Whatever Happened to Sam Byrd?

[UNTLifer]

Sam Byrd C 6-10/225 NR Alief, TX

[Zeke]

Not too sure. The name sounds familiar to me. But I may be thinking of Sam Funches.

Edited February 17, 2004 by Zeke

[mean ed]

he never academically qualified...he was a project...had good size but reminded me of ac earl

[Harry]

Sam played for Alief Hastings I think, anyhow he was a spring signee that didn't end up qualifying and went to Compton Community College. He was recruited out of high school by our former assistant Alvin Brooks who is now at UTEP. Sam was like 6-10 or 6-11, and paper thin but very athletic and could run down the court. Anyhow, Byrd was named to play in the McDonald's All American game in high school and had a promising career.

Sam has proven to be a good player at Compton and is now 6-11, 235. I have no idea if we are still trying to recruit him or not. My guess is that he will have quite a few more offers than he did coming out of high school. I would bet that UTEP may be after him since it was Brooks who cultivated that relationship. Frankly at his size he might be able to play pretty much wherever he wants to.

I found this recent news clip on Byrd who is now playing for Compton College:

"Sophomore swingman Kevin Lewis totaled 22 points, seven rebounds and three steals Wednesday night to lead the Compton College men's basketball team to an 83-64 victory over East L.A. in a South Coast Conference North Division game at East L.A. College.

The Tartars (9-5, 2-2) also got 14 rebounds, six rebounds and six blocked shots from sophomore center Sam Byrd, and freshman forward Gaston Essengue pitched in with 10 points and eight rebounds."

[CorinthEagle]

The Tartars? What the heck is a Tartar? I'm assuming they aren't talking about the sauce

[UNTLifer]

I hope JJ has stayed in contact. Byrd is exactly what we will need next year. Of course if Brooks was his recruiter here, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see him show up in El Paso. Thanks for the info. Harry.

Edited February 17, 2004 by UNTLifer

[DeepGreen]

El Paso is a long way from Houston.

Maybe "El Guapo" can give us some miliage statistics.

[Buford_Julep]

Thanks Harry.

Byrd played at Paris Tx JC last season, and did not make much of an impact. I was only able to find about 6 Paris box scores. He had less than 10 minutes time in every game.