No Shame in his Game

[Bornthrilla]

Yes, we all need to 'help in fixing' the athletic department, but how is that possible if the person that 'controls' the department doesn't welcome the help?

I can only speak from experience, but Dee Todd has always welcomed any suggestions I have given her about improving the athletic department. I think it is unfair to characterize her as a leader who is stubborn. She is open to a lot of different ideas and opinions.

[aggiejazz]

Hampton University men's basketball recruiting class ranked No. 56
HoopScoop Online rated the 2006 class No. 54.

BY MARTY O'BRIEN
Daily Press
April 19, 2007, 7:58 PM EDT

HAMPTON -- Hampton University landed the highest rated men's basketball recruiting class in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basketball history a year ago. Turns out the 2007 recruiting class will be ranked almost as high.

The HoopScoop Online recruiting service ranks this year's class No. 56 in Division I, slightly lower than the No. 54 ranking for the 2006 class. No other Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference recruiting classes have ever been ranked in HoopScoop's top 100.

"I'm excited," Hampton coach Kevin Nickelberry said. "If this class produces anything close to what we got from last year's, we're well on our way to becoming one of the top Mid-Major programs in the country."

HU's highest rated recruit, according to HoopScoop, is 6-foot-9 power forward Donte Harrison. Harrison averaged 11.6 points and 11.3 rebounds for Division III junior college national champion Sullivan of New York.

The other recruits are: 6-0 point guard Chris Tolson from Laurel High in Maryland, 6-3 shooting guard Kwame Morgan from Largo High in Maryland, 6-11 center Milade Lola-Charles from Laurel High and 6-2 point guard Brandon Tunnell from Concord High in Delaware.

Nickelberry said that HoopScoop's rating of 4 for Harrison means he is the equivalent of a top 100 high school senior. Matt Pilgrim, a 6-8 power forward who started for Hampton this season, received a 4 rating from HoopScoop last season. So, too, did 6-10 center Seyi Oseni, who redshirted this season with a knee injury.

Mike Freeman, a 6-8 small forward, was rated a 3 but Nickelberry said that number would've been higher had Freeman not been hurt during his prep school season. Freeman (14.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg) went on to earn MEAC Rookie of the Year honors this season, while Pilgrim (11.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) was a MEAC all-rookie selection.

"We're going to be big and really talented along the frontline," Nickelberry said. "Seyi Oseni was hurt last year, but he's running the floor and dunking now. He reminds me of Matt because he can handle the ball and shoot the 3."

Nickelberry thinks Tolson, like Freeman, would've had a higher rating had he not hurt his foot as a high school senior. Tolson nonetheless made the Washington Post's All-Met third team.

"I think Chris and Donte will be two of the top newcomers in the MEAC next season," Nickelberry said.

Morgan should also make an impact. He averaged 27.5 points for Largo and is the only first-team Washington Post All-Met selection ever to sign with Hampton. Tunnell and Tolson give the Pirates two true point guards. Two shooting guards played out of position at the point for HU last season.

Hampton's recruiting class is tied at No. 56 with Wichita State. HoopScoop ranks the class above a number of high-profile Mid-Majors: Virginia Commonwealth (#62), George Washington (#86), Southern Illinois (#100) and George Mason (#109). Florida A&M is the second-highest rated MEAC team at No. 120.

The five recruits join a Hampton program that went 15-16 last season and returns its top eight in minutes played. The top returnee is shooting guard Rashad West, who led the MEAC in scoring with a 17.8 average.

Hampton likely will begin next season as the consensus MEAC favorite. The Pirates won the MEAC titles in 2001, '02 and '06.



Oh Boy!

[Maxell]

The bar is raised.

[truthseeker]

krazykev: i don't dislike dee todd... it's not personel... i don't know her..... my dislike is how she is doing her job & how she is ruining the athletic department... my dislike is how she came in here firing people like she knew every damn thing instead of being patient and weathering the storm...... my dislike is how people suggest i go talk to her or e-mail her ideas i may have... hell.... she got wheeler!!! i bet there is not an idea anybody has come up with that wheeler or a staff member hadn't tried to run by her!!! if she doesn't respect wheeler enough to value his opinnion why in the hell would she value mine.... he knows a helluve lot more than i do!!!! besides if i had an idea i would run it by wheeler or one of the coaches first to see what holes they shot threw it..... same thing she should be doing.... don't you think???

[Maxell]

truthseeker said:

i bet there is not an idea anybody has come up with that wheeler or a staff member hadn't tried to run by her!!!

Truth, I think you underestimate the value of an outside opinion. There may be something that you can say or suggest that she she couldn't hear as clearly from someone on her staff.

It's just like my teenage son. I can tell him the same thing time after time, year after year and it doesn't seem to click. But if he hears it from someone else it clicks. A buddy of mine once wanted me to talk to his son about school. He told me, "There are some things my son just can't hear from me." I then talked to his son about going to college and he enrolled at A&T that fall.

Release dem demons! ;D

[truthseeker]

aggie77: decks is right.... other than football & vball our teams are pretty good!!! baseball & softball just need a couple of crackerjack arms in the bullpen... baseball has to score like a slow pitch team to win games!! if the AD was really trying to help those guys out she would make sure they could lure some top notch pitchers in here!!! when bethune softball was going to the super regionals their bats were ok but their pitching was awesome!!!

our track team is small compared to alot of schools but they reprensent very well...

but money that has been wasted could have helped out these programs.... even still the coaches do a good job.... it would be nice to be able to recruit the finnished product instead of kids you always having to develop!!!

[truthseeker]

aggie77: tennis has a long way to go & swimming is more of a title IX thing than actually trying to train olympians.... our mens tennis was on the upswing until they got the down swing.....

[truthseeker]

maxwell: it's not that i underestimate the value of outside opinions.... i just think our AD should chill & let wheeler & her staff entertain some off those outside opinions.... sometimes the best leaders are those who stay behind the scenes!!!!

[Gator]

As the saying goes, "talk is cheap."

[aggieshonuff]

1) Sitting patiently and listening to outside opinions; and kindly receiving suggestions. 2) Getting off your butt, planning and executing; putting forth the energy to follow up on good ideas and monitor progress. SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

[AggiePride]

I am really trying hard to understand how is Hampton able to recruit so well. What advantages do they have? I will give MSU credit because their coach can always say hey I was a successful coach at Cal, I know what I need to do to win. But what does Hampton have over us?

[DOOMS]

A prettier campus, higher academic standing (right now anyway) and a much larger budget. That's about it.

[antfan2003]

Uhh.. just for the record.. Im not sure what part of hamptons campus youre referring to but their campus is garbage compared to A&T. There is NO comparison. Hampton is on the water.. thats it. outside of that feature..all of their buildings look like moore gym. And have you seen their stadium..It looks like Dudley high school.. so lets kill the theory of their campus being prettier.. cause thats t- total crap.. Hampton puts their money towards recruiting.. not facilities... PERIOD.

[numberonebrave]

In previous years HU has admitted kids that were p48 ---Tarvis Williams(6-8), Bruce Brown( 6-11), David Johnson 6-7 255,......all the academic programs at NCA&T are accredited not so at HU ...I do not think their B-school has AACSB accreditation, so I do not think the higher academic standing is or has ever been true or a real factor in the school athletes decide to attend. I also do not think Freeman, Pilgram, and those other quality RECRUITS have even considered whether to attend NCA&T or HU...PRETTY CAMPUS? NO!! BUDGET YES!!!! Since , the latter may determine who you recruit...we did recruit Brown

[DOOMS]

antfan2003 said:

Uhh.. just for the record.. Im not sure what part of hamptons campus youre referring to but their campus is garbage compared to A&T. There is NO comparison. Hampton is on the water.. thats it. outside of that feature..all of their buildings look like moore gym. And have you seen their stadium..It looks like Dudley high school.. so lets kill the theory of their campus being prettier.. cause thats t- total crap.. Hampton puts their money towards recruiting.. not facilities... PERIOD.

I'm just going by my opinion. It's by the water which makes for a much more scenic and in my (and several recruits I pleaded to go to A&T that went to Hampton) opinion.

I understand if you don't like water. I'm not partial to it either. The whole slave ships thing kinda takes me back.

Their stadium has some of the worst sidelines and best end zone I've ever seen. It's brick, ours is alumninum. Another matter of personal preference.

Most people I know that went to Hampton prefered the weathered look of their campus. Let's be real, until that bond referendum was passed A&T looked straight out of the 70s which made it look like a community college.

Have you seen that convocation center or that library with the four-floor mural? I ain't taking nothing away from Hampton. That's a nice yard in my opinion.

I knew several cats that transfered to A&T from Hampton. I asked them why and they said because their major wasn't accredited. I asked them why they went there in the first place and they said "have you seen that campus?" Always the same response.

But we have taken many steps in improving the appearance of our beloved alma mater and I for one am quite pleased.