NCDS: Jeremy Ballard, Asst. Coach - Tulsa

By: Jeremy Ballard, Asst. Coach - Tulsa

If you listen to nearly any college basketball coach in America you will hear them wax poetically of the importance of senior leadership. Time and time again success and senior leadership have proven to be synonymous on every level of basketball.  With the end of the season rapidly approaching and "Senior Night" games on the horizon, now is the perfect time all over the country to reflect on the impact that seniors have made on their respective programs.

This year, The University of Tulsa has been fortunate to have three wonderful seniors that also serve as our team captains- Jerome Jordan, Ben Uzoh, and Bishop Wheatley. While their backgrounds, basketball development, and recruitment vary, they have all contributed to one of the winningest four year stretches in Tulsa basketball history. With Saturday's win at Conference USA foe East Carolina, we have now won 20 games or more for the fourth consecutive season and are still very capable of winning 25 games for the third consecutive year. In their illustrious careers, these seniors have played in two consecutive Conference USA Championship games, won the 2008 CBI Championship, and advanced to the second round of the 2009 Post-Season NIT. 

Jerome Jordan is an amazing story of a talented late bloomer. Jerome is a 7-foot native of Jamaica who was unable to play his senior year of high school due to transfer rules.  As a result, Jerome had only one other scholarship offer coming out of high school and chose to attend The University of Tulsa. Due to his lack of playing experience and strength, Jerome played sparingly as a freshman at the University of Tulsa but started the last 10 games of the season. After a summer of hard work and having garnered game experience, Jerome really emerged as a force the second half of his sophomore season and finished the season at sixth in the nation in blocked shots, was named to the C-USA All-Defensive Team, and was named the MVP of the CBI Championship.  That summer Jerome was invited to the prestigious Amare Stoudemire Skills Camp and the LeBron James Skills Camp.  Jerome proceeded to use this experience to springboard himself to a fantastic junior season, which included leading our team to 25 wins and an appearance in the Second Round of the Post-Season NIT, while being named First Team All C-USA, and to the C-USA All-Defensive Team.  Although Jerome could have potentially been selected in the First Round of the NBA Draft, he chose to return for his senior season. He was then selected as Pre-Season C-USA Player of the Year and has not disappointed in his final campaign by averaging 16 points and 9 rebounds per game, while breaking the C-USA career record for blocked shots. .

Ben Uzoh came to Tulsa by way of San Antonio as a highly sought after recruit, who was ranked as the seventh best player in Texas.  He spurned offers from schools in the ACC and Big 12 to sign with the University of Tulsa. Ben's impact was felt as soon as he stepped foot on the court. Ben helped lead a team that was coming off an 11-win season to a nine game improvement and a 20-win campaign.  As the starting small forward he would go on to be named to the C-USA All Freshman Team.  In his sophomore season, Ben made the switch from primarily playing small forward to being a shooting guard.  He would also go on to be named Second Team All C-USA and to establish himself as one of the best guards in the Conference as our team would go on to win 25 games.  In Ben's junior season, he made arguably the most difficult position switch in converting to a point guard.  He made the transition seamlessly as he was named 2^nd Team All C-USA for the second consecutive year, while leading Tulsa to another 25 win season.  Ben is wrapping up what could very well be his first selection to the All C-USA first team.  Regardless of any conference accolades, Ben has had one of the most illustrious careers in Tulsa history as he is third in career scoring and his amazing versatility is embodied by the fact that he is the only player ever at Tulsa to rank in the top ten in scoring, assists, rebounding, and blocks.  Ben also ranks 7^th all time in Conference USA career scoring.

While both Jerome and Ben's success can be easily quantified by their statistics and potential NBA futures, Bishop Wheatley's career has been more understated, but no less successful. Bishop was originally slated to attend Howard University until a last minute decision to become a part of Head Coach Doug Wojcik's recruiting class. Although Bishop has never been a prolific scorer, he immediately made his presence felt with his versatility, defense, rebounding, hard work, and coachability.  Bishop at one time or another has played virtually all five positions for our team and has been a tremendous defender and leader. Bishop has showed extreme toughness during his career by not only playing through injuries (such as a broken foot) but he has recovered from both a broken wrist and ankle. Bishop and Coach Wojcik decided that it would be best for his career if he red-shirted his sophomore year and worked exclusively on his perimeter skills and he came back better than ever.  Bishop's crowning moment as an individual would have to be this season's match-up with Oklahoma State.   While any game with Oklahoma State would be highly anticipated, OSU also brought James Anderson, arguably the best guard in the Big 12 and one of the best in the country, to the match-up. Like he has always done, Bishop entered the game focused on his role as a defensive stopper, but decided to take it a step further. Not only did Bishop hold the potential lottery pick to a season low 10 points but he morphed into a scorer himself by hitting a career high 17 points and adding 9 rebounds. In one of the biggest wins in our coaching staff's tenure at Tulsa, no player shone brighter than Bishop Wheatley on that night.

While any true fan can point to tangible evidence as to how important our three seniors have been to the program, what the seniors mean to you as people is what counts the most. There has been a lot of hard work, a lot of sweat, and many good and bad times spent with every one of the seniors and it is truly amazing how quickly their careers have passed by.

  Not only are these three very good players and senior leaders but they hold a large soft spot in the hearts of every one of their coaches.  While we will undoubtedly miss their talents, and abilities to score, defend, and rebound what we will miss most is simply having them around on a daily basis. We will miss the daily interaction and the opportunity to watch them grow everyday. 

Jerome, Ben, and Bishop you have left an indelible mark on the Tulsa Basketball program and more importantly on the lives of your coaches and teammates. Thank you for all that you have done and we will miss you all!  Let's make the season last as long as we can!

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