.
Ex-KU aide hired
Bill Pope, the student manager on Kansas University's 1988 NCAA men's basketball championship team, has been hired as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Pope was an aide at Youngstown (Ohio) State last year after serving six seasons as head coach at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo.
Pope is the first assistant named by new UL-Lafayette head coach Glenn Cyprien, who was hired last month off Eddie Sutton's Oklahoma State staff.
.
Glynn Cyprien Foundation
"We can't direct the wind...but we can adjust the sails"
. Jay Walker one-on-one with Glynn Cyprien
Jay Walker: You've been on the job for a little bit under 2 months . . . Are you where you thought you would be 2 months into the job, are you ahead of the game, or are you behind trying to catch up?
Coach Cyp: I think we are probably a little bit behind, I thought in certain areas we would be ahead, for example scheduling. I didn't realize how difficult it is to schedule here, so in that aspect -in my mind- I feel we are a little behind. But to some here in the community or in the area, or in the department, it’s been that way. To me, I don't like finishing up a schedule in July or August. I don't feel comfortable doing that.
Jay Walker: Dude, July and August is like early . . . as a matter of fact if you look at last years schedule you will find out it was never finished.
Coach Cyp:I understand, so from that standpoint I feel like we are a little behind, as far as that goes, but in other areas I think we're ahead. The one thing I said I wanted to do was kind of take my time in hiring staff members, and I have done that up to this point. It's an ongoing process, and I'm just prioritizing every day.
The one thing that has been great has been the community support, and people stepping up, and really wanting to help get things done. Jay I tell you, that’s been phenomenal to me, and it's really helped me out in a number of different areas
Jay Walker: You have announced that you have hired “a” coach. Now is that all you have sitting over there at the complex, is a coach?
Coach Cyprien: No we’re going to probably make another announcement the first of next week, on another coach, we’ll make two announcements next week on two other coaches.
Jay Walker: On two another coach, see because I got people calling here wanting to know why we don’t have all of these announcements, because everybody knows who your staff is going to be anyway.
Coach Cyprien: Well they have an idea . .
Jay Walker: You had a lot of interest though in the assistant coaches job, again there’s only 317 of these jobs available, and at the average of 2.5 assistants per, that means there are only about 800 of these jobs available in America. And you had openings, I’m sure you had a lot of calls from a lot of people.
Coach Cyprien: . . . Yeah in the span of 3 days I had 262 phone calls, now it was a combination of maybe 30 people saying congratulations, and the others calling about jobs. You would be surprised the people, former head coaches, guys that are older, just from all walk of life. Just yesterday I had a guy just show up at my office; I’ve had guys showing up at my office. It has been pretty interesting on people trying to get a job here. So that says a lot for the program, says a lot for what was done before me, and I have a great appreciation for that.
Jay Walker: You said scheduling is more difficult than you imagined it would be. In what regard? . . . You thought you had friends who were going to take care of you.
Coach Cyprien: That was part of it, but I think the other part is if I’m going to go on the road and play a game, I’d rather come to a place like the Cajundome. Especially if I’m in another league, if I want my team to get prepared for playing in a tough environment on the road, which is something I consider when I schedule. I schedule games based on, you want to play a competitive schedule you want to play a competitive road schedule. But you also want to try to go to some places where you have an opportunity to teach you team how to play through the crowd, or noisy environments, and that’s important. So in saying so, I would think –on the flip side- there would be some schools that would say ‘lets go play down at the Cajundome, tough environment, great facilities, and give us an opportunity to play a tough road game. And it hasn’t been that easy.
Jay Walker: You found out that there aren’t as many people that want to do that as you thought.
Coach Cyprien: That is exactly right. So we are still out there hunting home games. My goal is I want to get at least 14 home games every year, that is my goal.
Jay Walker: It’s got to be hard though, to do it this next year coming up -this your first season- because -you’re going to have 8 conference games at home- but you only have one school that owes you a visit, and that’s Rice University. Everybody else that you schedule, it’s like ‘OK guys I’ll play you home-and-home but we got to start at our place’ or its, ‘OK I’ll pay you $30,000’ which you ain’t got, to bring them in, so I got to think that trying to get 14 home games is going to be really tough this year.
Coach Cyprien: Yeah it’s going to be. But that is my goal, and I think we can get there, but we are going to have to be unique –in that- we may have to play one or two teams twice this year. For the sake of getting a home game –which I think is important- I don’t want to sacrifice our team from a mental standpoint just throwing them out there and say OK we are going to play 10 home games and play the rest on the road. I just don’t think we can afford to do that. And from a community stand point, I think we owe this community -we owe this city- a home schedule that they can be proud of at some point. Then they can come see their team and cheer on their team, and that is what I am looking to do.
. Cajuns Land Palm Beach Product Cletis Fobbs
LOUISIANA La. - University of Louisiana men's basketball head coach Glynn Cyprien announced Tuesday the signing of Cletis Fobbs to a National Letter of Intent, adding to the Ragin' Cajuns recruiting class for the 2004-05 season.
Fobbs, a 6-foot-3 guard, comes to Louisiana from W.T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach, Fla. He graduated from Dwyer in 2003 and spent the 2003-04 season as a postgraduate at Worcester Academy in Worcester, Mass.
As a high school senior, Fobbs averaged 15 points, five rebounds and five assists on a Dwyer team that finished 29-3 and was state ranked.
He was named to the All-Conference and All-Area teams while earning MVP honors of the Palm Beach vs. Miami and Palm Beach vs. Broward County All-Star games.
"Cletis will be a great addition to our program," Cyprien said. "His athleticism and ability to defend, along with versatility, make him a prospect that will be able to contribute as a freshman.
"We expect continued development that will enable him to be an important part of our program," Cyprien added.
Fobbs is the Cajuns fifth signing for the 2004-05 season. He joins Jeanerette High's Derek Gray and junior college transfers Spencer Ford, Berry Jordan and Anthony Rhodman.
LOUISIANA SI
. Graylin Warner around the world & back
Ragin' Cajun star back to support program’s new head coach
LOUISIANA La. — Graylin Warner left a lasting impression when he played basketball at Louisiana from 1980-84.
The New Orleans product was a winner with a memorable smile, leading the Ragin’ Cajuns to a pair of berths in the NCAA Tournament and a senior trip to the NIT Final Four in one of the school’s great basketball eras.
Few — if any — of the young campers gathered in Bourgeois Hall at the Ragin’ Cajun Basketball Camp had ever heard of Warner before Tuesday, but he won them over during his visit.
Warner was glad to re-connect with the UL program, now coached by old acquaintance Glynn Cyprien, whose older brother Michael still meets up with Warner in Over-35 league action in New Orleans.
“I remember when Glynn was a little kid, following us around the gym,” Warner said. “You could tell then that he really wanted to learn about the game.”
Cyprien went on to a successful coaching career, taking the Cajun helm this year in his first head coaching post at the college level, while Warner played 13 years in Europe once his college days were finished.
“I played seven years with one team,” Warner said. “Normally, American players stay two years, max, in one place.
“To stay 5 to 7 years just doesn’t happen.”
The rest of the story
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
'93 Grad
Ragin' Cajuns Fan for Sure
What a great story. I wondered what had happened with him. He had one of the sweetest shots ever. If they'd had the 3-pointer back then, he'd have broken a lot of records for sure.
That's still my favorite time in Cajun basketball history. Hopefully Cyp can get that feeling back.
Hate the Game
Ragin' Cajuns Rock
Glad to see former UL greats back in the mix.
.
Here is Graylin Warners ranking in the UL 1000 POINT CLUB
. INDEX
Coach lacks requisite degreeNewly hired University of Louisiana Lafayette basketball coach Glynn Cyprien did not graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio as he claimed on his résumé, according to the university registrar's office. Cyprien, a New Orleans native, was hired in May to coach the Ragin' Cajuns but does not appear to hold the necessary degree from a university with accreditation recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
original newsbreaking location
TOMORROW'S NEWS TONIGHT
7/15/2004, 09:59 PM
.
New UL coach lacks requisite degree
N.O. native graduated from unaccredited online university
Newly hired University of Louisiana Lafayette basketball coach Glynn Cyprien did not graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio as he claimed on his résumé, according to the university registrar's office.
Cyprien, a New Orleans native, was hired in May to coach the Ragin' Cajuns but does not appear to hold the necessary degree from a university with accreditation recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. An employee in the Texas-San Antonio registrar's office said Cyprien attended UTSA from 1987 to '90 but did not earn a diploma. That information was confirmed by the National Student Clearinghouse, which verifies college enrollment and degrees for U.S. students.
A New Orleans native and Jesuit High School graduate, Cyprien holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Lacrosse University, an online school based in Bay St. Louis, Miss., that is not recognized by the major accreditation agencies. Lacrosse moved its operation to Mississippi from Louisiana in 2002 after the state Board of Regents voted unanimously not to renew its license. According to the Lacrosse Web site, a student can earn a bachelor's degree in 12 months, and up to 105 of the 120 semester hours required to earn a degree can be earned through work experience and what the school calls experimental learning.
The Lacrosse degrees may not have any bearing on Cyprien's status. ULL Athletic Director Nelson Schexnayder said Thursday that a bachelor's degree from an accredited school is needed to hold the head coaching job.
"That's a university requirement," he said.
When reached Tuesday by The Times-Picayune and asked about the discrepancy over his UTSA career, Cyprien, 37, said he graduated.
"I have the transcripts to prove it," he said. He said he was not concerned about the matter.
Cyprien was boarding a plane for a recruiting trip and said he would call back. He made an unsuccessful attempt to reach a reporter Tuesday night and did not return phone calls Wednesday and Thursday.
ULL officials said they were looking into Cyprien's background but would not discuss it further until meeting with the coach. Schexnayder said Cyprien's education was not discussed during his job interview, but he said he was certain a bachelor's degree from UTSA was listed on Cyprien's résumé. The athletic director said he did not look into the Lacrosse degrees because Cyprien appeared to have a degree from UTSA.
In a statement released Wednesday, ULL President Raymond Authement said, "We were made aware of the potential problem a day and a half ago, and we are investigating the situation. In fairness to coach Cyprien, we do need to speak to him in person about this matter, and we will do that when he returns."
The rest of the story
Staff writer Jeff Eisenberg can be reached at
jeisenberg@timespicayune.com
(504) 826-3405.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Quote
