CATEGORY 6

It's all about . . . The U!!!

Tag Archives: Jimmy Graham

Former Miami Hurricanes in the NFL having huge impact in Playoffs, plus Hurricanes recruiting update.

The NFL playoffs have a huge Hurricane flavor. Jimmy Graham nearly kept the Saints alive with a remarkable catch and run. Willis McGahee gave the Steelers fits in the wildcard round. Ed Reed clinched the Ravens win over the Texans with yet another remarkable interception. And Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle were all over the field as the Giants pummeled the Packers.

Ed Reed sealed the win over former teammate Andre Johnson

In this years AFC and NFC Championship Games, 11 players will have come from the University of Miami. They are: From the Baltimore Ravens: Ray Lewis (All-Pro),Reed (All-Pro), Bryant McKinney (All-Pro), Damien Berry (practice squad); NY Giants: Rolle (All-Pro), Phillips, Dwayne Hendricks (practice squad);  49ers: Tavares Gooden, Frank Gore (All-Pro), Corey Nelms (Practice Squad); NE Patriots: Vince Wilfork (All-Pro). This guarantees at least one former Cane will end this year with a championship ring.

This should come as no surprise. No other collegiate team has replicated the NFL talent the “U” has put forth over the past 2 decades.  It’s not simply quantity, but most notably quality (at least 4 players listed above will be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, including two (Reed and Lewis) who are arguably the greatest to ever play their respective positions).

 Some more facts:

The University of Miami‘s football program has set multiple records in producing players who go on to the National Football League. Put simply: There are tons of Miami Hurricanes in the NFL. The Hurricanes hold the record for most players selected in the first round in a single draft (6, in 2004), most first-round draft picks in a two-year period (11, from 2003 to 2004), most first-round draft picks in a three-year period (15, from 2002 through 2004), and most first-round picks in a four-year period (19, from 2001 through 2004). For a 14-year period, from 1994 through 2008, Miami had at least one player selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The Hurricanes once had a streak of 149 consecutive regular season weeks where a former Hurricane scored a touchdown in an NFL game; the streak started in Week 15 of the 2002 NFL regular season and ended in Week 11 of the 2011 season. During the streak, 33 different former Hurricanes scored touchdowns and a total of 661 touchdowns were scored. The Miami Hurricanes are also 10th overall on the NFL’s all-time number of draft picks with 307 (School only started the football program in earnest in 1970, whereas powerhouses like Michigan and Ohio State have been around since 1944, first year of the NFL).

Since 1999, Miami Hurricanes has had 67 players selected, 2nd-most in the nation, behind only Ohio State University (77). In the same time-span, Hurricanes players were picked 33 times in the first-round, the most of any Division I university.

Though Miami has struggled over the past couple of years record-wise, the school is unequivocally moving in the right direction, under the leadership of Al Golden. There is no doubt that over the next several years, Miami will continue to send impact players to the NFL, thus making it a very attractive destination for all talented and motivated recruits, looking for an ideal “home” around the country.

 

Hurricanes Recruiting update:

The “U” picked up 3 new recruits for the 2013 class. ATH Jayron Kearse 6’4” 185lbs, RB Alex Collins 5′ 11″ 180lbs, and DT Keith Bryant 6′ 2″ 290lbs.  All three are highly touted players from Florida, that join fellow Florida ATH Levonte Whitfield in committing to the ‘Canes. It’s a great sign to see Al Golden  focus on  recuiting local kids.  Howard Schnellenberger’s’ “State of Miami” philosophy appears to have rubbed off on Golden.

Here’s some video to whet your appetite.

ATH - Jayron Kearse

 

RB – Alex Collins

DT – Keith Bryant

ATH - LeVonte Whitfield

 

Twit-Storm #4: Bound for the Floor

Welcome to the fourth of our irregularly-regularly occurring analysis of UM’s presence on Twitter, the site Rick Sanchez made famous before he was forgotten! Completely. Most of these tweets have been taken way out of context for your entertainment. Cat 6 Shout Out to Channonball (Bchannon) for manning-up our Twitter presence.

 

Regg_42 Reggie Johnson

@ItsJMaal11 I played the other day bruh so I’m BACK

 

Reggie, your tweet reminds me of something . . .

 

TheJimmyGraham Jimmy Graham

Hope everybody has lots of light and love in their lives tonight!…..Happy Chanukah

 

Thank you, Jimmy. That makes some of us feel better . . .

 

DequanJones5 Dequan Jones

Why don’t people have dance battles at house parties like they did back in the day? Lol

 

Watch these idiots prepare and practice for such a battle . . .

 

 

TreyMJ04 Trey McKinney Jones
You cant do the same thing and expect a different result

 

LOL. Truer words may have never been said.

 

SLarkin_0 Shane Larkin

@Regg_42 was cleared last week and @DequanJones5 just got cleared today! Things starting to look real bright in Coral Gables!

 

The Legend himself gives a forecast of the mood in Coral Gables . . .

 

Tune in next time for another edition of Twit-Storm.

 

Category 6 Basketball Simulation: Miami (1999-2000) vs. Hurricanes (2007-2008)

This is one for the ages. The Category 6 computer scientists went at it again. This time they’ve outdone themselves by pitting one of the best Leonard Hamilton coached ‘Canes teams (Miami) versus Frank Haith’s lone NCAA tournament squad (Hurricanes). Miami defeated the Hurricanes 87-70 in a lopsided contest that saw coach Haith go through 5 or 6 jackets. (No we’re not aiming to get Men’s Warehouse as an advertiser) Note: I only ran the simulation once for the purpose of this article. I think that’s the best strategy to refrain from picking a particular result. Also, subsequent simulations showed a mix of wins and losses with the 1999-2000 squad winning the lion’s share of the contests. (8 out of 10).

 

Johnny Hemsley nails a three and lets the Hurricanes know about it.

Johnny Hemsley 24pts, 6reb, 1ast, 1stl and NBA star John Salmons went ballistic. Hemsley was on fire from behind the arc and at the line.

 

We could have used a 'Cane photo, sure, but these expressions are priceless. Salmons is like "I can't believe it!". Josh Smith is like "Not again!".

Salmons pushed a triple-double with 19pts, 7reb, 6ast. Mario Bland 17pts, 8reb, 3st was a beast on the boards and lured Anthony King away from the hoop while repeatedly nailing his patented jumper. Elton Tyler also made life difficult for Collins as he sent an early layup attempt into the 3rd row. Brian Asbury scored 13pts but the Hurricanes were beaten up on the boards by Miami.

 

Mario Bland (51) gets a rest after abusing Anthony King and Brian Asbury.

Perhaps the most surprising outcome of this simulated game is Jack McClinton’s 11pts on 3-9 shooting. I know Miami’s defense was world-class, but we’ve all seen McClinton go berserk in big spots, I’m inclined to think that he’d score a bit more.

 

Jack McClinton (33) had a sluggish simulated game against Miami.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jimmy Graham (00) has turned into quite the NFL TE.

NFL All-Pro TE Jimmy Graham 10pts, 5reb put away the cleats for the game and contributed despite only playing 17 minutes.

 

Vernon Jennings 9pts, 4reb, 5ast, 2stl caused problems for McClinton, James Dews 0pts, 3reb, 2ast and Lance Hurdle 7pts, 3reb, 2ast.

 

The story of this game appeared to be Miami’s suffocating defense, as they forced the Hurricanes into 17 turnovers. Miami’s 14 steals reflected their quick hands and heady play. Brian Asbury 13pts led the Hurricanes’ balanced attack, but there wasn’t enough supporting firepower to pull out the win.

 

FINAL
99-00 Miami (FL) 87
07-08 Miami (FL) 70

 

VISITING TEAM: 99-00 Miami (FL)
PLAYER MIN FGM/FGA 3PT M/A FTM/FTA REB AST BLK STL TO PF TP
Johnny Hemsley 33 7/15 4/9 6/6 6 1 0 1 2 1 24
Vernon Jennings 31 2/6 1/2 4/4 4 5 0 2 3 2 9
John Salmons 29 6/12 3/4 4/4 7 6 1 3 2 2 19
Mario Bland 28 6/11 0/0 5/8 8 0 0 3 2 4 17
Elton Tyler 26 3/6 0/0 2/2 4 1 1 1 2 4 8
Joao Paulo Coelho 14 0/3 0/2 1/2 1 1 0 2 2 3 1
James Jones 12 0/4 0/0 2/2 3 0 0 1 0 1 2
Leroy Hurd 12 2/2 0/0 1/2 1 2 0 0 0 2 5
Dwayne Wimbley 12 0/0 0/0 2/2 3 1 0 1 0 0 2
Tarik El-bassiouni 1 0/0 0/0 0/0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Orlando Gonzalez 1 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Michael Simmons 1 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 200 26/59 8/17 27/32 38 17 2 14 13 19 87
44.1% 47.1% 84.4%
HOME TEAM: 07-08 Miami (FL)
PLAYER MIN FGM/FGA 3PT M/A FTM/FTA REB AST BLK STL TO PF TP
Jack McClinton 27 3/9 1/4 4/4 3 3 0 0 3 3 11
James Dews 27 0/4 0/1 3/4 3 2 0 0 1 3 3
Brian Asbury 26 6/9 0/0 1/1 3 2 1 1 1 1 13
Dwayne Collins 22 3/5 0/0 2/2 7 0 2 1 2 1 8
Lance Hurdle 22 3/5 1/2 0/0 3 2 0 0 2 2 7
Anthony King 22 4/8 0/0 2/2 5 1 0 1 2 0 10
Eddie Rios 19 1/8 1/2 1/4 1 0 0 0 3 3 4
Jimmy Graham 17 4/6 0/0 2/5 5 0 0 0 2 2 10
Raymond Hicks 15 1/2 0/0 2/2 2 3 2 2 0 4 4
Landon Glover 1 0/1 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Adrian Thomas 1 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fabio Nass 1 0/0 0/0 0/0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
TOTALS 200 25/57 3/9 17/24 33 13 5 5 17 19 70
43.9% 33.3% 70.8%

Jimmy Graham: from Power Forward to Pro-Bowler!

Through 13 games this year, Graham has 80 catches 1101 yards and 8 touchdowns.

In 152 of 153 weeks a Miami Hurricane has scored a touchdown in the NFL, including the remarkable recently broken streak of 149 in a row. Superstars like Clinton Portis, Andre Johnson, Ed Reed, and Devin Hester highlight the list. UM is after all “NFL U”.  But in 2011 one ‘Cane has shined the brightest. Jimmy Graham is the best tight end in the NFL right now.

 

 

Back in 2007-08 UM’s hoops team was a scrappy bunch. Jack McClinton was the unquestioned star. Anthony King provided the inside punch, James Dews was

Sometimes a scream says 10,000 words.

McClinton’s sweet-shooting side kick, and Dwayne Collins was king of the thunderous dunk. They ended up being the last Miami team to make the NCAA Tournament, bowing out to a tough Texas team in the second round. Perhaps the least skilled but most fiery member of that team was a 6’8 250 hulk of a power forward named Jimmy Graham. He only averaged 4 points a game and 6 rebounds and was ALWAYS in foul trouble. When the guards dumped the ball down to him in the low post, my usual reaction was “no. no. no!”  But the kid played with heart. He set bone crushing screens, played great D when he wasn’t fouling, and quite frankly his primal screams after big dunks seemed to scare the other team and fire up the ‘Canes.

 

Below are some of the team’s highlights. Graham stars with a big block at 2:24, an incredible in-bounds save at 4:21, 7:03-7:13 well that speaks for itself, and 8:51-8:55 are exclamation points!

 

I can remember when I first heard that Jimmy Graham was going out for UM’s football team. I thought it might be a cool way for the basketball team to get some much deserved publicity, but thought little else of it. He scored a few touchdowns and looked real good at times, but I mostly remember his heart breaking drops in the Virginia Tech game. As a diehard basketball junkie, I rooted harder for him then anyone. He finished his lone year on the college gridiron with 17 catches 213 yards and 5 touchdowns. Not bad considering it was his first football action since 8th grade.  

 

Did I think Graham was on his way to NFL stardom? I absolutely did not. Do I think it is the coolest thing ever? That’d be an understatement. So while the University of Miami is and always will be unequivocally a football school, I encourage fans to take a closer look at the basketball program. You just might see Drew Brees’ future favorite target,  or something else really cool.

 

Some of Graham’s best on the football field:

 

Basketball players on the gridiron, Jimmy V & more…..

Recently pint sized former NBA slam dunk champion Nate Robinson hinted he may try out for the NFL. With the success of  former college basketball stars like UM big man Jimmy Graham with the New Orleans Saints, Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers, and Atlanta Falcons future hall of famer Tony Gonzalez, it might not be that outlandish.  While we don’t recommend any or every hoopster try it, here’s a list of a few former & current UM players I think may have had what it took.

 

Mario Bland, defensive end.  Imagine Big Mario chasing down QBs the way he gobbled up rebounds. At 6’6 250 he certainly had gridiron size.  Plus his nifty moves around the basket would have translated nicely to the kind of footwork he’d have needed to perplex bigger offensive lineman. Think Kenard Lang here.

 

Jack McClinton, slot reciever.  McClinton was often the first, second, and third focus of opposing teams defensive schemes. With quickness and determination he worked around screen after screen after screen until he got open. In addition he had the kind of swagger Santana Moss used to display in his Cane days.

 

Tim James, special teams ace.  James would be my designated field goal/extra point/punt blocker. Not to mention if anyone cracks a long return, he had the desire to run them down.  Just ask Richard Hamilton.
Guillermo Diaz, goal line running back.  Diaz once starred in volleyball in Peurto Rico. While I am not sure how that translates to football, I do know I’d love to see this high flyer jump over the pile from the one yard line.

 

Kevin Norris, defensive back.  Norris always could stick to his guy like glue.  He also had the confidence and swagger coaches love in a DB.

 
Reggie Johnson, defensive tackle/linebacker. Think 300 pound linebacker Levon Kirkland from the Steelers in the 90′s.  We really hope Reggie sticks to basketball, but it’s still fun to imagine.
 
I think all of the gentleman listed above made the right choices to stick with basketball. Nonetheless some of my favorite players are the ones with football mentalities.
 
Now on to my non basketball thoughts of the week:
 
 
The Jimmy V foundation always seems to ramp up its efforts around this time of year. We are now closing in on the 18th anniversary of JimValvano’s legendary ESPY speech. I encourage all who can, to donate  at http://www.jimmyv.org/………
 
In Honor of Jimmy V I give you this quote, part of his famous speech.
“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”  …………..
 
 
I think the media criticizing Derek Jeter for not showing up the MLB all star game is ridiculous. If he shows he doesn’t belong because of a mediocre year, but when he doesn’t he’s disrespecting the game? ……..
 
 
Paul Williams won a majority decision over Erislandy Lara on Saturday night in what appeared to be an awful decision. Aside from the controversial decision the theme of Saturday night was the dramatic fall of Williams who was one of boxing’s former pound for pound best.  Here’s hoping Paul hangs em up before he goes the route of Roy Jones.
 
 
As always any and all feedback welcome.
 

Category6 catches up with Lance Hurdle

We recently caught up with former ‘Cane and current D-League star Lance Hurdle. The high flying point guard from San Diego is still very close to the program. Lance, who finished his collegiate career in 2009 with UM is currently on the Springfield Armor and averaged double figures in scoring this past year.

 

Here is the Q&A:

 

C6: What was your all time favorite moment at UM?

 

LH: I have a couple of favorite moments here. One is beating Duke my junior year, going to the NCAA tournament, and beating Wake my senior year when they were ranked 6th in the country and the students stormed the floor.

 

C6: Who was your favorite teammate at UM? Which current player do you enjoy watching the most?

 

LH: Everyone on the team was cool, we are all brothers so it is hard to chose one favorite, but if I had to choose one I’d say Jimmy Graham because he always set good screens to get me open (LOL). On the current team there are so many talented guys, I can’t wait to see them all play at once.

 

C6: What do you think of UM’s decision to hire Jim Larranaga?

 

LH: I think it was a GREAT hire for the Hurricanes not only as a team, but for the school and also the city. He is a very positive guy and has a great coaching resume. I’m happy for my bros on the team and expect them to make the tournament each year Coach L is there.

 

C6: We’ve seen you at UM games this past year (which is awesome). What do you think is the key to getting more fans to come out and see the Canes?

 

LH: Getting wins will always keep fans coming to the games, but I think with the style Coach L wants to play it will attract more fans because it is fun to watch.

 

C6: How do you expect the Canes to fare this next season?

 

LH: NATIONAL CHAMPS! Only losing one senior and have a tremendous class coming in.

 

C6: Lastly, please tell us anything else you’d like about what your up to in your career and personally?

 

LH: I just finished playing in the D-League and I got a few NBA teams looking at me for the upcoming year so I pray I’ll be on an NBA team’s roster. But for right now I’m in Miami, training at the school and staying in shape and hanging out with the team.

 

Lance we certainly wish you good luck!! And thank you again for letting us catch up with you!