Ron Crawford just said on the radio, that David Rivers is the son of former UALR player Ezelle Rivers. E played 3 years for Coach Kestenbaum and was on Newell's first team. I can't recall if he played much for Newell. Did he leave here on good terms? I can't recall, but I haven't heard of him ever being involved with UALR since. Crawford said David has offers from Nebraska, UALR, and others. Clemson is now involved. Boy, if we ever needed help from an Alumni player now is the time. He apparently is a really good player.

The Rivers twins were from out of state best I recall so hopefully if he stayed around all these years he has good feelings about UALR. I have a friend that had work dealings with Ezell back in the early 90's and I know they talked Trojan basketball back then. That would be great if we got a local kid and an alumni's kid.

(05-13-2010 09:29 PM)Karl B Wrote:  The Rivers twins were from out of state best I recall so hopefully if he stayed around all these years he has good feelings about UALR. I have a friend that had work dealings with Ezell back in the early 90's and I know they talked Trojan basketball back then. That would be great if we got a local kid and an alumni's kid.

Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

(05-13-2010 10:09 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(05-13-2010 09:29 PM)Karl B Wrote:  The Rivers twins were from out of state best I recall so hopefully if he stayed around all these years he has good feelings about UALR. I have a friend that had work dealings with Ezell back in the early 90's and I know they talked Trojan basketball back then. That would be great if we got a local kid and an alumni's kid.

Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

Wow. Talk about something that will make you know you are getting old. I remember Ezelle and Mike playing for the Trojans almost thirty years ago! It would really be something if David became a Trojan and followed in his father's footsteps. From what I have seen of David, he appears to have really good basketball skills and IQ. He could be a real difference maker at UALR.

(05-13-2010 10:09 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(05-13-2010 09:29 PM)Karl B Wrote:  The Rivers twins were from out of state best I recall so hopefully if he stayed around all these years he has good feelings about UALR. I have a friend that had work dealings with Ezell back in the early 90's and I know they talked Trojan basketball back then. That would be great if we got a local kid and an alumni's kid.

Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

The closest we probably ever came was Tim Scott. I remember running into him at a tire store one day, and he told me Newell really recruited him hard, but at the last minute he decided to go to Fayetteville. Of course in those days we didn't have much of a campus or arena, compared to now. This is not your daddy's UALR. At some point we should begin competing for some top local talent. But it's going to take someone who is willing to deal with those type of kids, and able to sell them on the benefits of playing at home. Of course when you're not winning, playing a non exciting style of basketball, and drawing mediocre crowds, it's pretty difficult to sell a kid on coming here who has offers from big time schools. It's the old Catch 22 situation. You can't win without good players, and you can't get good players without winning.
If your program is a Top 50-100 program every year, it's easier to recruit than when you #300, or whatever.

(05-14-2010 07:42 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(05-13-2010 10:09 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(05-13-2010 09:29 PM)Karl B Wrote:  The Rivers twins were from out of state best I recall so hopefully if he stayed around all these years he has good feelings about UALR. I have a friend that had work dealings with Ezell back in the early 90's and I know they talked Trojan basketball back then. That would be great if we got a local kid and an alumni's kid.

Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

The closest we probably ever came was Tim Scott. I remember running into him at a tire store one day, and he told me Newell really recruited him hard, but at the last minute he decided to go to Fayetteville. Of course in those days we didn't have much of a campus or arena, compared to now. This is not your daddy's UALR. At some point we should begin competing for some top local talent. But it's going to take someone who is willing to deal with those type of kids, and able to sell them on the benefits of playing at home. Of course when you're not winning, playing a non exciting style of basketball, and drawing mediocre crowds, it's pretty difficult to sell a kid on coming here who has offers from big time schools. It's the old Catch 22 situation. You can't win without good players, and you can't get good players without winning.
If your program is a Top 50-100 program every year, it's easier to recruit than when you #300, or whatever.

Scott was a Juco, not a high school player when Newell was recruiting him. However, he might be the one exception to the rule since he did sign with Ron Kestenbaum out of high school. I would assume that one of the reasons we got him, is that most likely knew he would be a nonqualifier. I do recall hearing that Sutton was not very happy he signed with us at the time. But, in the end, my point is the same. We have never signed an eligible, big time player out Little Rock. Don't know if that will ever change, but Rivers may be our best shot in a long time.

(05-14-2010 08:39 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(05-14-2010 07:42 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(05-13-2010 10:09 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(05-13-2010 09:29 PM)Karl B Wrote:  The Rivers twins were from out of state best I recall so hopefully if he stayed around all these years he has good feelings about UALR. I have a friend that had work dealings with Ezell back in the early 90's and I know they talked Trojan basketball back then. That would be great if we got a local kid and an alumni's kid.

Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

The closest we probably ever came was Tim Scott. I remember running into him at a tire store one day, and he told me Newell really recruited him hard, but at the last minute he decided to go to Fayetteville. Of course in those days we didn't have much of a campus or arena, compared to now. This is not your daddy's UALR. At some point we should begin competing for some top local talent. But it's going to take someone who is willing to deal with those type of kids, and able to sell them on the benefits of playing at home. Of course when you're not winning, playing a non exciting style of basketball, and drawing mediocre crowds, it's pretty difficult to sell a kid on coming here who has offers from big time schools. It's the old Catch 22 situation. You can't win without good players, and you can't get good players without winning.
If your program is a Top 50-100 program every year, it's easier to recruit than when you #300, or whatever.

Scott was a Juco, not a high school player when Newell was recruiting him. However, he might be the one exception to the rule since he did sign with Ron Kestenbaum out of high school. I would assume that one of the reasons we got him, is that most likely knew he would be a nonqualifier. I do recall hearing that Sutton was not very happy he signed with us at the time. But, in the end, my point is the same. We have never signed an eligible, big time player out Little Rock. Don't know if that will ever change, but Rivers may be our best shot in a long time.

My mistake. I was thinking Tim was coming out of high school when that occurred. I don't know why Rivers would be our best shot. Has he shown any interest in UALR? Just because his dad played here, probably doesn't help much. I recall that Trey Finn's high school coach's son was coaching here and we still couldn't even get him away from ASU, much less a BCS program.

(05-14-2010 10:37 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(05-14-2010 08:39 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(05-14-2010 07:42 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(05-13-2010 10:09 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(05-13-2010 09:29 PM)Karl B Wrote:  The Rivers twins were from out of state best I recall so hopefully if he stayed around all these years he has good feelings about UALR. I have a friend that had work dealings with Ezell back in the early 90's and I know they talked Trojan basketball back then. That would be great if we got a local kid and an alumni's kid.

Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

The closest we probably ever came was Tim Scott. I remember running into him at a tire store one day, and he told me Newell really recruited him hard, but at the last minute he decided to go to Fayetteville. Of course in those days we didn't have much of a campus or arena, compared to now. This is not your daddy's UALR. At some point we should begin competing for some top local talent. But it's going to take someone who is willing to deal with those type of kids, and able to sell them on the benefits of playing at home. Of course when you're not winning, playing a non exciting style of basketball, and drawing mediocre crowds, it's pretty difficult to sell a kid on coming here who has offers from big time schools. It's the old Catch 22 situation. You can't win without good players, and you can't get good players without winning.
If your program is a Top 50-100 program every year, it's easier to recruit than when you #300, or whatever.

Scott was a Juco, not a high school player when Newell was recruiting him. However, he might be the one exception to the rule since he did sign with Ron Kestenbaum out of high school. I would assume that one of the reasons we got him, is that most likely knew he would be a nonqualifier. I do recall hearing that Sutton was not very happy he signed with us at the time. But, in the end, my point is the same. We have never signed an eligible, big time player out Little Rock. Don't know if that will ever change, but Rivers may be our best shot in a long time.

My mistake. I was thinking Tim was coming out of high school when that occurred. I don't know why Rivers would be our best shot. Has he shown any interest in UALR? Just because his dad played here, probably doesn't help much. I recall that Trey Finn's high school coach's son was coaching here and we still couldn't even get him away from ASU, much less a BCS program.

If his dad really wanted him to play here that could help. At this point, I have no reason to believe that's the case. I hope it is, but I have no knowledge whatsoever. If Derek Fisher had a basketball playing son, I would like our chances of getting him. But I know Derek loves this University.

Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.
[/quote]

Highly recruited, IDK. I remember Kestenbaum's last year he signed the top basketball recruit out of Arkansas. I do not remember his name, but he was a guard from Mills. Arkansas recruited him. Then Kestenbaum was fired and Newell was hired. Newell comes in and does not like what he sees in him and releases him from his letter before school starts and he never played a minute for UALR. I do not know what happened to him after that. That year was a down year in Arkansas for basketball talent.

(05-14-2010 10:28 PM)ez272 Wrote:  Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

Highly recruited, IDK. I remember Kestenbaum's last year he signed the top basketball recruit out of Arkansas. I do not remember his name, but he was a guard from Mills. Arkansas recruited him. Then Kestenbaum was fired and Newell was hired. Newell comes in and does not like what he sees in him and releases him from his letter before school starts and he never played a minute for UALR. I do not know what happened to him after that. That year was a down year in Arkansas for basketball talent.
[/quote]

Talk about raw deals. That was a little before my time as a Trojan fan, although I did go out to see the championship game when we lost in the finals on a last second shot by Eric Hightower of Georgia Southern. As I recall, Kestenbaum did a great job for the facilities that we had back then. He really got screwed when he was dumped for Newell. Mike did great for our program, at least on the court, but I would have liked to have seen how Ron would have done in another five years.
Strangely he went back to New York, as I remember coached a small time college team, and then high school basketball. He was a nice fellow, but never achieved anything at a big time level after he left.

(05-15-2010 08:52 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(05-14-2010 10:28 PM)ez272 Wrote:  Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

Highly recruited, IDK. I remember Kestenbaum's last year he signed the top basketball recruit out of Arkansas. I do not remember his name, but he was a guard from Mills. Arkansas recruited him. Then Kestenbaum was fired and Newell was hired. Newell comes in and does not like what he sees in him and releases him from his letter before school starts and he never played a minute for UALR. I do not know what happened to him after that. That year was a down year in Arkansas for basketball talent.

Talk about raw deals. That was a little before my time as a Trojan fan, although I did go out to see the championship game when we lost in the finals on a last second shot by Eric Hightower of Georgia Southern. As I recall, Kestenbaum did a great job for the facilities that we had back then. He really got screwed when he was dumped for Newell. Mike did great for our program, at least on the court, but I would have liked to have seen how Ron would have done in another five years.
Strangely he went back to New York, as I remember coached a small time college team, and then high school basketball. He was a nice fellow, but never achieved anything at a big time level after he left.
[/quote]

Which you could say for every single coach we have ever had. Is UALR simply a graveyard for coaches or is it simply bad luck?

(05-15-2010 09:33 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(05-15-2010 08:52 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  

(05-14-2010 10:28 PM)ez272 Wrote:  Obviously, dad's can't make the decisions for their kids. On the other hand, if David knows that his dad would really like him to follow in his foot steps at UALR it could make a big difference. More likely, however, he will simply be one more Little Rock kid who goes somewhere else. Off hand, I can't think of a Little Rock high school player who was highly recruited and chose to come to UALR. Folks can try to pin that on Steve, but I can't remember Newell or anyone else signing one.

Highly recruited, IDK. I remember Kestenbaum's last year he signed the top basketball recruit out of Arkansas. I do not remember his name, but he was a guard from Mills. Arkansas recruited him. Then Kestenbaum was fired and Newell was hired. Newell comes in and does not like what he sees in him and releases him from his letter before school starts and he never played a minute for UALR. I do not know what happened to him after that. That year was a down year in Arkansas for basketball talent.

Talk about raw deals. That was a little before my time as a Trojan fan, although I did go out to see the championship game when we lost in the finals on a last second shot by Eric Hightower of Georgia Southern. As I recall, Kestenbaum did a great job for the facilities that we had back then. He really got screwed when he was dumped for Newell. Mike did great for our program, at least on the court, but I would have liked to have seen how Ron would have done in another five years.
Strangely he went back to New York, as I remember coached a small time college team, and then high school basketball. He was a nice fellow, but never achieved anything at a big time level after he left.

Which you could say for every single coach we have ever had. Is UALR simply a graveyard for coaches or is it simply bad luck?
[/quote]

With the exception of Newell, who was a top assistant at Oklahoma, and took over as interim coach when Billy Tubbs had that bad bicyle accident, most of our coaches didn't come from coaching trees that would lead to big time jobs.

Wimp was a different situation, being an older guy, and was in the latter part of his career, but Porter had worked for Tony Barone at Texas A&M when it wasn't much of a program, and Steve wasn't involved in any high profile programs. As some have suggested, when Steve leaves at some time in the future, we need to look for a young, charismatic assistant from a successful BCS program that has recruiting ties to the right kids, and has the ability to sell them on coming to a UALR. I think our program will be a decent program most years, but I don't see us really coming into our own until that occurs. If and when we ever make a change, I think it's imperative we "DON'T" hire from within. We need to make a comprehensive search to make sure we hire the right guy.