 season.

The first- and second-round doubleheaders will be played November 14-16 on the campuses of the four highest-seeded teams - Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State and Stanford. The winners of the preliminary rounds advance to the semifinals in New York City's Madison Square Garden November 23. The consolation and championship games will be played November 25.

by **ponyscott** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:11 pm

from Dohs FB wall:

Matt Doherty
SMU Selected For Preseason NIT

"We are excited to be part of the Preseason NIT," says SMU head coach Matt Doherty. "It is an indication that SMU is seen as a program on the rise. This is also an invaluable opportunity for our team. Last season, we made the postseason for the first time in more than a decade. Now, we will play in one of college basketball's most prestigious events

by **MustangIcon** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:25 pm

Great to see this is official.

Preseason NIT, ESPN game vs OkSt at AAC, team coming off of a 20 win season and post season play, much improved recruiting and high profile transfers, etc. Still a long way to go in the quest to be a good program, but this is the first season in quite some time that as a fan you could feel really good about the prospects and direction of the men's hoops program. I like the way it feels.

by **hoopmanx** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:05 am

MustangIcon wrote:Great to see this is official.

Preseason NIT, ESPN game vs OkSt at AAC, team coming off of a 20 win season and post season play, much improved recruiting and high profile transfers, etc. Still a long way to go in the quest to be a good program, but this is the first season in quite some time that as a fan you could feel really good about the prospects and direction of the men's hoops program. I like the way it feels.

It feels significantly different on the road, at all these AAU tourneys. Right now, not feeling so good about '12 recruiting. We're either aiming too high or not aiming high enough and looking for strictly princeton fits.

We should beat Colorado St, if our guys play disciplined. I'm also sick of it taking 2 months for anything & everything to leak from Crum. This was not only rumored, but I verified the Stanford POD and the teams, like a month ago on twitter. Its getting very old dealing w/a head coach/staff that doesn't give a crap about keeping the programs actual fans in the loop. I have no idea why Doh is so paranoid when everyone knows he couldn't even handle the defense last year, so Mangino took it over.

He better sign some serious kids, cause he's a puppet, other than recruiting. Wait til Mangino gets an offer to head coach a freaking prep team anywhere. Its unacceptable that its July, and SMU's head coach doesn't care enough about his fan base(especially guys like me that backed his sorry [deleted] in hard times) to give us a clue about '12 & '13 recruiting.

by **NickSMU17** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:19 am

Ouch...

by **Mitch McConnell** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:43 am

I thought it was interesting that he only posted about the AAC game after it was reported publicly. But I will say that when it comes to scheduling, those SIDs get a little over the top on that stuff.

What SMU really needs to do is announce the non-conference schedule in the summer because that schedule is usually finished. SMU has traditionally waited for the conference schedule to come out before it releases the entire schedule. So we usually don't see it until September.

I've never agreed with that. Give the basketball fans a nugget in the summer and then release the conference schedule when it's done.

by **hoopmanx** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:44 am

NickSMU17 wrote:Ouch...

I mean its not doom n gloom, cause the roster is good and we just scored Russell. Also, Leslee is ahead of schedule. Its just very disappointing that Doh doesn't think the programs fans deserve anything other than a 30 game slate. Its a year round spectator sport, coach! The reality is that Doh, Pooh & hobbie spent the first evaluation period out every single day, evaluating kids, deciding who to offer etc. Now, there is a lull between the two evaluation periods, and we should have a very good clue who our priority kids are.

Well, Chad rykhoek is a priority, but chances of getting him are slim. He's good enough and smart enough to get a Cal/Stanford/Vandy/Wake type ride, and if not, Reggie will beat Doh for him at TCU. Same can be said of Dre Wright who has a Clemson offer now, probably favors Tulsa, unless OU offers, which they probably will. Connor Lammert has an offer from half the Big 12 etc.

Brian Bernardi has an OV to SMU first weekend of September, but that's courtesy of Bernardi's peeps, not SMUs etc. We'd love Dillon Graham, but the kid has a Kansas offer now. Uche Ofoegbu is a good athlete, but he's not exactly princeton skilled. We sign him, its an ok signing, but it was also easy and not based on fit. Delvonte Pierre probably isn't good/consistent enough.

B/c it took Pooh forever to hit the road, Doh is spearheading both the West & East coast. Kids like Bernardi are clearly kids that are tied to Doh/hobbies time in NYC etc. Maybe they know the coach/father. Either way, we're the only school on his list that isn't NY or mid atlantic.

Hopefully, they pull a rabbit out of the hat, or a kid like Niem Stevenson shows consistency. I probably have a list of 40 kids we're after to some degree, but I'm not sure we're favored for any.

by **RGV Pony** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:45 am

hoopmanx wrote:
MustangIcon wrote:Great to see this is official.

Preseason NIT, ESPN game vs OkSt at AAC, team coming off of a 20 win season and post season play, much improved recruiting and high profile transfers, etc. Still a long way to go in the quest to be a good program, but this is the first season in quite some time that as a fan you could feel really good about the prospects and direction of the men's hoops program. I like the way it feels.

It feels significantly different on the road, at all these AAU tourneys. Right now, not feeling so good about '12 recruiting. We're either aiming too high or not aiming high enough and looking for strictly princeton fits.

We should beat Colorado St, if our guys play disciplined. I'm also sick of it taking 2 months for anything & everything to leak from Crum. This was not only rumored, but I verified the Stanford POD and the teams, like a month ago on twitter. Its getting very old dealing w/a head coach/staff that doesn't give a crap about keeping the programs actual fans in the loop. I have no idea why Doh is so paranoid when everyone knows he couldn't even handle the defense last year, so Mangino took it over.

He better sign some serious kids, cause he's a puppet, other than recruiting. Wait til Mangino gets an offer to head coach a freaking prep team anywhere. Its unacceptable that its July, and SMU's head coach doesn't care enough about his fan base(especially guys like me that backed his sorry [deleted] in hard times) to give us a clue about '12 & '13 recruiting.

Not sure if it was simply his time off, or I just missed him, but it seemed odd that the only staffer I didn't run into over a two week period in June was Mangino.

by **hoopmanx** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:46 am

Mitch McConnell wrote:I thought it was interesting that he only posted about the AAC game after it was reported publicly. But I will say that when it comes to scheduling, those SIDs get a little over the top on that stuff.

What SMU really needs to do is announce the non-conference schedule in the summer because that schedule is usually finished. SMU has traditionally waited for the conference schedule to come out before it releases the entire schedule. So we usually don't see it until September.

I've never agreed with that. Give the basketball fans a nugget in the summer and then release the conference schedule when it's done.

Trust me when i say our SID thinks Doh is paranoid beyond description and difficult to deal with. Its like everyone gives Doh a pass on being new media dense, b/c UNC ate him up so badly.

by **hoopmanx** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:52 am

RGV Pony wrote:
hoopmanx wrote:
MustangIcon wrote:Great to see this is official.

Preseason NIT, ESPN game vs OkSt at AAC, team coming off of a 20 win season and post season play, much improved recruiting and high profile transfers, etc. Still a long way to go in the quest to be a good program, but this is the first season in quite some time that as a fan you could feel really good about the prospects and direction of the men's hoops program. I like the way it feels.

It feels significantly different on the road, at all these AAU tourneys. Right now, not feeling so good about '12 recruiting. We're either aiming too high or not aiming high enough and looking for strictly princeton fits.

We should beat Colorado St, if our guys play disciplined. I'm also sick of it taking 2 months for anything & everything to leak from Crum. This was not only rumored, but I verified the Stanford POD and the teams, like a month ago on twitter. Its getting very old dealing w/a head coach/staff that doesn't give a crap about keeping the programs actual fans in the loop. I have no idea why Doh is so paranoid when everyone knows he couldn't even handle the defense last year, so Mangino took it over.

He better sign some serious kids, cause he's a puppet, other than recruiting. Wait til Mangino gets an offer to head coach a freaking prep team anywhere. Its unacceptable that its July, and SMU's head coach doesn't care enough about his fan base(especially guys like me that backed his sorry [deleted] in hard times) to give us a clue about '12 & '13 recruiting.

Not sure if it was simply his time off, or I just missed him, but it seemed odd that the only staffer I didn't run into over a two week period in June was Mangino.

Mangino has no recruiting responsibility, so he was probably on vacation. He's also incredibly homesick, and never moved his family to Dallas. He has a kid that either just graduated or is in high school that he's missing, and he only wants to teach his system as a head coach, at any level. Before Reggie left, the rumor was Mangino. Reggie left b/c Hobbie sat a chair up from him and got paid more lol. I saw hobbie 3 days straight at Peach Jam, and I can honestly say he wasn't truly on anyone there.

My biggest hope is that Nick Russell paves the way to Arlington Grace Prep somehow. More of those kids are listing us, and a kid like Jelon Hornbeak has had the worst summer of his life. Maybe we get lucky and falls back or something.

by **Mitch McConnell** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:03 am

I know you've mentioned Mangino's desire to return to Denver, but I really don't feel sorry for him anymore. He made the choice to come here. He wanted to stay in the game. He believed this was his best opportunity. He shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. If he was ready to go, then his credentials should have put him in a position to move on.

Was he close to leaving and an opportunity fell through?

by **PonyKai** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:17 am

hoopmanx wrote:
Mitch McConnell wrote:I thought it was interesting that he only posted about the AAC game after it was reported publicly. But I will say that when it comes to scheduling, those SIDs get a little over the top on that stuff.

What SMU really needs to do is announce the non-conference schedule in the summer because that schedule is usually finished. SMU has traditionally waited for the conference schedule to come out before it releases the entire schedule. So we usually don't see it until September.

I've never agreed with that. Give the basketball fans a nugget in the summer and then release the conference schedule when it's done.

Trust me when i say our SID thinks Doh is paranoid beyond description and difficult to deal with. Its like everyone gives Doh a pass on being new media dense, b/c UNC ate him up so badly.

Love our hoops SID, he's a great guy. While that doesn't contribute much to the discussion, still had to throw it out there.