Trojan chatter, Dec. 30
By Drew Champlin
Published: December 30, 2008
I was going to start a daily blog post (it wouldn’t be updated every day, but most days), and call it “Trojan Wrap” but figured some might be offended with the condom jokes, and couldn’t think of a clever name at the moment. If anyone has any catchy names, let me know.
Hoops falls at JU: Troy fell to 0-6 on the road with a loss at Jacksonville. JU is probably on an equal level as Troy, maybe a little bit better this year (despite what records indicate), but it seems like Troy won’t win those games on the road this year. They will at home (see the UNC-Wilmington series). Troy returns to Sun Belt play this week at Western Kentucky Jan. 1 and at home against Florida International Jan. 3. A loss looks likely against WKU, but the Trojans could find success at home Saturday. The consensus around the Sun Belt is that Troy won’t win the league title, but with the way the Trojans shoot the three (or amount they jack up), they’re a team no one wants to play in a single elimination tournament.
Women do well: Troy played a little defense in winning a tournament title at Texas Pan-American, winning 54-39 over the host school. UTPA was 8-5 entering the game, but without any notable victories. Still, road wins are always good. Troy hosts FIU Saturday in a women-men doubleheader.
Coaching talk: I told you a few weeks ago to watch out for the Shayne Wasden to Auburn and Kenny Edenfield to North Alabama rumors. As of this blog post, Wasden and Troy has not been contacted by Auburn, so be weary of those “it’s a done deal” posts on Auburn forums. With AU hiring an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Gus Malzahn, I wonder if they’ll add Patrick Nix as an offensive assistant, as Nix was canned at AU, and he’s a spread guy. But when I hear on Wasden, I’ll let you know. On Edenfield, he’s obviously in the mix at UNA and that process will get narrowed down after the New Year. There are other candidates involved. I told you a while back that Troy had been contacted for permission to speak to Edenfield, so that’s where we stand now. With this being a dead period in recruiting (one call per week, I believe), a lot of coaches are enjoying a well-deserved rest or vacation.
Recruiting’s huge in January: Two big recruiting weekends for Troy will be the weekends on Jan. 9-11 and Jan. 16-18. Unfortunately, I’ve got a mini-vacation to Destin so recruiting updates that first weekend will be slow (well, that’s unfortunate for you, not so much for me) but it’ll get there. Troy’s loading up on OL and DLs and now the focus shifts to guys who can help out in the secondary and at wide receiver. Here’s a sleeper prospect to watch out for. Devondrick Richardson, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound LB/DE out of Barbour County, a 2A school in tiny Clayton, Ala. He committed to South Alabama a while back but that was before Troy offered. He’s been our Dothan Eagle Player of the Year in basketball (last year) and was a Super 12 pick in football this year, playing running back, linebacker and returning kicks. Not sure if he’ll end up at Troy, but I’d say the Trojans have a good shot. And I’ll say he’ll be very good if he keeps his head on straight. Here’s a story I wrote on Barbour County’s football program during the high school season.
