Capel adds Neal and Szendrei
Capel adds Neal and Szendrei
Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel announced that former OU players Jozsef Szendrei and Michael Neal have joined his staff.
Szendrei, who was a Sooner center for the 2000-01 through 2002-03 seasons, is the program’s new strength and conditioning coach, while Neal, who played as a guard during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, is a graduate assistant manager.
Szendrei returns to his alma mater after spending the past two years at Texas Tech as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Red Raiders football team.
After graduating from OU in 2003 with a degree in international business (he minored in marketing), Szendrei continued his playing career for three years in Switzerland, Hungary and Spain. He returned to the United States to play for former OU assistant coach Bob Hoffman and the Arkansas Aeros of the American Basketball Association and then entered the strength and conditioning field.
Szendrei was a member of OU teams that claimed Big 12 Tournament titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The junior college transfer was granted a medical hardship in 2000-01 and averaged 1.4 points and 2.5 rebounds over the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons for OU squads that went a combined 58-12 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four and the Elite Eight, respectively.
“I’m proud to be back at Oklahoma,” said Szendrei, a native of Budapest, Hungary. ”I had great years in Norman and I consider this my home in America.
“I told Coach Capel when I interviewed that there might be more high-profile guys out there, but nobody would bring more pride and passion to the job than I would. I’m really looking forward to working with him. He’s what I call a ‘new generation’ coach.
“We’re both young. We understand the lingo, we can relate to the college years because it wasn’t too long ago that we were there. I’m really happy to work for him and the entire coaching staff.”
Neal, from Mesquite, Texas, graduated from OU with a degree in African-American studies in 2007 (he was a first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection as a senior on Capel’s first OU team) and played professionally in France and Germany during the 2007-08 season.
He spent the 2008-09 school year in Connecticut as a middle and high school teacher and coach.
One of the better 3-point shooters in OU history, Neal averaged 11.1 points over his two-year OU career and registered a .375 shooting mark from behind the arc.
He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2006-07 when he averaged 12.4 points and shot .424 from long distance (.495 in Big 12 games).
He drained 26 3-pointers over a four-game stretch in league play that season.
“I missed OU,” said Neal, referring to the last two years. ”I missed being around the players, I missed being around the coaches, I missed the camaraderie. Professional ball isn’t what it’s like in college. I talked to Coach Capel about becoming a G.A. and he told me he’d definitely like to have me here.
“I only played for him one year and I feel like I really would have benefited from playing for him for four years. So I’m just trying to study under him, learn the things that he likes to do and hopefully that will help me down the line. I really want to be a high school head coach eventually.”
Neal will spend two years in OU’s intercollegiate athletics administration graduate program.
OSU class is ranked No. 11
Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford brought in quite a haul in his first full off-season recruiting for the Cowboy basketball squad, receiving a No. 11 ranking according to Rivals.com.
Ford and his staff have signed seven high school seniors to national letters of Intent for the upcoming 2009-10 season.
Ray Penn, a guard out of Travis High School in Houston, Texas, is ranked as the No. 44 overall player nationally. Power forward Karron Johnson is ranked 57th nationally according to Jerry Meyer at Rivals.com.
Roger Franklin, a small forward from Duncanville, Texas, is ranked as the No. 98 player in the country. Jarred Shaw, who signed with the Pokes during the spring signing period, is ranked as the 111th-best player in the nation.
Also signing with the Cowboys were guard Reger Dowell, a teammate of Franklin’s at Duncanville; Fred Gulley, a guard out of Fayetteville, Ark., and the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year after leading his team to the Class 6A state title with a perfect 30-0 record; and Torin Walker, a post player out of Columbus, Ga.
Rivals.com has also announced its preseason All-America teams by class. Included among the top players nationally was OSU’s James Anderson, named one of five players on the top juniors for 2009-10 list.
Anderson averaged 18.2 points per game last season in leading the Cowboys to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
Anderson was joined on the best in class team for next season’s juniors by Michigan State’s Kalin Lucas, Evan Turner of Ohio State, Iowa State’s Craig Brackins, and Cole Aldrich of Kansas.