Greg Williams: "everybody in the country"

Remember this name: D'Frantz Smart. Google (or whatever search engine you use) the name.

Trust me.

Smart officially signed with the Rice Owls this past Tuesday.

Smart, a 5-0 guard who is coached by Corry Irvin at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, totaled 13 points, four assists and two steals per game as a junior for the Dolphins. She was a 2007 Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times All-Area selection in addition to an Illinois All-State pick. Smart also participated in the Adidas All-American camp for two years and earned the Junior Orange Bowl MVP. In her first three seasons, Young High School is 87-8 and has not lost a game at home. Franz was ranked No. 110 overall and No. 22 at point guard by HoopGurlz.com.

I've seen her play; and, I truly believe D'Frantz can be a program changer for the Rice Owls in Conference USA. Fans will love watching her play.

Listen to what Owls head coach Greg Williams had to say about her:

"...everybody in the country would be recruiting her..."

Greg Williams discusses 4 signees

This past Tuesday, Rice Owls head coach Greg Williams announced the Owls signed four players for their 2008 - 2009 recruiting class.

Comments from Coach Williams are included in the press release sent by the team's sports information director.

But, people who follow The HRR realize you can listen to interviews with coaches, too.

Therefore, please listen to what Coach Williams said to us before Wednesday's practice:

"...come in and play as a freshman..."

Coach Coale: 11/27/07

Today's weekly interview with Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale is lengthy.

Coach Coale discusses OU's wins over Arizona State and Mississippi State from last week; the end (or not) to Courtney Paris' tremendous streak of double-doubles; Ashley Paris' superb play thus far this season; freshman guard Danielle Robinson's stand out play and recruitment to OU; a little bit about the women's college hoops landscape; a few notes regarding the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA); the tremendous support from the Oklahoma Sooners fans; and, of course, tonight's match up against North Texas.

So, it's clear why today's interview is about 13 or 14 minutes.

Take a listen:

"...Oklahoma people are special..."

Sherri Coale: 11/20/07

In today's weekly interview with OU's Sherri Coale, Coach Coale discusses the Sooners' game last Thursday versus Tennessee; the team's upcoming participation in the Caribbean Challenge; and the two high school seniors, Whitney Hand (Fort Worth, TX) and Jasmine Hartman (Bellaire, TX), OU signed last Wednesday.

Take a listen.

Sherri Coale: "...we were undaunted..."

Danny Hughes: "...battled back..."

In first half of tonight's UH - Middle Tennessee State match up, the Houston Lady Cougars showed the home crowd what they missed last week in California: turnovers.

Lots of turnovers. 16 total.

During one awful stretch (from 12:36 to 4:11), the Lady Cougars turned the ball over eight times.

Needless to say, UH trailed MTSU at halftime; however, the deficit was only seven points (41 to 34).

Houston committed only five turnovers in the second half; and, almost erased a 10 point deficit in the final two minutes and one second; however, UH (1-3) lost 69 to 68 to the Blue Raiders (2-1).

After the game, Houston's interim head coach Danny Hughes was glad his team "...battled back..."

MTSU's Holt Stepped Up

Monday night at Hofheinz Pavilion, I got my first look at Amber Holt of Middle Tennessee State.

Um, I'm impressed. Check out Holt's stat line:

30 points (13 for 27 from the field); 15 rebounds; 4 assists; 2 steals; and 1 blocked shot -- 4 turnovers, too.

With the game tied at 49, Holt scored 9 consecutive points and assisted on another basket during a 13 - 0 run.

MTSU led 69 to 58 with 2:01 left in the game. MTSU won the game 69 to 68.

After the game, Amber said, "...I have to step up..." She did just that.

Good luck, Nneka

This decision was rumored a few weeks ago; but, it was confirmed this afternoon at Cy Fair High School.

Nneka Ogwumike, senior post for the Cy Fair Bobcats, and the top unsigned girls high school player in the nation (according to HoopGurlz.com) finally announced which college she'll attend for the next four years...

...Nneka came in to the room wearing the t-shirt representing the school of her choice; and, the celebratory cake gave the news away as well.

Nneka chose to attend "...Stanford University..."

Good luck, Nneka.

OU topped by Tennessee

The inaugural ESPNU Invitational took place Thursday night in Tampa, FL. Four teams (Duke, USF, Tennessee, and Oklahoma) competed in the event. Duke defeated USF 89 to 52 in the first game of the double-header while Tennessee edged Oklahoma 70 to 67 in the finale.

After the Tennessee - OU game, Sooners' head coach Sherri Coale and players Courtney Paris and Danielle Robinson spoke with the media.

Here's the press conference:

"...two icons in the sport..."

Lady Vols Edge OU

The inaugural ESPNU Invitational took place Thursday night in Tampa, FL. Four teams (Duke, USF, Tennessee, and Oklahoma) competed in the event. Duke defeated USF 89 to 52 in the first game of the double-header while Tennessee edged Oklahoma 70 to 67 in the finale.

After the Tennessee - OU game, Lady Vols' head coach Pat Summitt and players Candace Parker and Shannon Bobbitt spoke with the media in a post-game interview session.

Here's the press conference:

"...generate some excitement for the Final Four..."

Coach Coale: 11/13/07

Losing the season-opener to Maryland (76 to 66) this past Sunday, did not deter Oklahoma's Sherri Coale. Nor does facing top ranked Tennessee this Thursday in Tampa (in the inaugural ESPNU Invitational) give her cause for concern.

Coach Coale told The HRR she believes her young team will be "...a lot less shell-shocked..." versus Tennessee.

Sherri Coale: 11/06/2007

My plan to post my first weekly interview with Sherri Coale on Tuesday -- the day of the interview -- went down the toilet thanks to a wayward tape recorder. Fortunately, the recorder was able to record the entire interview before it died.

Here's the interview
-- some of it pertains to last night's exhibition game between the Sooners and Oklahoma Christian --

November 6, 2007: Coach Coale

Another interview will take place next week; and throughout the season.

Listen to Sherri Coale Each Week

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Sherri Coale has agreed to a weekly interview segment with The HRR.

The first one will be Tuesday, November 6.

Snippets of the interviews should air on Sports Rap (weekdays from 5 to 7pm, except for 5 to 6pm on Tuesdays, on KCOH 1430 AM (KCOHRadio.com); however, all of the interviews will be posted on TheHRR.com in mp3 format.

If you want to keep up-to-date with the interviews, you can get TheHRR's mp3s feed or you can get TheHRR's mp3s blog via Email.