More fallout from TO

Larry Williams writes a nice article on the points and counterpoints of Oglesby's leaving the team. Strelow reports for the State here.

Like he says, I see in the blogs and other articles, as well as TNet, that this is a good thing for Clemson basketball. I would like for someone to show me how you lose 13ppg, and a shooter who could take over a game from the perimeter (remember ECU and Sakerlina, as LW points out), and be a better basketball team.

Yes his defense was suspect. Yes he got emotional and fucked up a time or two, but those were also problems WITH THE WHOLE TEAM down the stretch this season. He's young and still needs teaching. You might point out he could be selfish: well good scorers tend to be that way, you would only complain if he goes cold from the arc. He wasn't a polished player but then neither is Booker by any means, who we'd all agree is the best player on the team with the most potential. Another season of instruction on defense and theres no reason to assume TO wouldn't be a better defensive player, hasn't OP proven that he can teach and motivate? We might have faltered down the stretch this season but we've certainly improved every year OP has been around (but perhaps moved laterally the last two).

No matter what your complaints, he could still hit FREE THROWS. Don't tell me we don't need that. Don't tell me with Jennings and lil' Booker coming in that it wont hurt this year either, because neither of them is a 2G.

I believe Young and Stitt will lock down the Guard spots (though Tanner Smith plays with the most hustle of them all), but as good a shooter as Young is, I'm not sure he has the raw talent that TO had, and although I think we're certainly a 20-win NCAA team either way, I'm not sure we're going to do any better than 9-7 in conference again without TO.

Afternoon update: Purnell gave a conference call with reporters this afternoon, and apparently had no idea TO was thinking of doing this. He was on vacation to the Isle of Palms when he received the phone call.

"My reaction was, this is quick and a bit odd. I would have loved to have had a chance to weigh in and give information and so on and so forth. But if he's made up his mind to that degree, then so be it.

I had discussions with Terrence, just like I had with all of our players after the season was over, I asked all the guys what they think about the beginning, the middle, how things ended. And Terrence and I were certainly in agreement that we weren't happy with way the season ended. But we had conversations after that that had gone very well – and as late as three days before I heard about this."

Other stuff...
-While Purnell is happy at Clemson, he's not happy with our facilities just yet. Virginia Tech will soon open a new basketball complex and he wants something more than the Littlejohn Annex to impress recruits, and he wants it all for Men's Basketball.

-Season ticket sales for football appear down 12%, and with Verizon and Bi-Lo pulling sponsorships to the hit of $1 million, the Athletic Dept. is reeling.

-Tajh Boyd is taking Maymester classes and doing rehab on campus. Jonathan Meeks is impressing in the summer drills; the second week of voluntary drills is ongoing. Tyler Shatley is going to start off at DT, as predicted after signing day, but he has to bulk up a lot (260 now) to play at Clemson there.

-Clemson received a commitment from Battery Creek (Beaufort) Safety Ricky Chaney (6-3 195, 4.45 40). He has no star rating as of yet, and was pulled in by Dan Brooks. At that height, its likely he could bulk up and play OLB.