Preseason Cornell Team Report from the Sports Xchange/YahooSports

The Sports Xchange and YahooSports have published the team reports for each of the Ivy League schools. Below are links to each of team reports as well as the full report for Cornell.

• Brown team report

• Columbia team report, "The Lions aren’t generally expected to contend with Cornell for the Ivy League title, but don’t be fooled by the hype. With the new talent at Joe Jones’ disposal, Columbia is one of the few teams in the Ivy League that can match up with the Big Red...Columbia isn’t quite at the level of its Ivy League travel partner, but even with the Big Red’s additions, the separation is not as large as its been in the past... though it has the talent to contend, the most likely outcome is another season right around the .500 mark, given the strength of Cornell and the depth of the rest of the league."

• Cornell team report

• Dartmouth team report

• Harvard team report, "[Tommy Amaker] returns several key components from a team that beat Boston College as well as Cornell and finished with a 6-8 record in the Ivy League a season ago... Amaker’s aggressive recruiting has put the program under greater scrutiny than in previous years, and also increased fan expectations to a new level. Most are hoping for a top-three finish in the Ivy League, and being a strong contender to front-runner Cornell for the Ivy League title."

• Penn team report, "The 2008-09 season proved to be Penn’s first losing season in the Ivy League since 1990-91. Regardless of injuries, bad luck, or the unusually talented Cornell team at the top of the preseason standings, that’s not going to fly for the Quaker faithful for much longer... he Quakers look to be on the way down. Once one of the two elite programs in the Ivies along with Princeton, the top tier of teams is more crowded behind clear favorite Cornell. Penn will need a strong season to simply finish in the top half of the league."

• Princeton team report

• Yale team report, "One name to watch this season is forward Greg Mangano. The freshman played in 20 games in 2008-09, had 13 blocked shots, and played his best game of the season against Cornell, when he scored a season-high eight points."

Cornell Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

Even as its rivals bring in more talent to try to compete with the Big Red, Cornell appears to be in great shape to not only win its third consecutive Ivy League title, but also to put itself in position to pull off an upset in the NCAA Tournament.

It seems almost unfair that a team returning all five starters should also bring in a host of new players that includes two Division-I transfers, but that’s the situation Steve Donahue finds himself in.

The biggest problem won’t be finding five capable players to fill the court at all times, but to work the minutes enough to keep everyone fresh and happy.

Cornell starts off with three players who will challenge for Player of the Year honors in the Ivy League. The frontrunner there is Ryan Wittman, a two-time All-Ivy first-teamer with NBA size and shooting ability on the wing.

But point guard Louis Dale won Player of the Year honors in 2007-08, and Jeff Foote was the league’s defensive player of the year last season at center. The three give Cornell the size, speed, and shooting ability to cause match-up nightmares for opponents.

Also returning is starting forward Alex Tyler, and guards Geoff Reeves and Ivy Rookie of the Year Chris Wroblewski in the backcourt, and that’s as solid a group of six as has existed in recent Ivy history.

But there’s more where that came from.

Joining the rotation will be UMass transfer Max Groebe in the backcourt and Kentucky transfer Mark Coury in the paint. Both have the skills to make an instant impact in Ivy play, and give Donahue incredible lineup flexibility.

There are also key reserves Adam Wire and Jon Jaques, and six freshmen among the 10 other reserves. The Big Red bench will be deep and talented enough to outscore the starting fives of several of the other teams in the Ancient Eight.

But with many of the key players seniors who have bowed in the NCAA Tournament first round two years running, the goals are higher than winning the league.

A brutally tough non-conference schedule is designed to prep the Big Red for the postseason, both in terms of the level of competition and the RPI.

If Cornell can win a few games against opponents that include Kansas, Syracuse, Alabama, Seton Hall, St. John’s, UMass and St. Joseph’s, it will be in prime position to get a good enough seeding to make its dreams of making noise in the NCAA Tournament a reality.

NOTES, QUOTES

• Louis Dale will have to serve as the Big Red’s tour guide for the season opener. Dale will be headed near his hometown of Birmingham when Cornell takes on Alabama.

• Jon Jaques is one of the highest profile members of the Big Red, but it’s not because of his performance on the court. The senior is again one of the New York Times bloggers, and will talk about his final season of eligibility to the newspaper’s readers.

• Look for Max Groebe to make a big impact on the outside now that he’s eligible after sitting out the 2008-09 season as a transfer. In his freshman season at UMass, Groebe shot close to 36 percent from three-point range.

Last Year: 21-10 overall, 11-3 in the Ivy League; lost in first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Head Coach: Steve Donahue (career 117-133); 10th year at Cornell (117-133).

Quote To Note: “We want that competition, and we need that, because we feel we can beat anyone on our schedule, absolutely anyone.”—Forward Alex Tyler, to the Ithaca Journal, on the Big Red’s non-conference schedule.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Scouting The Newcomers: Despite the fact that the veteran core of the team makes early playing time hard to imagine, Steve Donohue brought in a strong group of freshmen. Forward Eitan Chemerinski was one preseason publication’s choice to be the Ivy League’s top newcomer, though that’s hard to imagine unless he really impresses in early practices. In doing so, he’ll have to outshine fellow freshman forwards Josh Figini, Peter McMillan and Errick Peck. Also arriving on campus was guard Miles Asafo-Adjei.

Key Early-season Games: Steve Donahue has put together a brutal non-conference schedule for his team, and it’s strong enough that the Ivy League slate will seem like a vacation by comparison. The Big Red play road games against Alabama, Massachusetts, Syracuse, Bucknell, LaSalle, Kansas and South Dakota. It will meet Davidson and possibly St. Johns at the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, and Toledo, Vermont and Drexel at the Legends Classic in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Seton Hall and St. Josephs are making the trip to Ithaca. If Cornell can emerge from this with a halfway-decent record, the Big Red will be in great shape heading into league play.

Program Direction: Cornell is as good a team as the Ivy League has produced in years, and has a legitimate shot at having a big impact on the NCAA Tournament. Steve Donahue has brought the program up to the elite level in the Big East, and this season should be his best team yet.

Probable Starting Lineup: PG Louis Dale, SG Geoff Reeves, SF Ryan Wittman, PF Alex Tyler, C Jeff Foote.

Roster Report:

• C Jeff Foote seemed to get stronger this off-season, to avoid getting pushed around as he was at times a year ago. He reportedly packed on about 20 pounds of muscle in workouts, increasing the 7-footer’s weight to 265 pounds.

• F Mark Coury has shown he can compete at a high level from his time at Kentucky. Though he walked onto the team, he earned playing time because of his solid work in practice, and in one memorable effort scored nine points with five rebounds and two steals in an overtime victory over Vanderbilt.

• G Chris Wroblewski was the Ivy League’s Rookie of the Year as a freshman, despite coming off the bench after Louis Dale returned from his injury. Still, he’ll again be fighting for minutes in the crowded and talented Big Red backcourt.