OSU Hoops: More From Fraschilla
By John Helsley
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Preparing for my story on Travis Ford for Wednesday’s paper, I talked to ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla – who sees a lot of Big 12 ball – for his take on the status ofOklahomaStatebasketball and the stock of Ford.
Thought he had some interesting things to say, including that he believes this is Ford’s best job of coaching while at OSU.
Here are some outtakes from our conversation, items that didn’t survive the cutting room floor, so to speak:
On where he sees the Cowboys at this time next year:
“When you take this core nucleus of kids who are coming back next year, with potentially and hopefully, for their sake, Darrell Williams, and JP Olukemi, and then you throw Marcus Smart into this mix, they could be very, very good next year.
“They certainly have work to do before next season, but I think there’s enough pieces in place where they have weathered the storm and have a chance to be back in the NCAA Tournament a year from now.”
On the silver lining of this season:
“I think their future is bright. Anytime you go through a season like this, particularly when you have a couple guys transfer, you can grow stronger from it. Who would have known Brian Williams and Markel (Brown) would have blossomed into solid players without (Jéan-Paul) Olukemi getting hurt or without (Reger) Dowell and (Fred) Gulley transferring? So in a sense, there is a silver lining to what has been a very tough season.”
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