Thoughts on Rhett Lashlee to UConn and Torrance Gibson to Cincinnati

UConn found there offensive coordinator as they make it official on Wednesday that former OC at Auburn, Rhett Lashlee would become to new coordinator for the Huskies. 


The first thing that came to my mind was that if you can hire a coach to the same position from a power 5 school to a G5 school then you are doing something right.  So for that, hats off to UConn AD David Benedict.


A stand out QB from Arkansas, Lashlee has been with Auburn for the last 4 years, but this was the first year he had control of the play calling duties. The Tigers were ranked 49th in scoring offense putting up over 31 points a game so Lashlee did do a pretty good job in his first year ever calling plays. 


Randy Edsall must of done something to get him to come over to UConn because his taking a big pay cut.  He'll only be paid 350,000 at UConn compared to 600,000 to Auburn, but that's the advantage the power 5 schools have. Lashlee was a Broyles award finalist in 2013 for the top assistant coach.


He will have has work cut out for him.  In 2016 Bob Diaco put out the 2nd offense in the nation according to courant.com.  The Huskies last 4 games they scored a combined 16 points including getting shutout in two of them and being outscored 130-16. 


In other news, the Ohio State commit and 5 star recruit from Florida has commting to Cincinnati and Luke Fickell.  Gibson redshirted his freshman year and then was suspended by Ohio State for his sophomore year.  The reason why he was suspended was never said to the public, but our sources tell us that it was because he had a relationship with his tutor at Ohio State.  OSU Head Coach Urban Meyer fought the suspension "very hard."


Gibson planned on playing wide receiver at Ohio State, but says he will pay QB at Cincinnati.  This my be the reason why Gibson came to Cincy so he could play QB. So look for the Bearcats to run a lot more of the read option.


Gibson said to ESPN.com that he "Didn't like the way Ohio State handled his suspension and it was time for him to move."  He also said that he has a great relationship with Coach Fickell and UC's strength coach Brady Collins.


In the end, Gibson will be huge for the new offense Fickell plans to install with a duel threat QB.  IF all goes well, then Gibson could join Cincinnati by early may.  He is currently enrolled at Cincinnati State to get his associates degree.  Fickell is already making serious strides in recruiting this year and this just adds to it. 

American Athletic Conference Power Rankings: Week 10

Another week of basketball is in the books are here are the Power ranking after Week 10. Some very big games this week featuring the two best teams in the conference as SMU travels to Cincinnati on Thursday night.  Also Houston/UCF will play this week.  Plus, the worst teams meet in the league...South Florida/Tulane on Wednesday.
1. Cincinnati 13-2, 3-0: The fighting Cronins stay in the top spot after a win over Houston. Cincinnati got a big game from Kyle Washington who scored 19 points and played their vintage Mick Cronin defense. The game was never in doubt as the Bearcats got the win 67-58. NEXT WEEK vs. SMU, @ East Carolina
2. SMU 14-3, 4-0: The Ponies are 4-0 after an easy home victory over Temple 79-65.  The Owls tried to get back in it, but it was to little to late.  Then it was dunk city as Semi Ojeleye and company pounded South Florida 84-65. In all 14 of there wins no opponent has broken 67 points. NEXT WEEK: vs. Cincinnati, @ Tulane
3. Memphis 12-4, 2-1: Tubby Smith and Memphis got their first and second win of AAC play and both were won in dominate fashion over UConn and Tulane.  Something about this teams feels different with Smith than it did Josh Pastner.  Any way, Dedric Lawson showed once again why he is the best player in the American.  NEXT WEEK: @ Tulsa, vs.USF
4. Houston 3-1, 12-4: It was a close call, but Houston narrowly escaped Tulsa 64-61.  This was a big win because Rob Gray was out with the flew and anytime you have that is putting up 20 points a game not playing, your going to struggle a little. The Cougars held their own on the glass with Tulsa and knocked down their free throws.  On Saturday they fell for the first time in AAC play 67-58 to Cincinnati.  Coogs hung strong, but they could not stop Kyle Washington and the Cincinnati defense was too much in the end. NEXT WEEK: @ ECU, @ UCF
5. Central Florida 3-1, 12-4: Tacko Fall didn't score this entire week and that is not good. The 7'6 big man was held scoreless over ECU, but the Knights got an ugly 48-45 home win. KenPom called this the worst game of basketball this year...UCF could get away with Fall not scoring against ECU, but not against UConn as UCF simply just got waxed.  BJ Taylor was the only bright spot against the Huskies.  Central Florida can still get an at large bid, but this was the UCF team everyone thought we would see at the beginning of the year. NEXT WEEK: vs. Houston
6. Temple 1-3, 10-7: After beating Florida State and West Virginia to start the year, those 2 wins were thrown away with a 0-3 start to conference play.  This week they fell to SMU 79-65.  Temple went on a little run late and got it back to single digits, but the game was never in danger.  On Saturday they blew out ECU as expected to get their first conference win, but Temple cannot have any more bad losses. They are in a deep hole starting 0-3. 
7. Tulsa 1-1, 7-7: It was great effort, but Tulsa could not pull out a win against Houston. It was a big chance to get a solid win with Rob Gray out, but Tulsa simply could not hit a shot late in the game.  Frank Haith has a very young team so the expirence in close games will help the next couple of years.  Plus, Tulsa has a very favorable schedule in the next coming weeks. NEXT WEEK: vs. Memphis, @ Temple
8. UConn 1-3, 6-9: After falling to Memphis on the road, the Huskies came back with a blow out win over a solid UCF.  We will see what Kevin Ollie's team can do from here on out.  All UConn fans want is for them to get healthy and the conference tournament to start. NEXT WEEK: vs. Temple, @ Georgetown
9. East Carolina 1-3, 9-8: Earlier in the week I wrote this piece asking if it was time for Jeff Lebo to be fired. ECU was crushed by Temple 81-62 and the Pirates are starting to move backward after starting the conference season with a win. Also BJ Tyson continues to struggle after that sensational freshman year he had a down sophomore year and that continues now. NEXT WEEK vs. Houston, vs. Cincinnati
10. South Florida 0-3, 6-8: Murray Bartow is now the top man is South Florida after Coach Antigua was fired. Bartow had a tall task in playing SMU in Dallas. Bulls hung tough and hit 10 three pointers, but it wasn't enough.  All in all, it was a decent showing from Bartow. NEXT WEEK: vs. Tulane, @ Memphis
11. Tulane 0-3, 3-12: Once again the Wave were blown out this week against Memphis 80-59. There is no way to go around it, Mike Dunleavy's team is just bad, but give him a couple of years and Wave basketball may be somewhere. Other than that, not much positive coming from the Big Easy with just 3 wins. NEXT WEEK: @ USF, vs. SMU

Is It Time For East Carolina To Fire Jeff Lebo?

After another frustrating blowout loss to Temple, the ECU fan base seems to of had enough with head coach Jeff Lebo.

After he was fired from Auburn in 2010, Lebo was hired by ECU.  He is exactly .500 at 108-108, but he has never coached the Pirates to the NCAA Tournament or even the NIT. A matter of fact, Lebo has been the head coach of a collegiate division 1 college school for 19 straight years and he has never once been to the NCAA tournament.  He went to the NIT once with Tennessee Tech and once with Auburn. 

Lebo has just a 38-65 record within conference play and this includes the four years the Pirates were in Conference USA.  Lebo stands at 11-29 in American conference play. This may be the reason why Lebo has a job still because they are trying to give him time to adjust to how much harder this conference is.  With that being said, It's not like ECU is even close to being competitive in this conference.  

Recruiting has also been a big issue.  ECU curretnly stands 10th out of 11 teams in the conference in recruiting and they have never finished better than 8th.  The only really big splash this staff made was getting BJ Tyson and Kentrell Barkely.  

Lebo who played for North Carolina has only had to winning season of the 7 he's been the head coach and chances are they won't surpass 15 wins this year.  At some point, the AD needs to come to terms that Lebo is not the right man to lead this program.  Personally, I think it is a joke that he had the audacity to fire Ruffin McNiel, the football coach (although he made a good hire).  

The best moment in the Lebo era was winning the CIT with this shot.

ECU has been to the CIT three times under Lebo, winning it once and getting knocked out in the first round the other two years.  

This year the offense has been really bad. ECU scored 35 points against Charleston and then lost 48-45 to UCF in which KenPom called it the worst college basketball game this year.  I would like to point out that I am not in favor of firing Jeff Lebo right now, but if this team does not show any improvement then I do think Lebo should not return.  

ECU is ranked 201 in KenPom this year with losses to Charlotte, Mercer, Charleston, and North Carolina-Wilmington.  This is simply where the program should not be right now.  The fans deserve better or else ECU will get eaten alive in the American.

American Athletic Conference Power Rankings

1. Cincinnati (12-2, 2-0): Jarron Cumberland is starting to show everyone why he was so highly recruited. Cumberland had a career high in points as the Bearcats crushed Tulane. In their opener, Cincinnati got a huge 56-50 win over Temple which should boost their RPI.  The Bearcats are playing some great basketball right now. NEXT WEEK: @ Houston


2. SMU (12-3, 2-0): Tim Jankoich is 2-0 in AAC play.  Mustangs got an ugly win on the road at Memphis 58-54.  They played their typical defense which ranks top 20 in the nation.  SMU came back with a blowout win over East Carolina on the road as well. A big stretch is up coming as SMU will play Temple and Cincinnati in their next three games. NEXT WEEK: vs. Temple, vs. South Florida






3. Houston (11-3, 2-0): What a game Houston played against UConn. Houston held them to 12 points at halftime before eventually blowing out the Huskies. The Cougars followed it up with another blowout of South Florida. Rob Gray Jr was named the American player of the week and he deserved it with a 20 point game against UConn and then 25 against USF.  Houston has a huge one against Cincinnati this week and I do not want to see an empty arena like I usually do down in Houston. This team deserves to have Coogs fans come out! NEXT WEEK: vs. Tulsa, vs. Cincinnati


4. Central Florida (11-3, 2-0): As every week passes, the Knights are starting to make their case for an NCAA Tournament selection. A lot of people didn't think that was possible when the season started.  UCF is now 2-0 in AAC play as they started out with a win over Tulane and then blowing out a solid Temple team 77-53. Central Florida continues to be one of the best rebounding and shot blocking teams in the nation and that's what leads to their great defense. I just feel like that lost to Penn could come back to hount them, but Johnny Dawkins has something brewing down in Florida. NEXT WEEK: vs ECU @ UConn.


5. Tulsa (7-6, 1-0): The Golden Hurricane opened up conference play with an ugly 61-59 overtime win over UConn. Frank Haith's team is very young and I thought they would get better as the year goes on and we will see if that happens come Wednesday night when they visit Houston. NEXT WEEK: @ Houston.


6. Memphis (10-4, 0-1): In their conference opener, Memphis lost a 58-54 dog fight to SMU. Neither of the Lawson's never got going.  The Tigers seemed to drain the shot clock and not get a good shot off.  That changed the next week when Memphis took care of a decent South Carolina team on the Saturday 70-54.  If Memphis can find away to force turnovers and play defense like they did against South Carolina then they could find themseleves playing in the NCAA Tournament. We already know they have playmakers on offense. NEXT WEEK: vs. UConn, @ Tulane


7. Temple (9-6, 0-2): What a non conference season Fran Dunphy and the Owls had. Well, that's all gone now.  Temple lost to Cincinnati 56-50 which is not a bad loss at all, but then getting demolshied by Central Florida? UCF is better than what everyone thought, but Temple had to win that.  They need to make some noise in the conference if they want to get back to the NCAA Tournament. NEXT WEEK: @ SMU, vs. ECU




8. East Carolina (9-6, 1-1): Jeff Lebo was on the hot seat coming into the year and he remains on it now.  ECU picked up a win in their first game over South Florida.  Freshman Elijah Hughes  showed how good he could be putting up a career high 19 points in a 10 point victory over the Bulls. I was looking for some fight in the game against SMU even though they came in as big underdogs and I didn't see it as SMU rolled 75-44. NEXT WEEK: @ Central Florida, @ Temple




9. UConn (5-8, 0-2): Who would of that UConn would be 5-8 to start the year.  The Huskies shot 12 percent in their first half against Houston in which they scored 12 points and eventually lost by a big margin.  UConn followed that lost up with another loss to Tulsa in Overtime.  Kevin Ollie's seat may be warming up. UConn is now playing for pride at this point.  The Huskies are not going to the NCAA Tournament this year. I know they have had a lot of injuries, but they also lost to Northeastern and Wagner at full strength.




10. South Florida (6-7, 0-2): The Bulls are 0-2 to start conference play. They 60-49 to East Carolina after committing almost the same amount of turnover as points in the first half, USF didn't look totally awful in the 2nd half.  South Florida got blown out by Houston on Saturday 70-56 at home.  It was once again a tail of two halves.  We are just a week and a half away from the USF/Tulane barn burner we have been waiting for. NEXT WEEK: @ SMU


11. Tulane (3-11, 0-2): The Green Wave played good in their first half game against Central Florida but it's gone all down hill since then.  Tulane went on to lose by 13.  It was much the same against Cincinnati when they were down 12 at the half, but lost by 36 with final score being 92-56.  Mike Dunleavy might want to work on some halftime adjustments.  Any way, Cameron Reynolds has been solid for Tulane this year, but that's about it. NEXT WEEK: vs. Memphis

Report Card: Grading The AAC Coaching Hires

All the coaching posotions in the American Conference are now filled.  Here's what the report card looks like.




Houston: Major Applewhite
After news started to spread that Lane Kiffin was the next head coach, the University came and said that was 100% false.  Just days later, Houston promoted Applewhite from OC to head coach.  It was clear that he was not their first choice, but he was on their big board.  I think most fans are hoping he keeps some of Tom Herman's traditions alive.  Under Applewhite the offense was good, but it wasn't dominate. Let's hope this is Tom Herman 2.0.
Grade: C+




Cincinnati: Luke Fickell:
I thought this was the best hire in the conference. The fan base was not on board from the start, but once Fickell started to move in, I think they realized how good of a coach they actually got. Fickell relieves Tommy Tuberville, who really had no success with his own players, because he refused to recruit the Cincinnati area.  Fickell will do the opposite of that.  He was one of the best recruiters in the nation.  Plus, I think the only thing Fickell cares about is winning and nothing else. Lastly, with Fickell you even get some expirence from when he was the interim at Ohio State for a year.
Grade B+


South Florida: Charlie Strong
A lot of people were saying this is a homerun hire, and I just don't see that.  I do think it was a solid hire, but Charlie Strong has only two seasons where he has won more than 7 games.  Thrown in the fact that he has been a head coach for 7 seasons. That is not the definition of a homerun hire.  With that being said, I still do give it a thumbs up.  Strong will be a great recruiter in the Florida area and South Florida will continue to go to bowl games with him.  I'm just not sure if they can break through to new heights.  I see more of 8-4 and 7-5 seasons for the Bulls.
Grade: B




Temple: Geoff Collins
This hire is the hardest for me to judge. Collins was the DC at Florida and the Gators had one of the best defense's in the nation the last two years, but other than that I really don't know much about Collins. This is his first ever head coaching job and he will have big shoes to fill for Owls who are coming off a 10 win season. To judge this hire, I'll have to wait until I see what Temple does on the football field. For now, it's an average hire.
Grade C




UConn: Randy Edsall
Uh...okay.  Nobody really knows where this hire came from. Edsall was with the program way back in the day before he eventually left to become the Maryland coach, where he had no success whatsoever.  For the last year and a half he had something to do with the Lions in the front office. I'll be honest, I hate this hire.  First off, where was this move three weeks ago? Why did Bob Diaco not got fired until all the good coaching candidates were gone. As much as it pains me to say, why not keep Diaco another year? He certainly does not deserve it, but how much of an upgrade was this? The only reason the Huskies do not get an F is because they actually pulled the trigger and did fire Diaco. I hope I am wrong, Huskie fans, I really do, but I think they may be in for a couple more rough years at the Rent.
Grade: D

LIVE BLOG: American Conference Play: Week 1

Follow us for our live blog throughout the first day of American Athletic Conference basketball. We have four games on slate for this afternoon/tonight.  Relax and enjoy some #AACtion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


First TV Timeout and Cincinnati is playing their usual defense.  Temple has yet to score right now and trails 7-0.
Final: East Carolina 60 South Florida 49
South Florida played much better in the second half, but when you play as bad as they did in the first 15 minutes you can't expect to win. First half they had 15 turnovers...that can't happen.
It wasn't pretty, but East Carolina is going to beat South Florida. Big night for the Freshman Elijah Hughes who had a career high 19 points.  Jeff Lebo really did need this win. 
As long as ECU plays within itself they should win this.  Up 50-40 with 3:30 left, South Florida just doesn't have the offensive fire power to get back in it.
ECU is giving South Florida every chance to win this game.  Pirates are 4-15 from the FT line.  After a horrible first half, the Bulls trail by just 9 points with 10 minutes left.
East Carolina is just 3-11 from the free throw line. And that's why they are letting USF to hang around. Pirates still up 37-24.
Central Florida up on Tulane 8-4 early. Tanksley Efianayi has 6 for the Knights.
I feel bad for Tulane players.  It literally looks like there are 12 people at this game.
In other news, the Cincinnati/Temple media pass has 10 NBA scouts on it.....
Big foul on White, he has three. South Florida came out firing and cut it to 13.  Pirates need an answer. I'm looking at you, BJ Tyson. 37-24 Pirates lead.
Central Florida/Tulane is getting ready to tip right now on ESPN3.
Halftime has East Carolina leading South Florida 34-17. Bulls made just 7 shots in the game on just 28 percent shooting.  South Florida is +5 in rebounding today, but they have 15 turnovers already as well. 
At this point, I looks like South Florida is just handing the ball to ECU. You have to give credit to ECU though, defense is the strong suit of their team and they are showing it tonight. 34-17 East Carolina. 
And-1 for Shperard and ECU is starting another run. Bulls now once again have more turnovers than points. Pirates lead 33-13 with 1:23 left in the half.
Breaking: South Florida has the same number of points as turnovers (13.)  East Carolina leads 27-13 with just 2 minutes to play in the first half.
Caleb White is having a good game so far and he needs it confidence wise.  This game is all Pirates so far at 27-11 with 3:30 left in the first half.
With just 4 minutes left to play South Florida is lucky to be down 14 points right now. USF still has more turnovers (12) than points. (11).
South Florida is on pace to score 8 points this game.
Yet another timeout South Florida.  ECU is on a 15-0 run and leads 17-2. Bulls have 8 turnovers in 8 minutes of play and they are shooting 12 percent.  That won't win you a lot of ball games. 
East Carolina is playing great defense.  That's 7 USF turnovers know.  Bulls are shooting just 14 percent right now. ECU leads 15-2. 11-0 run for the Pirates.
Great pass from Barkley to find the back door cutter and BJ Tyson finishes it. Timeout South Florida.  East Carolina leads 10-2.
Another turnover for the Bulls that 5 within the first minutes.  East Carolina is at least getting up some shots.  ECU leads 8-2.


First media timeout in Greenville.  Not much to say besides very sloppy basketball.  Both with a couple turnovers early.  ECU leads 6-2.


Fun Fact: A win today from USF and the only team to have a worse record than UConn will be Tulane. Let that sink in.


Both teams struggling to keep possession early. South Florida has three turnovers in the first two minutes of play. ECU leading 4-0.


East Carolina/South Florida is tipping right now on ESPNU.  Pirates come in as an 8 point favorite.


Houston 62 UConn 46. Bottom line is 33 percent shooting is not going to win very many games. Big win though for Kelvin Sampson. Cougars get their first road win.

Huskies finally starting to make some shots, but it will be too little to late. Also Houston looking a little sloppy with a couple of turnovers. 48-26 Houston.

Kelvin Sampson's team comes out hot to start the 2nd half. Basically crushing any hope UCONN had. 44-18 Houston leads.

36-12 Houston at halftime. Booing coming from the fans in Gampel. UConn is shooting 14 percent and is -7 in turnover margin. UCONN is just not a good team right now.

UCONN has 12 points with 38 seconds left in the first half. Let that sink in.

Houston is on a 24-5 run. Kevin Ollie calls timeout. His team can't score and Rob Gray is starting to heat up for Houston. Not good for the Huskies. 31-11 Cougars.

20-5 run for Houston. Kevin Ollie is speechless and his team can't buy a bucket. Houston leads 27-11.

Christian Vital finally ends the drought for UCONN with a three. But UConn is stool shooting only 18 percent is -6 in turnover margin.

Run continues with a Wes VanBeck layup. 11-0 run for Coogs. Brimah and UCONN holding their own on the boards but they are just stone cold on offense right now. 16-5 Houston.

Now it's a 9-0 run for Houston at the under 12 media timeout. Cougars have yet to turn the ball over. There shooting 50 percent compared to the Huskies 16 percent.

Huskies have three turnovers already. DD has 7 of 9 points for Houston. He put up 22 last year in their upset win over UCONN.

Damyean Dotson leading the scoring early. He's been solid all year for Houston on the offensive end. 7-5 Cougars lead.

Rodney Purvish gets UCONN'S first field goal. He has to play big with Adam's and Gilbert out. 5-3 Houston early.

Big blow for the Huskies. Jalen Adam's is officially out for UCONN with a concussion. He was their leading scorer. Three of UCONN'S 5 Best players are out today...

Houston forward Devin Davis is questionable with foot injury via Joseph Duarte.


Houston vs. UConn: UConn enters the game as a 1 point favorite is Vegas according to scoresandodds.com


Last night, SMU went to the FedEx Forum and beat Memphis 58-54.  Mustangs are now 11-3 are on the year and got their first road win of the season. 

Preview & Prediction: SMU Travels To The FedEx Forum To Take On Memphis.

American Athletic Conference play will tip off on Tuesday night when the SMU Mustangs travel to the FedEx Forum to take on Memphis. The game is set to tip at 9:00 for us guys over on the east coast and it will air on ESPNU.

SMU comes in at 10-3, but with zero bad losses so far.  They lost to USC and Boise on the road, two teams you would like to beat, but on the road those losses are forgivable.  They other lost came against Michigan.  Since losing to the Trojans and Broncos, SMU has won 6 in a row and that includes two beat downs against TCU and Stanford. 

SMU and first year head coach Tim Jankovich are winning with defense right now. The Mustangs are 13th in the country right now in scoring defense giving up just 59.8 points a game. During this six game win streak they have yet to give up more than 60 points in a game.  On Tuesday they will be going up against the American Preseason player of the year in Dedric Lawson for Memphis who is putting up 21 points and 11 rebounds a night for Memphis.

The Tigers also come in with a knew coach in Tubby Smith.  Memphis is 9-3 on the year with a bad loss to Monmouth, but came back with a win against Oklahoma in Norman.  SMU has a great defense, but Memphis is a top 25 team in offense putting up 84 points a game, so this will be a game of two different styles.

Last year SMU beat Memphis both times they played them. Last year SMU's Shake Milton played very well in both of these meetings.  Milton was a high recruit and can drive so Memphis and Tubby Smith need to keep the ball out of his hands. 

Memphis has been vulnerable on the defense end this season.  Of their twelve games this season, seven teams have put up at least 75 points on the Tigers.  This should create opportunities for Duke transfer and SMU leading scorer Semi Ojeleye who is averaging 21 points a game.  He is also shooting 45% from three where the Memphis defense has been suspect this year.

The SMU big man Ben Moore will have his hands full inside with both KJ and Dedric Lawson.  Memphis is one of the best team in the nation in rebounding this year at 22nd in the country.  So this will create plenty of times for 2nd chance points and we will see if they can convert. 

The Key to this game will be Markel Crawford.  Memphis will dominate the inside, but they do not have the defense to contain the shooting of Milton, Ojeleye, and others.  KJ and Dedric Lawson can't do everything so they need another scorer Crawford. Luckily, for Tubby Smith, Crawford has been that third scorer they needed after Austin Nichols transferred.  This is a game where Memphis can get into the NCAA conversation with a win. 

SMU starts conference play right on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.  This is a game that tournament teams should win.  As for my prediction, I do think this will be a very tight game as both teams are coming in with momentum.  If this game stays in the sixties I think SMU wins, but if it's high scoring game then Lawson could take over. I'll 67-62 Mustangs.  SMU is just to talented on defense and Memphis needs more scorers then the Lawson boys.  As long as the SMU offense stays consistent the Memphis defense has proven that can't defend over time.