Prize OSU rookie will meet the press in K.C.
Published: 10/7/2011 1:19 PM
Last Modified: 10/7/2011 1:22 PM
Le’Bryan Nash, the Big 12’s preseason freshman of the year, has been deemed ready for his close-up.
Nash, the highest-ranked recruit ever to join the Oklahoma State basketball team, got the green light from coach Travis Ford to attend the Big 12’s preseason basketball preview, scheduled Oct. 18-19 in Kansas City, Mo.
Schools typically send two or three interview subjects to the event. Ford could have gone the old-school route and selected only veteran players to meet the press. Instead, Ford plans to send senior guard Keiton Page, Nash and, perhaps, a player to be named later.
Ford is hopeful that making Nash available to the Big 12 media throng will result in good publicity for the Cowboy program.
OSU basketball publicist Mike Noteware and Ford huddled about which players to take to Kansas City. Ford said Noteware suggested Nash and the coach was initially hesitant.
But Ford said Noteware indicated that other Big 12 schools (including Texas and Baylor) ushered prize freshmen to the event in recent years.
“I know Perry Jones was there, then Tristan Thompson and different guys were there,” Ford said. (“Noteware) told me that and I said ‘why do you think they brought them?’
“And he said ‘people wanted to hear from them.’ That’s what the day is for. If we are going to go all the way up there, I want to take different people they want to hear from. It doesn’t mean we don’t have many others who are deserving, but I think everybody on our team understands that Le’Bryan has a big name. Not that it means anything. So that’s how we kind of came to (the decision).”
My opinion? It's a smart move by OSU. I can't swear that I talked to Jones last year, but I do recall that every Texas basketball player (freshmen included) I ever talked to at the event handled himself in a first-class manner. If Nash does the same, he could be a headline grabber.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
