The switch has finally been flipped at Lloyd Noble
Published: 4/23/2009 8:30 PM
Last Modified: 4/23/2009 8:30 PM
I spoke with the three assistants who have been with Jeff Capel since his arrival at Oklahoma for a story I wrote around NCAA tournament time. All three talked of the stunning change that has taken place at OU in three years, both on the court and in the stands.
Mark Cline, Capel's old friend, said: "Our first year here, everybody talked about 'Upgrade your nonconference schedule and we'll show up.' Well, we played Villanova on ESPN, and we probably had 3,000 people here. The stat sheet may have said 5,500, but if you counted bodies, it was closer to 3,000. And they were a top-15 basketball team at the time.
"Things have changed since then."
The Lloyd Noble Center, which provides a menacing homecourt advantage when fans care enough to pack the place, had its best year in a long time last season. And if you don't believe OU's staff, or the attendance figures, listen to what T.J. Taylor has to say.
The Denison (Texas) High guard gave the Sooners their first verbal commitment of the recruiting season earlier this week. Here's what he told his hometown paper, the Herald Democrat, about attending the OU-Texas game in Norman last January:
"The arena was crazy. I wanted to go play right then and there."
Taylor, by the way, hinted there was a package deal in the works with another Texas prep hot shot, Cameron Clark.
"We've talked about it a lot," Taylor told the Herald Democrat. "If we're comfortable with the same place, then we'll do it."
OU's place helped sell Taylor. That might lead the Sooners to Clark. Homecourt advantage, alright.
I remember listening to an interview Capel gave Al Eschbach of The Sports Animal Radio Network during this past season. He said there was a time early in his tenure at OU he wanted to skip past the pregame histrionics at home games and go right to tipoff. The point being it was embarrassing making a big deal for such a small crowd.
You could sense the pride in his voice when he contrasted then to now. I'll bet it swelled a little more when he saw Taylor's comments.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
