Kevin Ford bobble head is a masterpiece
2/4/2010 1:42:00 PM
If you haven’t seen the new Kevin Ford bobblehead doll, it’s a hoot. I think it’s the best in the eight-year series sponsored by Cox Communications and Tulsa Teachers Credit Union.
“We’re pretty pleased with it. It’s hard to get the looks right and this one looks like Kevin,” says Scott Higgins, associate athletic director for marketing.
Same big grin, same headband, same Kevin. But different design. Mounted on a metal post, Ford has his feet in midair and the ball poised in one hand, apparently soaring toward one of his signature dunks.
The other plaster-cast likenesses in the series have had both feet firmly planted on the ground. This one has way more personality.
Working from photographs and consulting with school officials, the people at `bobble dobbles,’ a company in the state of Washington, have outdone themselves in creating the Kevin Ford doll.
Higgins said it’s the most lifelike in the series, along with the one for head coach Scott Sutton a few years ago.
Eli the Eagle, one of the earliest in the series, was also really good, but how could you screw up Eli?
ORU will distribute some 2,000 of the plaster-cast statues to fans entering the Mabee Center for the Senior Night game against Centenary on Feb. 16.
-- Mike Brown
Tickets moving steadily for ORU-Tulsa game
1/6/2010 1:49:08 AM
Tough ticket: Although neither head coach is the type to look that far ahead, ticket sales for the Jan. 20 ORU-Tulsa game have been more than brisk.
As of Tuesday, only 600 seats remained in the lower bowl and only 3,500 overall in an arena that seats about 10,500 – give or take a few seats that were lost with the installation of new luxury boxes and seats on both ends.
"I can't remember this kind of early demand for any game in the 3-½ years I've been doing this job," said Mike Minyard, ORU's marketing director for ticket sales.
And that includes the buildup for ORU's 2007 BracketBusters game with Utah State, which drew 9,987.
"The outlook is really good, considering we are two weeks out from tip-off. People will need to make arrangements now to guarantees tickets to the game," Minyard said.
The Mayor's Cup rivalry seldom needs additional buildup, but this year's game looks special. Tulsa (10-3) appears to have its best team in Doug Wojcik's five seasons and ORU (8-7) is in its customary spot as a top contender for the Summit League title.
Facing a key conference game with Oakland on Thursday night, the Eagles are unbeaten at home in 2009-10, with prestige wins over Missouri and New Mexico.
A capacity crowd at the Mabee Center on Jan. 20 could make it a night to remember.
On hold: The Eagles are still waiting to hear from the NCAA Clearinghouse on the status of walkon guard Mikey Manghum.
Manghum, who captained England's under-18 national team to a fourth-place finish in the European championships last summer, has been sitting out since ORU ruled him temporarily ineligible in December .
While in England, Manghum apparently participated in games involving athletes who, if not outright professionals, were at least receiving jobs and/or other benefits for their services.
As a result, Manghum hasn't yet received the amateurism certification required by the NCAA of all student-athletes. Ralph Manning, ORU associate athletic director for compliance, has been working with the clearinghouse to resolve the issue.
-- Mike Brown
Eagles going where the rubber meets the road
12/29/2009 1:06:26 AM
Travel time: The Golden Eagles are going on the road again to resume Summit League play, and this time they're really going to be on the road.
With more inclement weather in the forecast, head coach Scott Sutton has decided to take a chartered bus to this week's games at South Dakota State and North Dakota State.
The Eagles were to depart Tuesday morning for Omaha, where they were to practice and spend the night before driving the final three hours into Brookings, S.D., on Wednesday.
They play at SDSU on Thursday night and will travel on to Fargo, N.D., to play at NDSU on Saturday night.
"The last thing I want to do is get stuck in the airport somewhere and get (into Brookings) late Wednesday night," Sutton said.
ORU's flight was slated to leave Tulsa at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. With any complications on connecting flights, Sutton feared the Eagles might not arrive in Brookings until midnight Wednesday at the earliest.
With a Tuesday getaway, the Eagles were expected to miss the snow forecast for later in the day in Tulsa. More snow was forecast for the upper Midwest on Wednesday.
Following Saturday's game in Fargo, the team will bus to Omaha and spend the remainder of the night there before driving the rest of the way home Sunday.
Revenge motive: Thursday's game at SDSU will be the first meeting since the Jackrabbits upset the Eagles 72-69 in overtime in the first round of last season's Summit League Tournament.
"We took a hard loss and it's put a bad taste in our mouths," sophomore swingman Kyron Stokes said.
ORU led by as many as nine points in the second half, but the Jackrabbits rallied behind Garrett Callahan's 30 points and outscored the Eagles 11-8 in overtime.
"It was a tough loss to take," Sutton said. "We didn't play very well and even at that, we still had a nine-point lead in the second half and a six-point lead (with 2:18 left), and let it slip away. I hope some of the guys who played a lot in that game (Stokes, Kevin Ford, Dominique Morrison) remember it, and I'll certainly be reminding them."
The Jacks have played a difficult schedule, so their 5-8 record could be misleading. They won handily at Wyoming of the Mountain West Conference and have lost to the likes of Minnesota, Purdue, Boston College and Nevada, along with a 22-point setback at IUPUI in an early Summit League game.
With their top seven scorers returning from last season, the Jacks have high hopes for the conference season. Callahan averages 13.3 points per game, down slightly from 15.8 last season when he was a second-team all-league selection.
But the Jacks are spreading the scoring more evenly now. Nine men average at least 14 minutes per game, and four other players (Clint Sargent, Anthony Cordova, Kai Williams, Nate Wolters) average at least 8.3 points.
SDSU was picked to finish fourth in the Summit League preseason poll. Oakland was first, ORU second, IUPUI third and NDSU fifth.
Before the loss in the conference tournament, ORU had won all four meetings since SDSU joined the Summit League in 2008-09. The Eagles have won in both previous visits to Brookings.
500 club: Dominique Morrison's first point against SDSU will be the 500th of his ORU career. The sophomore forward scored 297 points in 31 games last season for a 9.6 average, and has 202 in 13 games this season. His 15.5 average is eighth in the league.
Helping hand: One of the most eye-popping aspects of Michael Craion's performance against New Mexico was his seven assists to go with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
"A lot of that came from teammates making shots," he said. "I threw the ball to Ken Holdman and he knocked down a couple of 3's."
Craion pitched to Kevin Ford for three baskets (including two dunks), also assisted Morrison for a 3-pointer and threw to Damen Bell-Holter for a two-pointer.
Craion is second on the team with 26 assists.
-- Mike Brown
Bits and pieces on the eve of the New Mexico game
12/22/2009 6:32:00 PM
In memory: Starting with Wednesday's game, the Golden Eagles will be wearing small patches on their uniforms to commemorate school founder Oral Roberts , who died last week at the age of 91.
The patches are round and black, with the letters "OR" stitched in white. They will be displayed on the left upper chest on all three uniforms – home (white), road (blue) and alternate (gold).
Rare foe: New Mexico is ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and brings a 12-0 record to the Mabee Center on Wednesday night.
ORU hasn't hosted a ranked foe since knocking off a 16th-ranked Arkansas team in 1996. UNM will be the highest-ranked team to visit the Mabee Center since a No. 3 Oklahoma State team beat ORU in 1992.
UNM's 12-0 start is its best since 1973-74. After a 10-year hiatus from the national rankings, the Lobos appeared at No. 19 in last week's AP poll and moved to up 13th in the most recent voting. They are also 12th in the coaches' rankings.
Paying respects: UNM head coach Steve Allford noted in his Monday press briefing with local writers that Wednesday's game would be the Eagles' first at home since Roberts' passing.
"There will be a lot of emotion for this game," he said. "They lost the guy who founded this institution with Oral Roberts' passing. This is the first home game since his passing, so our thoughts and prayers go out to their institution."
Close shave: Allford doesn't have to be reminded that ORU nearly upset the Lobos Albuquerque last year. The Eagles fell 66-63 in "The Pit," one of college basketball's most renowned venues, but not before leading by 12 at halftime. ORU even had chances in the final seconds after allowing a 16-2 run to start the second half.
"This is a very good team, well coached, and (ORU head coach Scott Sutton) does a really good job," Allford said. "We were fortunate to win last year. We know that, and we know we're gonna have to play extremely well, probably the best basketball we've played away from here."
The Lobos are 3-0 on the road this season and own an 84-81 win over a ranked Texas A&M team in Houston. Their road wins were at New Mexico State (97-87), Hawaii (83-71) and San Diego (82-78).
Allford had more complimentary things to say about the Golden Eagles:
"They've played Wake Forest, they've played Virginia, Louisville, Stanford, Missouri, it's a brutal schedule. They've not been beat at home. They're 4-0 at home and they've had to withstand a lot of injuries. They've had two or three ACLs (knee injuries) already, which is unheard of, so they're playing a little less bench than what they want, but their starters are phenomenal. It's a very good starting unit, and their bench is doing a nice job for them, and they're just eight deep, so this is a scary team. I think it's a team that's gonna win 23 to 25 games before the season's over."
Getting it done: Though young, with only one senior and two juniors on the roster, the Lobos are finding ways to win. They blew a 19-point lead at New Mexico State, fell behind by four and then won by 10.
They shot only 29 percent in Saturday's 66-61 home win over Creighton, but made up for it by getting half their 44 rebounds on the offensive glass.
"When you shoot 29 percent and win, you've gotta be at least pretty good, I do know that," Allford said.
"We did some things (well) in that game. If we shoot 29 percent and get 10 offensive rebounds and turn the ball over 14 times, we don't win. We won because we got 22 offensive rebounds and didn't turn it over but five times. It's not always shooting that gets you a win. This is a good shooting team, and we had a bad shooting night and found a way to win, so that's exciting."
The Lobos are second nationally in turnovers, averaging only 9.8 per game. The Creighton game was their fourth of the season with five or less.
On their best shooting nights, they rain in 3-pointers. They're ninth nationally, averaging 9.6 per game.
-- Mike Brown
Stokes, Nasarre return to practice
12/21/2009 12:43:00 AM
Scott Sutton would probably love to find two healthy point guards in his Christmas stocking, but he said his ORU basketball team “(has) enough bodies to be OK,” if the Golden Eagles can avoid further injuries.
Sutton welcomed Kyron Stokes and Javier Nasarre back to action as the Golden Eagles returned to the practice floor Saturday and Sunday.
Stokes said he was feeling much better after missing last Wednesday’s 37-point loss at Louisville with a severely sprained right ankle, and said he plans to play Wednesday when the Golden Eagles host New Mexico.
“I wasn’t supposed to practice until Monday, but I was feeling good Saturday, so I said, `I’m gonna practice.’ I didn’t want to sit out all that time,” Stokes said. “I practiced about half the time. I didn’t want to overdo it, but I wanted to get out here and see what it felt like moving around and cutting on (the ankle).”
Nasarre, who hasn’t played since fracturing his wrist before the Nov. 30 game at Arkansas-Little Rock, started practicing Saturday but hasn’t been cleared to play, and Sutton said he wasn’t sure that would happen before Wednesday.
“What I want (for Christmas) is that nobody else gets hurt,” Sutton said. “I think we can make do the rest of the season if we keep everybody we have right now. Kyron and (freshman guard Warren Niles, who played with his shooting hand bandaged at Louisville) hopefully will be able to play Wednesday night, and (Nasarre is expected back soon).
ORU’s players agreed that a win over a ranked team would be plenty for a holiday treat.
New Mexico was 19th nationally last week and is likely to move higher in the rankings after improving to 12-0 with Saturday’s home win over Creighton.
The Lobos will be the first ranked team to visit the Mabee Center since ORU beat a No. 16 Arkansas team 86-81 on Nov. 27, 1996 – Bill Self’s final year at the helm.
UNM is led by junior college transfer Darington Hobson, who had 22 points, 16 rebounds and six assists against Creighton, and Ramon Martinez, who ranks among the national leaders in 3-point shooting at 51.2 percent.
ORU led the Lobos by 12 at halftime in Albuquerque last year before losing 66-63, part of a 3-11 start.
“Beating a Top 25 team, that’d be enough (of a Christmas gift) for me,” sophomore forward Dominique Morrison said. “We was winning the whole game last year, so it’s one of those game we feel like we shouldn’t have lost. It’ll be good to have ‘em back here and try to win.”
Said senior forward Kevin Ford: “I want to beat a Top 25 team and I want my teammates to be healthy after December, and to have ‘em back. I want one big miracle to happen, and all three of my teammates to have surgery.”
Hunter McClintock and Tim Morton have undergone knee surgeries and Rod Pearson’s surgery is scheduled for Dec. 28.
The Eagles will practice again Monday morning and then attend the memorial service for school founder Oral Roberts in the Mabee Center. Roberts died at 91 last Tuesday.
“I watched his preaching videos in class and it caught my eye and I’ve learned about his background and history of this university,” Ford said. “When I heard about his passing, I was shocked. I never met the man, but I’m going to be here for support.”
Said Morrison: “I’ve thought about it a lot. We wouldn’t have this university if it wasn’t for that man, so it kind of hit home. I hadn’t met him, but just knowing he came to one of our games last year was a blessing.”
-- Mike Brown
Stokes' injury not as bad as it might have been
12/14/2009 11:11:24 PM
The Golden Eagles got a whiff of good news Monday when an X-ray showed no apparent broken bones in sophomore swingman Kyron Stokes’ right ankle.
The injury is being called a severe ankle sprain, and Stokes’ condition will be evaluated day-to-day, a team spokesman said by phone from Louisville, Ky. It is possible but not altogether likely that Stokes would play in Wednesday’s game against the University of Louisville, the spokesman said.
That Stokes isn’t done for the year is good news for a team that can scarcely afford another season-ending injury. The Eagles have lost three men to knee surgeries and have a fourth recovering from a fractured wrist.
Stokes hurt his ankle in the first half of Sunday’s 60-54 loss at Indiana State and played only two minutes of the second half.
Head coach Scott Sutton said the ankle was "very sore" Monday as the team traveled from Terre Haute, Ind. Stokes went with team trainer John Joslin to a Louisville minor-emergency center to have the X-ray done.
ORU started Sunday's game with only six scholarship athletes after freshman guard Warren Niles hurt his shooting hand while taking a spill Saturday's practice. Stokes' injury left them with five.
Forward Michael Craion had foul trouble, and walkon guard Michael Fletcher played 34 minutes -- doubling the 17 minutes total he played in the entire 2008-09 season as a freshman.
With all of the handicaps, ORU fought back from an early deficit at ISU to lead in the second half before fading over the final four minutes.
“I’m proud of our guys. They really battled under the circumstances,” Sutton said. “I’m just disappointed that we had the game exactly where we needed it to be, and just couldn’t finish. It would have been an amazing win if we could have pulled it off.”
Sutton said Niles was feeling better Monday and expected the freshman to return to action Wednesday night. Sutton also said Kevin Ford seemed recovered from an apparent 24-hour virus that attacked the 6-foot-9 senior on Saturday and left him with little energy in Sunday’s game.
-- Mike Brown
Eagles avoid practice -- and injuries -- for at least a day
12/14/2009 6:28:24 PM
Scott Sutton didn’t schedule a Monday practice for his Oral Roberts basketball team. That’s probably a good thing, considering how rough it’s been on the Golden Eagles lately.
Sutton said sophomore swingman Kyron Stokes felt “very sore” after injuring his ankle in Sunday’s loss at 60-54 loss at Indiana State.
Stokes was awaiting an X-ray to determine the extent of damage.
How much worse can ORU’s injury situation get? The Eagles were down to seven scholarship athletes before Stokes’ injury, and lost another man when freshman guard Warren Niles injured his wrist in a Saturday practice and had to sit out the ISU game.
But Sutton said Niles was feeling much better Monday and expected him to return to action Wednesday when the Eagles visit Louisville. Sutton also said that senior forward Kevin Ford seemed fully recovered from an apparent 24-hour virus that attacked Ford on Saturday morning and left him with little energy in Sunday’s game.
With Stokes hobbled, Michael Craion in foul trouble and Niles out of uniform, walkon guard Michael Fletcher played 34 minutes against the Sycamores – doubling the 17 minutes he played as a freshman walkon last season.
Despite all the handicaps, ORU battled back from an early deficit and enjoyed a pair of 3six-point leads in the second half before fading over the final four minutes.
“I’m proud of our guys. They really battled under the circumstances,” Sutton said. “I’m just disappointed that we had the game exactly where we needed it to be, and just couldn’t finish. That would have been a really amazing win.”
ISU was picked to finish seventh in the Missouri Valley. Wednesday’s opponent is a different breed. Louisville was picked to finish fourth in the powerful Big East after winning both regular-season and tournament titles last season.
The Cardinals (5-3) are struggling with injuries of their own and have lost their last two home games. Still, they have 6-foot-9 Samardo Samuels, a member of the Big East all-rookie team last season. He’s the top returnee from a 31-7 squad that was one win from the Final Four.
-- Mike Brown
Watch the video of Mabee Magic
12/10/2009 5:42:27 PM
If you haven't seen it elsewhere, here's a replay of the final 9.2 seconds of Wednesday's win over Missouri.
Mizzou's Marcus Denmon misses the front end of a 1-and-1, ORU's Michael Craion (54) rebounds, shovels the ball to Dominique Morrison (45) and runs down the floor to get himself open under the basket.
What happens next is, like Thursday's Tulsa World headline said: "Mabee Magic."
More interview room fodder from Thursday's game
12/4/2009 1:25:22 AM
ORU head coach Scott Sutton said Thursday's rocky start and uncomfortably close win over UMKC gave him "a few gray hairs," adding that his hair "might all be gray before long."
Here a few more quotable moments from Thursday's postgame press conference.
Sutton, on junior forward Michael Craion, who posted a career-high 21 points along with 10 rebounds:
"I thought he was terrific. I didn't think they could guard him. He rebounded well, and I thought he really slowed down (Jay Couisnard, UMKC's leading scorer). They started isolating Couisnard, especially when Dominique (Morrison) had him. He hurt us a little bit and we switched Mike on him, and I'm not sure (Couisnard) scored again. (Craion) played defense tonight like I really thought he could."
Sutton on walkon guard Michael Fletcher, who provided relief for the Eagles' injury-ravaged backcourt by playing eight first-half minute and hitting a 3-pointer:
"I'm not surprised. He's by far our best shooter, but you have to worry about him on the defensive end, if he's going to be a liability or not (at his size, listed at 5-foot-10). He probably would have hit his second (3-pointer) if he had shot-faked and let the guy fly by, but he rushed a little. He's gonna have to play for us, and I don't have a problem putting him out there, especially at home. I think he can do a good enough job with most teams that we play. He won't be that big of a liability on the defensive end, and right now, he may play as well (defensively) as a lot of the guys we're playing a lot of minutes.
Sutton, on letting UMKC get back into the game after building a 49-40 lead:
"They called a timeout and we had a chance to really get 'em down in double figures, and all of a sudden, we had a couple of defensive lapses and let 'em get back in the game. That's disappointing. We have to get better defensively. I thought this could be one of our better teams on the defensive end before all the injuries, and I still believe we can get a little better."
Dominique Morrison, on missing so many layups and shots close to the basket. He scored 15 points, but was only 5-of-13 from the field:
"My family watching at home was probably laughing, saying, `He don't miss layups,' and that was the same thing I was thinking. But I just kept playing. I wanted to guard their main player (Couisnard) and do my best job of guarding him, and that was my main focus."
-- Mike Brown
Eagles running out of bodies
12/1/2009 7:48:21 PM
Practice is getting more and more difficult for the ORU basketball team.
With Rod Pearson, Hunter McClintock and Tim Morton lost for the season, Javier Nasarre sidelined with an injured wrist and Beloved Rogers having left the team, the Eagles are down to seven scholarship players.
“We’re having shorter practices because we don’t want to get anyone else hurt,” sophomore guard Ken Holdman said.
Walkon athletes Joe Moore, Michael Fletcher and Mikey Manghum all enjoyed heavy involvement Tuesday as the Eagles returned the court after Monday’s loss at Arkansas-Little Rock.
Manghum, who captained England’s under-18 team in the European Championships last summer, played three minutes against UALR. ORU head coach Scott Sutton said Tuesday he probably should have played Manghum more.
With both point guards (Pearson, McClintock) sidelined, Manghum will be asked to pick up a lot of slack while Holdman tries to learn the position on the fly. Holdman’s experience at point guard corresponds to the collegiate starts he’s made – two games.
ORU struggled on both ends of the court at UALR, and Sutton said the Eagles have to get better defensively to keep games close when they’re having trouble scoring.
The Eagles went four minutes without a point early in the second half and UALR scored 11 straight to take control of the game.
“Without a true point guard, we’re going to have lapses in the course of game where we’re not scoring the basketball, and that’s where the defense has to carry us,” Sutton said.
“I’ve been a little bit disappointed with the defense, especially (at UALR). We didn’t play with the intensity you have to have to win on the road,” Sutton said.
None of the Eagles were happy with Monday’s performance, least of all sophomore forward Dominique Morrison, who scored a team-high 24 points.
“Those are the type of games you hate losing. Coming back today, watching film, and seeing the dumb things we did, we’ve just gotta get better,” Morrison said.
The Eagles don’t have much time. UMKC visits Thursday to open Summit League play and Southern Utah visits on Saturday.
ORU won a Summit League-record 35 consecutive conference home games over four years before losing to North Dakota State, 75-72, in last year’s regular-season finale. The Eagles are hopeful of starting another streak.
-- Mike Brown
ORU guard in pain as team arrives in Cancun
11/23/2009 10:36:34 AM
ORU basketball coach Scott Sutton said junior guard Rod Pearson had a swollen knee and was “still in a lot of pain” as the Golden Eagles arrived Sunday in Cancun.
The team practiced for about an hour and a half Sunday night at a facility set up in the Moon Palace Resort.
The Eagles will face Sam Houston State of the Southland Conference at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, their first of two games to finish the Cancun Challenge. ORU plays Rider or Florida A&M on Wednesday.
Sutton said freshman Warren Niles will probably start in Pearson’s place and that several players will probably have to share the duties at point guard, predicting "a lot of minutes" for sophomore guard Ken Holdman.
Pearson was sidelined with a knee injury in the first half of Saturday’s 76-55 loss at Virginia of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Sutton said the severity of the injury will likely not be known until the Eagles return to Tulsa later this week and Pearson can undero an MRI scan. But he said Virginia’s doctors examined the injury Saturday and indicated that a torn anterior cruciate ligament was likely, requiring surgery.
If so, Pearson would be the third ORU player lost in roughly three weeks. True freshman Hunter McClintock and redshirt freshman Tim Morton were lost with knee injuries in preseason drills.
“It’s just unfortunate,” Sutton said. “We’ve never had a year like this, and obviously we’re holding out some hope that Rod’s injury is not as severe as we think, but injuries are part of sports. Look what’s happening in football. OU and TU have gone through injuries this year and OSU has had to face some adversity.”
-- Mike Brown
Deliberate foul almost 'backfired' on Golden Eagles
11/19/2009 10:39:00 AM
ORU head coach Scott Sutton admitted by phone late Wednesday night from Stanford, Calif., that his decision to deliberately foul with a three-point lead and 10 seconds left "almost backfired on us."
But Sutton had his reasons, and junior guard Rod Pearson hit an 18-footer as time expired, allowing the Eagles to escape with an important 83-81 road win over the Cardinal of the Pac-10.
"We've lost so many games where teams have hit 3's to tie (or win) the game and we decided to foul early, and it almost backfired on us, but we were able to hit a great shot at the end," Sutton said.
One of the most vivid reminders is that heartbreaking 65-64 loss to Creighton in the 2008 Bracketbusters game at the Mabee Center. The Bluejays trailed by two when Booker Woodfox hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left.
This time, ORU led 79-77 on Dominique Morrison's jumper with 19 seconds left and 81-78 after Michael Craion's two foul shots with 9.4 seconds left.
Rather than allow Stanford to take a potential tying 3-pointer, Pearson fouled Stanford's Jarrett Mann on instructions from the bench with 6.9 seconds left.
Mann made the first of two foul shots and rebounded the second shot when it bounded straight back to him at the foul line. Stanford called timeout and tied the game when Landry Fields took Mann's inbounds pass to score a layin with 4.7 seconds left.
But Pearson, the transfer junior point guard, did exactly what he was signed to do, taking an ORU inbounds pass and rocketing the ball to the other end before triggering his game-winner from the right side.
Pearson apparently got as close as he did because the Cardinal was reluctant to cut him off or try anything that might draw a foul call from the officiating crew, and put Pearson at the line with two shots to win the game.
-- Mike Brown
ORU defenders face tough test in opener at Wake Forest
11/11/2009 4:13:00 PM
Big challenge: ORU coach Scott Sutton keeps saying that junior swingman Michael Craion plays larger than his size.
The 6-foot-5 Craion will probably have to play much larger Friday when he guards Wake Forest's All-American candidate, 6-foot-9 Al-Farouq Aminu.
Sutton said Craion and 6-foot-5 Kyron Stokes will probably take swipes at Aminu as the Golden Eagles open the regular season in Winston-Salem, N.C., facing the Demon Deacons of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"He's a great player, and it's a big challenge for whoever defends him," Sutton said.
Aminu is the Deacons' top returning scorer (12.9) and rebounder (8.2) from last season when he earned ACC all-freshman honors and Freshman All-American honors from several media sources.
He had 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the Deacons' lone exhibition contest, an 88-57 win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Wake Forest lost guard Jeff Teague and forward James Johnson to the NBA, but returns a massive front and experience in the backcourt.
The Deacons are picked to finish sixth in the ACC, coming off a disappointing 2008-09 season when they were 24-7 overall, tied for second in the ACC regular season and were ranked No. 1 for one week but lost to Cleveland State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Road to recovery: ORU junior forward Javier Nasarre has returned to practice and was working in full-speed, half-court drills earlier this week.
Nasarre will travel to Wake Forest, but will not suit up or play. Sutton said he hopes to have the 6-foot-10 Nasarre back in time for the game at Stanford next weekend, part of the Cancun Challenge.
Nasarre underwent foot surgery in August. From Barbastro, Spain, he averaged 8.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots for Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa last season.
Familiar face: Wake Forest assistant Dave Wojcik knows plenty about the Golden Eagles. He spent the past four years working for his brother, TU head coach Doug Wojcik.
"Dave's a good guy and he obviously did a great job for Doug," Sutton said.
A few more facts and figures from ORU's exhibition win
11/3/2009 12:26:00 AM
Loose ends and extra strands from ORU’s 82-57 exhibition win over the University of British Columbia:
Partial contingent: The Eagles played without two other scholarship athletes beside freshman point guard Hunter McClintock, who suffered a season-ending injury in a practice last Friday.
Redshirt freshman forward Tim Morton hurt his knee in the same practice session and goes Tuesday (Nov. 3) for an MRI to determine the extent of damage.
One insider said the injury is not believed to be severe.
Junior forward Javier Nassare, Morton and McClintock watched from the sidelines in street clothes.
Nassare is recuperating from a foot surgery and the Eagles are hopeful of having him in the next two or three weeks, possibly for the Nov. 13 regular-season opener at Wake Forest.
The Eagles also did not dress walkons Mikey Manghum and Steven Jenkins. Manghum, who captained England’s under-18 team in the European championships, has NCAA clearinghouse issues, and the coaches are also thinking about redshirting him.
McClintock said he discussed the injury with his father. What did dad say?
“He said it’s another year to get bigger and stronger,” said McClintock, officially listed by ORU at 6-foot-2.
Veterans shine: Dominique Morrison had two 3-pointers among his 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. Kevin Ford had nine points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Ford, the team’s only scholarship senior, was disappointed about not shooting better. He was 2-of-6 from the field with close-in misses and 5-of-9 from the line. But the 6-foot-9 forward was engaged defensively and gave a muscular effort against UBC’s big men.
“I missed a lot of shots I normally make. I don’t know the cause, but if I’m gonna miss ‘em, I feel like I need to do something on the defensive end to make up for it,” Ford said.
“Kevin’s been great. He’s been a great teammate and he’s tried to be a leader (in preseason drills),” head coach Scott Sutton said. “He missed some shots and he’s a better free throw shooter than what he showed, but I think some of our guys may have been nervous and still had some rust.”
Ford and Morrison agreed that McClintock’s injury is a blow to the team.
“It’s a terrible loss,” Morrison said. “He’s a pass-first guy. He looks to dish a lot and he knows how to get his teammates open. But I think (junior guard Rod Pearson) and (sophomore guard Ken Holdman) did a good job. They played good defense and it was good to see them pressuring the ball.”
Coloring Craion: As advertised, junior forward Michael Craion is long and slippery, plays bigger than his size, defends well and seems to have a knack for getting his hands on every interior pass.
He had a game-high 18 points with nine rebounds and never seemed to do anything but let the game flow to him.
Said Morrision: “That’s what he does. Get him the ball in the post and he score layups. Or, he gets rebounds and does simple things to get the ball in the basket.”
Playing defense: The Eagles clamped down in the second half, holding the visitors to 32.3 percent from the field.
“This can be one of our better defensive teams because of the quickness of (Rod Pearson, Craion and Ken Holdman) and because of Kevin’s athleticism, and because Dominique has gotten better,” Sutton said.
“I just wish we had a shot-blocker. Our best teams had guys like (6-foot-10 Shawn King from the 2007-08 team). But Kevin’s trying to block more shots and I think he will block some shots,” Sutton said.
Ford said the Eagles got things straightened out at halftime.
“”We talked about our mistakes and what we were doing wrong. We weren’t communicating. We preach defense all day long, and in the second half, we locked up and did our job. We did a better job of communicating,” he said.
-- Mike Brown
ORU fans see Golden Eagles going up and down for the first time
10/22/2009 10:35:00 PM
Kevin Ford, Ken Holdman and Hunter McClintock were the men to watch as ORU fans got their first look at the Golden Eagles’ 2009-10 team during annual Slam N Jam festivities at the Mabee Center.
Ford, the 6-foot-9 senior from Portland, Ore., won the slam-dunk contest for the second straight year while Holdman and McClintock ran circles around the backcourt tandem of Rod Pearson and Kyron Stokes, leading the Blue to a 29-18 win over the Gold in a 20-minute scrimmage.
In the final of the women’s long-shooting contest, Schulter senior Kelly Kindell made six straight 3-pointers in one stretch and beat Adair freshman Kevi Luper 8-6.
Holdman, the super-quick sophomore from East Central, had two steals, a breakaway layup and hit a 10-foot jumper to score four points in the scrimmage.
McClintock, the freshman point guard from North Carolina, didn’t score a point, but he had two assists, a steal and ran the offense deftly without committing a turnover.
“Hunter understands the game like I thought he did,” head coach Scott Sutton said. “It’s unusual for a freshman to be able to come in and know how to play. There’s room for improvement, but he makes his teammates better in a lot of different ways.”
Sutton is predicting that McClintock, who averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 assists for one of the nation’s premier prep school programs last year, will be an immediate fan favorite.
McClintock is already Ford's favorite because the salty passer knows how to get the ball in Ford's hands. McClintock assisted Ford's winning play in the dunk contest with a pass off the backboard from behind. Ford caught it, and using a smooth windmill motion, brought the ball up and around from behind the glass to jam it into the basket.
Ford is used to making showtime dunks. He had 29 in games last season and appeared regularly on ESPN's Plays-of-the-Day segment. It was the only dunk he needed to beat sophomore guard Beloved Rogers in the final of the dunk contest.
The crowd of about 3,000 roared its approval and Ford bowed to his waist, then kneeled and bowed all the way to the floor. The fans loved it.
The fans also loved the explosive Holdman, who picked an opponent’s pocket and looked like he had been shot out of a cannon as he sailed in for a layup, part of a 17-0 run by the Blue to start the scrimmage.
“Ken has really matured," Sutton said. "He was a typical freshman last year. He had up days and down days and didn’t understand how hard you have to practice and compete every day. He’s been really good so far. He’s shown a lot of improvement from last year to this year.”
Sophomore forward Dominique Morrison showed he hasn’t lost his shooting touch from last season when he started all 31 games and averaged 9.6 points. Morrison scored on jump hooks, spinners and even hit a 3-pointer. He made his first five shots and finished with a scrimmage-high 11 points for the Blue.
Damen Bell-Holter also showed plenty. The 6-foot-10 freshman from Alaska showed he could be a tower of power in the middle for years to come by collecting eight points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
He made 4-of-5 from the field with two dunks and his six rebounds tied Ford for the scrimmage high. Ford also scored six points.
Stokes and freshman Warren Niles scored four each to lead the Gold, and junior-college transfer Michael Craion had a 3-pointer and five rebounds.
Michael Fletcher also hit a 3-pointer for the Gold, which managed just 8-of-28 from the field. The Blue hit 14-of-27.
McClintock assisted Ford’s inside basket to start the scrimmage, Morrison followed with a jump hook, Bell-Holter hit a fall-away jumper and Holdman had his steal and layup as the Blue raced to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes.
Morrison followed with a 3-pointer and another basket. Bell-Holter got loose for his first dunk and Holdman hit a jumper, giving the Blue a 17-0 lead with 10:50 left.
Pearson scored the Gold's first basket at 10:15.
-- Mike Brown
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