OU bball fans helping recruit, can you believe it

[Collier11]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/b...x?column_id=12

The switch has finally been flipped at Lloyd Noble
4/23/2009 8:30:31 PM



I spoke with the three assistants who have been with Jeff Capel since his arrival at Oklahoma for a story I wrote around NCAA tournament time. All three talked of the stunning change that has taken place at OU in three years, both on the court and in the stands.

Mark Cline, Capel's old friend, said: "Our first year here, everybody talked about 'Upgrade your nonconference schedule and we'll show up.' Well, we played Villanova on ESPN, and we probably had 3,000 people here. The stat sheet may have said 5,500, but if you counted bodies, it was closer to 3,000. And they were a top-15 basketball team at the time.

"Things have changed since then."

The Lloyd Noble Center, which provides a menacing homecourt advantage when fans care enough to pack the place, had its best year in a long time last season. And if you don't believe OU's staff, or the attendance figures, listen to what T.J. Taylor has to say.

The Denison (Texas) High guard gave the Sooners their first verbal commitment of the recruiting season earlier this week. Here's what he told his hometown paper, the Herald Democrat, about attending the OU-Texas game in Norman last January:

"The arena was crazy. I wanted to go play right then and there."

Taylor, by the way, hinted there was a package deal in the works with another Texas prep hot shot, Cameron Clark.

"We've talked about it a lot," Taylor told the Herald Democrat. "If we're comfortable with the same place, then we'll do it."

OU's place helped sell Taylor. That might lead the Sooners to Clark. Homecourt advantage, alright.

[tommieharris91]

But the LNC is why OU will never ever be good at basketball and never get 5* recruits... :confused:

[Collier11]

fo sho, still disappointing as hell when fans are leaving with 5 min left but gettin better

[badger]

I must say, when our fans show up, they don't show up for gawl darn tea party like some other schools. If they're at the game, they really get into it!

I think all of our teams love playing in front of crowds of OU fans and not just crowds of their overbearing parentals. Reading OU athlete blogs occasionally, it seems like our athletes remember games with the big ol' crowds more than any other games.

EDIT: And OU BETTER keep the "season tix are free if you attend most of the games" policy. There's no better way to build alumni support than to get them hooked to the game while they're still in college.

[NormanPride]

Now it just needs to be a habit. Ironic that the first season in a while that I haven't been able to make a game is the first season in forever where we have good attendance.

[OUmillenium]

Same story here NormanPride. I need to get to some games next year.

[soonervegas]

Just to clarify, with all due respect to Mr.Cline, there were about 5,500 fans at the Villanova game (I was one) and if I am correct it was a 6:00 pm game. They were BEGGING for a bad turnout with that start time.

I love to pile on OU's lack of basketball enthusiasm like the next guy, but that game was not a good example.

[badger]

If they had the student ticket policy in 2007-08 that they had in 2008-09, then they would have had a larger Villanova game crowd. Just sayin'...

[Sooner04]

Just to clarify, with all due respect to Mr.Cline, there were about 5,500 fans at the Villanova game (I was one) and if I am correct it was a 6:00 pm game. They were BEGGING for a bad turnout with that start time.

I love to pile on OU's lack of basketball enthusiasm like the next guy, but that game was not a good example.
And what would the attendance be at an OU football game played on a Tuesday night in Guymon? Full.

We've got crappy fans for everything but football. The team wasn't any good, so the fans didn't show up. I was at that Villanova game, and it was one of the sadder things I've ever seen. There might have been 5,000 people there.

[starclassic tama]

what is wrong with a 6:00 p.m. start? don't the vast majority of athletic events start around 6-8 p.m.?

[badger]

what is wrong with a 6:00 p.m. start?

The same thing that is wrong with 11 a.m. start times in football - fans don't like it and prefer later start times.

My guess is that Joe C. chose 6 p.m. for the same reason for 11 a.m. start times in football -- for national television.

[OUstud]

One request: should they keep the student rebate policy (please), they need to replace the seats there with bleachers. Getting to basketball games an hour early is not as much fun as football, and it gets annoying when you have 7 people with you and like 5 seats in a row or something...

[Collier11]

what is wrong with a 6:00 p.m. start? don't the vast majority of athletic events start around 6-8 p.m.?

The same thing happened for the usc game this year, 6pm starts create big problems for fans.

For one, many fans live in OKC, Edmond, Tulsa, etc...I live in Norman and barely made it to the game this year on time due to work.

[the_ouskull]

Getting old now, myself... I understand youse guys who are out of the OKC area, or even Edmond, who, for a 7:00 p.m. or later tipoff, are looking at getting home around 11:00 p.m. If you have kids, then make that a bedtime of about 12:30, maybe even 1:00 a.m. If you don't, then you're looking at a midnight bedtime at the latest. Anything after that's your fault anyway...

So, I guess what I'm saying is, for the games you can't make, offer to sell your tickets to those who CAN make it. Give 'em away to cousins, nieces, nephews, etc... who are of driving age, and would enjoy them. Something. Just keep the butts in the seats.

...that goes for you too, donors. I think it'd be worth it to hire someone (me) to police the donor sections and figure out who uses their tickets, and who allows them to be used, and who doesn't bother. It's a public place, so part of their ticket purchase agreement is the right to be photographed, etc...

"Yes, I'd like to renew my season tickets again this year."
- "I'm sorry sir/ma'am, but we can't do that."
"Why not?"
- "You only attended 2 of the 15 home games, sir/ma'am, and only had the courtesy to send someone in your place three times, but we later learned that the third one was just an upgrader from the student section; God, we hate our students - so really only two times."
"How do you know that?"
- "Since you are no longer a season ticket holder, sir/ma'am, we do not have to disclose that information. When you pick a Sooner sport to support, stick with it. Boomer, and God Bless."

Who WOULDN'T want that job? Besides, the fans would get younger, the place would get more-rockin'er... which isn't even a f*cking word! It would be like... like... a "real" basketball progr...

I'm sad to report that we're almost always going to have "those" fans, because "those" fans are the ones that are spending their money to be seen, not heard. "Not a cable game? We'll watch it at home. ESPN? Honey, let's go to the game!"

I hate those fans. I mean, in basketball. I like them in football, because there's always someone waiting in line from the bandwagon. Maybe Stoops can find a way to win another one so that we can actually see if we can break the spokes on the bandwagon. That'd be super sweet.

the_ouskull

[badger]

The REAL solution perhaps might be to give older fans a more country club atmosphere like Owen Field has in some areas and provide the louder, more involved atmosphere for students and younger fans.

I know that adding things like luxury suites and a club level would be difficult under the current LNC setup... but hey, it might be possible if you add onto the Makkyland Fieldhouse.

Yes, I would be in favor of a move back to campus. :)

Yes, I also realize that would never happen. :(

[NMSooner'80]

I also enjoy the fact that a great talent from Lower Durant (Denison, Texas) is coming north, and there's another great talent just south of him in Sherman. That's about as close to Norman as you can get, and still be in Texas. And the media around there, since it also serves Ardmore, Ada and Durant, is pretty OU-friendly, I'd imagine (unlike that cretin in Wichita Falls at the paper and a TV guy at the ABC affiliate in Amarillo).