Steele transferring to Middle Tenn State to play for another "State network" guy

[Coach34]

Ol Kermit getting him a shooter for next year

[Coach34]

http://www.dnj.com/article/20140221/BLUERAIDERS02/302210018/Miss-St-guard-Jalen-Steele-coming-MTSU-eligible-play-next-season?odyssey=mod|breaking|text|FRONTPAGE

[dogshiek]

******Good thing we don't need a shooter.****

[Coach34]

well, to be fair- Davis an Bloodman are shooting for a higher percentage this year than Steele did last year

[Quaoarsking]

Is it too late to patch things up, count this as a redshirt year, and let him play next year? Are the bridges just too burned?

[smootness]

Is it too late to patch things up, count this as a redshirt year, and let him play next year? Are the bridges just too burned?

Well, the reason he left initially is that we wouldn't allow him to redshirt this year. So obviously we'd rather use that scholarship elsewhere next year. Now that Applewhite is gone, I guess Ray might re-think it, but I'm guessing he'd still rather go get someone he likes better (perhaps Troutman?).

[Goat Holder]

It's a damn shame that Stans' guys and Ray's guys can't coexist. Steele, Hood.....they would have been good guys to have this year. I wonder what happened with Sword, Thomas and Ware as they were Stans recruits, but they never actually received Stans coaching so I guess that's the difference. And nobody here knows which way is better, so let's not pretend that we do.

Either way, the proof will be next year. Does Ray rise up and get on the NIT bubble or fall flat? No clue, there's plenty of evidence for both parties. I'd really like for him to step up and beat somebody this year though.

[MadDawg]

Does Ray rise up and get on the NIT bubble or fall flat?

Is that really the goal for next year? NIT bubble?

[smootness]

There's no doubt that next year is big for Ray.

He'll have Ready, Ndoye, Daniels, Davis, Houston, Dunlap, and Black as 'his guys'. It's hard for me to consider Bloodman as truly his guy because I feel like he was more of a stop-gap that we had to grab at the last minute. But regardless, he will have coached the other guys (Sword, Thomas, Ware, Roq Johnson) for 3 years and will have had enough time to get them acclimated to his system and coached up.

I don't think it's fair to say that next year will prove how far he can take us, but we should definitely get a sense for whether or not he looks capable of getting it done. If we still struggle to win a lot of SEC games next year, as much as I like him and have been a believer, it will be time to start thinking about making a move.

[Goat Holder]

I don't think that's unreasonable. 2 years rebuilding, 3rd year NIT then 4th year NCAA. When I say bubble, I mean contending for and hopefully getting a bid. You know what I mean, I'm not a Stans hater so save that.

So short answer, yes. Believe it or not, but Ray DID have to rebuild the program. It was broken, no matter how good of a coach Stans was.

[Coach34]

Everybody is in agreement that it will be time to see a better basketball team on the floor next year

[engie]

Is that really the goal for next year? NIT bubble?

What is your reasonable goal for next year? I've never seen you ONCE define it -- presumably because you want to call the results unsatisfactory and bitch about them regardless...

He needs to make the NIT next year or we need to start seriously considering going another direction. If he's on that bubble, I'll be OK with him getting year 4. If he's in, he definitely gets year 4. If he misses it pretty securely, I'll be ready to go ahead and make a change. He needs to have an NCAA team in year 4 regardless.

[Intramural All-American]

I agree with that engie.

[War Machine Dawg]

What is your reasonable goal for next year? I've never seen you ONCE define it -- presumably because you want to call the results unsatisfactory and bitch about them regardless...

He needs to make the NIT next year or we need to start seriously considering going another direction. If he's on that bubble, I'll be OK with him getting year 4. If he's in, he definitely gets year 4. If he misses it pretty securely, I'll be ready to go ahead and make a change. He needs to have an NCAA team in year 4 regardless.

MD turned into a miserable asshole about 3-4 years ago. Dunno what changed, other than the obvious of firing Stans, but he used to be a fun poster prior to that.

[Bothrops]

We would be the best bb team in the west if we had Hood and Steele. That's no bullshit.

[MadDawg]

What is your reasonable goal for next year? I've never seen you ONCE define it -- presumably because you want to call the results unsatisfactory and bitch about them regardless...

He needs to make the NIT next year or we need to start seriously considering going another direction. If he's on that bubble, I'll be OK with him getting year 4. If he's in, he definitely gets year 4. If he misses it pretty securely, I'll be ready to go ahead and make a change. He needs to have an NCAA team in year 4 regardless.

I would think MAKING the NIT would be the minimum. Being on the "bubble" would be a disappointment. I think that's what Goat was saying after he clarified his statement.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Stansbury. I'm not sure why you have to interject that into anything I post. And in your mind, somehow this is me "bitching". To that I say, go f__k yourself.

[MadDawg]

MD turned into a miserable asshole about 3-4 years ago. Dunno what changed, other than the obvious of firing Stans, but he used to be a fun poster prior to that.

Stans was still our coach 3-4 years ago, so you might have to come up with another theory.

[MadDawg]

I don't think that's unreasonable. 2 years rebuilding, 3rd year NIT then 4th year NCAA. When I say bubble, I mean contending for and hopefully getting a bid. You know what I mean, I'm not a Stans hater so save that.

So short answer, yes. Believe it or not, but Ray DID have to rebuild the program. It was broken, no matter how good of a coach Stans was.

Thanks for clarifying. I agree with you then. At first I didn't because it sounded like just getting on the bubble was the goal.

[SouthMsDawg]

well, to be fair- Davis an Bloodman are shooting for a higher percentage this year than Steele did last year


I have to give it to you Coach, you know how to spin basketball your way.

Gonna be hard to spin finishing the season on a 14 game losing streak.

Only 4 of the 13 teams we have beaten have won more than 9 games, think about it for a minute. Ole Miss is the only team we have beaten with an RPI below 100. 5 of the 13 wins this year are teams with an RPI of 300+..... See two can play this game. Even with a watered down schedule we are about to drop below .500 and have an RPI of 200.

But Rick Ray needs 4-5 years to get everything back on track.

[SouthMsDawg]

Everybody is in agreement that it will be time to see a better basketball team on the floor next year

So will you still be saying "Wait until next year" again after the 2014-2015???

Ray is about to offer a kid who's best and ONLY offers are New Hampshire (didn't know they were D1) AND Youngstown State the fightin Penguins.

[dogshiek]

One thing is for certain, a big man in middle and an outside shooter would make Rick Ray look like a hell of a coach.

[SouthMsDawg]

One thing is for certain, a big man in middle and an outside shooter would make Rick Ray look like a hell of a coach.

As well as a bench with guys who can come in and score

[bully99]

Why didn't we just hire Kermit to begin with. He's had his shenanigans for sure ,but what do I know.

[rrog17]

Why didn't we just hire Kermit to begin with. He's had his shenanigans for sure ,but what do I know.
YES!

[SouthMsDawg]

Why didn't we just hire Kermit to begin with. He's had his shenanigans for sure ,but what do I know.

He's on the verge of back to back NCAA tournament teams. His team is in First place in their first year in Conference USA and blew out Southern Miss last Sat.

[Coach34]

So will you still be saying "Wait until next year" again after the 2014-2015???.

Nope 2 years is long enough to be on solid footing now that he has cleaned up the shitburger he was left

[Coach34]

I have to give it to you Coach, you know how to spin basketball your way.

But Rick Ray needs 4-5 years to get everything back on track.

Nothing I said was incorrect

And yes, it's takes a little time to recover from a dumpster fire

[SouthMsDawg]

The problem with the Rick Ray hire was that he had ZERO connections was only able to hire one decent assistant with a good recruiting background in Flannigan. He had never coached in the area nor had he recruited MS/AL/LA/TN. IN the long run thats what is going to cost him his job in a year or two

[Goat from MSU]

Why did we not talked to him ,his A&M problems were over 20 years ago.In the end I would rather had Bob Marlin than Ray at least he knew the area.
He's on the verge of back to back NCAA tournament teams. His team is in First place in their first year in Conference USA and blew out Southern Miss last Sat.

[quickstrike2]

The problem with the Rick Ray hire was that he had ZERO connections was only able to hire one decent assistant with a good recruiting background in Flannigan. He had never coached in the area nor had he recruited MS/AL/LA/TN. IN the long run thats what is going to cost him his job in a year or two

I think this is well known among everyone. It was a strange hire from the beginning, but it is what it is. First two years have been bad, year 3 is a big year for Ray to show us something.

[Dawg61]

well, to be fair- Davis an Bloodman are shooting for a higher percentage this year than Steele did last year

well, to be fair- Steele made 7 more threes than both of them combined so far this year and 49 more his soph year. If MTSU can add a shooter so can we. Get it done Ray.

[tcdog70]

well, to be fair- Steele made 7 more threes than both of them combined so far this year and 49 more his soph year. If MTSU can add a shooter so can we. Get it done Ray.

Nice 61. The rest of the Story.

[tcdog70]

So will you still be saying "Wait until next year" again after the 2014-2015???

Ray is about to offer a kid who's best and ONLY offers are New Hampshire (didn't know they were D1) AND Youngstown State the fightin Penguins.


But he has no interest in Pollard

[Coach34]

well, to be fair- Steele made 7 more threes than both of them combined so far this year and 49 more his soph year. If MTSU can add a shooter so can we. Get it done Ray.

I agree Bloodman and David need to shoot more

[Coach34]

But he has no interest in Pollard

We have 1 scholly- no need to waste it on Pollard

[HailState39110]

I was screaming to hire Kermit Davis but everyone thought that was a Templeton type hire . At least the guy knows Mississippi basketball unlike Ricky Ray who was fired by Painter at Purdue . Kermit Davis just blew out USM and is about to go to back to back NCAA tournaments

[Coach34]

I was screaming to hire Kermit Davis but everyone thought that was a Templeton type hire . At least the guy knows Mississippi basketball unlike Ricky Ray who was fired by Painter at Purdue . Kermit Davis just blew out USM and is about to go to back to back NCAA tournaments

Kermit would have still been without the guys failing the drug tests and would have had a major rebuild also. Hood still leaves also. You cant say we would be in any better shape under him