Rant...

[tornado]

just a little followup...

remember - after his rant - center Davante Drinkard tweeted a few comments that were not complimentary of Barry Hinson - gotta wonder if it cost him in playing time...

up to that point Drinkard was starting and averaging 20 mpg...
then within a few games after that tweet - his playing time shrunk and continues to shrink as time goes on - now he's averaged just 10 mpg over the past month and a half including just TWO MINUTES last game...

[Da Coach]

I think it has more to do with production than anything he tweeted or said.
It's not as if Drinkard does anything to deserve playing time. He is a 6'9" tall, and 250+ pound senior- he ought to be able to dominate inside against most teams, especially in the Valley where there are several teams weak inside.

Yet in his senior season Drinkard is averaging just 2.7 ppg and an amazingly low 2.1 rebounds per game. Bola Olaniyan, a freshman with a heck of a lot more upside, is averaging 2.8 ppg and 4.3 rpg, more than double Drinkard. Olaniyan isn't a star, but if I was Barry Hinson, I'd rather develop a far more athletic post player in Olaniyan by giving him more minutes, than waste them on Drinkard who produces almost nothing.
By the way, Barry also has Ibby Djimde, the former Illinois center, sitting out and he'll have 2 years of eligibility starting next year. I think he could be a good player in the MVC.

[tornado]

.... if you are seen on the recruiting trail as a rebuilding mid-major, then you don't want this kind of publicity....
Barry can't be sending the signal that he treats the players as the problem, and that they don't have the right to an off-game without getting torn up or thrown under the bus publicly.....

saw an interesting discussion elsewhere...
it is well known that SIU has had two tremendous problems that last couple seasons - the massive exodus of players - even very good ones like Caroline, Lavender, Pendleton...
and the complete inability to bring in anyone of significance - forcing Barry to resort to the Geno-like trend of restocking with obscure juco kids every spring.
So .. could it be that this rant directly against his own players two years ago by Barry that was oddly praised by many in the media (even some of our locals) - has actually made it extremely difficult for him to connect with recruits and get any interest from decent players?
In other words - kids, unless desperate in the late spring with no DI offers, don't seem too warm about playing for Barry.
Just maybe that rant wasn't such a great idea after all.