Some say Lance Stephenson will succeed at Cincinnati. Others think he’ll fail and maybe implode the team along with him.
Personally, I’m in the former category. I think Lance is in a perfect spot at Cincinnati. He’s surrounded by a tough coach (Mick Cronin), experienced players who also want to win (Deonta Vaughn, Yancy Gates) and he’s out of the fishbowl of New York City.
The 6-foot-5 Brooklyn native was voted the Big East preseason Rookie of the Year.
He also impressed observers Saturday in his first scrimmage when he dropped 22 points in 25 minutes, leading the Red team to a 50-43 victory over the Black team, according to Bill Koch of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“The guy can play offense,” Cronin told Koch. “He’s got a lot of natural, God-given ability. I think our style of play will help Lance.”
Stephenson was joined on the Red team by Vaughn, Gates, Cashmere Wright and Biggie McClain.
“The good part about it for Lance,” Cronin told Koch, “is that he doesn’t have to carry our team. He’s got a lot of other players around him.”
As reported previously, Cincinnati is still awaiting word from the NCAA as to Lance’s eligibility vis-a-vis his amateurism issues.
SELBY CUTS BAYLOR
Matt Scott at TheShiver.com reports that Josh Selby has eliminated Baylor from his list of schools, bringing his list down to five schools.
The 6-3, 180 combo guard out of Lake Baltimore (Md.) Clifton has already visited Kansas unofficially. He plans to see Syracuse, Miami, Indiana and Kentucky and his mother will announce a visit schedule this week.
FREE THROWS
6-8 forward Terrence Jones of Oregon is visiting Kentucky now and will return Friday, according to an email his mother, Linda, sent to TheShiver.com. He visits Oregon on Saturday. Jones is also considering Washington, UCLA, and Oklahoma…Djim Bandoumel, a 6-8 center for Monroe (N.Y.) College, has committed to Idaho, according to assistant coach Brock Erickson.
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JessieWildcat / October 28, 2009
Looks like Lance had a good game.
It appears that getting out of NYC was a good thing.
So, TJ is doing a weekday -official visit to the Cali-cats.
Maybe Linda has more updates from brainstorming?
Note:
Kentucky is finally noticing the Barnes picture which was exhibited by the Duke fans/admin/…. Better late than never.
Maybe NCAA Schuh will release the documents into this type of “FAN” behavior.
Illegal or NOT illegal? The details should provide for an interesting read.
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rockchalkin / October 28, 2009
Man, it’s been too long since I’ve been around here…
First off:
Can anyone on this site actually understand any of the thoughts Jessie tries to convey? Maybe it’s just me, but every time I read one of his posts I can only shake my head and wonder “what in the name of all that is holy did I just read?”
Second:
Selby is one nasty player. I’m hoping that Bill can manage to pull him (along with Barnes) in for next year. Both attended Late Night, along with Mr. Lamb and Royce Woolridge. If Self can pull a couple of those guys in to go with what will be back for sure (E. Johnson, T. Robinson, J. Withey, Morris-squared, etc), we could have two very exciting years in Lawrence. Side note- I am of the opinion that Royce Wooldridge is VERY underrated, but I guess that remains to be seen.
Finally:
Games I’m excited for this year:
KU-Memphis in St. Louie
Michigan St at North Carolina
UNC at Kentucky
KU at UCLA
Arizona at OU
UK-UConn in NYC
Michigan at KU
UNC at Texas
Cal at KU
Michigan State at Texas
OU at Gonzaga
Louisville at Kentucky
KU at Tennessee
Texas at UConn
Who needs March Madness when you’ve got non-conference games like this?! God, basketball season can’t come soon enough…
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