Attended the open practice Saturday morning.
Coach was running an open coaches clinic and we got to sit in and watch.
Got a chance to see the new players and the returning ones.
Nice to have three bigs to help out Montel.
Impressed with Adegei who can run and shoot as well as gives us some size at 6'7".
Kirby looked good and will definitely provide some presence. At times Rajala showed some flashes of ability.
We will definitely miss Christian Thomas but as coach said, he sometimes got lost among the trees and Richardson and Custer were able to find Kirby down low much easier.
Richardson was back and looked fine. Keke appears to have regained his speed and led some nice fast breaks. You could really see that Porter is well organized and really knows teaching fundamentals. His passion and dedication are really important attributes in building the program.
My only concern this year is we really will only have eleven players as Custer has to sit out and Knuth is having surgery.
Knuth's torn labrum was not in the same spot as Doyle's which was much less damaging because of its location.
They tried rest and therapy for Knuth but since it did not work he will undergo surgery this week and will be out for the year.
We had a nice tour of the locker room and the training area. Very impressive as the strength and conditioning coach spent some time explaining the facility.
There was also a nice reception in Ireland's afterward. There will be university sponsored bus trip to Notre Dame. Should be a fun season. Coach could obviously not comment on recruit's names but in less than a month you can expect some interesting announcements.
Steve Watson was there also and made some nice comments about the program and its goals.

Thanks for the report!

Streak,

Thanks for the report. It made me check the calendar to see how many more days until the start of the season, and the early signing period. Go Ramblers!

Nice, encouraging report. I've started work on the season preview, and while looking more closely at Adgei, I thought--- wow, we haven't heard all that much about him, but this guy could be really good and very important in the kind of system we run. He'll probably get more minutes as a freshman because of Knuth's injury.

I attended as well...great event.

Streak pretty much touched on the main points, so I'll second what he posted. Everything Porter addressed about recruiting, scheduling and the new rule changes was great to hear. You could also sense his genuine enthusiasm about this team; it didn't sound like just coach speak to appease season ticket holders.

Tiger,

I love your Pete Maravich avatar. I was a big fan of Pistol Pete during his days at LSU. More recently, I've read his autobiography, Heir To a Dream and his authorized biography Pistol. I also have his Basketball Drills Instructional Videos. I think some of his college scoring records will never be topped, and it's amazing to think that he accomplished all this with a congenitally defective heart.

Did you ever see him play in person?

I also attended and second everything Streak said. I was also very impressed with Tyson Smith. He has a good shot, is fast, and is really quick slashing to the basket.

_________________
Let's go Braden!

Hey felon, thanks.

I'm too young to have seen him in person, but I graduated from LSU and received my degree in the building that bears his name, so he seemed the most appropriate avatar for me. I love speaking with those that did see him though because there's always something new to learn that the video footage doesn't show...his scoring records are almost impossible to believe, especially considering he played before the shot clock and 3 point line existed.

I haven't read Heir to A Dream, but Pistol is still sitting on my bookshelf and I really enjoyed it. My good friend's father had the instructional videos as well, but we inexplicably never watched them!

JC, glad you mentioned Tyson. He impressed me as well.

All that and Milton. too !!!! I do like our chances--Hopefully with this added height, we can play DEFENSE so Turk, Milton and the boys can score score and score !

Our Valley competition had better be ready fpr a DIFFERENT Rambler team. This year our opponents will have trouble guarding EVERYBODY !!

Not yet ready for Shockers but as long as some of them keep drinking, who knows ???