Pirate Fans,

For some reason there was a technical glitch with some questions this month. We think it had something to do with our server, and I apologize. If you don't see the question you submitted, please send it again and I will try to answer it next month. We are pretty sure the problem was on our end as several e-mails came through but were unintelligible. A lot has been going on with practice, the fan jam, the Charles Barkley visit, the coaching clinic, too many injuries, multiple community service projects, etc.

In general practice has been good. We have better chemistry, we have more talent and we are more coachable. That being said, we are not close to where we could be, partially due to injuries. We've had way too many missed practice days and still haven't had the full team out on the floor yet. That being said the players who have remained healthy have gotten more repetitions which has helped them. This team can score better and in more ways than in the past. That won't matter if we don't defend as a team and individually and rebound the basketball. We play in less than two weeks and we've got to really work hard in all of these areas of concern.

I would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in our first coaching clinic. John Moseley did a great job of putting it together and the rest of our coaches were outstanding with their presentations. We received a lot of positive feedback from the more than 100 coaches that attended. I've included one of the e-mails we received with the regards to the clinic below. We hope to make this an annual event and are looking forward to sharing with more coaches again next season.

Here we go with October questions.

Nick,
Actually, every single program in C-USA is making a real push to be better in basketball as soon as possible. Rice just renovated their building to the tune of $37 million and hired an outstanding coach from Cal in Ben Braun. Dave Dickerson continues to do wonders in a tough situation (post-Katrina) at Tulane and signed one of the top players in Texas. Kirk Sperraw is always solid and continues to get not nearly enough credit for the job he does, and UCF's new arena is spectacular. SMU was very young a year ago, but a state of the art practice facility and back-to-back top rated recruiting classes has folks in Dallas excited. Tom Penders is Tom Penders -- an outstanding coach at a school with a great tradition and they are loaded again with great scorers. Southern Miss has kept adding pieces each year under Larry Eustachy. They have certainly taken on his tough, defensive-minded personality. Marshall may have made the biggest jump talent-wise in the league, signing an outstanding point guard and now have kids from Purdue, Georgetown and Florida that are eligible after sitting out last season. UAB is having phenomenal success in recruiting and Mike Davis has assembled an outstanding staff. Under Tony Barbee, UTEP is building a beautiful new practice facility and an outstanding team with consecutive highly regarded recruiting classes. Many folks feel Tulsa's talent level has risen to the point where they can challenge Memphis head-to-head. They have done a great job and will host next year's C-USA tourney in a brand new arena in downtown Tulsa. Then there is Memphis. They are one of the premier programs in the country. They have it all (and, oh by the way, they just spent another million renovating their already wonderful practice facility). As you can see, this conference is a real challenge!

David,
The early signing period starts November 12 and last for seven days. We are excited about how recruiting has gone. With two seniors who are great shooters, we think we have addressed this issue and we are still on the lookout for a couple more pieces of the puzzle. We have had several questions about high school vs. junior college targets. Our preference is to have young men in our program for four years. However, there could certainly be a situation where an immediate need might change that thinking. Having eight of 10 scholarship guys back is a good feeling. Now, we've just got to do the best job we can with helping them improve.

Shawn,
Sam Hinnant is the most respected player on our team. While he is not the vocal leader necessarily, he leads by example and the fact that he has been a starter and solid performer for four years.

Ken,
Your coaching style is an ever evolving process. We have really simplified our playbook, and therefore we spend more time on fundamentals--especially shooting.

Kevin,
Your coaching style is an ever evolving process. We have really simplified our playbook, and therefore we spend more time on fundamentals -- especially shooting.

We very much appreciate the enthusiasm surrounding the program. It has not gone unnoticed. I hope to see a great crowd opening night, November 14, for a doubleheader with the women's team. Thanks for your patience!

GO PIRATES!!!!
Mack

Hello Coach,
I really enjoyed your coaches clinic held on October 19. Thanks goes out to you and your staff for making this available to all basketball coaches. I really learned a lot from this clinic especially on motion offense, and the press breaker offense. The information made available in the coaches packets is EXCELLENT and gives us a lot of options for our offense. Please tell Coach Perry I am interested in his x defense in the zone set and I will be picking his brain for more information. I was in heaven when we visited the strength and conditioning room. That was also a highlight of the day. I have incorporated a 12-week off-season program into our basketball program and it was refreshing to hear that I am on the right track to strengthen and condition our players. I wish you much success this season and in the future.

GO PIRATES!
William Hollowell, Jr.

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