Most SEC coaches took a break from their conference season Monday to attend the funeral of former Florida and Auburn coach Norm Sloan. The HoodReport was there, and will soon post pictures of the attendees, including the SEC’s hottest couples: Arthur and Francine … Harley and Paris . . . Gary and DeQuishia.
Why did it take so long to bury Sloan, you ask? After all, his son, John Henry Sloan, announced the funeral two months ago when his father was fired by Auburn. According to my sources, John Henry has been peddling his Dad’s coaching services, trying to make one last buck on the old man before burying him. There were no takers, and so the young Sloan finally relented, although he did dress the corpse in a tee-shirt and baseball cap featuring the logo of “coach.com,” with telephone numbers, just in case he could generate any interest at the wake.
This raises the question: Who will coach Auburn next year? There has not been much speculation since the job was turned down by Gary Caplan in January. MIT’s Floyd Risings has denied interest. Tedman Brown, currently a Florida assistant, is said to be the favorite of AD David Housel. Interim coach Bryan Ogle has done a decent job (he’s won two games), and might get the job by default. But there’s one dark horse, according to my sources. The name has not surfaced, but he may have an inside to the job in that his stepmother’s hairdresser’s accountant once sliced a golf ball into the bay window of a house owned by the podiatrist of a former mistress of the guy who maintains the water cooler in the Auburn Athletic Department. Stay tuned.
Emmett Lewis may be heading back to the States, after spending 8 years in Italy. The 1977 graduate of the University of Florida has driven the Popemobile since 1998, but hasn’t been told whether he’ll drive for the new Pope.
The Athlete Formerly Known as Sam Quentin has escaped (again) from a maximum security federal prison in Arkansas. Several inmates used the distraction of a prison basketball game to make their break. Ironically, Tennessee coach Chuck “The Professor” Maxfield was at the prison at the time of the escape, but he was not there to see TAFKASQ. The Professor was with assistant Kevin Mackey, scouting prospects at the prison all-star game.
We are weeks (hopefully) away from the SEC Basketball Tournament. Who is the favorite? A month ago, it looked like Kentucky, but they’ve now lost two games. Huey Hinkle is sticking by his preseason pick of LSU, but they were recently humbled at Georgia. There’s no doubting that Georgia and Alabama have the talent to win the three games. It should be a great weekend.
How about next year??? There are three sets of envelopes, and a summer of improvement rolls, before the 2008 SEC season kicks off, but can’t we look ahead? Huey Hinkle did. The SEC’s resident psychic makes his picks for 2008:
1. Georgia. David Maxfield loses Sergeant Carter (the best white player in SEC history?) but Detrick Peete should be ready to step in as his replacement. What Huey likes most about Georgia is potential improvements from Quadre Dixon and Gus Justice, two All-SEC caliber players.
2. Kentucky. It’s unlikely that freshman Dameon Renfro will be able to replace Marco Baron at the PG next year, but with Joseph Bumba returning as the best player in the conference, and with expected improvements from winners like Ian Ware and Nat Runge, Kentucky will again compete. And with the recruiting class Bob Boyd is bringing in next year, Kentucky will remain a favorite for the foreseeable future.
3. Florida. A bit optimistic? Perhaps, but Huey expects Gary Caplan to finally get over the hump and legitimately compete for an SEC title next year. Florida loses (and adds) no one of significance after this season, but there is plenty of talent on campus, and if Darryl Dues and D’Aquarius McDaniel can improve signicantly in the off-season, then Florida will be a player next March.
4. Ole Miss. Again, some would argue Huey is being a bit generous here, but this pick assumes that Paul Garbauskus and Edebe Ugbogbo improve significantly over the summer. That may be a fair assumption, given Dr Bob’s track record of developing players. LaCucaracha has been a great PG, but Spanky Banks will upgrade Mississippi’s PG position. Similarly, Johnny Quarles should be every bit the player that departing Gilbert Mills has been. After a tough 2007, the excitement will return to Oxford next season.
5. LSU. The Hollywood celebrities that fill the front row seats at the KaneDome will welcome freshman Hollis Watts, and with him, the return of run-and-gun LSU basketball. But Governor Kane will have a hard time replacing his experienced forward tandem of Edmund Pettis and Simon Devine, both of whom will be 1st round NBA Draft picks in June. Huey admits that 5th place is a compromise pick. Solid arguments could place LSU as high as 3rd and as low as 7th. There are too many questions. Will Watts impact as a freshman? Will Bays adjust to the switch from PG to wing forward? And perhaps most importantly: Will Gabriel Coulter continue his development into a dominant SEC center?
6. Mississippi State. Now that Buster Coombs has tasted winning, he wants more. Wyatt Ringo departs, but Earl Hooten has (unexpectedly) developed into an even better 2G than Ringo, and so State will be no worse than this year – which is not bad. Coombs returns both Richard McKenzie and Wallace Stinson up front, and adds the much-hyped Dorian Drigalla to spark off the bench. Marvel Jackson is a phenomenon at the PG, and with improvements in shot selection and turnovers next year, he might be considered the league’s best PG for the next two seasons (apologies to Gus Justice). My only question is why Huey doesn’t predict a 3rd place finish for State?
7. Alabama. No program will lose more this off-season than Alabama. Bradley Maxfield must adjust to life without Tyonne Howard, Galen Roberts and Rickey Peyton. The Orenfro Carrico Era begins in Tuscaloosa, but ‘Fro’ joins a frontcourt which is already pretty solid, and he’ll do little to help a backcourt that will be decimated by the departure of two all-time greats. Not even Huey Hinkle cannot predict where the points are gonna come from next year for Bradley Maxfield.
8. Tennessee. The Professor may be biding his time until he can get the Mensa Brothers
in orange shirts, but in the meantime, he’ll look to two guys in red shirts for help next year. Pekka Taavi is recovering nicely from a ruptured patellar tendon and should anchor an improved front line next year (joined by JuCo transfer Stanley Jackson). And Raunchy Taylor will return to step in for the graduating …, err, departing, Renaldo Rash. The Professor is already calling Adrian McRae “Tennessee’s best player since Nigel Clay,” and he claims Alfonzo Gore, J’Hona Barber and Tyrel Savage will lock up opposing scorers next year, if they don’t get locked up themselves this summer.
9. Vanderbilt. Did I say Alabama would be the team most hurt by graduation this spring? Actually, a case could be made for Vanderbilt as well. Sharon Maxfield loses Weston Harlowe IV, Elroy Ford and Beaver Osgood from a team that has overachieved this year by flirting with .500.
10. Auburn. The Tigers could be marginally better next year. (They lose Charles Lazley and add the promising Ruben Pounds.) But it won’t be enough to escape the cellar.
What the new Auburn coach will need is talent. And who are the top recruits in the high school class of 2008?
According to Huey Hinkle, three preps stand out in the next class. 7’4 Finn Paavo Taavi is the best big man in the Class. Remember, he has always been considered the best of the three Taavi brothers, and most believe he will be a standout NBA player in not more than four years. Taavi runs the court extremely well and will play forward in the NBA, possibly even small forward, but he’ll play mostly center in college. Paavo has one brother at Tennessee and another at Mississippi State. Tennessee will do nothing that might risk its recruitment of the Mensa Brothers the following year, and so Buster Coombs might be the favorite. If Buster can add Paavo to a team that includes Dorian Drigalla and Marvel Jackson, State will win an SEC title.
The best guard prospect in the class is 6’3 Marcel Stevenson, a jet quick 2G who scores and defends exceptionally well. The 3rd prep topping Huey’s list is 6’8 SF Ronnay Walker, the best athlete of that size that Huey Hinkle has seen. Ever.
The best high school player in America? My vote goes for 6’9 – and growing – Emanuel Moran. He’s a dominating inside force, challenging every shot from the low post to the 3-point line. His offensive game is coming and I fully expect him to be an unstoppable low post scorer by the time he reaches college. He reminds me of Patrick Ewing – the college Patrick Ewing, not the NBA fall-away jump shooter. Whoever signs him is gonna hang some banners over his four years. The trouble is that’s still four years away. See, Emanuel is just a high school freshman, so while they call him “The Man,” he’s actually just a boy. File that name away: Emanuel “The Man” Moran.