Friday Email Bag

by Mickey Plyler - Radio Host - Fri Mar 27 09:52:38 GMT-04:00 2015

Friday Email Bag

Each Friday I publish your comments and answer your questions. To submit a comment or questions please email me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com.

Mickey,

I live in Phoenix Arizona and have been watching the Herb Sendek scenario play out at Arizona State and it struck me how similar Clemson and ASU actually are. Both schools have a young energetic football coach who has their programs trending in a very positive direction. Both schools struggle with attendance at basketball games and have traditionally not had great success in Basketball. To me, both Sendek and Brownell coach a very fundamental based, boring brand of basketball. What is not the same (or maybe is) is that ASU has finally had enough and fired Sendek while Clemson seems adamant to stick with Brownell. For comparison sake, here are their resumes at their current schools:

Sendek: 9 seasons, 155-133, 2 NCAA’s, 4 NIT’s, 5 20 win seasons

Brownell: 5 seasons, 90-73, 1 NCAA (with Purnell’s guys), 1 NIT, 2 20 win seasons

I sure hope we don’t follow ASU’s lead and stick with mediocrity for another 4 seasons. Clemson needs an energetic coach (like Rick Barnes was) with an exciting brand of basketball (like Purnell to a degree) in order to bring fans back in.

AZTiger

AZTiger,

I can appreciate your comparisons and in many ways it makes sense. One major difference is the in-state rival of Arizona State is one of the best programs in the country. I am sure the folks at ASU look at Arizona and wonder why they can't do the same. But your comparisons make sense. We will see how the Sun Devils do with their hire and their future success.

Mickey,

I read your Good News/Bad News article today and it made me think about our baseball program in comparison to FSU. Some have said that the game of baseball has passed Leggett by. If there is truth in that, what has FSU and Mike Martin done that has made them a top 5 team? Is it his management style? Is it the assistant coaching? Is it recruiting? You'd think that if the game has passed by Leggett, it surely would have Mike Martin. This might be a good article to right comparing the two programs after the regular season is complete.

Thanks.

Patrick

Patrick,

I don't think the game has passed Jack LeggettJack Leggett
Baseball Head Coach
View Full Profile by. The difference is Martin has recruited better at FSU. They have better players. I don't know enough about Martin's assistants but they are doing something right. It is clear FSU has a better program than Clemson at this point.

Mickey,

Is the spring game not going to be shown on TV this year. I saw a list on Bleacher Report and they showed the date and time but said no TV. Please tell me that some network has picked it up as I will be out of town and can’t attend this year.

Brad

Brad,

I have not seen anything about a telecast for the spring game. I don't know of any TV at this point.

Hello Mickey,

Today I heard "Larry Nance, Jr." was playing for Larry Shyatt at Wyoming, a team in the Big Dance.. We all know about Jerian Grant at ND. Why can't BB recruit these great legacy players? Just think about a team with Nance, Jr., Jerain Grant and KJ. That team would be a force in the ACC and the NCAA.

Also, does BB use the recruiting capability of the football recruiting office of Thad Turnipseed? Does Dabo share that office's capability or is it exclusively for football.

Thanks.

KptTiger

KptTiger,

Larry Nance was not a highly rated prospect. Not many schools felt he would turn out the way he did. Jerian Grant is Harvey's son and Harvey ended up at Oklahoma. Maybe Oklahoma needs to ask why they didn't sign Jerian.

Basketball recruiting is so different than football. They only recruit a handful of prospects. Football has more than six times the scholarships, so they recruit many more players. There is a big need for a recruiting staff in football but I don't know of any schools that do this in basketball.

Mickey,

Mickey, I really enjoy your blog and read it most every day, knowing you to be an orange bleeding Clemson fan. I hated to read your blog titled The Standard. Like you, I am always disappointed when my Tigers do not win every game they play and I am very frustrated with the current state of the basketball and baseball.

Dabo did not establish the standard of best at Clemson. That was done by Frank Howard, RC Edwards, and many others before them. Clemson is not about mediocrity. Clemson University has the mission to develop excellence in everyone that chooses to seek an education here. Excellence at Clemson is to win on the field, win in the classroom, win in life beyond education and to represent that excellence throughout your life. You can tell a Clemson man just by looking.

Often times, the character of men is developed more in losing than in winning, but winning is the standard. Dabo has built on what Tommy BowdenTommy Bowden
Head Coach
View Full Profile did. Tommy built on what was done before him. The football program is not perfect and it's leadership will be the first to tell us that they have not achieved excellence. They still lose games and still have players that do not always live up to what we expect. But, they are setting the pace toward the standard at Clemson on the field and in the classroom.

Because you have a large audience, you can never allow the doubts of mediocrity to seep into your blog and radio show. Those seeds weaken and reduce the expectations. Use your pulpit to hold the university and it's leadership to the standards that we all expect. Praise the efforts and the process, but remember the standard is to graduate all the players with a meaningful education, win all the games and to proudly wear the paw for the rest of your life!!

Jan

Jan,

I loved your email. I love the enthusiasm. I don't want to lower expectations either. Thanks for an excellent email.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

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