Rodney Hood

[75Fan]

Rodney Hood, son of Racer standout Ricky Hood is being recruited heavily.

U of L is showing interest in Rodney.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100726/SPORTS11/307260081/1002/sports/Recruiting+Insider+|+IU+commit+Austin+Etherington+hopes+low+rating+stays+in+Vegas

Story is halfway down the page.

Reading about Rodney brought back fond memories of watching Ricky throwing down thunder-dunks at old Racer Arena.

[cowboyracer43]

Rodney Hood, son of Racer standout Ricky Hood is being recruited heavily.. . .Reading about Rodney brought back fond memories of watching Ricky throwing down thunder-dunks at old Racer Arena.

It brought back some not so fond memories, too. Like when Rod's older brother became infatuated witrh Jeff Lebo at TTech and then at UTC. It took awhile to allow myself to be convinced thar "T" was right when he told us that a "better" prospect from Florida was coming to Murray. Spoon, as it turned out, gave us some pleasant memories, too. Since Rod is a "legacy," I would love to see him in a Racer uniform.

[runningracer]

I don't know where he is going to go, but I hope he doesn't choose Louisville. Pitino is not the coach he once was because he is too into himself. He no longer makes his players better. He takes players with a lot of talent and coaches them, but he has ruined several players over the last few years, who had talent, but he didn't have the patience to develop it, and appears to be more interested in promoting himself, than his players. I used to think he was the best in the business, but what I've seen lately shows that he is using his players to keep his job.

[Dan]

I don't know where he is going to go, but I hope he doesn't choose Louisville. Pitino is not the coach he once was because he is too into himself. He no longer makes his players better. He takes players with a lot of talent and coaches them, but he has ruined several players over the last few years, who had talent, but he didn't have the patience to develop it, and appears to be more interested in promoting himself, than his players. I used to think he was the best in the business, but what I've seen lately shows that he is using his players to keep his job.

I haven't seen any fundamental changes in Pitino's coaching over time. Like most coaches, his teams do well when he has talent. He has recruited a few players who did not mature as players. You can fault him for that. An example was D. Character. The best thing he could have done for Character was to let him go. Nothing else was going to get his attention. After sitting out a year and transferring, he finally saw what he needed to do. I don't believe he would have done that if Pitino had let him stay. Pitino has gotten a black eye over his personal indiscretion, but given the right talent, he will have UL back in the final four. In addition, he has fielded some great teams without a whiff of cheating.

[MolineRacer]

I think the issue with Pitino is that, in recent years, his staff hasn't been as strong top to bottom as it once was.

[MolineRacer]

Another highly regarded recruit in the class of 2011 with Racer ties is Wayne Martin Jr., the nephew of Jeff Martin.

[75Fan]

Man,

Wouldn't it be great to have Hood and Martin on the floor at the same time?

[runningracer]

What about Edgar Sosa? I just think Pitino is getting by on superior talent. He used to accept responsibility when his players didn't perform up to expectations and criticize them in practice. He has now taken his criticism to the floor and publicly blames the players when they don't perform to his standards. The main thing is I don't think his players are better when they graduate than they were as freshmen. He used to be able to develop talent and make it better. I just think he is starting to slip.

[Dan]

What about Edgar Sosa? I just think Pitino is getting by on superior talent. He used to accept responsibility when his players didn't perform up to expectations and criticize them in practice. He has now taken his criticism to the floor and publicly blames the players when they don't perform to his standards. The main thing is I don't think his players are better when they graduate than they were as freshmen. He used to be able to develop talent and make it better. I just think he is starting to slip.

Sosa is another example of someone who did not mature. He played like a soph this year. But Pitino still sends them on to the NBA when they develop. Earl Clark went early and Samuels just went. Teams go up and down, but they were a final four team recently and Big East Champs in 09. It's tough up there at the top. If you are in the top 15 regularly then you are one of the top 5 programs in the country. That's a tough row to hoe at UL. He's not getting an NBA bound starting line-up like he did at UK.