travis ford – Rush The Court

On Forgetting Phil Forte III: Please Don’t

Nate Kotisso — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 17:01:28 +0000

There was a fight for a loose ball. Oklahoma State’s Phil Forte III dove on to the hardwood, extending his arm in an effort to get a paw on the ball. A Towson player also dove for the ball, landing squarely on Forte’s vulnerable left arm. His entire arm hurt from the impact, but it was the elbow that bore the brunt of the pain. The date was November 19, 2015. After starting the team’s first three games of the new season, Forte would go on to miss the remainder of last season with nary a thought about whether his head coach, Travis Ford, would return.

An elbow [...]

Oklahoma State Tabs Brad Underwood To Reinvigorate Program

Brian Goodman — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:31:19 +0000

One of the most attractive jobs in the conference opened up on Friday when Oklahoma State parted ways with Travis Ford. While five bottom-half finishes in six seasons may not suggest much allure to the gig, strong facilities, access to the lush recruiting hotbed of Texas, a winning tradition and avid fan and donor support (when the team performs) were enough to sway former Stephen F. Austin head coach Brad Underwood to come aboard just one day after his Lumberjacks exited the NCAA Tournament.

With little (if anything) left to prove on the mid-major level, Brad Underwood jumped to Oklahoma State. (USA [...]

Oklahoma State Moves on From Travis Ford

Brian Goodman — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 22:57:10 +0000

Three straight bottom-half finishes and zero NCAA Tournament wins since 2009 had long been enough for supporters of Oklahoma State to separate themselves from Travis Ford, but it wasn’t until today that it became enough for athletic director Mike Holder. As the curtains fell on another disappointing Cowboys season, so too did they fall on Ford’s mostly empty tenure in Stillwater, as he was fired from his head coaching post on Friday despite three years and $7.2 million remaining on a generous extension he signed seven years ago.

After its eighth straight season without an NCAA Tournament victory, Oklahoma State finally moved on from Travis Ford. (USA Today)

If Ford still [...]

Big 12 M5: 02.15.16 Edition

Nate Kotisso — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 14:31:16 +0000

In the second meeting of the Big 12’s Game of the Century, Kansas persevered through Frank Mason III fouling out with 3:22 to go and completed a season sweep of Oklahoma. Not only did the Jayhawks join a first-place tie in the Big 12 with West Virginia but, as CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish points out, Kansas also notched its fifth RPI top 25 victory. No other team in all of college basketball has done that this season. Considering the questions around this team after they lost at West Virginia and Oklahoma State, The Streak™ looked to be in great jeopardy. Not so much now, as we’re three weeks away [...]

Big 12 Power Rankings: Blowing Bubbles Edition

Nate Kotisso — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 23:07:51 +0000

When the calendar turns to February, it is required that everyone must talk about bubbles. When engaging in bubble talk, we are obliged to have serious discussions about big bubbles, small bubbles, dish soap, glycerin and various bubble wand shapes. But you must also make mention of the nervous teams on the fringe of the NCAA Tournament bracket. Last week, we discussed the Big 12 bubble picture at considerable length. While we thought that teams like Kansas State and Texas Tech still had some life left in them, we weren’t so positive that they could change their fortunes so quickly. [...]

Big 12 Power Rankings: West Virginia Is Finally Here Edition

Nate Kotisso — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 16:31:07 +0000

West Virginia is a basketball team. A very solid basketball team, in fact. A team whose hallmark is to press the life out of opponents. A team that scores easy baskets off turnovers. A team that makes its fans cringe when it clangs jump shots off odd parts of the backboard. The Mountaineers started 4-0 in Big 12 play playing the good ol’ West Virginia way before losing back-to-back games at Oklahoma and at home to Texas. In the four games since those defeats, it appears that we’re seeing a different West Virginia team. Not only have the Mountaineers gone 3-1 in that span, but [...]

Big 12 Power Rankings: This League Is (Still) Off Its Rocker Edition

Nate Kotisso — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 20:22:49 +0000

We’re almost four weeks into league play, which typically means a select group of contenders have asserted themselves and are heading for the summit they call “Conference Champion Mountain.” It’s a grueling hike to the top, but totally worth it once you get up there. You get to look out at the rest of your conference mates with the knowledge that your better was better than their better. You think about that banner you get to hang in your arena’s rafters that will forever stamp just how good your regular season was. Then, all of a sudden, you realize that you’re up really high. [...]

Anatomy Of An Upset: How Jawun Evans Led Oklahoma State Past Kansas

Chris Stone — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 18:01:02 +0000

Oklahoma State freshman point guard Jawun Evans is the highest rated recruit in the Big 12 from the 2015 class not named Carlton Bragg or Cheick Diallo. In 32 minutes of action on Tuesday, Evans starred for the Cowboys in a shocking 86-67 upset over then third-ranked Kansas as Bragg and Diallo spent much of the game watching from the bench. With senior Phil Forte out of the lineup, Evans has developed into a go-to option for Travis Ford and the 22 points, eight assists, and six rebounds he tallied against the Jayhawks are just the latest evidence supporting his case to be the Big 12’s [...]

Big 12 M5: 01.22.16 Edition

Brian Goodman — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 15:01:14 +0000

It’s no secret that Kansas has struggled to contain driving guards like Jaysean Tate and Jawun Evans in recent games, and it might not get any easier tomorrow as the Jayhawks welcome Isaiah Taylor and Texas to Allen Fieldhouse. While Texas is merely average when it comes to finishing at the rim, it’s still worth wondering if Taylor, Javan Felix, and Kerwin Roach will test Kansas’ ability to stop penetration early. Saturday’s matchup in Lawrence will also mark Shaka Smart‘s first game against Kansas since that fateful day in San Antonio, so it’s also natural to think about whether both coaches will be a little more amped up than usual for this one. Two of [...]

Morning Five: 12.14.15 Edition

nvr1983 — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 13:15:44 +0000

Michigan senior guard Spike Albrecht, the star of the first half of the 2013 national title game, announced on Friday that he was ending his basketball career early due to an ongoing hip injury. Unlike Grayson Allen, who used his national championship game to catapult him into the national spotlight, Albrecht had a solid albeit unspectacular career at Michigan (to be fair, Allen was much more highly recruited than Albrecht). Albrecht, who earned co-MVP honors last season, will be most remembered for his performance in that game against Louisville where he filled in for Trey Burke, who had to sit [...]

Big 12 M5: 12.07.15 Edition

Nate Kotisso — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 14:31:00 +0000

It’s the Monday following the announcement of this year’s College Football Playoff participants so it must be time to talk Big 12 expansion again, right? Unlike last year, however, the league might be forced to expand sooner rather than later. It was expecting a motion to deregulate conference championship games in football to pass next month, but the Big Ten has stepped in with a “last-minute amendment” that might hurt the 10-team conference’s chances of hosting such a game in 2016. Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he wouldn’t want to be forced to expand the league but admitted that it “could end up that way.” [...]

Big 12 Preview: Oklahoma State’s Burning Question

Nate Kotisso — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 21:12:19 +0000

This team preview is part of the RTC Big 12 microsite’s preseason coverage.

Burning Question: Will Travis Ford still coach Oklahoma State a year from now?

The year 2000 was solid, by most accounts. Y2K was overrated; civilization moved on. Al Gore was about to rock America’s world as the 43rd president. Supercompanies America Online and Time Warner, merged to form a global Internet partnership that would most definitely last for decades. Oklahoma State basketball was in pretty good shape as well. Eddie Sutton began his 11th season at his alma mater with little to complain about. The Cowboys had reached eight NCAA Tournaments in [...]

Former Oklahoma State Guard Suing Travis Ford, School

Brian Goodman — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:30:45 +0000

We’ve come upon the strangest story to hit the Big 12’s offseason. Former Oklahoma State guard Stevie Clark, once viewed as the heir to Marcus Smart’s title as floor general before falling out of favor quickly after his arrival in the fall of 2013, is suing the school, its Board of Regents and Cowboys head coach Travis Ford, according to TulsaWorld.com. The suit lays out a wide variety of allegations from Clark’s brief time with the Cowboys, including:

Various promises to Clark by Ford, including a sports car, that were not delivered. “Hazing and disrespect” by Marcus Smart, which, when reported to Ford, led to Ford forcing Clark to take behavioral medication without his consent, [...]

NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 03.21.15 Edition

Walker Carey — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 20:09:37 +0000

March Madness is finally upon us, and we here at RTC are here to make everything a little bit easier for you. From the First Four until One Shining Moment, we’ll be dropping daily tidbits of knowledge regarding the teams in each region.

Midwest Region

Goodness Gracious. (USA Today Images)

Kentucky expected more out of itself in Thursday night’s win over Hampton. It is possible that the Wildcats need the edge back from last year when they advanced to the national title game as a #8 seed? Cincinnati interim coach Larry Davis traces his roots back to Kentucky. After earning a thrilling victory over Buffalo [...]

Rushed Reaction: #8 Oregon 79, #9 Oklahoma State 73

Eric Clark — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 02:08:46 +0000

Rush the Court will be providing wall-to-wall coverage of each of the NCAA Tournament from each of the 13 sites this year. Follow our NCAA Tourney specific Twitter accounts at @RTCeastregion, @RTCMWregion,@RTCsouthregion and @RTCwestregion.

Three Key Takeaways.

Joe Young Was a Load For Oklahoma State to Handle Today (USA Today Images)

The game was a beautiful, ugly mess. Oregon and Oklahoma State each had 12 turnovers and played little to no defense – but it led to an exciting game with plenty of runs and a quick tempo. Combined, the Ducks and Cowboys shot 48 three-pointers and connected on 17 of them. The [...]