From the JC Press.



The recruiting class is complete, but there’s still plenty of basketball business for East Tennessee State coach Murry Bartow to attend to this summer.

Bartow and his staff just came off the road from 10 days of recruiting, and they have 10 more before a busy month of travel is over. The Bucs then get 10 days of practice with returning players beginning Aug. 17 to prepare for a three-day trip to Toronto over Labor Day.

“We’ve got a lot going on right now,” Bartow said Wednesday during a break in his youth camp in Memorial Center. “We’ll be out on the floor before you know it.”

ETSU closed out its new recruiting class with the addition of guard Justin Tubbs, a transfer from Alabama. Tubbs won’t be eligible until the 2009-10 season and will have two seasons left to play.

He joins incoming freshmen guards Jarvis Jones and Adam Sollazzo, forward J.C. Ward and center Seth McCoy.

“Number one, he’s a great kid, a great student,” Bartow said of Tubbs, “so we really like all the things off the floor. As far as basketball, he might come in and be the best athlete on our team. He’s a great runner and jumper, and he can really shoot it.

“I never like to say too much about a kid too early, but when you look at Justin and visit with him ... I think he’s got a chance to be very good.”

The ETSU coaches kept an eye on Tubbs once they knew he had decided to leave Alabama. Assistant Will Bailey apparently got the ball rolling for the Bucs.

“Coach Bailey and I kind of clicked the first time we talked on the phone,” said Tubbs from his home in Trussville, Ala., “and then I got to talking to coach Bartow and really liked him. It was nice to talk to a coach that had a plan for my future. The plan here really wasn’t one I liked — come in and hit a couple of threes here, play some defense there, and that was about it. I’ve worked hard and wanted more of a stand-up role.”

Tubbs, a 6-3, 188-pound shooting guard, got lost in the shuffle at Alabama. He averaged just over three points a game in his two seasons there, and his playing time dropped as a sophomore, from nine minutes a game to seven.

Still, it wasn’t an easy decision to leave the state university. Tubbs grew up in Birmingham before moving in eighth grade to Trussville, and his blood will always run crimson.

“I really hated to leave because I love the University of Alabama,” he said. “A lot of my friends live down the street from the school, and I’d say about half of my high school graduating class went to Alabama. My best friend went with me, too, so it’s tough.”

Tubbs knows it will also be tough to sit and watch for a year as he settles into a new environment, but he’s prepared to make the most of the time. He’s already established a rapport with ETSU guard Courtney Pigram, though the two will only be able to play together in practices.

Pigram, an all-Atlantic Sun Conference performer, is a rising senior.

“He’s another big reason I’m coming in,” said Tubbs. “Courtney is a very good shooting guard. He’s smart and can handle the ball, and he’ll give me somebody to compete against in practice and get me ready. It’s very important to have somebody like that.

“I’m really interested to see how things are going to be. I’m going to miss my friends, but I’m excited about new opportunities.”

I'm so fired up about this season I'm not sure I can make it to November!

We still don't have a point guard. Davis sucks, he's too quick for his ability to make decisions and that causes turnovers. It's him and a freshman. Guarded optimism. This team could be really good.

Still with this weak schedule, anything short of 20 wins has to be considered a failed season.

I see no reason to be excited. We're walking into this season with two very blind eyes.

Buccaneerlover Wrote:We still don't have a point guard. Davis sucks, he's too quick for his ability to make decisions and that causes turnovers. It's him and a freshman. Guarded optimism. This team could be really good.

I agree with you lover in part, but I did see improvement in Davis as the season went on. Every juco we've had has gone through this learning curve. Thomas seemed almost irrelevant his first hear. I like Davis' defense and his athleticism; hopefully he'll make better decisions. Plus, he absolutely needs to get some FT reps this summer. We cannot have our pg shooting 57%

I'm really interested to see how Sollazzo will acclimate to D1 ball. The pg position is that hardest position to play in college hoops, so he has his work cut out for him.

I also suspect that CP will see some limited time at the point.

Should make for an interesting season.

If CP does not have to play point, he could have a monster year.

If Tiggs follows the improvement steps of previous jucos, he could have a great year also.

Bucfaithful Wrote:

Buccaneerlover Wrote:We still don't have a point guard. Davis sucks, he's too quick for his ability to make decisions and that causes turnovers. It's him and a freshman. Guarded optimism. This team could be really good.

I agree with you lover in part, but I did see improvement in Davis as the season went on. Every juco we've had has gone through this learning curve. Thomas seemed almost irrelevant his first hear. I like Davis' defense and his athleticism; hopefully he'll make better decisions. Plus, he absolutely needs to get some FT reps this summer. We cannot have our pg shooting 57%

I'm really interested to see how Sollazzo will acclimate to D1 ball. The pg position is that hardest position to play in college hoops, so he has his work cut out for him.

I also suspect that CP will see some limited time at the point.

Should make for an interesting season.

Defense? What defense, Davis is one of the laziest defenders I've seen. He may be a decent man on man defender, but we play so little that it doesn't show up, he's terrible at team zone defense.