I thought the guys really fought hard, played their hearts out though they fell to that team from North of Nashville, 65-57. But Riley LaChance (16 points, 3-of-4 from trifecta), MFD (13 points, 4-of-7 from 3) and Damian (11 points, seven boards) played very well. Riley may have been a three-star rated player but he has a 1,000 star heart and looked to me at times during the game last night like the best player on the floor. Wade and Shelton ran the point pretty well for the most part, Luke needs to get more physical but can still help us with his length, his offensive skills and hopefully rebounding, James played fine, but Josh Henderson played a heckuva game and really gave us a spark. I’d like to see Josh play a lot more as the season progresses. He’s a very good offensive player and he’ll mix it up in the middle. Thought he was excellent. Kevin said it’s harder for Josh to play with Damian at the same time because Damian doesn’t know the plays at the four spot. Either Damian needs to learn them or put James in there with Josh and let them cover the interior. I like either one of those combinations. Jeff Roberson needs to keep improving and he will with more game experience. Jeff’s a talented player, who looks like he’ll mix it up once he gets that confidence that he can play with these high level players. He’s close.
We’re not happy at all with the result, but I know I’m very proud of the effort. We’re now 11-7 overall and 1-4 in conference. Huge game against LSU Saturday at Memorial @ 6 PM ET/5PM CT on “Duh U” (ESPNU). LSU is a very good team with a 14-4 overall record and a 3-2 record in the SEC. They have road wins over Ole Miss and Florida last night, 79-61. That’s impressive. They have an excellent inside game and some pretty good shooters from the outside. Inside guys Jordan Mickey and Tim Quarterman are outstanding athletes and finishers and they have a very good shooter-playmaker in Keith Hornsby, a guard, who was three-for-six last night from triple and can score from anywhere and just makes his team better when he’s out there. We’ll have to really bring our lunch pales and our hard hats for this one. We really need this one. The tournament is still in the picture, but we need to turn this thing around immediately. It starts Saturday afternoon. Memorial should be rocking. The team needs the students’ and the fans’ support. Our young guys are fighting, not as much against State last Saturday–not sure what was wrong that day–but we really battled that team from Memorial North last night. Kevin is not into the “moral victories,” but he liked what he saw as far as effort was concerned.
Jared Pinkney, a solid three-star wide receiver from Norcross, Georgia, has joined the Commodore football family. Jared is 6’5″, 225. Like that size. Jared picked us over Florida. He will visit Florida this weekend, which makes me a little concerned, but he says he’s solid with VU. Jared is an 85 three-star by 247 sports, and a 5.6 three-star by Rivals. He is the only receiver we have committed now. We have quite a few guys already on the team, so we’ll see what Derek does going forward concerning receiver. I know solid three-star Gary Jennings is still a target, so will keep an eye on that. Four-star linebacker Josh Smith had an excellent visit to VU over last weekend, and looks pretty solid to us. Oklahoma, Oregon and Georgia are making a push for Josh. He is now rated as a 95 four-star by 247, close to a five-star and is a 5.9 four-star by Rivals. With his brother, redshirt safety Emmanuel Smith, who is an excellent player in his own right and was a four-star last year, on the team, I feel like we will get Josh. Jared is our 17th commit in the class, and I’m expecting high three-star running back Bradrick Shaw (Hoover, Alabama) to come our way very soon. Kyle Shurmur, our quarterback commit from Pennsylvania, is now rated a four-star by Rivals and is an 88 by 247. Exciting players times in football. The recruits are really excited about our re-configured coaching staff that Derek has put together this offseason. Just gotta keep ’em coming. Will keep you posted on any developments as soon as they transpire.
Our baseball team is the preseason No.1 team in the country in the Perfect Game and D1 baseball.com polls. We have the makings of an outstanding team, but Corbs would be the first to tell you preseason doesn’t mean a thing. We have to prove it on the field starting in February and really starting this month when practice begins. Love the group we have in place though. Good veterans and good young players. I will be talking with Carson Fulmer, Dansby Swanson and Hayden Stone today on the phone. Will have that report tomorrow or Friday. Collegiate Baseball will be putting out their poll soon as will Baseball America. D1baseball.com has become a highly reputable college baseball website as they have recently hired two of the best college baseball writers in the country, Aaron Fitt who came over to D1 from Baseball America, and Kendall Rogers, who came over to D1 from Perfect Game. So their opinions really matter. They have us No. 1, Florida N0.2, UVA No.3, South Carolina No.5, LSU No.9, A&M No.17, Ole Miss No.18, Alabama No.20 and Tennessee No. 25. Wow, the league is loaded once again. We’ll be on TV 12 times this year. We play @ Auburn, Saturday, March 21, @ 8 PM ET/7 PM CT on the SEC Network. We play vs. Tennessee, March 28-29 (Saturday and Sunday), on the SEC Network. Saturday’s game is at 4 PM CT, and Sunday’s game is at 2:30 PM CT. We’re @ Georgia, Sunday, April 5th, @Noon ET/11 AM CT on the SEC Network. We’re vs. Ole Miss, thursday, April 9th @ 6:30 PM CT on ESPNU, and we’re vs Ole Miss on Saturday, April 11th @ 2 PM CT on the SEC Network. We’re @ South Carolina April 16th-18th (Thurday-Saturday, all three games of the series) with Thursday, April 16th on ESPNU @ 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT, Friday, April 17th @ 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT on the SEC Network and Saturday, April 18th @ Noon ET/11 AM CT on the Deuce (ESPN2). We play Florida at home on Thursday, May 7th @ 6 PM CT on ESPNU, and Florida @ home on Saturday,May 9th @ Noon CT on the SEC Network. And we finish off the regular season TV schedule @ Alabama on Saturday, May 16th @ 3:30 PM CT on the SEC Network. Our Alabama game will be played at the Hoover Met Stadium in Birmingham as Alabama is renovating their stadium in Tuscaloosa. We also play No.4 UCLA on March 6th in Los Angeles, then @ USC March 7th in Los Angeles, then we play No.8 TCU on March 8th. The TCU game is at Dodger Stadium. We open with Santa Clara February 13th-15th (Friday-Sunday) at home. First pitch Friday, Feb.15th, is at 4 PM CT at the Hawk. Should be fun.
I’m encouraged by the way our team played and battled last night. Hopefully, we will really build on last night’s game and carry that momentum into Saturday afternoon against LSU.
