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Savannah St. on its way up
OSU's next foe is no longer a guaranteed win.
  
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Published: 1/6/2009  2:21 AM
Last Modified: 1/6/2009  3:45 AM

 STILLWATER — Oklahoma State basketball coach Travis Ford lobbied ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb for publicity.

Isn't that selfish?

Hey, it's not what you think.

Ford urged Gottlieb to spread the news about an opponent — Savannah State — that OSU will face in a nonconference finale Tuesday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

"I was telling Doug Gottlieb this," Ford said. "This might be one of the most unbelievable coaching jobs in America this year, period. Go back and study what Savannah State has done prior to this year. I said, 'Doug, you need to do a story. You need to talk about this team.' "

People used to talk about Savannah State for all the wrong reasons.

From the 2002-03 season through the 2005-06 season, the Tigers were 9-104, including a 65-game losing streak.

Disorder on the court? Savannah State coach Horace Broadnax, a point guard on Georgetown's 1984 national championship team, knows all about order in the court. He used to be a lawyer. He once described himself as an "ambulance chaser" to the Washington Post.

Broadnax coached at Bethune-Cookman before getting into the attorney business. Then he did a U-turn and went back to his first love.

The Tigers won 25 games over the past two seasons and they are playing .500 ball (7-7) this season. The biggest win was the moral kind. They led Michigan by 20 points in Ann Arbor and lost in overtime.

"It is amazing where (Broadnax) has taken that team," Ford said. "It is an incredible story that is not getting enough attention whatsoever."

Ford knows the story better than most because Savannah State seems to wind up on the schedule no matter where he coaches. Ford was 3-1 against the Tigers at Eastern Kentucky and 2-0 against the Tigers at Massachusetts.

Despite past struggles (Savannah State ranked last or next-to-last nationally in turnovers each of the last three seasons), the Tigers crept into the top 100 of the RPI earlier this season. They now sit at 158, according to collegerpi.com.

Savannah State isn't quite ready for prime time yet. The Tigers were routed against Clemson, Georgetown and Notre Dame and they are fresh off a lopsided loss at UAB. But Ford called Broadnax's squad a "dangerous, dangerous basketball team."



Jimmie Tramel 581-8389
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS 
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4 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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Report Comment
ThatGuyWho, Tulsa (1/6/2009 10:50:44 AM)
Preparing OSU fans for an upset Travis?
Report Comment
Arbythree, Tulsa (1/6/2009 1:22:28 PM)
LOL ThatGuyWho.
Report Comment
snoop, (1/6/2009 3:49:59 PM)
Ford is full of BS. The scored only 36 points against Georgetown, beat "Brewon-Parker and Costal Carolina, and lost to the huge power Kennesaw State.

What Ford is trying to do is smoke and mirrors. He's trying to tell the fans this is a good team and show and watch, but that's not going to work.

Why not bring some exciting teams to GIA for non-conference games. We as season ticketholders should get our money's worth.

Kansas played Tenn this weekend, let's get a few top rated teams for the fans to watch
Report Comment
osupike4, Tulsa (1/7/2009 8:48:46 AM)
Or maybe he was just thinking that this basketball team's story is worth the attention. Read back on them, its actually incredible what they've done in such a short time.
 

 
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