<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>COLUMBUS, Ohio — Seven-foot center Zisis Sarikopoulos has transferred from UAB to Ohio State, Buckeyes coach Thad Matta announced Thursday. Sarikopoulos, a native of Greece, must sit out the 2008-09 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules and will have three seasons of eligibility remaining. Sarikopoulos played in 20 games at UAB last season, averaging 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds. The Buckeyes lost freshman center Kosta Koufos to the NBA draft. The 7-foot Koufos, who was born in the U.S. but played for the Greek national 18-and-under team last summer, averaged 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds for the Buckeyes, who won the NIT last season. He was drafted 23rd overall by the Utah Jazz.</div> http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=828018
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 19 2008, 12:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Damn, how much did Matta and the o$u boosters pay him?</div> Yeah, this really reeks of foul play. I mean, I'm sure it was really hard for them to convince a UAB player averaging less than 2 ppg to transfer to Ohio State, a school one year removed from a national title game and having just produced two (and soon to be three) seven-foot first round draft picks. Matta seems to really have a thing for these big lane cloggers, but am I the only one who thinks he never gets the most out of them? Oden and Koufos did well at Ohio State, but they both could have done much better, especially Koufos. In fairness though, they each only played a year for the Buckeyes.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Voodoo Child @ Jul 19 2008, 11:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 19 2008, 12:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Damn, how much did Matta and the o$u boosters pay him?</div> Yeah, this really reeks of foul play. I mean, I'm sure it was really hard for them to convince a UAB player averaging less than 2 ppg to transfer to Ohio State, a school one year removed from a national title game and having just produced two (and soon to be three) seven-foot first round draft picks. Matta seems to really have a thing for these big lane cloggers, but am I the only one who thinks he never gets the most out of them? Oden and Koufos did well at Ohio State, but they both could have done much better, especially Koufos. In fairness though, they each only played a year for the Buckeyes. </div> Have you read any of the articles about what Koufos and his handlers think of Matta? Many, many accusations of Matta trying to underutilize him to force him to stay for another season As far as the recruiting aspect, Matta has been called slimy for years (since his Butler days). Mike Davis said Z was leaving because of playing time, so going to the big ten makes what sense? Although I guess this helps balance out all of the big ten players transferring to UAB. Matta is far better recruiter than he is a coach.
