Rayner Noble Chat Wrap

March 27, 2002

Moderator: Good morning everyone,
Thank you for joining us today. UH baseball head coach Rayner Noble will be with us in just a few minutes to begin answering your questions.
We have many questions already lined up, so we will start with those first. However, if you have a question, please feel free to ask as we go along and we will do our best to get to it.
Coach Noble is a little short of time today with several meetings on his schedule, so we may not be able to answer every question. But we will certainly try to get through as many as possible before time runs out.

Eric (LA): Coach Noble:

Who has been the most talented pitching staff you have faced this season so far? Thanks and good luck.

Rayner Noble: I think Rice is. They have good arms, All of them throw with velocity and all of them have good breaking balls. They have decent changes and they throw strikes.

Mike (chicago): what do you look for in players

Rayner Noble: The first thing is the skills that are necessary to play the game -- hitting, running, instincts on the field. We like to do some background on them and see what kind of people they are. We like to recruit solid citizens, responsible.

Ricky LaMantia: how much of an impact has new comer anthony scalise made on this team, and what do you see his future like?

Rayner Noble: Anthony has been a very pleasant surprise. He has added somebody that we can hit in the top of the lineup that can hit behind runners. He is a contact hitter, decent bunter and he is a good defensive outfielder. He hits well in the clutch. He has settled himself in as a regular in the outfield this year and he has another year of eligibility after this one.

Khoi (Houston): Austin Faught played a bigger role last season as a regular weekend starter and showed a lot of promise. What was the reason for his lesser role this season? Also, which underclassmen are you expecting to leave after this season?

Rayner Noble: The reason for Austin's role now is that he had some tenderness in his shoulder. That made us go with a different rotation and that's going well now. I look for Austin to be a bigger part of what we do as the season progresses. Austin will start slotting in as we get to the last three Tuesdays of the season and get him ready for the Conference Tournament. To get to Omaha, you have to have four starters.

Brice Sumrall - Houston: Cameron Blair - much heralded freshman, great speed - with Cooley hitting .230, Lucas' stats are down from a year ago - why can't Blair get a little playing time?

Rayner Noble: We are going to redshirt Cameron. He has a lot of ability and I am excited about his future here. I don't want to use a year of eligibility with him just playing here and there a little. Cameron should slide into our infield picture very nicely next year.

Brice Sumrall - Houston: Are we going to see Wayne Ayo or Austin Sumerlin get some innings this year?

Rayner Noble: No, like Cameron, they are both redshirting unless we have some injuries on the pitching staff.

Houston: Mr. Noble -

First off, I'd like to say Thanks.

Thanks for bringing the U of H program, into the upper level of play that is recognized throughout the country and for making the city "Cougar Proud".

I'd like to know what you, as a coach, look for when recruiting potential players? And does playing at a Junior College play any part in that decision process?

Thanks for the time -

God Bless and Go Coogs'!!

Rayner Noble: There is a place in every college program for junior college transfers. If there is a specific need and we need someone to step in and perform, we usually go to a junior college for someone like that.

Winston (OLympia,Wa): Bryan Harris, How is Bryan progressing after his surgery and do you expect to pitch him more this year?

Rayner Noble: He has been a little slow in coming around. Arm strength is down a little from last year. With each week going by, he gets a little stronger. We're going to try to work him some innings when we can and try to get him moving in the right direction.

Danny(Dallas): Congratulations on the season so far coach, the sweep over Tulane was great! I noticed in the last Baseball America poll all the (ex SWC)Texas Teams. In your opinion is the best baseball on a high school and college level played here in Texas. With that being the case when recruiting what are you looking for in a prospect that might give you the edge over another Texas school on the field?

Rayner Noble: We play a tremendous style of baseball here in Texas. California and Florida are two other hotbeds of recruiting.

Mike (Crosby, Texas): The coach at crosstown rival Rice University recently said that it would be unlikely that the NCAA would place two "regionals" in the Houston area. Do you agree? And are there any instances where a top 10 team has not been awarded a "regional"? Good luck with the rest of the season.

Rayner Noble: Last year, they put two regionals in southern California. I know that we are much closer than they are. I wouldn't say that the NCAA wouldn't do that. It just depends on how the other teams in Texas do late in their schedule.
A lot of times, it's not the rankings that determine if you host the regional. It has a lot to do with your RPI and the NCAA wants to put a regional in different districts across the country. It would be unlikely that we get two Regionals in Houston, but you never know.

Dave (Houston): Do you think College baseball can ever get as much attention as College basketball/football??

Rayner Noble: I think we are on the rise. With each new stadium that goes up, we get closer and closer. We need some type of television package. That is the only thing that is keeping us from becoming a big time sport in college athletics.

Houston : As a fan I got to enjoy the 2000 team as well as this one thus far. How do the two compare in your opinion?

Rayner Noble: They are two different clubs. Our starting pitching in 2000 was a little stronger than what we have now. I think that the depth of the pitching staff is much beter than that of 2000.
From an offensive standpoint, that team had more power and ability to put up doubles and home runs. But this team scraps more at home plate and they do the little things well. They are similar in that they are both very competitive.

NYCoog(Houston): How does the road look and what do you think it will take for this year's squad to make an appearence in Omaha?

Rayner Noble: We have to keep people understanding how important it is to improve as we go through the season. You can't get complacent with where you are yet. I see guys coming early and staying late. It's going to take us staying healthy. Hard work and staying healthy are big keys. We need to host a Regional and a Super Regional. That would make it much simpler.

Moderator: Thank you for joining Coach Noble today. He has had to rush out and attend to some business, but we certainly thank him for his time today.
Also, thank you to all the Cougar fans who asked questions and continue to support the program.
Just a reminder that the Cougars will be in action in Hattiesburg, Miss., this weekend in a three-game C-USA series. The team returns home to play host to Rice on April 2 at 7 p.m. at Cougar Field.
Thanks again for joining us. We will schedule more chats later in the season and let you know when those will be. Have a great day!

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