Barry seemed way more relaxed and engaging than he was last year at this event. He had the crowd laughing several times and seems to have a certain confidence about him. Ben Arnet was trying to give him kudos for his 10-2 record in November during his tenure, but Barry acknowledged they had to find a way to get off to a better start so he said he changed every calendar in the football facilities so that every month is titled November. His impression of Cuonzo was the highlight though.
Cuonzo was not shy about saying he believes Dru Smith is as good as any guard in the league and possibly the country. Seemed really excited about the development of XP, Watson, and Pickett, along with the arrival of talented freshman. He said he isn't necessarily saying he's the exact same player, but Cuonzo compared Kobe Brown to Draymond Green and sees him as someone that can guard 1-5 and can be versatile offensively. To wrap up, Cuonzo made a point to say while all of the previously mentioned stuff will help the program, next year's ceiling rests on the shoulders of Jeremiah Tilmon. Cuonzo flat out said we'll go as far as he can take us, which isn't a shock to most of us on this board.
The star of the night was probably Brian Smith, head wrestling coach. He was hilarious and his description of what Tiger Style actually means and what it instills in his wrestlers, it made me pretty proud to have him in black and gold. During the Q&A at the end, one guy raised his hand and instead of asking a question, he took a moment to thank Brian for what he had done for his son. His son never won a state championship in high school and had offers from Princeton and Stanford, but he knew he wanted to wrestle for Brian Smith. Brian turned him into an All-American and the kid now has two degrees and working on his MBA. Pretty cool moment to see a parent publicly acknowledge a coach for having such a beneficial impact on their kid.
Cuonzo was not shy about saying he believes Dru Smith is as good as any guard in the league and possibly the country. Seemed really excited about the development of XP, Watson, and Pickett, along with the arrival of talented freshman. He said he isn't necessarily saying he's the exact same player, but Cuonzo compared Kobe Brown to Draymond Green and sees him as someone that can guard 1-5 and can be versatile offensively. To wrap up, Cuonzo made a point to say while all of the previously mentioned stuff will help the program, next year's ceiling rests on the shoulders of Jeremiah Tilmon. Cuonzo flat out said we'll go as far as he can take us, which isn't a shock to most of us on this board.
The star of the night was probably Brian Smith, head wrestling coach. He was hilarious and his description of what Tiger Style actually means and what it instills in his wrestlers, it made me pretty proud to have him in black and gold. During the Q&A at the end, one guy raised his hand and instead of asking a question, he took a moment to thank Brian for what he had done for his son. His son never won a state championship in high school and had offers from Princeton and Stanford, but he knew he wanted to wrestle for Brian Smith. Brian turned him into an All-American and the kid now has two degrees and working on his MBA. Pretty cool moment to see a parent publicly acknowledge a coach for having such a beneficial impact on their kid.
