Archive for the “Men’s Basketball” Category

Arkansas State has issued a statement denying statements in the Jonesboro Sun that university officials suggested that a post-season ban in men’s basketball was likely.

The July 21 issue of the Jonesboro Sun contained an article regarding Jay-R Strowbridge, a men’s basketball transfer student-athlete who decided to withdraw from Arkansas State. The statements attributed to Strowbridge regarding a conversation with Dean Lee, Director of Athletics, are not accurate and ASU believes it is necessary to correct this misinformation.

“All of our student-athletes should feel confident that their careers at ASU are not at risk due to the failures of the past. Upon discovering those failures, ASU promptly took corrective actions and self-reported violations to the NCAA. While we certainly will have penalties related to the current investigation, we do not believe those penalties will affect eligibility for postseason play in basketball or any other sport,” Lee concluded.

Update
On his twitter account Strowbridge states he was misquoted by The Sun.

The Story In The Paper I Have Not Read It But I Was Misquoted And Had An Radio Interview w/@RodneyFreeman Clearing Up The Story

While ASU head coach John Brady and ASU fans anxiously await an NCAA ruling on whether Donald Boone will get a sixth year of eligibility, a recent NCAA decision will likely create an air of pessimism.

A Ball State linebacker injured in the first quarter of the season opener last year has been denied a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. Grant, the Ball State player, had taken a voluntary red-shirt year as a freshman rather than a medical red-shirt year. The NCAA ruled that because he did not miss two seasons because of two injuries that he could not gain a sixth year of eligibility.

Boone did not take a voluntary season so that makes the situation a bit different but the year he sat out was to gain academic eligibility. The Jonesboro Sun reported on Thursday that Boone is working toward graduating this summer.

JONESBORO (5/24/10) – Arkansas State head men’s basketball coach John Brady has issued the following statement regarding Red Wolves’ guard Brandon Reed and his future with the basketball program.

“Brandon Reed, through his father, has asked for permission to pursue other opportunities as it relates to his basketball future. We have not as an institution given him a release at this time. I have talked with Brandon and his parents at length over the last week. Arkansas State gave him an opportunity to play at a high level and put him in a system that allowed him to showcase his talent and prove himself as a player in his first year of Division I basketball. We gave him a scholarship when other schools that saw him did not. It is a situation that really disappoints me, upsets me, is not right and does not sit well with me. But let me be clear, I have and always will want players at Arkansas State that want to be here, want to wear the scarlet and black and be totally committed without reservation to win the Sun Belt Conference and go to the NCAA?Tournament. We have a wonderful school, great fans and have created an opportunity for us to accomplish our goals. This situation does not detour, nor does it stop, the desire or enthusiasm I?have for this program and this community. We will continue to recruit good players that appreciate and are committed to this university.”

Reed averaged 15.1 points per game last season, earning second team All-Sun Belt Conference recognition and the league’s Freshman of the Year award.

Coach Brady will have no further comment on this situation until it is brought to closure.

ASU closes out overtime against UALR with a 12-2 run to seal the game and advances to face Western Kentucky on Sunday at 6:30pm.

Video Highlights
Adams Scores

Read the rest of this entry »

Arkansas State Alumni Association events in Hot Springs. The Sunday brunch is free but the hospitality room is only open to Association members. Memberships may be purchased at the door.

From February 1
If you followed the twitter stream for ArkSt_com from the Little Rock Tipoff Club meeting you caught some entertaining comments from ASU head coach John Brady.

What stood out to me the most was one thing. ATTITUDE.
Read the rest of this entry »

At the end of the 2007 I was about as frustrated as a fan could be with Arkansas State basketball. The then Indians had finished 16-15 against Division I competition. That in and of itself was not what was frustrating.

The team had dropped three games to teams rated 250 or worse in the RPI.

While there are many intangibles that can be used in evaluating a team’s performance, at some point the numbers that results produce have to matter.

If you can avoid terrible losses, and just win the ones you should and only lose to decent teams, it might not get you into the NCAA Tournament, but it sets the stage to make it possible for the league to get a good seed or multiple teams.

The Red Wolves have now played 8 of the 9 Division I non-conference opponents set for this season as well as two league opponents and the numbers are very encouraging.

Arkansas State’s three losses have been:
AT #84 Ole Miss
AT #122 Missouri State
AT #109 UALR

There isn’t a bad loss in there, ASU has lost what it is supposed to lose.

More importantly Arkansas State is winning the games it is supposed to win. The best win based on current RPI numbers is over 133 Ball State but it was a road win.

Arkansas State has faced three teams in the sub-250 range and won all of them winning at Indiana State and at home over Mississippi Valley State and Southeast Missouri State.

After that 2006-07 season Arkansas State was 177 in RPI, greatly hurt by those three terrible non-conference losses despite being over .500 vs. Division I teams. Last year’s team staggered to a 272 rating.

This year Arkansas State is currently 124. That’s not a number that puts the Red Wolves on the NCAA or even NIT bubble but it is a very good improvement. The team is on track to finish at least in the top half of Division I for the first time in years and possibly in the top 40%.

Arkansas State may not be playing great basketball right now, but its certainly playing good basketball based on the numbers.

Harry King, syndicated sports writer for Stephens Media devotes today’s column to new Arkansas State basketball coach John Brady.

Coach Brady has apparently impressed King with his comfortable and relaxed manner at ASU and how much he seems to be enjoying being at stAte. What appears to impress King the most is how well he did dealing with Tommy Smith of KABZ who has generally expressed great distaste for ASU and for Brady when he was at LSU.

Fans get ready to welcome John Brady as the new head coach of the ASU Red Wolves.

This is a name that really had me struggling about what to think.

Talking to LSU fans and members of the media in Louisiana, he seemed way too toxic to touch. He has a reputation of being aloof. He has struggled to sign players willing to stick around for four years under hard-nosed coach.

But a chance to hire a coach from a Final Four team just a few years ago is tempting, especially a coach who rebuilt a team devastated by probation and who was successful at a program with an even smaller budget when he was at Samford is tempting. Other things emerged from those conversations. Dedication to team discipline, dedication to academics, solid coaching chops. I understand ASU’s pursuit.

Not too long ago Chancellor Potts said he didn’t see any reason why ASU couldn’t be like Memphis. We are in the same area. We draw from areas loaded with basketball fans.
Read the rest of this entry »

Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline has written about the Gonzaga miracle. Give it a read. There was no miracle at Gonzaga, just common sense and a commitment to winning.

Parrish outlines the four steps of the Gonzaga plan.

1. Find the right coach.
This is what ASU is undertaking to do right now. The first step is to have someone who can bring in talent good enough to win and can motivate and lead that talent. In many ways this is the single most difficult step in the process. A winner at one place may have had just the right situation. The hot prospect assistant may not be able to run a program. It is the largest gamble in the process.

2. Make a strong financial commitment to that coach. You have to have dollars to make other jobs less attractive. A $300,000 salary reduces the number of jobs that look better. $500,000 reduces that number more and $750,000 reduces it even more. If a coach is happy he’s harder to move. A 50% raise tempted Dana Altman but in the end it wasn’t enough.

3. Build first class facilities. The Convocation Center used to be that but a serious remodel is needed. The good news is that it isn’t so urgent that it has to be done now.

4. Increase the budget across the board. Spending to achieve success isn’t just about salary. Two equally talented coaches are going to have similar results at similar programs even if one is making twice as much if they have the same recruiting budget, the same schedule budget, the same travel budget, the same money for scouting resources, the same training resources, and the same ability to provide for summer school and academic assistance.

The ASU Battle Plan.
Read the rest of this entry »