Coach James Dickey discusses Danuel House and Danrad "Chicken" Knowles signing NLIs and becoming Houston Cougars

POSTED: November 9, 2011 -- 10:30 p.m. CDT

Wednesday afternoon, Houston Cougars head men's basketball coach, James Dickey, announced the news that high school seniors Danuel House and Danrad "Chicken" Knowles had signed their National Letters of Intent and become Houston Cougars. House and Knowles will join the Cougars for the 2012-2013 season.

Coach Dickey spoke with The Houston Roundball Review and discussed the big news.

The HRR: Talk about the two young men who are now Houston Cougars.

Coach Dickey: Kris, it is a big day for us. We're really excited about Danuel House and Danrad Knowles. Two outstanding athletes. They're obviously high level basketball players and big time talents; but, they're wonderful people. They're going to be such a great addition to our program, to our university; and, to be able to play here in their own city, I think, is exciting. They're looking forward to it. We're so thrilled they signed with the Cougars.

The HRR: One of the things when you were hired as coach of the Cougars that you emphasized was you wanted to recruit locally and to get some of the top area talent to stay here. Discuss that process.

Coach Dickey: Well, I've been fortunate through the years, Kris, that I had the opportunity to recruit Houston and the state of Texas at the different places that I've been. I always thought that there was a wealth of talent; and, to be here at the University of Houston, I thought we needed to start at home; and try to keep some of these players that were leaving to give them the great option to stay and play in front of family and friends.

Also, the great tradition that has been here in the past. When we talk about this basketball program, a lot of people talk about Phi Slama Jama. We've been to five Final Fours. You've got the Big E (Elvin Hayes), Don Chaney, and the Game of the Century -- which they won. We've got so many great players: three of the top 50 NBA players of all time played here -- the Big E as we mentioned, Hakeem (Olajuwon) and Clyde Drexler. To be able to build upon that tradition, the University of Houston has had a national name; and, we need to get to back to that type of prominence.

The HRR: Describe the skills of Danuel and Danrad.

Coach Dickey: Danuel is a very big guard. He's 6'7". Very explosive. I thought he had a great summer. He led his team to final four at Hightower to the state championship in Austin last year. He had a terrific summer with Texas Pro on the summer circuit. He shoots the ball well. He's really improved his handle; and, he's a fierce competitor.

Danrad, who all of us refer to as Chicken, is long, tall and very athletic at 6'10". He's got extremely good skills. I had a chance to see him during the year and during the summer with Danuel and the Texas Pro team. His skills have improved so much. He's much more aggressive. He knows he needs to get stronger and to put on some weight; but, for somebody that has the size, length, and athleticism, he has outstanding basketball skills.

One other thing I want to see about them is both of them can really shoot the basketball from the perimeter. When you look at their size, 6'7" and 6'10", you think both of them are going to play close to the basket; but, they can really shoot the basketball. They can really shoot the ball over the floor, shoot the three; so, we're really thrilled with that aspect of their games.

The HRR: Discuss the job your coaching staff did during the recruiting process.

Coach Dickey: I've said this many times: I have the best coaching staff in the country. I think the coaches did a terrific job with this recruiting class as they did with the guys we have currently. They're outstanding basketball tacticians and terrific recruiters. They're great examples and they will be great mentors for these young people; and, they did a terrific job in developing the relationships with Chicken, Danuel, and their families.

The HRR: To wrap it up, Danuel and Chicken are Cougars of the future; but, invite the fans to come see and support this year's team play basketball at Hofheinz.

Coach Dickey: We were very pleased with our exhibition game win over Concordia (118-70). The score got a little bit out of hand; but, the style of play Concordia plays, you have so many possessions. I was really concerned we gave up so many points; but, when you look back and see how many possession that they had, Concordia did not shoot a very high percentage. They only shot 35 percent; so, we were pleased with that.

I like our team. They're athletic. They play hard; and, they can shoot the basketball. We know we lack some experience. We turned the ball over too much; but, I really like this team. We certainly need that Sixth Man. We need to get the fans back out here and make Hofheinz the exciting place that it is; and, I hope they'll come out and they'll be pleased with what they see.

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