SIGNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Big Blue 1]

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have ourselves a recruiting class.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/st ... ran=131199 (http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=52893&ran=131199)

Congratulations to Coach's Taylor, Gattison, Corrigan, and Wilkes on a fabulous job this year. With one left to give, I will now comfortably state that we have secured the best recruiting class the CAA has seen in years.

Its a great time to be a Monarch!

[ziggy]

NO DOUBT!!!!!! As everyone has stated one time or another, I can't wait to see these guys don the Monarch jerseys. Oh Lord, what an exciting time we are living in. Should ODU land one of the Florida guys, and if all this hype about how talented these recruits are prove valid, I don't see how ODU will not be contesting in the CAA championship game next year. The year after that?.........look for NCAA tournament upsets!!!!! Great Job, Coaches. And to all the signed recruits.........you will not regret your ODU experience!!! I better leave now, I'm just beside myself, bubbling with excitement. :D

[Mr. Jablomi]

I can't wait to see the new kids. Is it possible to lose a 1st team All CAA player, and another senior who was comparable to 2nd team, and be better? I think it is. Dahi will be an immediate upgrade over Wright, and all of the kids we were leaning on last season (Loughton, Hunter, Waldon,Mrksic) will be a year older. Throw in Val, Lidonde ( who should make an immediate impact), and we should be tough. We may take some lumps early, but by tourney time, this time will be making some noise. If Val can give us some good minutes at PF, we should be fine. I can't WAIT to see Dahi as a Monarch. I hope he helps sell Mike Lasme on joining him down in Norfolk.

[Big Blue 1]

Heywood- I'm hopeful that Dahi might be able to influence Lasme directly to consider ODU. Do you think they knew each other well, were friends, or might talk?

[Mr. Jablomi]

They were teammates last season, when Dahi was a Jr, Lasme a Sr. As countrymen from another continent, and this is speculation, I would have to think that there would be some comfort, especially at this young age, in having someone with you from the same nation.
I don't know what their relationship is like, but I can tell you that it's not a coincidence that he is considering two BIG time Big 10 programs, and ODU. I'll give you a hint on one of them, the head coach's first name is Tom. His team wears green and white. THAT is the type of program we're butting heads with, at this time.

[monarchman_982000]

look out CAA, whatcha gonna do when the silver and blue run wild on you??!!!!

[monarchman_982000]

*listens carefully*...oh yes, that is the distinct sound of JC III knees knocking together...i can hear it all the way from Richmond...wait, what is this...yes, i can also hear Commisioner Yeager's knees, also..."oh no, Old Dominion is going to dominate again!"

[ODUBB]

question?

Do you think Blaine has offered to Ferguson or Christian? and is waiting for response before offering to Lasme?

If he offers to all three, the first to accept is in, correct? Or does he have to offer only one, till one accepts/declines and then move down the list?

Maybe Lasme really wants to join up with Dahi and is waiting for an offer, if not then he goes to the MSU offer. Wouldn't that be something, someone waiting on a mid major before the big boys. Of course, this is speculation in its best form, lol.

[MrVCU]

JCIII is scared of ODU ??

Give me a break. This class is great, but the other schools are still filling out their classes too and just might sign a decent player or two.
Believe it or not there are still a few talented kids out there, you didn't get all of them.

Slow down a little bit fellas, it will make the landing a lot softer ......

Try finishing above .500 or winning a CAA tourney game before crowning yourselves champs for the next 4 years.................. :roll:

[ODeeYou]

MrVCU,
I will agree that it is way too early to toot the horn. Our last highly regarded recruiting class only produced one CAA championship, and that was because of Odell Hodge, and not just the "fab five".
But Old Dominion's athletic department has, now and in the past, the most horsepower in the CAA. No other CAA school has the facilities or the money that can match Old Dominion. And no other school can match the success of the department over the last 30 years. The only thing that has put the men's basketball program on the CAA back burner was Capel. His poor recruiting and poor handling of the supporters sent the program in the crapper. It is taking time to dig out. This appears to be a good start, but the proof will be on the court, and not in the recruiting newsletters.
Now I am aware of the fact that we no longer have players that experienced a win in the CAA tourney, but the fans have been around longer and not only saw wins, but saw championships. And even when we lost in the final game (thanks to Culuko or Evans) we went to the NIT.

[ODeeYou]

ODUBB,
It works the other way around. At this point, they will ask if the player is interested. If so, the official offer is made. They won't make offers they can't fulfill. But they can also play each player against each other. They can tell Ferguson that Christian is thinking about coming but if you want to lock in the final spot, we'll take you now. Otherwize, we may have to make the offer to Christian, or Lasme, or...... This puts pressure on Ferguson to make a decision. And with St. Joes and Northeastern being the other schools visited thus far, I have to believe we are at or very near the top of the list. There facilities (gymnasiums) are weak at best.

[Mr. Jablomi]

Yeah, but it's tough to try to leverage a kid who has ACC/Big East/Conf. USA/Big Ten/Big Twelve teams calling every day, and that's the boat were in right now. If we played hardball with Lasme, he'd be a MSU Spartan tomorrow. He's trying to decide his best path to the NBA, where will he have the best shot at playing only PG for the next three years. From a competition standpoint, playing in the Big Ten beats the CAA. From a "controlling your own destiny" standpoint, of which position, ODU is his best bet.
Ditto Ferguson. FSU, USF, Miami, Xavier, St Joe's, these are all currently better programs than us. If we push too hard, he could be taking over David West's spot pretty freakin' quick.
At least we can sell Ferguson on our staff having a former NBA PF who can teach him the ropes, and help him with his goal of getting to the NBA. It sure can't hurt.

[RamBo]

Wow. I can't believe what I'm reading....well, OK, I can. I've been reading this same rediculous crap from you people for 2 1/2 yeras now. You're going to contend for the CAA title next year, hu? Freshman Dahi will be an immediate big-time upgrade from Wright, hu? Still talking about Waldon, Janko, Morris, etc, hu? Oh, Ok I get it. you don't, but I do.

I think I'd be setting my sights on things for 04/05' and forward. You're recruiting class is shaping up to a great one. But you boys better take it easy with the bragging. I've been right where you are, and it hurts when you land...just like another poster has inferred.

As for Capel, Jr....He reuined your program, hu? Oh, OK. I gues the NCAA appearances don't matter. The wins. The constant challenge for conference titles, and an always dangerous team. Good players. Good X's and O's coaching, etc. You have short memories, and you just need a "fall-guy." Where better to find that than the father of the newest VCU coach? How convenient. if you wnat to point blame for ODU's recent Non-Success, try going all the way back to Tom Young. Similar to VCU and Mike Polio/Sonny Smith. Allbeit, McCarthy was worse than any of them, the problems started long before that.

And lastly....you guys should actually read your posts. Do you bragg like this in the business/real worlds that you're in? ODU's power-house athletic dept??? WHAT??? Your CAA total conference dominance??? WHAT??? OdeeYou or whoever you are.....Are you for real?? You are even more entertaining than Heywood Jablomi. ODU has a great tradition, and one of the best in the CAA. Can't you put it like that, so as not to patronize and insult everyone else. Have you no class??

ODU has incredible women's B-Ball, excellent field-hockey, (historically) excellent base-ball, world-class yachting (only about 8 schools have it anyway), great wrestling tradition, and a very solid tradition for men's basketball. A very good athletic program. But do you just not care about the other schools in the league? As usual, you have blinders on. Otherwise, you wouldn't have posted this arrogance. VCU also has had a fine men's basketball tradition (several Top-20 appearances, several near-miss votes to Top-25, one Top-10 nationally, NCAA & NIT appearances, and a #2 East NCAA seed), a fantastic baseball program with several Top-25's and several NCAA's (very comprable to ODu baseball...better right now, and in recent past than ODU, but historic edge to ODU), an AWESOME men's tennis program, an AWESOME women's tennis program, a fantastic Top-25 golf program producing the likes of John Rollins, a good field hockey program, and nationally recognized cross-country and soccer programs.

So where's your pure dominance. As usual, it's in your heads. You have a fine athletic department. A solid performer year in and year out in the CAA. So does VCU. So do a few others. End of story. Can't that be enough, or do you have to continue with your arrogance. Geesh.. you people think you're Carolina or Duke for Pete's sake. Give me a break, and choke on it.

-End of Editorial-

[monarchman_982000]

hahahahaha....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....oxygen, please...i can't laugh any harder. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[JankoNite]

RamBo, RamBo, RamBo. You are pretty funny you know that. You guys at VCU are funny as $#IT!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: yeah you guys have had a couple good seasons, and you also talk about how you dominate the CAA for mens B-Ball. But how many CAA Championship do you have to show for it? The only thing you have to show for it is a bunch of graduated convicts. And #ell yeah we love to bag on your coach Caple. From a pretty good play to a coach at VCU, that's movin down the chain big time. So have a nice day and come again.

[JankoNite]

Ah yes MrVCU. You're right we haven't won a tourny game in a couple years. But what do you have to show for your guys' appearences in the tourny. Because i don't remeber you guys winnin a lot of tournt championships. And as far as good ol' JC III being scared of us, #ELL YES he is scared of us. Heck look where his father ended up, a coach in the NBDL??? Wow, that's somethin to be proud of, oh and a scout for the Pacers my bad. That's why we got rid of JC III, 'cause he is washed up. To even prove that he took a job as a coach at VCU, how low can you get? So come again, and have a nice day.

[ODeeYou]

Rambo,

I made statements of fact when I talked about the athletic programs of the CAA. Old Dominion has the most money, the better facilities (overall), and the most success on the the field when compared to other CAA programs.
I never said that VCU or any other school has never tasted success, or that we were dominant. I was stating that things have turned sour and we are pointing fingers.
I illustrated this to point out that JCII sunk the men's B-Ball program to a depth it hasn't seen in D-I. Losing seasons in 3 of his last 4 years (we never had 2 in a row before that and a total of 3 losing seasons overall) which lead to another 2 under Taylor. Capel couldn't beat Mason and couldn't beat Wilmington. He won one year with "his" recruits. Sessoms and Hodge carried the teams to the NCAA. But Taylor seems to be showing signs that the money of Old Dominion and the facilities are helping on the recruiting front. You are right that the turnaround won't happen immediately. Still a year or 2 away.
The state of affairs of the athletic department is pretty poor recently. The baseball team, once a top 20 regular, has not had a winning season in several years, the women's basketball team lost a step or two last year, the field hockey team did not win another national championship despite being #1 most of the year, the men's soccer team was mediocre again after a good year in 2001, etc., etc., etc. There is nothing to brag about here. It seems the most money and the better facilities were wasted to a certain degree when compared to the past.
I'm not arrogant. I just see poor leadership using the best weapons and equipment.