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Targets for next Head MBB Coach - JMU85 - 03-19-2020 07:56 PM
I would be good with an IUP coaching reunion.
Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - Purple - 03-19-2020 08:11 PM
(03-19-2020 06:45 PM)JMU85 Wrote:(03-19-2020 06:33 PM)Purplehazed Wrote: What would jmu basketball be like now if Ralph had chosen jmu over uva? Years of top #5 ranking, probably #1
I ran into him a few years ago and made a similar statement. He said if JMU was what it is today in he would have stayed in town to play.
I believe he would have made JMU even bigger and better than it is today.
When I was in high school, I worked in the pet department at Grant City, a department store that was a Rose's the last time I was in the burg. It was in the Kelly St. neighborhood where Ralph grew up and I remember him as about 11 or 12 years old, really tall and really skinny.
If I recall right, Ralph grew about 2 inches a year from junior high until he graduated Harrisonburg High at 7' 4". I watched some of his JV games and he was uncoordinated because he was growing so fast and his coordination wasn't keeping pace with his growth. But, the way he was growing, I knew he was going to be a special basketball player.
Because Ralph wasn't from a bigger NoVa or Richmond or 757 high school, he wasn't getting a lot of press until he was a junior and senior. I went to many of his games and watched as he got better and better, a prototypical big man in the Russell/Chamberlain/Jabbar mold but he had become more mobile than I ever remember any of them being. In fact, when he was deciding which college to attend, he almost went to Kentucky which had already signed Sam Bowie. Ralph wanted to play power forward, giving Bowie the center position. Terry Holland pulled a great recruiting move. He took Ralph up in a helicopter and showed him the UVA coliseum which he had painted on the roof in huge letters "RALPH'S HOUSE." Done deal!
I went to as many of Ralph's games as I could get to at Harrisonburg High School during his junior year. Between work and school, I got to about half of them. I saw Dean Smith and Terry Holland in the stands on more than one occasion. I tried talking fraternity brothers, most of whom grew up in NoVa, to come with me to some of his games. They thought Ralph was from a hick town and would never amount to anything, even telling me that they thought he wouldn't even be offered a college scholarship. Not kidding! Then, as the press attention increased, more of them took notice.
I will never forget Ralph's first game of his senior season. I had talked two of my frat bros into joining me to watch Harrisonburg play Broadway. The opening tip was the first alley oop I had ever seen at any level, including the NBA. Ralph controlled the tip easily, then cruised down the floor as point guard Jimmy Knicely delivered the ball perfectly for a spectacular thunder dunk from at least 3 feet above the rim. I looked over at my frat bros and their eyes were bulging and mouths wide open.
My girlfriend at the time worked at the Weyer's Cave airport at one of the car rental desks. She found scouting reports on Ralph that had been left behind by Ohio State's coach and gave them to me. I still have them.
The last time I saw Ralph was at the same airport. He was standing outside wearing his gold medal from the Goodwill Games. I offered him a ride but he said his parents were on the way.
Ralph did well for the Houston Rockets, but the game was changing away from stereotypical centers being the go-to offensive weapon to more mobile power forwards like Magic, Jordan, et al. Ralph was still an NBA All-Star, even the MVP of one All-Star game, but his knees were giving out, surely from such rapid growth.
I am blown away today by the incredible mobility of 7-footers like Dirk Nowitzki who could move like a small forward or even a 2 guard. The evolution of the game of basketball over the past 40 years has been an amazing thing to me.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - jmudukes001 - 03-19-2020 08:21 PM
My top two choices at this point are Wes Miller and JTIII, both of whom were mentioned on the radio today as possibilities.
The Wake Forest mess has taken much longer than expected but should be cleared up in the next few days, and we will see if Wes is chosen. It sounds like he is a fallback if Beilein and Matta say no— assuming Manning is fired as expected. If Wes does not get his dream Wake job, then we need to be all-in.
JTIII is likely a long shot, but hopefully we can move ahead on that. Nice start by NJ Duke.
If people for some reason think Wes and JTIII are not options or that they are not interested, then I would say Coen or Richey off the next list— assuming Coen is available.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - olddawg - 03-19-2020 08:28 PM
Purple- was that Jimmy Knicely the same guy who started on JMU's 1983 College World Series team?
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - Purple - 03-19-2020 08:47 PM
(03-19-2020 08:28 PM)olddawg Wrote: Purple- was that Jimmy Knicely the same guy who started on JMU's 1983 College World Series team?
I think so, but I don't remember for sure. He became a mortgage lender in the burg. I haven't talked to him since the mid-90s.
I definitely remember that Harrisonburg High School basketball team. They were some kind of good. They had a pair of forwards, Russ Dickerson and Roland Dickerson, who were very good ballers in their own right. The only team in the state that was nearly as good as the Streaks was in the same district, RE Lee in Staunton. They had a big center, Mike Madden, who was about the size of Charles Barkley and built about the same way (his brother or cousin, Kevin Madden, later played and started for Dean Smith at UNC). He could muscle Ralph, but he had no answer for Ralph's superior height.
Great memories.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - Purple - 03-19-2020 09:29 PM
Same guy. Links below to his Linkedin page and a breeze article where he hit a homer against Pitt (scroll down to the sports page). I also noticed that Russ Dickerson played on that same Dukes baseball team and I am wondering if he was the same Russ Dickerson who played with Ralph and Jim Knicely at Harrisonburg High....
Jim Knicely Linkedin page
Breeze article
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - AssyrianDuke - 03-20-2020 08:19 AM
Another JMU BB related what if... What if Kristi Tolliver had chosen JMU over UMD? Would we be the Gonzaga of WBB? At least they are winning 20+ a year still.
RE: Ralph Sampson, if he wants to get into coaching more power to him. But I don't want to give him the HC job here. His entire coaching resume:
Assistant at JMU in 1992-93 (under Lefty)
HC for the Richmond Rhythm in 1999-2000
Assistant (Player Development) for Phoenix Suns 2012-13
That's it. If you blinked, you missed it. Maybe he can be an assistant to the new HC, but I would be disappointed if they announced him as HC (not that I see that happening).
I would be okay with a top level D2 coach, and I would like to point to Josh Schertz at Lincoln Memorial U (I think OtP mentioned him earlier), Jim Crutchfield at Nova Southeastern (4 time college coach of the year in WVa), and Mike Donnelly at Florida Southern. Crutchfield turned around Nova from cupcake to powerhouse in three years, which is something I know would interest many on here.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - BSKB 24 - 03-20-2020 08:23 AM
(03-19-2020 03:02 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:(03-19-2020 03:01 PM)Dukester Wrote:(03-19-2020 02:43 PM)HyperDuke Wrote: BSKB, what makes you rank those 2 above Jones? Just picked Jones since he seems to be the name with the most buzz right now. I’m just curious on your thoughts.
He might know something.......
Ha, I know that’s why I asked!
Honestly, I don't know anything. I do let the powers to be know my opinions, but that is the extent of it at this time. I am told, "stay tuned"!
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - AssyrianDuke - 03-20-2020 08:23 AM
Another note on Crutchfield at NSU... he plays a pressure, up tempo style that I think would suit the athletes on this team very well.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - BSKB 24 - 03-20-2020 08:25 AM
Ralph would need to earn his stripes as an assistant for several years and show some staying power, He certainly would be
a valuable asset from a recruiting standpoint. But, no way Jose should he even be in the conversation as the head coach.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - KickItToScotty - 03-20-2020 08:33 AM
Bob Richey removed himself from consideration.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - Bawlmer Duke - 03-20-2020 08:34 AM
(03-20-2020 08:33 AM)KickItToScotty Wrote: Bob Richey removed himself from consideration.
https://twitter.com/Shane_DNRSports/status/1240991663511699458
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - Anders - 03-20-2020 08:43 AM
That’s tough to see. He was my personal front runner. Is JT III a true long shot? If he was actually interested in W&M previously makes me believe there’s a chance. He seems to gravitate towards high level educational institutions but having the keys to a program with this new stadium and potential is an intriguing offer.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - AssyrianDuke - 03-20-2020 09:22 AM
(03-20-2020 08:43 AM)Anders Wrote: That’s tough to see. He was my personal front runner. Is JT III a true long shot? If he was actually interested in W&M previously makes me believe there’s a chance. He seems to gravitate towards high level educational institutions but having the keys to a program with this new stadium and potential is an intriguing offer.
If he wants high level academics, he could certainly do worse than us. We are transitioning to a national university after all.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - Dukes84 - 03-20-2020 09:29 AM
Richey was my front runner too. Richey gone. Greenberg gone. Legler and Sampson haven't been head coaches. Leaves Jones, Kerns and Byington, with JT3 only a rumor.
Andy Kennedy to UAB. He's also not available, but wasn't tied to JMU. Neither was Drew, also now gone. Pitino also off the table.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - KickItToScotty - 03-20-2020 09:34 AM
I wish we’d hear something fairly solid on JTIII whether it’s that he’s talking to JMU or he’s not interested. Of the names we’ve actually heard are interested I think Jones would now be #1 by pretty far for me now that Richey isn’t an option. I’d rank JTIII and Miller above him if they’re possible though.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - JMUNation - 03-20-2020 09:35 AM
Sounds like Richey knew he wasn’t getting the job or he used the interview as leverage to get a better deal at Furman.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - HyperDuke - 03-20-2020 09:35 AM
(03-20-2020 08:25 AM)BSKB 24 Wrote: Ralph would need to earn his stripes as an assistant for several years and show some staying power, He certainly would be
a valuable asset from a recruiting standpoint. But, no way Jose should he even be in the conversation as the head coach.
Yeah, JB doesn’t appear to be giving him an interview.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - KickItToScotty - 03-20-2020 09:41 AM
(03-20-2020 09:35 AM)JMUNation Wrote: Sounds like Richey knew he wasn’t getting the job or he used the interview as leverage to get a better deal at Furman.
I’d put my money on the latter.
RE: Targets for next Head MBB Coach - JMU85 - 03-20-2020 09:47 AM
(03-20-2020 09:35 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:(03-20-2020 08:25 AM)BSKB 24 Wrote: Ralph would need to earn his stripes as an assistant for several years and show some staying power, He certainly would be
a valuable asset from a recruiting standpoint. But, no way Jose should he even be in the conversation as the head coach.
Yeah, JB doesn’t appear to be giving him an interview.
I can't imagine it was even given a second thought even though Ralph was reaching out to JMU.