(63) with two regular-season games to spare. Colt Brennan, w

Amaya Finklea-Guity was sitting in the Syracuse video room this past summer when she realized this wasnt going to be like all her other interactions with college coaches.This was going to be about instruction and improvement, not promises and promotion.Orange coach Quentin Hillsman was showing tape that illustrated his vision of her career at the upstate New York university when, suddenly, he asked Finklea-Guity to stand up.He proceeded to show her some tips on how to avoid foul trouble by not swinging her arms and by doing a better job of moving her feet laterally.It was as if Hillsman had read her mind. On the plane ride from her home in Boston to Syracuse, she had told her mother, Paula Guity, she wanted to stop fouling so much.What Coach Q did definitely made an impression on me, said Finklea-Guity, a 6-foot-4 senior center and the No. 42 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100 who last season led Noble & Greenough (Dedham, Massachusetts) to the New England prep school Class A championship.I felt he was ready to work with me and push me to be better. It was a cool moment.It was also a winning moment for Syracuse because thats when Finklea-Guity decided she would be joining the Orange program. Then again, Syracuse has been doing a lot of winning lately. The Orange went 30-8 last season, reaching the NCAA final before falling to Connecticut. Before last season, the Orange had never advanced past the tournaments first weekend.Last month, Syracuse (7-3) nailed down what is being hailed as the best recruiting class in program history. In addition to Finklea-Guity, the Orange signed Nikki Oppenheimer, a 5-9 combo guard at Montini Catholic (Glenview, Illinois) who represented Puerto Rico at the FIBA Americas U18 championships in Chile; Diaby Kariata, a 6-5 center from Voiron, France, who has represented the Ivory Coast in international competitions; Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi, a 6-2 forward and three-star recruit from Paris who played for France at the 2016 FIBA U18 European championships in Hungary; and Digna Strautmane, a 6-2 forward from Rigas, Latvia, who is ranked 23rd in the Top 100 and played for her national team at the FIBA U20 European championships in Portugal.I think our program is in a good place, said Hillsman, whose team will graduate five seniors this season, including four starters. When you get to the NCAA title game, you are right there. I think we just needed perimeter shooting, size and versatility, and this class addressed that.Size and speed in onePaula Guity, whose parents were born in Honduras, has raised Amaya on her own. For years, Guity put her daughter in just about every after-school activity imaginable, from swimming, to tap dancing and tennis.I was trying to find her niche, Guity said.Ultimately, Finklea-Guity outgrew dance -- literally. After seeing she was the tallest girl on stage, she asked her mother to try something else.A friend told Guity that the AAU Boston Showstoppers were looking for a center. Even though Finklea-Guity, who was 11 at the time, had never played basketball, the Showstoppers took one look at her height and immediately said yes.There was a tournament the next day, and the Showstoppers coaches were yelling out instructions to their new center, teaching her the game on the fly.The coaches told her, Just put your hands up, Guity said. So Amaya did that and just stood there. She didnt realize she had to run up and down the court until they yelled at her again.Then when the opposing point guard came down, and Amaya blocked her shot, she thought that was the greatest thing.She had found her niche.Finklea-Guity, who has a 3.5 GPA and is interested in studying computer engineering, chose Syracuse over 25 other scholarship offers. Harvard and Brown were among the colleges recruiting her. But Finklea-Guity wanted to play for a national title, and she thought Syracuse gave her that chance.Hillsman sees in Finklea-Guity a prototypical post player who can score over either shoulder. But he also sees a player with uncanny speed.Shes as fast as any high school post player Ive ever seen, Hillsman said. Speed and quickness comes down to your will. You can be fast, but if you dont have the will to run hard every time down, it doesnt matter.Amaya always puts pressure on the other post because of how fast she gets up and down the court.Finding a shooterOppenheimer, who is set to play for Puerto Rico this summer at the U19 world championships in Italy, will certainly help with any shooting issues.She is the daughter of Josh Oppenheimer, who played nine years of pro ball in Europe and is now an assistant coach with the NBAs Houston Rockets. Josh taught his daughter the proper shooting form during her earlier years, and it stuck.Oppenheimer committed to Syracuse in October of 2015, thoroughly enjoying her visit with Hillsman and his staff. But the deal was sealed when she and her mom took a quick detour to the local mall.While trying on sneakers at a Foot Locker, Oppenheimer was asked by the salesperson what made her come to Syracuse. When she explained she was a potential Orange recruit, the salesperson had an immediate reaction.She said, Oh, I love Coach Q, Oppenheimer said. She had been a team manager at Syracuse, and to hear her say so many good things about him just showed he was good to the people around him and that he was a genuine person.That just confirmed what I was already thinking.Oppenheimer, who has a 4.3 GPA and is interested in becoming a sports agent, has drawn praise of her own. Her AAU coach, Dave Yates of Midwest Elite, calls Oppenheimers jumper pure.Its one of the best shots Ive seen in 10 years of coaching girls, Yates said.Because she was the first player in her class to commit to Syracuse, Oppenheimer is called the anchor of the group by Hillsman. But shes more than that.Nikki played point guard on her AAU team and off the ball in high school, so she knows how to adapt, Hillsman said. We all know she is a phenomenal shooter. But shes also deceptively quick, she can get to her spots, and shes very intelligent.Project EuropeAfter Hillsman got commitments from Oppenheimer in 2015 and Finklea-Guity this past July, his next move was to recruit a recruiter.Adeniyi Amadou, a native of Paris, had come to the U.S. as a teenager to play basketball and go to school. By 2009, he had transitioned to coaching, and he landed a job as a Syracuse graduate assistant.From there, he became an assistant coach at Dayton and then at Kentucky before Hillsman called his former GA and said two simple words: Come home.Amadou accepted his mentors offer, bringing with him expertise in working with post players but also vast international recruiting connections. When Amadou was hired on August 16, Syracuse had no commitments from players overseas.Hillsman told Amadou what he needed -- size and skill. Amadou gave his boss a list of 12 players he thought could fit, and Hillsman then had him focus on the three or four he had actually seen and liked, either on tape or in person in trips to European competitions.The only problem was that other schools had already been recruiting the players Syracuse now wanted.We were late, Amadou said. But I knew enough people in Europe, and the relationships were so strong, we were able to make up the ground.The two players from France committed first, Kariata in mid-September and Djaldi-Tabdi a couple weeks later.I had known both of them for a long while, Amadou said. The coaches knew me, and that made things easier. The credibility was there, and the fact that I am French helps as well.Amadou had no such home-country advantage in Latvia, but he worked his contacts and got Strautmane to commit in October.I didnt have to sell them on Syracuse, Amadou said. They knew we had good people.In the end, Amadou said, Syracuse landed three international kids who would be much more highly rated had they played high school ball in the U.S. and had been seen by more scouts.These are girls who practice twice a day and compete against grown women, pro players, Amadou said. We dont get caught up in rankings. But I know weve done well. Grey Air Jordan 12 Retro . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Wholesale Jordan Shoes From China Free Shipping . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. http://www.cheapjordans12retro.com/brown-air-jordan-12-retro/ . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. White Air Jordan 12 Retro Green Air Jordan 12 Retro . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- For one night in the hills of West Virginia, Lamar Jackson became a magnet. Even before Louisvilles cadre of buses arrived at Marshalls Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday afternoon, a crowd of fans gathered behind the northern end zone, waiting on him to show his face. A middle-aged man carried a magazine he hoped Jackson would sign. He already owned the autographs of Willie Mays and Babe Ruth, and now it was Jacksons turn. Soon, the mans pregnant and enduringly patient wife said, hed have to move all his memorabilia out of the spare bedroom to make room for the baby. Wearing green, it was clear the child would grow up rooting for the Thundering Herd.But allegiances didnt matter when Jackson stepped off the bus to the classic O Fortuna, which is a matter of ritual before every Louisville game. The drums boomed through the loudspeaker, and just like that, every eyeball gravitated toward Jackson, the Cardinals 19-year-old sophomore quarterback who has emerged as college footballs latest superstar. Anyone with a camera, cellphone or otherwise, pointed it straight at Jackson as he made a beeline toward the visiting locker room. Later, something as simple as a game of pitch-and-catch in shorts and a T-shirt drew the attention of at least a dozen on-field reporters.An over-capacity crowd of 40,592 came to witness the Lamar Jackson Experience. They were either going to love him or hate him for what he was about to do to Marshalls defense, but they wouldnt dare look away. Bill Koontz, a 1971 Marshall graduate, drove more than 10 hours from his home in Kansas City, Missouri, to be there. He knew the Herds four-game winning streak over Louisville was about to come to an end. But seeing Jackson in person brought some consolation.Hes Superman, Koontz said. The hell with Cam Newton.Even the referees couldnt keep their cool around Jackson. One official lurched into his pocket during pregame warm-ups as Jackson walked past him on the sideline, fumbling his phone as he rushed to take a picture. He couldnt get the darn thing steady in time. So after Louisville finished stretching, the official waved off all manner of pretense and simply asked Jackson to hold still.Before long, Jackson and the Cardinals were off and running, moving the chains at a blistering pace against an overmatched Marshall defense. Jackson bounced around in the pocket like a pinball, buzzed passes by the earholes of defenders, lobbed touchdowns down the sideline and shrugged off tacklers as he high-stepped into the end zone. Late in the game, a pair of Marshall ball boys stood on the Louisville sideline in awe of Jacksons effortless throwing motion. He flicked his wrist, and off it went like a dart, a tightly wound spiral each and every time.That ball, one of them said to the other, who shook his head in disbelief. I cant get over how pretty it is. Even the long ones. They dont break.Jackson, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, wound up passing for 417 yards and five touchdowns on the night. He scored twice more running the football as Louisville beat Marshall 59-28 to improve to 4-0.College footballs reigning touchdown king was ushered near midfield, where a television crew readied for a postgame interview. Jackson was deferential and kept the focus on his teammates. But defensive end Devonte Fields photobombed the live shot, walking through the background with a sign he borrowed from someone in the crowd. Lamar #8 Jackson For Heisman, it read. Fields shoved a Sharpie in Jacksons hand when the interview ended. Jackson grinned and gave it his sweeping signature.Moments later, a Marshall athletic trainer had something else for Jackson to autograph: a bright green cast wrapped around her right arm. A couple of paces away, a man and his 10-year-old son asked for a photo. Louisvilles director of football ops and the teams strength and conditioning coach shouted that there was no time, that they had to go. But Jackson ignored them, smiled for the camera and patted the boy on the head. Little Kahlief Tye muttered, Awesome, and couldnt manage another word. His big eyes refused to blink as Jackson jogged off the field and on to whats next.On to No. 5-ranked Clemson on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ABC). On to the next step in Louisvilles quest to crash the playoff. On to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City.While the rest of the country remains in a daze over the player he has become, Jackson is unfazed. The most electrifying athlete in college football doesnt need another minute to process what being a superhero means or how he has reached 25 touchdowns faster than any player in the past decade -- faster than Newton, faster than Manziel, faster than Mariota or Luck or Tebow. The man many in Louisville call La-Marvelous believed he could do it the entire time.***Lamar Jackson believes hes failing.No, seriously. Ask him.He gave himself a D grade after he scored five touchdowns against then-No. 2 Florida State two weeks ago. An interception bugged him.I think it was seven incomplete passes I threw, he said. Bad balls.Against Marshall, he was even harder on himself. He didnt bother to look down at the stat sheet placed in front of him at the postgame news conference. Final grade: F.Four hundred and seventeen yards and five touchdowns passing is an F? a reporter asked incredulously.How many completions did I have? Jackson shot back.24.Out of what?44.F, Jackson said, shaking his head. F.Its simple math, according to Jackson. Divide 24 by 44, and youll get 54.5 percent. Thats a failing grade in school, he explained.You wont find this in any textbook, but the exchange rate he abides by is four touchdowns for every one interception. Wideout Jaylen Smith said Jackson feels as if he owes that to his teammates when he makes a mistake. Jackson will throw an interception, score the necessary four TDs and tell the offense, All right, were even now.Hes a perfectionist, Smith said.Smith ought to know. The two were roommates last season. Theyd get home after a scrimmage or a game, and the first thing Jackson would do was pick up the phone and call his mother to tell her about everything he messed up on. Jackson wanted to make sure he pointed out all his flaws first, Smith said. Never mind that he scored 23 touchdowns and started seven games as a true freshman, all without knowing most of the playbook.Hes a great competitor, and sometimes when youre a great competitor, things eat at you, Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. The things that absorb your thoughts are the miistakes you make, the ones you just miss.dddddddddddd Sometimes you forget about all the really good plays and the great things you do.But what others see as greatness, Jackson sees as ordinary.That spectacular hurdle against Syracuse? He did the same thing during a game in high school at Boynton Beach in South Florida.That blinding speed he showed against Florida State? He ran track, and once won a foot race against NBA star Rajon Rondo.And that cannon for a right arm weve seen all year? Go find the video on YouTube of him throwing a ball from goal line to goal lineWhen Lamar Thomas, a former assistant at Louisville, began recruiting him, Jackson didnt want the typical deluge of compliments and empty promises. All it took was a handshake agreement with Petrino that he would be kept at quarterback. Then Jackson asked Thomas for a scouting report on all the quarterbacks on the roster, and the two sat and discussed their strengths and weaknesses.If he won the starting job, Jackson told Thomas, Im going to take it to the next stratosphere.It took some time to beat out the competition and even more time to learn Petrinos complex offense. But thats where the unique part of Jacksons perfectionism kicks in: He doesnt stay frustrated long. He drops his head, shakes his fist and then lets it roll right off his back.The first pass he ever threw in college was an interception against Auburn. Garrick McGee, who was then Louisvilles offensive coordinator, was worried about the rookie and asked him, Are you all right? He said Jackson told him, That doesnt bother me at all. Jackson just wanted back in. He went to the huddle and told his teammates, We have to score -- fast.Thats when I said to myself, This kid might be special. This guy might be what everyone was looking for, said McGee, who is now the offensive coordinator at Illinois. He was just thinking about what we had to do to win. And thats what separates him from anybody that Ive seen. It has nothing to do with him and his success. He just wants to win. It just so happens that to win hes going to score five touchdowns.What no one could have predicted is that hed average more than five touchdowns.Now McGee thinks the Heisman is Jacksons to lose. He called his former QB Michael Jordan in shoulder pads.It seems the only person who isnt in hysterics over his sudden success is Jackson himself. Since he was 7 years old, he said, he knew he wanted to be somebody playing football.Ive been working hard, he said. Ive been working very hard for a long time. Ive been praying and now its happening.***Sadly, in his quest to take over college football, Jackson has had to relinquish the NBA2K crown he claimed playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. He bought the latest version of the video game when it came out in September, but he hasnt had the energy to open it. When he got home from Marshall at 4 a.m. Sunday, all he wanted was to do was climb in bed and sleep. He rested most of the day, got treatment, lounged around and watched Netflix. Hes trying out the quasi-superhero show The Arrow right now. For comedies, his go-to movie is Friday.Other than that, its schoolwork, listening to the rapper Kodak Black and practice. Football is his hobby, he said. Getting anything more personal than that is a lost cause. Either hes not telling or theres nothing there. When his former high school coach was asked what Jackson does other than football, he said simply, He trains.Im at the stadium for fun. Jackson said. I dont really do anything.Lyndon Clemons, Jacksons former vice principal at Boynton Beach High, said its important to understand that Jackson is still only 19 years old. Theres not a lot extra, he explained. Jackson is an open book, but that doesnt mean there are many pages not earmarked for football. Whats more, his mother is a very private woman, and that has carried over to her son. Its going to take a while before theyre used to all this newfound attention.But watch Jackson long enough, and its easy to see why his nickname was Smiley Face as a child. On the sideline and around the football complex, hes always in a good mood. Even the way he speaks, barely above a whisper, draws you in. Hes effervescent. He seems to giggle constantly. Its only when you bring up the Heisman Trophy and his individual performance that he tightens up a bit.He expected the success, but he didnt understand all the cameras that would follow. Its probably the only thing he didnt plan for. He shuts it out by staying in his room, he said.Deangelo Brown, a Louisville defensive lineman who is one of a handful of fifth-year seniors on the team, said he has never seen Jackson talk about himself. He doesnt worry about Jackson becoming the next Johnny Manziel -- another young, second-year player who was all the rage before fame sent him careening off in the wrong direction -- because, Brown said, Jackson cares too much.Hes way more focused, Brown said. Hes not really all in the party scene, hes not really in all the flashes. Hes just a guy that loves football, loves to have fun, loves to win.Said Jackson: I stay on the path of maintaining. ... If you try to, like, dwell on that like youre the man or something, good things wont happen to you.If he keeps up his current pace, Jackson will break the FBS record for touchdowns (63) with two regular-season games to spare. Colt Brennan, who set the record in 2006 at Hawaii, had 10 fewer scores than Jacksons 25 through four games.On Saturday night in Death Valley, Jackson will go head-to-head against another former sophomore quarterback who found himself in the thick of the Heisman conversation last season: Clemsons Deshaun Watson.Tigers coach Dabo Swinney, like so many others, has fallen all over himself praising Jackson this week. He already has called him a right-handed Michael Vick and pointed out that hes not just a scrambler, but someone who can absolutely throw the ball all over the park.Lamar Jackson is a weapon, no question, Swinney said. He makes a lot of plays. Hes a handful.Brown said the game plan is simple: Stop Watson and keep feeding Lamar the ball.The more chances he gets, the more touchdowns he can score, Brown said.And at this point, any number of touchdowns shouldnt be surprising.After all, its time we all accepted a fact that Louisvilles star quarterback came to grips with long ago: Lamar Jackson belongs in the end zone. ' ' '