KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Couldn't have said it any better Rod. Didn't really prove too much with in-game coaching to me last year. I still have faith, but my optimism level at this point last year was far higher. Hoping for significant improvement next year.

OBRAM wrote:

rodfromcranston wrote: "He changed his mind. He's not coming back."
Then there was the odd press conference that followed, with Muskrat questioning
Harrick's mental stability.
.

It was not Muskrat holding the press conference, it was the VP, I know his name, but just can't think of it at this moment. The VP that got rid of Rhody and made the new mascot look like a Cat not a Ram. I think Muskrat was out of town.
We were going to get Jason Kapono , I think he played at UCLA, can some one tell me, I don't think Kapono lived up to the hype, I watched him play one game and he did not impress me.

ok, but it hurts me to go back in time like this, it really does it is more painful than the Stanford Loss, more painful than the Duke loss, more painful than all of the loses to PC combined, more painful than the ball that went through Buckner's legs to blow the World Series, need I say more?????

On Jason Kapono..................
This guy was tremendous in High School at Artesia HS in LA. He was ranked #10 in the Nation. Jim Harrick HAD this guy and his buddy Josh Kroenke as well.
Kapono was McDonald's All American and participated in all the AA Games in HS
Kapono is the 3rd alltime scorer in the history of UCLA with 2095 career points scored - UCLA mind you
He made 1st Team ALL PAC10 all 4 years!!!
He led UCLA in scoring all 4 years he played
He played 6 years in the NBA and now plays in Greece
at 52.4% he led the NBA in 3 point percentage from 2006-2007

I am telling you that Jim Harrick had Josh Kroenke AND Jason Kapono. They were going to come to URI together. They were best buddies. Harrick later knew he made a mistake. In fact that is why he returned on the plane back to Rhode Island. Don't blame Harrick though the biggest blame goes to Petro for not taking him back. All he had to do was take him back with open arms, shake hands and say lets get to work - but no this numbnuts had to play power man.
Jason Kapono would have owned the record books at URI. The recruiting would have continued. We were involved with many Top 100 players - Harrick had put URI on the Map - the MAJOR MAP. Lamor Odom was the #1 Player in the Country. Lamor was onthe front cover of the NY Post, Parade Magazine.....he was a legend in NY City.
Kapono a Top 10, not Top 100, Top 10 player.

Now read some of these out-takes from this Missouri Tiger Message Board and the link below:

Kroenke, who is attending a prep school in New Hampshire, is a Columbia resident. The son of Stan Kroenke, part owner of the St. Louis Rams, has said he has been in contact with Wake Forest, Michigan State, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Unlike so many high school players who get snowed and listen to all the accolades before blindly signing letters of intent, Kapono and Kroenke studied the recruiting process like a science.
Both players checked rosters and recruiting lists and knew how they would fit into a program.
Kroenke, for example, seriously considered Iowa only because coach Steve Alford's style played well with his ability to shoot the 3-pointer and drive to the basket. He didn't consider the Hawkeyes before Alford was hired.
He also considered Rhode Island and coach Jim Harrick, but dropped the Rams when Harrick went to Georgia. When Harrick called from Athens, Ga., Kroenke knew the Georgia lineup, which has several top guards, and said no thanks.
Kapono, likewise, knew where he stood in Norm Stewart's offense at MU. But with the coaching change, Kapono naturally had questions about how new coach Quin Snyder's offense would work for him.
Snyder tried to convince Kapono that good players find their way into the game plan, but Kapono felt UCLA was a better opportunity.

http://tigerboard.com/boards/missouri-t ... ge=9569064

And I'll add this on Kapono.


http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/b ... lark25.htm

On the other end of the spectrum is 6-8 Jason Kapono from Lakewood (Artesia) Calif., who still claims to be wide open, despite the fact that his top four schools are Utah, Rhode Island, Missouri, and UNLV.As it stands now, only Missouri and Rhode Island are changing coaches. But it is probably only a matter of time before Utah head coach Rick Majerus gets an offer he can't say no to, and UNLV coach Bill Bayno has to make the NCAA Tournament next year or he is in big trouble.

So what is Kapono going to do? Wait and see if Duke assistant coach Quin Snyder gets the Missouri job. Remember, Snyder has signed nine McDonald's All-Americans in the last two years at Duke: Elton Brand, Chris Burgess, William Avery, Shane Battier, Corey Maggette, Jason Williams, Casey Sanders, Michael Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer.

These were the Days for the Atlantic 10 and URI...............

SPORTS


With 4 Teams In Ap Top 25, Atlantic Ten Flexes Muscles

November 6, 1998 | By Mike Jensen, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Rhode Island coach Jim Harrick got his Rams within seconds of the Final Four last year. What surprised him along the way, he said, was the competition in the Atlantic Ten. "Better than I expected," Harrick said. "Better athletes, better coaches, better games. " Yesterday, the A-10 held its annual media day, the same day that the Associated Press released its preseason poll. The poll included four A-10 teams for the first time: No. 7 Temple, No. 16 Xavier, No. 23 Rhode Island and No. 24 Massachusetts.

There was a 7 footer who went to Notre Dame, Marshall Williams, who went to NC State,
and Shea Cotton, the number one or two prep player to Lamar Odom, who went juco, who Harrick had in his back pocket. Cotton wound up playing for Harrick's old assistant, Mark Gotttfried at Alabama.
In addition to Kapono and Kroenke.
WOW!
We saw when Kapono came into Keaney on a Saturday. He hit shot after shot from ungodly range.
Paul Kenyon's mouth dropped. This big bleach blonde surfer dude, bombing away in
Kingston,RI.
Story.....went to PC to watch Kroenke in a tournament. Hell of a shooter.
Bob Terino introduced me to Kroenke's parents.
We talked for a long time. They told me they were from Crystal City,MO. I said,"That's where Bill Bradley is from."
They actually knew him.Really nice down to earth people.
For some reason, I Googled them when I got home.
The father was worth 2 BILLION dollars and the mother was worth 3 BILLION dollars.
Stan Kroenke owned the St. Louis Rams and the Colorado Avalanche NHL team AND
the Denver Nuggets!.
His mother is a Walton, one of the founders of Walmart.
His son, our former recruit, is now owner of the NHL team and the NBA team.
I told my daughter, "You met two billionaires today!" Who knew?

I think he will too.

Everyone has to remember, this team last season wasn't a full team, not by a long shot.

Missing pieces, players playing out of position, brush fires everywhere, you name it.

Even with all of it, if we shot FT's better we would have won 18 games or so, and probably played in the CBI. [Big whoop about that, but it's postseason]

Next year there won't be nearly as many legit excuses to hide behind. I'm looking at that, before I make a more informed decision as to whether Dan really is the man for the job.

We need a serious uptick in the W-L record. Next year it has to start. We may not replicate what GW just did this year in Lonergan's 3rd season, but we need to be close to that.

a couple points of clarity called in from the Godfather....

-everyone involved knew Lamar was not coming back, that was never a factor in choosing the next coach

-one of JDs biggest supporters at the time, who also was one of the more powerful people in college basketball was Sonny Vaccaro, he wanted JD to get the job and put the word out to other coaches not to apply. the candidates that came forth as a result were pretty weak, Cowens is the only name I remember from the time.

Larry Farmar was another.

While he may not have turned out to be a great coach at URI, he would have been WAY better than the Duh-man.

He was my choice, that's for sure.

At least Larry Farmer was a class guy and had a resume.
Former UCLA coach vs. a high school coach. Makes you wonder what the hell anyone at URI was thinking.
Lamar was still on the search committee. If everyone knew he wasn't coming back,
then this makes the charade of Jerry D's hire, an unethical conspiracy.
I don't see how in reality, Sonny Vaccaro could keep coaches who
weren't affiliated with Adidas from applying for the job.
What was he going to do, threaten them with no sneakers?
Although, the pool of candidates for a team coming off three straight NCAAs
was pretty weak.

My question to those who on this board who were close to these events. What were the boosters saying? Was everyone saying to keep Harrick? I'm only wondering because it seems strange Petro would take his offer off of the table and thus send Harrick packing. Did he do that alone, or were there others saying URI should rescind its offer to Harrick?

Nobody in their right mind wanted Harrick to leave.
This was Ron Petro at his worst. Maybe Muskrat was getting
buyer's regret, and went along. I do know that there was real anger
from the administration at that oddball press conference, that Harrick went back to Georgia.
As for Petro:
Same guy who let Skinner walk.
Same guy who hired Jerry D.
Same guy who hired Jim Baron.
Same guy who hired bad football coaches.
Same guy who presided over the demise of URI women's basketball.

rodfromcranston wrote:As for Petro:
Same guy who let Skinner walk.
Same guy who hired Jerry D.
Same guy who hired Jim Baron.
Same guy who hired bad football coaches.
Same guy who presided over the demise of URI women's basketball.

Nice guy though....

It's nice to have a pro AD now.

Petro shouldn't have been in charge, plain and simple. I was a student at URI at the end of his tenure, and I knew him. I thought he was plain dumb.

I remember going on bus trips to games.
Petro would sit in the front of the bus, with one of his
staff.
He made no effort to communicate with the followers who
were on the bus.
Always struck me as odd that he was amongst the people who in some
way supported the program, and he seemed to have very
little use for them.

My only regret in 98 was being in grad school and not being able to afford to travel for the NCAA Tournament with the team. Grad school paid off for me and I've been waiting ever since to travel to a tournament game. I hope every year we are called on selection Sunday. It has been a long 15 years of waiting.

I just googled Ron Petro because I really didn't know too much about him. Why did we hire him from Alaska Anchorage? That's quite a leap. I guess the big thing I took away from reading about where he came from was that he was in no way educated or experienced enough to run a big time college program. It says he "got" the Ryan Center built, but from my understanding it's more like the Ryan Center got built while Petro was the AD. Tom Ryan and Lincoln Almond got the Ryan Center built.

I believe he had something to do with the folks who created the Alaskan Shootout, which takes place at Univ A-A. i could be wrong.

He's proof positive that too much exposure to the cold can effect the brain.

URIGONZO wrote:I just googled Ron Petro because I really didn't know too much about him. Why did we hire him from Alaska Anchorage? That's quite a leap. I guess the big thing I took away from reading about where he came from was that he was in no way educated or experienced enough to run a big time college program. It says he "got" the Ryan Center built, but from my understanding it's more like the Ryan Center got built while Petro was the AD. Tom Ryan and Lincoln Almond got the Ryan Center built.

I think Jim Harrick got the Ryan Center built - Ryan and Almond deserve credit too but Harrick's success was the key - especially bringing in Lamar Odom.

It's a darn shame of all shames that Harrick left, Petro did not allow him to return once he changed his mind and we ended up with Jerry D. then CFL. My oh my oh my what Jim Harrick would have done with the Ryan Center. My guess is the place would have been sold out for many years.

It's called the Ryan Center for a reason. Actually, millions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ worth of reasons. Harrick's success made the Ryan Center a possibility. The Governor, Linc Almond, made it a probability. Almond has been the only state politician behind the University, except for John Pastore when he was Governor. As Senator, he and Pell, and to a certain extent, John Chafee (he with a link), helped to procure federal monies for URI's various research projects.

Doesn't Skinner get any credit for the
Ryan Center? I thought he was still coach in the early stages of the plan.

The AD is the linchpin for almost all the important decisions.

URI has had several AD's that seemed out of touch with reality at times.

Thank goodness for Thorr. He's not only a people person, but has a good handle on the big picture, and seems to work very well with Dooley.

That combo is SO important. If and when Thorr departs for greener pastures, we had better hope Dooley and co. bring in another guy who will continue the good work done so far. Same for a new BB coach when that time comes too.

In URI's case especially, having both the AD and President on the same page when it comes to the goals of the BB program, is just as if not more important than the guys running the program.

What a lot of people don't know is,
Jim Harrick personally lobbied legislators and
other officials to get the Ryan Center done.
He was like Buddy, in that he went to any group who would hear him,
to pitch the arena.
Skinner had nothing to do with the arena. I used to bug Petro about the arena, and
he'd kind of laugh it off.
It wasn't Skinner and it wasn't Petro.
Harrick provided the impetus on the court, Almond the political backing, and
Ryan, the money. A team effort.

Harrick was big time.

Petro was small time.

"Reaching for the stars with this hire", indeed. Result: Jim Baron.

Indeed NOT.

This won't be a popular opinion, but I wasn't a fan of Harrick.
Rather not have the whole lets trade corruption/infractions for success mentality. It reeks of old school RI "let's look the other way" b.s. that has caused this state oh so many problems over the years. When it comes to anything in life it's always best to do things well and do them well the right way. I hope Hurley can be the guy to do that. But, this is just my opinion, however unpopular.

Well, breaking the rules sure as hell worked for Jim Calhoun at UConn.
Doubt many would trade three NCAA Championships just to be squeaky clean.
Doubt many in Kentucky are worried about how clean Calipari is, as long as he wins.
It surely has nothing to do with Rhode Island..
An often quoted saying from SEC type football coaches is,
"IF you ain't cheatin, you ain't tryin."
Or to quote my hero Classy Freddie Blassie,
"Win if you can. Lose if you must. But always cheat!"

Sure Tom Ryan helped, sure Lincoln Almond helped. Sute it takes more than one person.
But to go back in History to really give the credit I go to Robert Corothers.

This one sentence in the article below from back when Jim Harrick was first hired says it all about who was the visionary.
"Carothers said the URI administration would like to see its basketball program grow in the manner of neighbors Massachusetts and Connecticut. He also acknowledged getting someone with Harrick's reputation could help convince state lawmakers to find money for an on-campus arena to replace small, old Keaney Gymnasium." ``I think just as UMass and UConn have demonstrated what a quality program can do to help them bring people to the campus, increase participation in the community, provide some resources they need, that may be the case for URI, too,'' he said.

Carothers had the nuts to hire Jim Harrick when most University President's didn't. Carothers took the gamble. Carothers had the vision that he even stated - no speculation - it's right there in black and white and everyone at the time knew it.

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1997/Rhode ... 70e24a52d0

Harrick then made it happen. With recruiting, Coaching, getting the most out of players who were already on the roster, building the team's reputation and on and on.
I will never forget ESPN Midnight Madness broadcast Nationally from in front of Keaney Gym and there was a tent set up and I was talking to Digger Phelps about URI. ESPN, Digger Phelps at URI preseason. October.

ESPN handled national exposure for Midnight Madness on October 17, 1997 as it aired live overnight reports from Duke, South Carolina, Rhode Island and Tennessee

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2190976 Jim Harrick listed as one of great Midnight Madness Moments when he crowd surfed at URI.

Carothers made the gutsy call to hire Jim Harrick in the first place after Al Skinner left for Boston College and the Big East for more money

Jim Harrick produced at URI in a huge, huge way

Plans were put in motion for a new arena

Tom Ryan, Lincoln Almond, etc then became enablers with the financing, approvals, etc.

Biggest mistake URI made was in not taking Harrick Back. Not only did we NOT get Harrick, but we GOT Jerry D, then CFL

For those of you who think that hiring Jim Harrick was a mistake made by Robert Carothers and URI, first of all you are making that observation way after the fact, second of all I can't even begin to fathom how that was ever a mistake by URI. It was a 100% right decision to hire Jim Harrick. One of URI's greatest decisions ever in the history of the school.

Ramster + infinity!

I'm with you Rod. I'm sure all those uconn fans are talking about being kept out the the big dance last season. Corruption only seems to come up when URI does well. Two of the dirtiest programs in NCAA history were in the finals last night. I wouldn't mind being in their shoes.

Justice certainly didn't prevail last night. Both should have lost.

Both shouldn't have been in the game at all.

Yes they were good, and lucky too.

Some people said we got what we deserved when we lost to Stanford 16 years ago, due to the Harrick and Odom deal. Sold our soul to the devil and paid for it, the line of thinking went.

Well how about these two teams?

I'm sure UConn is thinking right now, who cares how we got there?

There was no cheating involved in any way shape or form with our
1998 Elite 8 team.
Don't get the karma bullshit.
Calipari's karma is having his best accomplishments washed away by the NCAA,
until he got to Kentucky. Maybe.
So, Calhoun's cancer is karma for being a rule breaker? That's extreme.
To me, the bad guys seem impervious to justice in many cases.

I know there was no cheating involved with that team, Rod. It was more that we hired a guy that was fired due to the expense account thing at UCLA, and the questions surrounding bringing Odom in.

I had no problem with it though. When Skinner left, I wasn't happy at all about that, but hiring Harrick was a home run for us at the time.

Compared to UConn, the violations committed here under Jim were so minor compared to them.

Like I said before: Crime does pay for some. Life just ain't fair.

The worst part about Calhoun and Calipari, is not the rules they broke but the way they handled it. Neither took any responsibility, just blamed their assistants. Calhoun said the rule book was too thick for anyone to know the rules (can students in UConn's law school use the same excuse?). Derrick Rose's brother flew with the team to every road game, Calipari claimed he never saw him.

The thick rule book sounds like the Obamacare excuses being used. lol

Guys like Cal, Calhoun and Harrick cared about winning games ... period. No interest in academics or rules. April 1, 1999 was a brutal day for URI. But none of us envisioned 15 years of nothing on the horizon.

Ramblinrose wrote:Guys like Cal, Calhoun and Harrick cared about winning games ... period. No interest in academics or rules. April 1, 1999 was a brutal day for URI. But none of us envisioned 15 years of nothing on the horizon.

I am not naive in that I do not think there is minor cheating going on here and there. But these guys brought it to another level. And to me that is kind of sad because all three were great coaches that could have won without the cheating.

Some of it isn't blatant cheating as much as a disregard for academics. Some coaches and fans don't care if players learn a thing ... as long as they stay eligible. When I was at URI there were a few profs who were kind to players. If you entered a class and saw three players, you knew life was good. I think it is even obvious at UNC these days. And UNC is a very good state school.

rodfromcranston wrote:There was a 7 footer who went to Notre Dame

Croatian kid Ivan something. I think he transferred from Notre Dame to Purdue...or vice versa.

The. Harrick era convinced a lot of fans URI was now big time. It was Harrick who was big time. And URI replaced him with a guy who was a glorified AAU coach. I honestly think I could have won five games like Jerry. Roll the ball out and tell the kids to run wildly up and down.

The weirdest thing about the Jerry Duh error, was that he had good assistants.

Jones, Farmar, Blaney. Wish we had them now?

Farmer was never a Jerry D assistant. He was coaching Loyola,
which is why Harrick Jr. came here.
Jones and Blaney's resume dwarfed Jerry The Clowns, which made it
even more absurd that he was the head coach.
He couldn't hold the jock of either of those guys.

Oops, messed up about Farmar. He was the guy I wanted to replace Clownshoes.

How bad would Jerry have been minus Jones and Blaney?

Ramblinrose wrote:How bad would Jerry have been minus Jones and Blaney?

Wait, you mean its actually possible he could have been worse? Thats terrifying!

Kapono had a long NBA career. Cotton was a bust. Maybe it would have worked with Hartick. He was knocking around the D League a while back.

18 years ago today.

Yeah, how about we hear no news today.

The NCAA curse has been broken. Prior to this year, the Rams last visit to the NCAA was 1999. It is a new beginning in Kingston.

I saw this and panicked. Please don't do this to us old guys. That day was tough enough that then. Any
Mention of it isn't good

A day that will live in infamy in the memories of those
who were there.