It was not so long ago that UC had a big man plan. We had  6'11' junior B.J. Grove who had worked hard on his skills and body last year to earn a starting spot with hopes he would develop into a rebounder and better defender. Next was 6'10' Donald Little coming back as a 4th year junior who seemed to be more effective off the bench which kept him out of early foul trouble and was a good defender who could intimidate with his blocked shots. Then we had an incoming junior 6'10' juco Derek Hollman who was supposed to be a scraper who would bang the boards, play good defense, and hang around the rim. How quickly the fortunes of this team can change.

Mr. Little had an long summer away from the team, not knowing if he was coming back or not. He spent his summer in school waiting on the results of his pending legal matters, most of which were plea bargained, reduced, or dropped. He was reinstated with some harsh guidelines (no Clifton bars) but they say Donald's attitude has changed, he works harder in the drills, doesn't talk back, and listens to coaches advice. It took 4 years and a team expulsion for this evolution to where he should have been on day one. Donald has shown flashes of brilliance at times but then he would show flashes of Casper the ghost (and disappear). Donald needs to develop a go-to hook shot or drop step on offense. We need his ability to block shots without him leaving his feet 8 times a game to let his man get the easy put back. For someone of his size and strength he should be sucking up rebounds like a Hoover on tile but seems uninterested at times. Much rest on Little Big Man, sorry Dustin Hoffman.

B.J. Grove put in the extra work last year to get better and earned a starting position. Coach Huggins felt Donald was more effective off the bench and stayed out of early foul trouble so B.J. became the starter. He did show signs of improvement but still needs work to develop into a better rebounder and defender. Then B.J. decided to take most of the summer off, earned a one game suspension from Conference USA and supposedly walked away from the program due to family matters. If, in fact, that is the reason he left, nobody can argue the importance of his personal life vs. his basketball career. Only a couple people really know, rumor was it had more to do with his escalating weight, but again, we don't know for sure. All we can do is wish him good luck and hope he made the right decision.

Today we find out that Derek Hollman, our back up center, will be out for most of the season due to needed surgery to "repair the global instability" in his shoulder. Isn't that why were in Afghanistan? This is terrible news first because Derek has worked very hard over many years to earn this position on a major college program only to aggravate his shoulder on the first day of practice never recover. UC team surgeon Dr. Angelo Colosimo said Derek is looking at 3 to 6 months of rehabilitation after surgery, not fun. Derek was our big man with the least baggage and now he carries the heavy burden of months of rehab while watching his team battle from the sidelines.

This leaves us with a new attitude Donald Little and a team full of talented forwards and guards. The old saying that all else the same, talented big men will beat talented small men looms large on the horizon. We were very close to losing all three of these guys. The unexpected departure of these 2 big men leaves a large hole. Who will fill it, Maxiell, Flowers, Davis, Hubbard, the reappearance of Grove? Only time will tell what is our new plan.

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