Eye on the U

Reports: UM hoops to add Texas guard Sheldon McClellan

According to a couple of published reports the Miami Hurricanes basketball program has another talented guard transferring in from the Big 12 conference.

Texas' Sheldon McClellan, a 6-4 slasher who averaged 13.5 points a game for the Longhorns last season, told UM coaches late Sunday night he's headed to Coral Gables, choosing the Canes over LSU and Oregon.

Former Cane guard Shane Larkin, expected to be drafted in the NBA's first round next week, had a hand in McClennan ending up at Miami according to Canesport.com.

"Shane was the first person I called when I found out I was transferring," McCellan told Canesport. "I talked to Shane and he told me what type of guy Coach [Jim Larranaga] is and how he coaches. I like his style of coaching."

McClellan, who will have to sit out next season per NCAA transfer rules but will have two years of eligibility left, joins Kansas State transfer Angel Rodriguez as new arrivals. UM is still waiting to hear if Rodriguez will be eligible to play next season.

Video, plus Al Golden's post-game comments after the FSU loss

UM coach Al Golden's post-game's comments after the Florida State loss.

On the decision to start Stephen Morris...
"I thought it looked better on Friday than clearly it did on Thursday. Until you see him go out there and run around and actually stress it like he did in pregame, we were uncertain. I don’t regret playing Stephen in this game. I thought he gives us the best chance to win the game, and we didn’t get it done."

On keeping the game close until the fourth quarter...
"I thought we played hard. I thought we coached hard, I thought we played hard, and we lost to a good team. That’s it. We lost to a team that is ahead of us right now. We have to develop our guys and recruit some more and keep working, and don’t make any excuses. They’re a better team right now. We had opportunities that we did not convert. They did - hats off to them. Clearly they have an excellent pass rush and got to our quarterback, and we’re not doing the same on the other end. We’re not getting to the quarterback in four, and obviously we let [EJ] Manuel out too many times.

"They wore us down a little bit because we weren’t converting on third down on offense. I think we were 25 percent for the day, had to keep giving the ball back and we just couldn’t hold up. Then it turned into a field position game. Just too many opportunities - too many catches down field we didn’t make, too many interceptions we didn’t finish, and obviously an onside kick that we couldn’t get a better look than we got, and to not convert it is a shame."

On the timeout situation at the end of the first half...
"There was a lot of confusion obviously. I knew they had one timeout left, so that was their answer for the 10-second run-off, and then they said it was the half so I lost half my team. Obviously I wasn’t worried about that, but if we’re in the situation where it’s the final kick of the half, we’d like to get Seantrel [Henderson] and Malcolm [Bunche] and our big people in there. Just so much confusion.

On the performance of the offense...
"We just have to keep getting better. We’re playing a lot of good teams. We certainly have to be more efficient - that’s fair. We have to do a better job on third down, I don’t think there’s any question about that. We have to make some plays on the ball. We had some chances downfield, where we have to make those catches. We just have to take a deep breath. It’s been a long 12 weeks against a really tough schedule playing a lot of young guys. We need to take a deep breath, get healed up and see where we’re at over the next couple days. See if we want to practice at all or if we won’t, we’ll see, and then get ready for Virginia Tech."

On Duke Johnson’s injury...
"I have no idea to be honest with you. I couldn’t even tell you what it is. I was told he was out. I think they x-rayed him, that’s all I know.

On the importance of the bye week...
"It’s critical. We’re hanging on by a thread. We need time off. Brutal schedule, eight weeks in a row, young team. We need time off."

On the defensive momentum during the game...
"I think we got worn out a little bit. You have to keep pace with them and you have to convert on third down. We weren’t making the plays. Clearly they’re rotating three backs in there and they wore us down a little bit in the fourth quarter. We probably needed another takeaway, we had opportunities. They’re throwing the ball into Cover 2 for 30- or 40- yard gain and it should be an interception. We have to come through and make a play there.

"As I said to the team, give Florida State a lot of credit. They’re a very good team right now. They’re deep, and that’s okay. We know what we need to do. They’re ahead of us right now. We need to buckle down and get better. We need to develop our current team and we need to add to it."

On the team’s fast start...
"I think it was a better feel - I think that’s fair. The last two times we’ve played at this level, we didn’t look the same – Kansas State and Notre Dame. It’s fair to say it was a different look, a different feel, a different focus. I can say honestly that’s what I told the staff last night and that’s what I told the team. It did feel different. Just disappointing we didn’t convert on a couple more opportunities to give ourselves a chance. I’m disappointed in that. We have to get back to work there. I’ve been saying it all year we have a long way to go as a team. Are we competing? Yes. Do we execute all the time? No. We had some costly penalties and we had some costly errors in the game and that’s on me. I have to get that fixed."