Rice @ UCF: Post-game Review (L 66-69)

Apparently we are not a mirror of Davidson University. Jermaine Taylor looked like Stephen Curry last night, just without the minimal scoring help Curry gets. I understand that most of our players are playing their first year in college (Rompza, Tyler, Sosa, Gaynor, Weathers, Baez from last night), but were they this scared to shoot the ball in high school? I can’t imagine that Kirk would tell them NOT to shoot, so I’m not sure what they’re afraid of. Not one starter other than Jermaine took more than 5 shots last night. FIVE.

AJ Rompza had a rough game last night, getting in foul trouble early. I have to say, we need AJ Rompza in the game. He seems to be the only player out there that doesn’t play like he’s terrified and overmatched. He plays with intensity and confidence, and that is exactly the thing we need this year. Our gears of our offense seem to grind to an immediate stop whenever Rompza comes out of the game. No one on our team has the speed or will to drive to the hole and either go up for the layup or kick it out for a shot.

Part of the deficit we incurred through most of the game had to do with our perimeter defense, the other part came from Rice’s incredible three point shooting. To begin the first half Rice had open shots on three pointers innumerous times, and nailed just about all of them. When we actually started to get a hand in the face of shooters, they STILL hit shots. I saw at least two incredible fadeaway shots sink from beyond the arc, and for that I will give Rice their props.

One other side-effect of having no one to drive to the hoop or play strong inside (plus a few terrible “no calls” by the officials), is a huge lack of foul shots. Jermaine shot 12 for 13 from the line, that’s awesome. No one else on our team took a foul shot last night. Not a single player. Seems like an issue to me.

Opening Day 2009

Get out your caps, sunflower seeds, and big league chew ladies and gentlemen. Baseball season begins now.

The Knights baseball team starts a new regime tomorrow with a new attitude: one team, one hope, one goal. Coach Rooney leads the way for UCF in his first season as a head coach, moving over from pitching coach of last year’s Omaha-bound LSU tigers. I’ve attended a scrimmage or two so far and from what I can tell, Rooney is an incredible motivator with a need for precision, timing, and discipline. Rooney has already convinced his group of players that they can get to Omaha, and he’s well on his way to convincing me.

I really hope I’m not the only one excited for this year’s baseball squad. We bring back a healthy Kiko Vazquez for his senior year, one of the most hyped power hitters in the nation as a junior. We also bring back Chris “Duffman” Duffy, another powerful cog in our lineup. Duffman is only a junior this year, and still has room to improve his batting average. In order to improve the defense this year, Duffy has been moved to left field where his strong arm can still be utilized, and Shane Brown has moved to third base. Shane is a smaller player, much more suited to the quickness needed to snag line drives at third.

Kyle Sweat will get the opening day start, a great honor for him as a senior. He will most likely be followed by Autstin Hudson on Saturday and freshman D.J. Hicks on Sunday. Caleb Graham will round out the series on Monday.

We lost some good talent last year to the draft and graduation, but here at UCF we don’t have a flop season when that happens, we simply reload.

Say it with me people: OMAHA!

Tony Davis, you’re outta here!

Photo Credits: Brandon Helwig, UCFSports.com

That’s right. In case you haven’t heard Mr. Tony Davis has been shut down for the remainder of the season. According to the UCFAA, Davis is ineligible to compete due to direct violations of University and Athletics policies.

It appears he violated similar policies last year when he was suspended as well. Tony has been suspended for the semester, and most likely has played his last game in a Knights uniform. I really want to be aggravated at Tony for doing this (Whatever this is) to the team, but at the same time, I hope he can work out his issues and, at the very least, finish earning his degree.

What this means for UCF:

This is a devastating loss to the program, absolutely wrecking any real chance at post season play. It does mean, however, we will see more A.J. Tyler, PJ Gaynor, Jean Michel Yotio, and even the Polish Hammer himself. It can’t be stressed enough how much this loss hurts the team, Tony Davis was having an absolutely stellar year, and now, most likely will never play basketball again for UCF. Truly unfortunate, as he was the most dominant big man on the team.

Time to step it up, Tyler.

AJ Rompza: I am Legend

First, you had Kirk Gibson's miraculous pinch-hit homerun, then there was the “Flu game,” after that was the bloody sock, well now you can add the “wounded Knight” to the list of courageous moments in sports history.

Ok. So this wasn’t for a national championship, or even a conference championship. And sure, UCF vs. Tulsa doesn’t necessarily make headlines across the nation. That’s just fine. What we witnessed on February 14^th was nothing short of audacious. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m talking about AJ Rompza coming off the bench, feeling less than 80% and playing 31 minutes of amazing, real basketball.

The Knights, coming off a 3 game losing streak, found themselves down by 17 points with just 11 minutes remaining, but after a little bit of motivating from 'Bluto' Blutarsky, UCF mustered up the strength to mount one of the greatest comebacks in school history. And while the scorecard will show Jermaine Taylor with 35 points, it can’t show you how big Rompza played this night; they just haven’t come up with a stat that measures the heart of a leader. What you can’t see is AJ’s high-octane, nonstop agility that physically wears defenses down, mentally frustrates even the best defender, and extends plays long enough to find the open shot. AJ Rompza is a senior trapped in a freshmen’s body.

Now, for the story.

For the last 10 days, AJ Rompza has been forced into a cheerleading role on the sidelines. Suffering an ankle sprain that hadn’t even allowed him to practice for the Tulsa game, sitting on the sidelines may have been the most painful part of the injury. “To not be able to play is so hard because I want to be out there encouraging everyone. It's so hard from the bench” Rompza said in an interview with Brandon Helwig, of UCFSports.com.

AJ Rompza is the Derek Jeter of UCF sports. Charismatic, confident, and certainly not afraid to jump into the stands, especially if it’s to reverse the momentum. Are you done laughing? Continue if you want, I mean, I did just compare a 5-9 160 pound college freshman to a New York Yankee legend, and earlier, to maybe the most obnoxious pitcher of this era, one of the finest hitters in baseball history, and one of the greatest NBA players in the history of the league. All legends in their time. And here we have AJ Rompza, again. Time for me to defend myself.

Come, jump into the way back machine with me for a moment.

First stop, October 19, 2004-Game 6 ALCS. Curt Schilling pitches lights out baseball in the biggest do or die game in his career, all this with a torn tendon in his ankle and medical procedure that probably belongs in the middle ages. His strength to go out and pitch with the pain he had to deal with helped motivate and rally his team to clinch the game, and eventually the series.

Next up, June 11^th, 1997–Game 5 NBA Finals. The “flu game.” Michael Jordan was noticeably ill, weak, fatigued and dehydrated. Yet, he walked out on to that court, put up 38 points and helped will the Bulls to a 90-88 victory.

One last stop, October 15^th, 1998- Game 1 World Series. Kirk Gibson could hardly walk, let alone swing a bat, Tommy Lasorda needed a big hit, and the team needed the big run. It’s rumored that Gibson was in such pain in both legs that he was grimacing and nearly collapsing after every swing. Gibson steps to the plate, hits the game winning 2 run homerun. Dodgers go on to win the World Series. Kirk Gibson’s heroic at bat is one of the greatest highlights in sports history.

Saturday night, player introductions. No Rompza. Kirk wasn’t sure he could handle the stress of a full game on his bad ankle. Hell, even AJ wasn’t sure he could handle it, but he knew he wanted it, and he knew his teammates needed him. And like every great star before him, he made sure he got into the game. And like every great star, with the clock ticking down five. Four. Three. He knew he wanted the ball in his hands. Two. He knew he wanted to take the last shot. One.

Silence.

You have just witnessed the birth of a legend.

-Vin

Tulsa @ UCF: Post-game Review (W 74-72)

Matt's game notes:

I’m not sure what it is about Tulsa University, but when they come to town, both teams come to play hard. This game just cemented itself in my top two games of all time, only behind the triple overtime thriller against Tulsa at home last year. Let me start this off with a big props to Jermaine Taylor: To anyone who accused Jermaine of being “not clutch”, he ran off 13 straight points last night to bring us back to an 8 point deficit. He banged down three 3 pointers to get the crowd back on their feet, and hit all of his free throws during the 13 point run. There were PLENTY of NBA scouts there tonight to see his performance, but I’ll get back to that later.

There is one man I would never want to play basketball against, simply because of his passion and effort level in the game. Kenrick Zondervan is downright scary when he gets his head on right and his adrenaline pumping. He played incredibly well last night and did his job almost flawlessly. He got the ball inside and backed his man down for some nice layups off the glass. He had a couple of travelling calls on him, but he made up for it later. The best part of his performance last night, and probably the biggest factor on our win, was his ability to get Jerome Jordan in foul trouble early. Jerome had two fouls by the 15 minute mark in the first half and played very sparingly until the 2^nd half. Z finished the game with 18 points, just short of his season high 19 against ECU.

NBA Scouts: There were quite a few scouts in attendance last night to see both Jerome Jordan and our own Jermaine Taylor. At the media table in front of us there were three men we were able to confirm as scouts: One from the Los Angeles Lakers, one from the Detroit Pistons, and one from the Orlando Magic (the same scout from last time). As some of you know, most of the scouts from the NBA are friendly with each other and have met each other before, like most sports talent scouts. In addition to these three, there were 4 more men who sat next to and between them, all talking and seemingly taking notes. They also left the game all at the same time. Putting all of this together, we can only assume that the additional 4 men were scouts as well.

Some of the things we were able to get off the notes:

· On JT: Doesn’t always get back on defense immediately after a rebound

· On JT: Started slow, but is catching fire late

· On JT: His shot release is too low (which he later erased once Jermaine started hitting his 3s)

· On Jerome: Doesn’t do much to stop the pass inside.

Class of 2009 Recruiting Review

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George O’Leary and Company had some tough obstacles to overcome this season, starting with the tragic death of Ereck Plancher, the media backlash that followed, and then ending with off-season rumors that O’Leary was going to be fired. Thankfully, the coaching staff was able to move forward and pull in a heck of a class and may have some surprises still lurking over the next week or so.

It should also be mentioned, before I delve into the recruiting class. UCF has one of the best recruiters in the country, definitely one of the best not in the Auto-bid conferences. Coach David Kelly recruited 10 players in this year’s class, and we should all be thankful for his hard work. You can read more about Coach Kelly and where he sits among the best recruiters in the country here.

This recruiting class is pretty exciting, I must say.

Let’s get right to it with Matt's player choices:

S/LB Jonathan Davis (5’9” 205) – I’m already loving this kid. He was recruited by Coach Kelly and originally committed to Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks. Somehow the cocks revealed a mistake they made in counting their scholarships and had to revoke Jonathan’s offer, leaving him high and dry late in the recruiting game. Coach Kelly and Coach O’Leary were quick to schedule an in-home visit with Jonathan and reiterated their scholarship offer to him and he made his decision. I think Jonathan knows he has something to prove, both to South Carolina and many other coaches that strayed away from him due to his size. He’ll prove to be a great asset in the very near future.

It’s been rumored that Jonathan would be playing Safety and returning kicks for the Knights, a great fit for his build and speed. Jonathan is listed as running a 4.4 second forty yard dash, incredible for a guy with his weight and at the linebacker position. Jonathan is a perfect replacement in our defensive backfield for our beloved Jason “The Hammer” Venson. Both are a bit lacking in the height department but make up for it in speed and hitting ability (Jason was 5-11 211 for those of you who don’t know). It blows my mind that Davis has the ability to get his body (which was listed at 200, 205, and 210 on the three different sources I checked) up to speed quickly enough to run just as fast as Josh Robinson, a kid who weighs 30 pounds less and is a much leaner build. I see Jonathan being Venson-like with better coverage ability and a few more interceptions.

Quick note: In my opinion, as long as Jonathan can keep grades, he’ll be the stud of this recruiting class (yes, better than Robinson.)

Highlight tape: Jonathan lays a good hit at the 2 minute mark as well as the 2:40 mark. If you want to see his blazing speed, check the last play of the tape.

S Jarrett Swaby (6’1” 180) – If you keep up with this blog, eventually you’ll learn about my love of Palm Beach County high school sports. Jarrett is from Glades Day High School, straight out of the depths of The Muck.

I doubt Jarrett was one of the infamous kids chasing rabbits along the cane-line. His forty time is a bit slower than I’d like, listed at 4.68, but he’s got a great build (An article in the Sun-Sentinel has it listed at 4.54, definitely more respectable). He’s very strong to the ball and sheds blocks well. Best of all, he’s another kid who seems to love knocking the snot out of receivers. In order to make up for his slight lack of speed, he takes great routes to the ball and has a knack for timing interceptions. If you watch his highlight tape he seems to have the ability to stop ballcarriers in their tracks when he throws that body into them (There’s a nice hit at the 44 second mark too).

Quick note: Jarrett will compete for a first or second string job by his junior year if not his sophomore year. We just lost a great defensive backfield, but this recruiting class should make up for that in two years or less.

Some of Vin’s favorite recruits:

-Josh Robinson, 4* ATH; Recruited by Coach Godsey:

Offers: UCF, South Carolina, USF, Michigan, and FIU

Skinny: He’s the definition of a playmaker. Robinson played WR/DB/KR in high school; and he played each position very well. His forty time clocks in at 4.4 seconds, and with training, he has the ability to break into the 4.3 second mark.

Favorite quote: “I love contact, I tell people to come at me high, that’s why I love playing on defense.” – Josh Robinson

What he means for UCF:

I’m not going to jump the gun and call him the second coming of Joe Burnett, but Josh will be replacing Burnett in the secondary, and most likely on special teams. He has all the intangibles you look for in a CB, and with good coaching and discipline, he should make an impact sooner, rather than later. If I didn’t make it clear, Josh Robinson, as long as he performs in practice, will be a starting DB fresh out the gate.

I said I wasn’t going to jump the gun, but just for fun:

· Joe Burnett back in 2005; 2* recruit:

o 5’10” 175 pounds, and ran a 4.5 forty.

· Josh Robinson; 4* recruit:

o 5’10” 178 pounds, and runs a 4.4 forty.

Oh, and Joe Burnett graduated UCF with a BA in Criminal Justice. Josh Robinson wants to major in Criminal Justice. I’M JUST SAYING.

Next up on the recruiting list for me is Renato Cunha,

-Renato Cunha, 2* OG [That’s Offensive Guard, not Original Gangsta]; Recruited by Coach Kelly.

Offers:UCF, USF and Vanderbilt

Skinny: A 6’3” 300 pound beast of an 18 year old. Renato has the heart of a competitor. If you haven’t had the chance to read about him, or any of his quotes, you MUST check out Brandon Helwig’s [UCFSports.com] article about Renato, which you can read here, if you have a membership to The Dungeon.

Favorite quote: "We're really determined to put UCF back at the top of the conference. We're going to work really hard this offseason to get it done. UCF will be back. We're not here to lose anymore. No excuses." –Renato Cunha, to Brandon Helwig

What he means for UCF:

Renato is coming to UCF, unsure if he will play Center or a Guard position, but he is enrolled for spring semester so he will have a whole extra semester of practice to go through, which will provide him with excellent experience and a great chance at early playing time. He has the personality of a leader, and that alone excites me about Renato. I love competitors, and while we always rely on star rankings, leadership and passion can never be judged by how many stars a player is ranked. I’ll be first in line for the Cunha jersey.

The last two guys I’m going to comment on are the North Miami Beach Duo.

-Nico Flores, 3* Quarterback; Recruited by Coach Kelly

Offers: FIU, WMU, Mississippi State, USF

-Kemal Ishmael 2* Athlete; Recruited by Coach Kelly

Offers: FIU, WMU, West Virginia

(Not so) Skinny: These two were the center of quite the recruiting circus this year, with multiple articles and “sources” saying they committed to Western Michigan just before national signing day. I don’t want to get into specifics with the recruiting happenings around them, but I will give a brief synopsis.

Western Michigan and North Miami Beach Coach, Jeff Bertani, have built quite the pipeline over the years. WMU is already the home of 9 NMB alumni, and from what I hear, it was very close to 11 with Nico and Kemal. Bertani told many lies to the kids, including telling the kids that Keith Tribble was basically “misleading” them. For reasons like this, Coach Bertani has burned many bridges with many Universities. Don’t let me be misunderstood though, Nico and Kemal WANT to be here at UCF, and we’re fortunate to have them.

Favorite Quote: “I see that they’re real, they don’t lie. They are honest and told me the one thing they can promise me is an education. I won’t go to a big school just because it’s a big school; education comes first for me so that’s important.” –Nico Flores

What they mean to UCF:

Nico adds instant depth to the QB position with UCF having just Rob Calabrese and Joe Weatherford on the QB depth chart [In case you missed it, Michael Greco is now playing Safety]. It seems like Nico has a great head on his shoulders, his Junior season he led NMB to a 12-1 record, but only went 6-5 his senior year, and he took a lot of the blame for it. He told Scout.com that he “didn’t give all of my effort. When we got down I didn’t give my teammates confidence and that’s a mistake I’ll never make again. Even if we are down by 57 points I will be rallying my teammates until the very end.” Nico is a playmaker, and while I don’t expect him to compete for early playing time, I do expect him to challenge for the starting role, eventually.