Cut from the same cloth
posted by LW, Friday, April 16, 2010
The following question might be insignificant to some, because I'm not sure how many of you care about women's basketball.
But as I read this colorful column by Bart Wright on Itoro Coleman, I wondered:
Has Clemson ever had three coaches who were cut from the same emotional cloth as Dabo Swinney, Brad Brownell and Coleman?
Check out this passage from Wright's column:
You want passion in your basketball coach? Spend a few minutes around Itoro Coleman.
“I teach what I know,” she said, “and what I know to be true is that commitment is more than a word, it’s a way of life, it’s a definition of who you are. The players we have will be committed in everything we do here – academics, the community, basketball, being a good teammate – these aren’t things you talk about, these are things you do, things you work at every day.”
She balled her right hand into a fist.
“You have to compete to win,” she said, smacking that fist into her left hand when she said “compete.”
“We have goals here – the Sweet 16 (smack goes the fist), the Elite 8 (smack), the Final Four (two fist smacks). But it all starts with competing. I’m talking about every second of 40 minutes in a game, every minute of practice, everything you do.”
She shook the hand of someone she had never met and excused herself to hit the recruiting trail.
Even if you've never cared about women's basketball and never plan to, how can you not get excited about that if you're a Clemson fan?
I know I'm planning on checking out a game or two next season, and a game or two is all I've checked out since I arrived here in 2004.
After this week's hiring of Brownell, athletics director Terry Don Phillips has been fond of saying that Brownell and Swinney probably couldn't occupy the same room because there wouldn't be sufficient oxygen. Both of them seem to have boundless energy and intensity, a total investment and passion for what they're doing.
Safe to say Coleman has the same qualities.
No one knows whether Swinney is going to guide Clemson back to the glory from which it is so far removed. No one knows whether Brownell will improve on -- or even sustain -- what Oliver Purnell built. And no one knows whether Coleman can lift her program from its woeful state.
But it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun watching them try.
Ed McGranahan of The Greenville News was at last night's Prowl and Growl function in GVegas and wrote this story on Brownell.
Here's what he said about recruiting:
"I’m not going to lie to you, we’re in a little bit of a tough spot. Obviously we got the job late. They didn’t have anybody signed so you have no recruiting class, so as a result you’re scrambling around a little bit and you’re behind. In recruiting it’s not easy to catch up when you’re behind.
“But we’re going to battle and bang for the next couple of weeks and see if we can find one or two men that we think are going to fit our program,” he said. “If not, we’re going to be patient because I think it’s more important to have good players than just use the scholarship.”
Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail has the scoop on Devin Booker remaining at Clemson.
I'm not all that surprised given my conversation with Booker's mom last week.
The two main reasons I thought he'd probably return were:
1) OP is gone;
and,
2) Sitting out a year is not fun.
“The reason we were dissatisfied was that in Trevor’s first three seasons he was limited to one position (center),” Tracey Booker said. “What we were worried about was Devin playing under Purnell another three years and being limited to that.
“(Brownell) told Trevor how he would have done had he coached him, how he would have played him at the (small forward and forward positions). He said he would have had 2,000 career points instead of (1,725) career points under him.”
Also in the Independent-Mail, former Clemson beat writer Paul Strelow gets in a nine little one-liner:
Mulling a few things while wondering how long it will take Clemson to take down the Oliver Purnell fundraiser billboard on Clemson Boulevard.
Kind of surprised the wallpaper hasn’t slid down already. Reading between the lines of his departure, Purnell doesn’t handle heights well.
Strelow also weighs in on the million-dollar question (or maybe $2 million dollar question) surrounding Kyle Parker:
Entering the season, I didn’t think a baseball club would spend the desired money for a 6-foot slugger without a position. But there’s a growing sense his scrutinized outfield arm — ironic, huh? — is sufficient enough to hold up in left field. Plus his improved balance and hand positioning at the plate have helped rectify the holes in his swing. Inside fastballs, outside changeups and lefties are no longer such nemeses.
Here’s an excerpt of American League crosschecker’s assessment, as told to Baseball America for an upcoming story:
“The big question with him is, how much does it cost to buy him out?” the scout said. “I like him. … I could see 20 to 25 home runs, hitting between .250 and .270, .280.
“He was bad for me last year. The approach wasn’t there, and it affected the defense. This year I’ve seen a more mature player, a guy who’s shown the ability to be a little more selective … and become more of an all-around player. The approach is there. I’ve seen him make adjustments to breaking balls. He’s strong as an ox. You look at the fact that he’s never had a summer or fall to concentrate on baseball.”
Pure speculation: It’s going to take a signing bonus offer of mid-first round caliber (at least $1.5 million) to even register Parker’s attention.
In The State, the NFL is buzzing about C.J. Spiller as draft weekend approaches.
This might make Clemson fans sick to their stomach, but Georgia Tech is showing off the bling it recently received from its ACC title.
John Adams of the Knoxville paper reacts to Tennessee charging the media 50 bucks to attend a scrimmage.
If this becomes a trend, you can go ahead and start demolishing press boxes.
One question: If Tennessee is as bad as most people think they're going to be this year, does the media get its money back?
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
The following question might be insignificant to some, because I'm not sure how many of you care about women's basketball.
But as I read this colorful column by Bart Wright on Itoro Coleman, I wondered:
Has Clemson ever had three coaches who were cut from the same emotional cloth as Dabo Swinney, Brad Brownell and Coleman?
Check out this passage from Wright's column:
You want passion in your basketball coach? Spend a few minutes around Itoro Coleman.
“I teach what I know,” she said, “and what I know to be true is that commitment is more than a word, it’s a way of life, it’s a definition of who you are. The players we have will be committed in everything we do here – academics, the community, basketball, being a good teammate – these aren’t things you talk about, these are things you do, things you work at every day.”
She balled her right hand into a fist.
“You have to compete to win,” she said, smacking that fist into her left hand when she said “compete.”
“We have goals here – the Sweet 16 (smack goes the fist), the Elite 8 (smack), the Final Four (two fist smacks). But it all starts with competing. I’m talking about every second of 40 minutes in a game, every minute of practice, everything you do.”
She shook the hand of someone she had never met and excused herself to hit the recruiting trail.
Even if you've never cared about women's basketball and never plan to, how can you not get excited about that if you're a Clemson fan?
I know I'm planning on checking out a game or two next season, and a game or two is all I've checked out since I arrived here in 2004.
After this week's hiring of Brownell, athletics director Terry Don Phillips has been fond of saying that Brownell and Swinney probably couldn't occupy the same room because there wouldn't be sufficient oxygen. Both of them seem to have boundless energy and intensity, a total investment and passion for what they're doing.
Safe to say Coleman has the same qualities.
No one knows whether Swinney is going to guide Clemson back to the glory from which it is so far removed. No one knows whether Brownell will improve on -- or even sustain -- what Oliver Purnell built. And no one knows whether Coleman can lift her program from its woeful state.
But it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun watching them try.
Ed McGranahan of The Greenville News was at last night's Prowl and Growl function in GVegas and wrote this story on Brownell.
Here's what he said about recruiting:
"I’m not going to lie to you, we’re in a little bit of a tough spot. Obviously we got the job late. They didn’t have anybody signed so you have no recruiting class, so as a result you’re scrambling around a little bit and you’re behind. In recruiting it’s not easy to catch up when you’re behind.
“But we’re going to battle and bang for the next couple of weeks and see if we can find one or two men that we think are going to fit our program,” he said. “If not, we’re going to be patient because I think it’s more important to have good players than just use the scholarship.”
Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail has the scoop on Devin Booker remaining at Clemson.
I'm not all that surprised given my conversation with Booker's mom last week.
The two main reasons I thought he'd probably return were:
1) OP is gone;
and,
2) Sitting out a year is not fun.
“The reason we were dissatisfied was that in Trevor’s first three seasons he was limited to one position (center),” Tracey Booker said. “What we were worried about was Devin playing under Purnell another three years and being limited to that.
“(Brownell) told Trevor how he would have done had he coached him, how he would have played him at the (small forward and forward positions). He said he would have had 2,000 career points instead of (1,725) career points under him.”
Also in the Independent-Mail, former Clemson beat writer Paul Strelow gets in a nine little one-liner:
Mulling a few things while wondering how long it will take Clemson to take down the Oliver Purnell fundraiser billboard on Clemson Boulevard.
Kind of surprised the wallpaper hasn’t slid down already. Reading between the lines of his departure, Purnell doesn’t handle heights well.
Strelow also weighs in on the million-dollar question (or maybe $2 million dollar question) surrounding Kyle Parker:
Entering the season, I didn’t think a baseball club would spend the desired money for a 6-foot slugger without a position. But there’s a growing sense his scrutinized outfield arm — ironic, huh? — is sufficient enough to hold up in left field. Plus his improved balance and hand positioning at the plate have helped rectify the holes in his swing. Inside fastballs, outside changeups and lefties are no longer such nemeses.
Here’s an excerpt of American League crosschecker’s assessment, as told to Baseball America for an upcoming story:
“The big question with him is, how much does it cost to buy him out?” the scout said. “I like him. … I could see 20 to 25 home runs, hitting between .250 and .270, .280.
“He was bad for me last year. The approach wasn’t there, and it affected the defense. This year I’ve seen a more mature player, a guy who’s shown the ability to be a little more selective … and become more of an all-around player. The approach is there. I’ve seen him make adjustments to breaking balls. He’s strong as an ox. You look at the fact that he’s never had a summer or fall to concentrate on baseball.”
Pure speculation: It’s going to take a signing bonus offer of mid-first round caliber (at least $1.5 million) to even register Parker’s attention.
In The State, the NFL is buzzing about C.J. Spiller as draft weekend approaches.
This might make Clemson fans sick to their stomach, but Georgia Tech is showing off the bling it recently received from its ACC title.
John Adams of the Knoxville paper reacts to Tennessee charging the media 50 bucks to attend a scrimmage.
If this becomes a trend, you can go ahead and start demolishing press boxes.
One question: If Tennessee is as bad as most people think they're going to be this year, does the media get its money back?
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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