Transfers Begin

[AUChizad]

...which is good.

But Jalen Steele's the first to go, which is bad. Kemp Jr. was our stud, but Steele and Alen Payne were the only two other players worth a damn from this incoming class.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/apr/01/steele-asks-for-release-from-auburn/

Fulton High School senior and Class AA Mr. Basketball Jalen Steele has asked to be released from his national letter of intent with Auburn.

His release, however, was still pending as of Thursday.

Steele, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard who averaged 24 points per game this past season, committed to the Tigers and former coach Jeff Lebo in September and signed in November.

Lebo was fired March 12 after four losing seasons in six years. Tony Barbee left UTEP to take over at Auburn some 12 days later.

Barbee met with Steele and Fulton coach Jody Wright on Monday.

"I think that without a doubt Coach Barbee is going to be successful at Auburn, but I just don't know that Jalen felt as comfortable with the situation at Auburn as he did," said Wright. "He may end back up at Auburn. But, at this point, he wanted to ask for his release to see what else is out there."

Southern Cal was a player for Steele at the time of his commitment to Auburn. He also had offers from Marshall and Western Kentucky among others before signing with the Tigers.

A number of schools such as UCLA, Cincinnati, Florida, Miami, Alabama and Georgia called Wright about Steele in the first few days following Lebo's ouster.

Steele can't be contacted by college coaches because of the current NCAA recruiting dead period.

Moreover, he's still considered an Auburn signee as he has yet to be released from his letter of intent. If he did go on a visit, it would be unofficially, and he could not be contacted by coaches during the visit.

Wright said Steele was not exactly looking forward to opening his recruitment, as he was glad to have put an end to the process in the fall.

Steele played in a motion offense at Fulton for four years. Barbee runs the dribble-drive offense he learned at Memphis as an assistant to John Calipari, who's now at Kentucky.

Wright said Barbee's offense had little to do with Steele's decision.

"Every coach has a different direction," said Wright. " Calipari's direction is different than (Vanderbilt coach) Kevin Stallings' direction. Every coach is different on how they're going to go about that. So I think the way that Coach Barbee is going to go about it, he's going to be successful.

"But that's why you have different types of churches. People want different things. You have different schools, because kids want different things. I don't know that Jalen felt that Auburn, right now, was as good a fit for him as it was."

[BZ770]

This could be good.  We need size and we also need some roster room also.

[AWK]

This could be good.  We need size and we also need some roster room also.

I also second that also. 

[Aubie16]

This is not good. Jalen Steele was the only SEC ready player we signed.

[The Prowler]

Well.......Bye

[BZ770]

Barbee needs the Roster Room, and I'd sure like to see what he can muster up from the prep schools and jr colleges than have what Lebo Had.  I don't care if we have to clean the slate and start over from scratch.  Success isn't going to happen overnight with a new coach and a new arena.  Lebo not recruiting the past few years has left our program in shambles.  It'll probably be 3 yrs to field a good NCAA tourney team.

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

Barbee needs the Roster Room, and I'd sure like to see what he can muster up from the prep schools and jr colleges than have what Lebo Had.  I don't care if we have to clean the slate and start over from scratch.  Success isn't going to happen overnight with a new coach and a new arena.  Lebo not recruiting the past few years has left our program in shambles.  It'll probably be 3 yrs to field a good NCAA tourney team.

This. ^^

[wesfau2]

How does the kid look from an eligibility standpoint?  It was suggested that some kids would be lost because they never had a shot in the dark to qualify.

[AUChizad]

Barbee needs the Roster Room, and I'd sure like to see what he can muster up from the prep schools and jr colleges than have what Lebo Had.  I don't care if we have to clean the slate and start over from scratch.  Success isn't going to happen overnight with a new coach and a new arena.  Lebo not recruiting the past few years has left our program in shambles.  It'll probably be 3 yrs to field a good NCAA tourney team.

Hogwash.

If we're not at least in the Final Four a year from now, he should be shown the door.

 

[Jumbo]

Hogwash.

If we're not at least in the Final Four a year from now, he should be shown the door.

 

We need that in the blueprint.

[AUChizad]

By the way, Anthony Salter's the other player from this class who requested a release.

Him leaving's probably a good thing.

[The Prowler]

That will open up two scholarships for Coach Barbee to add some studs to our program.

Possibly first up:

Josh Langford F 6'6" 210 Hunstville, Ala.

Offers:
Auburn
West Virginia
Marquette
Louisville
Georgetown
UNLV
SPuat
Chattanooga
Georgia
Illinois

Receiving Interest:
UAB

[Snaggletiger]

We didn't want these kids anyway.  We're rolling 5 deep at every position...even though you can't have that many on the team...doesn't matter...we have Mickey D's AA kids knocking down our door for a chance to play.

5 deep I tell ya'

[GH2001]

We didn't want these kids anyway.  We're rolling 5 deep at every position...even though you can't have that many on the team...doesn't matter...we have Mickey D's AA kids knocking down our door for a chance to play.

5 deep I tell ya'

 I love Arkansas and would do anything to play there.

[Saniflush]

I love Arkansas and would do anything to play there.

I love that helmet.