NBA PLAYOFF GAME HIGHLIGHTS
If you missed the second half of the Dallas vs OKC game last night, you missed one of the great playoff games in recent memory. The final was 117-116.
MCNEESE CLINCHES 5TH SEED
Pokes will play 4th seed Northwestern State on Wednesday at 9AM.
MCNEESE BASKETBALL HYPE
Will Wade is getting so much national publicity that it may be putting expectations too high for 2024. I don’t like all the hype, but it is May so we have a long way to go before November.
REGGIE ELLIS SIGNS WITH MCNEESE
Reggie Ellis is a 6′ 185 defensive back from Tulsa University. Ellis has only one year of eligibility left. He has played corner and finished his career as a safety. It is worrisome that so many players are being added a week prior to June workouts. By my accounting, player in means player out. We have added three running backs since January and the roster list Hamm, Barbie, and Dunham returning. Something is not right.
One thing is for certain, don’t ask me how the Cowboys will do in 2024. The way rosters are changing, don’t ask me any questions about the Southland Conference. For that matter, don’t ask about the SEC, Sun Belt, Big 12, or Big 10. Players are still changing schools as I type. Do you remember Pig Cage becoming a star at Nicholls State his freshman year? That was not good enough for him, so he walked on at LSU. After one year at LSU, he decided that UTSA was his next destination. However, he didn’t like how things went there, so he signed with Louisiana Tech last week.
If you lost track of UIW quarterback Cam Ward, you can find him in Miami. Ward had one offer out of high school but became a star at UIW. He left for two years at Washington State where he rebuilt his reputation. This past spring he had many offers and settled on Miami. In researching Tre Citizen, I saw a lot of films on Cam Ward and he is becoming the hero for the Canes. He has lived up to the hype and is projected as a first-round pick next year in the draft. The list goes on and on.
TOP FIFTY TRANSFER SIGNINGS
Ohio State #1-3-8-15
Ole Miss 2-12-25
Alabama 5-24-29-38
Texas 7-21-34-42
A &M 10-26-29
Georgia 19-45
Florida 28-39
LSU has no transfers in the Top 50, but Tennessee, Auburn, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina have at least one. My gambling days may be over due to having no clue what these teams will do. I do know that ESPN Radio Jock Matt Moscono of Baton Rouge went on a weekly rant about how bad Alabama is and that the days of LSU losing to Bama were long gone. He put up signs that Tuscalousa was burning down and had a fire in the background of his show. This is one of the examples of his show.
One thing my readers can count on is that you will never see me make fun of opponents or say they have no chance. I don’t like to eat crow, nor do I like to be reminded of how stupid I can be. LOL This is running on a tape in the Bama dressing room routinely.
Zem's Gems 
Coach Zem, you said don’t ask about how teams will be, because rosters change so much now days. Is there an end date for transfers to sign or can they still be added right before school starts for the fall? We were talking about something similar to this at school last week. There really is no more signing dates for certain sports. I mentioned what needed to be done at Iowa HS was just wait until around May 1 and just have one big signing day ceremony if we had any signing for whatever sport. Because we had 2 FB players sign in Nov., then around May 1 we had 2 baseball, 2 basketball, 1 track, 1 cheer, 2 dancers (can’t forget about them) then 1 who wanted to be recognized because preferred walkons get to do this now (not sure why). But then just last week another football signed with Air Force Academy (he had to wait in paperwork to be cleared because of restrictions that AFA has). But with no signing dates like there use to be it takes away from the excitement.
The freshman point guard that the Cowboys signed just last week. He played in the all star game with them. Didn’t stand out. But I told my 2 after we saw this, they are better off than he is because they will have a chance to play right away where they are going, this kid won’t.
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I was told by a coach in BR that his kid was MVP in his district and made 1st team 5A All State as well as won the state title. However, his is an assist guy who sees the floor well and can leap. Doesn’t shoot a lot so his average suffers and got other good players on the team. You are right, he will probably redshirt .
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The transfer window is null and void if you graduate, sign anytime so these guys in year five, six, and seven can go anytime.
FBS has changed somewhat and they are stricter than other classifications.
FBS athletes will be allowed to enter only during two windows.
The first, a 45-day period, will start the day after championship selections are made. This year, that means the window opens December 5. The second window will be instituted from May 1-15 so players can enter the transfer portal after spring camp.
I am starting to wonder if scholarship numbers are that important. What if this kid from BR is a walkon, but Wade can set him up with an NLI that pays for his tuition and room.Those 11.5 scholys that baseball and track have can be stretched with other incentives’ such as academic, jobs, etc. We hired several baseball players in the Rec because they could make up to the amount of a full scholarship.
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Coach Rob, thanks for the info on the high school recruit for McNeese. Now makes me wonder why Wade signed him. Maybe he has a younger brother or another player on the HS team?
Yes I saw all the athletes from Iowa in the paper. Then the cheer & dance girls with them. Y’ll left out the top 10 brain kids, maybe next year…. Don’t laugh it may be coming, everybody gets in the picture.
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