Opening Press Conference;
Dean: It's with great pleasure that we introduce Duke Nilnil as the new head coach of CN. **We have a breaking update** Coach Duke has so far proven me to be a smart Dean/AD in hiring him as the early reports are that CN just laneded the Number 7 recruiting class in the country. Coach Duke...
Duke: Thank Dean Wormer. It's an honor and a privilege to coach at CN and in this wonderful conference. I'd like to give a state of the program. As you are well aware, CN has never made the NT, nor finished with an RPI above 84. I intend to change that. My first order of business was surveying the returning student athletes. The Sophomore class looks solid thanks to the efforts of my predecesor Twiddlebug. Zigmund will develop a nice outside shot and Hale, although a project, has some great potential to be a defensive and rebounding force down low for us. Chai will also provide some solid interior play the next few seasons. That said, to paraphrase the younger Coach Knight, this might be the worst group of seniors I've ever coached. They have heart, but little talent.
On the bright side, the coaching staff is very excited about the incoming class. I've told the class, and I'll tell you the fans, that I fully expect this incoming class to break the NT ceiling and be fully competitive in conference play by their senior year if not before. A word about the incoming players:
Kokocinski: Koko is our senior transfer. He will provide instant leadership, coming from a successful program and help solidfy the interior this year. We are fortunate to have him on our team.
Kane: He was hotly recruited in conference as you heard. We are fortunate to have him as well. Although he is fairly raw right now, as our most of our freshman, he has the potential to be top notch scoring point guard with solid defense. He will be handed the team from day 1.
Conlan: He is a bit of a project. He is freakishly athletic and we project him as a SF rather than his HS position of SG. He will be a lockdown defender and has great growth potential for athleticism and speed.
Wedgeworth: Our other guard recruit. He will share the ballhandling duties with Kane and should be a speedster to matchup with the faster teams. We have high hopes for his shooting touch, but will be a while before it developes
Blankenship: Our anchor down low. He should develop nicely and become more athletic and a superior rebounder and defender. We are cautiously optimistic he can become a scoring threat from inside and outside as well. Our trainers will be hard on him as he comes with a tag of being lazy, but we hope to incentivize his work ethic
Burns: Another player with good upside for ahtleticism and rebounding and scoring, but maybe a little lazy on defense. He could become a scoring machine if he can close up his defensive holes
Jones: Jones has skills for days but lacks some speed and top level athleticism. with hardwork, he will find himself a nice spot in the rotation.
We had one overarching goal this year. Get more athletic and we think we have acomplished that. All of our players have great growth in that area. We will no longer be a team that is simply outplayed on athleticism. This is an exciting time to be a CN fan. Buy your season tickets now because they will be a hard sought item soon.
To close, let me just reiterate how excited I am to be coaching at a school and a conference that takes its basketball program seriously. The administration has already shown me they will spare no expense in making CN relevant. Oh, and it's great to see a familiar face in Kmann here, whom I battled frequently in the ODAC conference.