Super Bowl Update

Talking some hoops and football

***Troy hosts South Alabama tonight at 8 p.m. in basketball. It's that late for CSS TV. All of the official visitors will be there and I expect a pretty full and rowdy crowd. Troy plays well in home games like this. Troy's guards are on par with South Alabama, if not better, but South Alabama has an advantage in the frontcourt. However, Tim Owens and Ray Chambers haven't backed down from anything this year despite limitations (Chambers isn't real tall and Owens isn't real thick) and I think they'll give a solid effort. So, the key will be which team shoots the ball better. HERE is a short preview in today's paper.

South Alabama's Augustine Rubit is among the league leaders in scoring and rebounding. He was the league's Preseason Player of the Year.

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At the beginning of the season, I'd have thought Jonathan Massaquoi would stay for his senior season, but I'm not surprised that he's forgoing his senior year and I don't really blame him since he's got his degree and he's almost 24 years old. Jonathan's a smart guy and I'm sure he thought all of this through.

I tried to reach Massaquoi tonight, but could not. Maybe another time, but he'll be training in Troy this semester and I'm sure I will run into him. Most people have told him that he'd have been better off staying another year and he knows he's aware of the challenge. I was told that the NFL Draft Advisory report back said he'd be anywhere from a 4th rounder to an undrafted free agent. So, that's quite a gamble. But he's about 6-3, about 270 pounds, sure his stats dropped from 2010 but the talent across the line (or on the other side of the line) wasn't what it was in 2010. I can't guarantee he'll get drafted, and I hope he does, but I'd like to think he'll make a roster.

Massaquoi, assuming he hasn't signed with an agent already, can actually withdraw by Jan. 18 if he wanted to, from what I was told.

Looking at Troy's recruit list and visitors for this weekend, it's pointing more and more like Troy will go to a 3-man front next year. Either a 3-4 or 3-3-5 but I think mostly a 3-4. Troy ran some odd fronts over the past two years and I thought they had some degrees of success, especially in the 2010 Middle Tennessee game. One of Troy's signees, Brandon Powe, is listed on the release as a "bandit," which is another one of those hybrid positions like a nickel.

Also makes me think that Troy's next assistant to replace Mo Crain will help coach linebackers or help coach in the secondary and that Randy Butler can coach the entire defensive line. Just speculation, but it makes sense.

One former Troy media relations guru who follows along says that a dominant nose guard is needed to run the 3-man front. I do agree and I think that'll eventually be Lonnie Gosha, but unless they can apply and get a hardship waiver, he'll have to sit out this year. Even so, he'd just be a redshirt freshman. Meanwhile, Troy will have a pair of guys like Shermane TeArt and John Clark who may well be bulked up enough to handle the job after several years in Troy's weight program. I had mentioned D.J. Johnson, a redshirt freshman, who came as a defensive end, but when I saw a picture of him, he weighed 270, but carried it like he was 240. I don't know what he's been up to in the months he's spent as a redshirt, but he's a guy that I'm interested in seeing how he's developed and wonder if he might can grow his way into a defensive tackle like Clark did. I think it's a given that Tony Davis is a defensive end, and think he'll rack up enough stats for more all-conference consideration.

I did speak a little with Richard Shaughnessy about Massaquoi and he didn't say much other than what Larry Blakeney had told me earlier, about how he was given a lower draft grade but still thought it was best for him to move on. But Shaughnessy is in charge of these guys in the offseason, and I could tell he's fired up about doing his part to get Troy players in a position to succeed with a strong strength and conditioning program.

He'll carry these guys into spring practice, which should begin around late March, and as I mentioned earlier, will have a scrimmage at Phenix City at some point.