James To Meet With Barnes On Wednesday, May Announce Afterwards ($)

In an interview with IT's Ross Lucksinger, Damion James indicated that he has not yet decided about his future at Texas, but is not planning on testing the waters by declaring and not hiring an agent. Rick Barnes, however, favors that approach and may well recommend it to James, with whom he will meet on Wednesday to discuss James' future. The Longhorn coach has been out of town recruiting virtually since the season ended. Among the topcis of discussion will be James' place in the offense next season. James may announce his decision as soon as Wednesday afternoon after the meeting.

almost 3 years ago Wescott Eberts (GoBR) 7 comments 0 recs |

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One more year! One more year!

"Football's so important in Texas. On the West Coast, it's a social. On the East Coast, it's a culture. Here, it's a religion."
-- Major Applewhite

by Sunkist on Apr 14, 2009 2:53 PM CDT reply actions

what would the starting lineup look like?

Balbay
Bradley
James
Hamilton
Pittman

???

Mason, Lucas, Williams, Johnson, Chapman off the bench?

by Not Now Chief on Apr 14, 2009 10:13 PM CDT reply actions

My thoughts

5-Dexter; 4-Damion, 3 Hamilton, 2 Bradley, 1 – once eligible Lucas

Bench for 5 and 4 – Johnson, Wangmene and Chapman

Bench for 3 and 2 – Mason, Williams,

Bench for 1 – Balbay and Ward

Smith – Practice

Brown not given a scholarship?
Hill – maybe to Creighton?

by IUTex on Apr 15, 2009 5:08 AM CDT up reply actions

Wangmene? Ward?

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on Apr 15, 2009 8:54 AM CDT up reply actions

James should go pro

Financial turmoil on the horizon in the NBA. He should get at least a year’s worth of salary under his belt while he can. Furthermore, as much as I love Barnes, he doesnt coach offense well and James simply needs lots of experience learning how to play within legitimate organize offesnsive sets. That’s not going to happen at Texas. Go the league, learn on the fly and get by with that ridiculous physical skill set he has.

by Michael Bean on Apr 14, 2009 10:45 PM CDT reply actions

Agreed

I don’t have time for an entire post, which I’d like to devote to this topic, so here are a few quick points in addtion to yours about the impending financial issues of the NBA

1) This is a very weak draft. Next year’s will be much stronger and unless DaMo shows a consistent jump shot, grows a few inches, or can consistently drive to the basket without issue, then he may actually be projected lower next year than he is this year.

2) He is a late first round projection by most accounts. Once he works out for teams and shows his incredible athleticism, he will improve not hurt his draft stock. Think potential because that is what most teams look for more than anything else.

3) If he returns, he will be the starting power forward, like his freshman year, and play near the basket. He would certainily improve his post play and get plenty of garbage baskets, but his future as a pro involves playing facing the basket. With Hamilton, Bradley, Balbay, Lucas, Mason, and possible Brown on next year’s team, James will not be on the perimeter at all.

I’d love to see him return. With James, Texas is pre-season top five in the country and a legitimate Final Four contender. Without him, Texas is a top 15 team and significantly behind Kansas in the Big 12 pecking order (Collins and Aldrich both announced they are returning and Kansas could still add Lance Stephenson or Xavier Henry). As much as I’d like to see him return to help Texas, he is better off declaring, grabbing what money he can, and focusing 100% on inproving his perimeter game.

--AW--

by awiggo on Apr 15, 2009 7:47 AM CDT up reply actions

On 3),

I definitely agree that he will be playing at the four next year and quite possibly running the baseline a lot, because that suits his skills. However, I also think that the Longhorns could go with a 4-out, 1-in offense next year with Pittman, so I don’t think James coming back and playing the four precludes him from working on the perimeter. Remember the A&M game when he went off? Barnes manufactured a match up with Davis that James could win and DaMo took full advantage of it. I think we could see more of that next year with James on the perimeter as a four, because that really takes advantage of his skill set.

by Wescott Eberts (GoBR) on Apr 15, 2009 7:52 AM CDT up reply actions