Saturday, May 30, 2009

Schedule Update:Cornell's 2009-2010 Schedule Picture Becoming Clearer

Here is a glimpse of the 31 projected games on the Big Red's 2009-2010 schedule. All games are tentative until formally announced by Cornell Athletics.

Seton Hall (Home) Friday November 20, 2009
@South Dakota
@ Alabama
@ Kansas
St. Joseph's (Home)
@La Salle
@Boston University
Bryant (Home)
@Syracuse
@ TBA Non-Exempt Holiday Tournament (2 guaranteed games, includes high and mid majors)
@ TBA Exempt Tournament (4 guaranteed games, includes high and mid majors)
Local New York State rival TBA
Local New York State rival TBA
14 Ivy League Games

SCHEDULE COMMENTS:
  • Kansas is likely the preseason #1 team in the nation.
  • Cornell will host Seton Hall (Big East) and St. Joseph's (A-10) in Ithaca this season. Cornell visits Seton Hall 2010-2011.
  • Cornell Head Coach Steve Donahue annually attempts to schedule road games in the home states of each of his players. For example, the Kansas game is a return home for Geoff Reeves (Burlington, Kansas).
  • The Alabama game is a return home for Louis Dale (Birmingham, Alabama).
  • The South Dakota game is a "return home" for Pete Reynolds. He is from Blair, Nebraska, roughly a 2 hour drive away.
  • The Exempt Tournament, which involves several high majors, will involve a twist of irony for the Big Red. We will explain later when the pairings are formally announced.
  • The Holiday Tournament will involve a high major and historic venue.
  • Cornell will play in some of the country's most prestigious arena's this season, including Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas), the Carrier Dome (Syracuse) as well as well extremely well known arenas hosting the pair of tournaments.
  • Cornell expects to resume a pair of series with local upstate D-I teams.
As always, just click the "Schedule Update" tag below to view our prior updates.

Recruiting News

In an interesting recruiting story appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle, a one-armed 6'11" prospect recently accepted a scholarship to Manhattan of the MAAC Conference after the Ivy League schools reportedly passed on taking him.

In other news, according to CarolinaBlue.com, former Cornell assistant coach, Steve Robinson, now an assistant coach on Roy Williams' staff at North Carolina, is courting Middlesex School's Rod Odom, an athletic 6'8" forward from Massachusetts. Odom is the top recruiting priority for Harvard, Princeton and Columbia, but don't expect the class of 2010 product to land in the Ivy League, especially with Stanford already offering him a scholarship.

Speaking of Harvard, there has to be some pressure building on Tommy Amaker, now in his third season in Cambridge. He has now head coached for 12 seasons at the Division I level with three different programs (Seton Hall, Michigan and now Harvard), yet he has taken just one team to the NCAA Tournament and that was back in 2000 with Seton Hall. If Harvard does somehow win an Ivy League title, (which it never has) you can bet the farm that Amaker immediately bolts for a higher profile job in the Big East or ACC. In fact, if Harvard just makes it to the postseason such as in the NIT, Amaker is getting out of Cambridge faster than you can say, "Krzyzewski."

But back to the Big Red's recruiting, believe it or not, The Cornell Basketball Blog already projected the Big Red's starting five for the 2010-2011 season. And it is clear to us at least that Cornell should have enough young talent to win more Ivy League titles over the next two years, even after the graduation of this year's remarkable senior class, which includes Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote. Nevertheless, make no mistake about it, the high school class of 2010 is a critical recruiting period for Cornell.

While the Big Red should have a solid nucleus in two years with Mark Coury (Kentucky transfer), Max Groebe (UMass transfer), Chris Wroblewski, Errick Peck and Adam Wire, depth could be an issue if not addressed through a significant recruiting haul this summer and fall.

Below are some related recruiting links:

Friday, May 29, 2009

Cornell Basketball in the News

The following comes from the current issue (May/June 2009) of The Cornell Alumni Magazine.
CHAMPS AGAIN What do you do for an encore after having one of the best seasons in Cornell basketball history? Have another one just like it. This season, Cornell became only the third team to record back-to-back outright Ivy League men's basketball titles, taking the crown with an 11-3 league record and making the program's third NCAA tournament appearance. Ryan Wittman '10 and Louis Dale '10 earned first-team All-Ivy honors, Jeff Foote '09 was named Defensive Player of the Year, and Chris Wroblewski '12 was chosen as Rookie of the Year. Like last year, the team's season ended with a loss in the first round of the national tournament—but with all the starters returning, could next year be three titles in a row?

Recruiting News

Below, we provide a bit of recruiting news...

MinnesotaPreps.com reports that 6'8" Ryan Duxbury of Stillwater, Minnesota is hearing primarily from Division II schools. However, the post player is also drawing some Division I interest and has heard from Cornell, Yale, North Dakota, and Montana State.

PrepColorado.com reports that Beau Gamble, a 6'0" point guard and recent graduate of Boulder, Colorado's Fairview High School has opted to complete a postgraduate season at New Hampton Prep School in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Gamble’s current school list of schools includes Cornell, Colorado, Portland, Boise State, Tulsa, Holy Cross, Lehigh and U.C.-Riverside. He is playing with the Colorado Chaos AAU program this summer.

Below are some related recruiting links:

The Wall Street Journal: Can the Ivy League Get Its Game Back?


By Darren Everson
The Wall Street Journal
May 29, 2009

The schools of the Ivy League are among the nation’s finest and richest, with billions in endowments under their command. From law to business to medicine, they’re No. 1 in practically every department but one: sports.

Why are the Ancient Eight increasingly irrelevant in the most competitive arena of all? The short answer, the long-accepted one, is that they choose to be: that they won’t sacrifice their academic ideals by giving athletic scholarships to athletes. But other factors—like a long-standing ban on postseason football games and the schools’ academic standards for athletes—appear to be dragging the league down.

As college sports’ most austere conference nears its first leadership change since 1984—executive director Jeff Orleans is retiring at the end of next month, to be replaced by Robin Harris, a lawyer and former NCAA official—the Ivy League is at a crossroads. With the league becoming weaker in sports like basketball, football and hockey, some argue it needs to make major changes, like creating a basketball tournament, ending the postseason football ban, or even adjusting admissions standards. “I still believe the Ivy can compete for national championships,” says Lane MacDonald, star of Harvard’s 1989 national champion ice-hockey team. “I’d love to see that happen.”

The Ivies vehemently dispute the notion that they don’t win and don’t care. “We take sports very seriously,” says Columbia athletic director M. Dianne Murphy, ticking off a series of strong showings this season: Cornell in lacrosse (the Big Red reached the men’s national-title game, losing to Syracuse Monday), Columbia in fencing, several league schools in soccer and wrestling. The more visible sports, she says, “have been a challenge for us the last few years.”

In men’s and women’s basketball, the Ivies have not won a NCAA tournament game since 1998. The league that spawned the Princeton offense, a thinking-man’s attack that once brought death by deft passing, has lost by double digits in nine of its last 11 men’s tournament appearances. In men’s ice hockey—long a point of pride for the six participating Ivies, especially Cornell—just one Ivy member has reached the Frozen Four national semifinals since 1995. The ban on postseason football, which exists because the Ivies don’t want to take up players’ time, prevents players from competing for titles and gaining exposure.

The Ivy is never going to be the Southeastern Conference—and nobody is suggesting it should be. The schools don’t need the exposure of sports to attract students and alumni donations. But some of the league’s alumni complain that the schools offer their students the best of everything, except in this one area. “Why not give them the same opportunities and the same platform in athletics that you do in academics?” says Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL defensive end who played at Columbia in the 1990s. “I think they should revisit everything.”

The incoming executive director, Ms. Harris, says she’s reserving judgment on these issues and planning to go on a listening tour among the schools after she comes aboard in July. Mr. Orleans, the outgoing director, declined to be interviewed for this article.

The Ivy League is home to some of the country’s oldest colleges, which once played the best football. Led by pioneering Yale coach Walter Camp, who helped devise the sport’s rules near the turn of the 20th century, the colleges created examples that others followed. Harvard was so good in the early days that when it defeated Oregon, 7-6, in 1920 in what is now known as the Rose Bowl game, the Los Angeles Times called the outcome a “triumph” for the underdog loser.

Two forks in the road caused the Ivies and major college football to diverge. The first was the formation in the 1940s and ’50s of the Ivy League, whose founding principles—that student-athletes must be representative of the student body academically and that they not receive athletic scholarships—mean its members have a shallower pool of available talent than other colleges. Still, Ivy teams didn’t immediately become irrelevant. Yale appeared in the Associated Press top 20 as late as 1981. “We played the military academies and Boston College and Miami of Ohio, and we won some,” says Carm Cozza, Yale’s football coach from 1965 to 1996.

The second shift was the Ivy’s 1981 expulsion from Division I-A, college football’s premier classification, which occurred because larger-conference schools desired greater control over TV-contract negotiations. They voted to restrict I-A membership to schools that had 30,000-seat stadiums or averaged 17,000 in attendance over the previous four years, which not all of the Ivy League schools did. The Ivies didn’t contest the decision.

“It was clear that’s not where the Ivy should be,” says Derek Bok, Harvard’s president at the time who scoffs at the idea that the Ivies must excel in all endeavors, athletics included. “If we have a bit of humility, we have to understand that nobody can be excellent at everything. There’s no reason why, because you’re good at teaching and research, that you have to be good at football. That’s a historical accident, not a necessity.”

While Ivy football was officially relegated to a lower level decades ago, the decline of the Ivies in basketball and hockey has been more recent and gradual. As late as 1998, Princeton earned a No. 5 seed in the men’s basketball tournament—a designation that indicated the Tigers were one of the 20 best teams in the nation—and Harvard shocked Stanford in that year’s women’s tournament, still the only No. 16 seed of either gender to defeat a No. 1. Three of the six hockey-playing Ivies (who compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference) reached the men’s NCAA tournament this season.

But 20 years have now passed since Harvard’s men’s hockey title, the Ivy’s last, and it’s been more than a decade since Ivy basketball teams made noise during March Madness. One theory why is that the Ivy League’s Academic Index, which all the schools abide by, is increasingly hurting its teams. The index is a mathematical measuring stick for admission that combines test scores and high school performance; a school’s athletes must average out to within one standard deviation of the student body. “There don’t seem to be as many great student [athletes] anymore,” says Mr. MacDonald, who won the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s top player for Harvard’s championship hockey team. “If the Index went back the other way a little bit, that would be interesting. But I’d be surprised if the league would do that.”

Indeed, last year, after Harvard men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker, a former Duke guard and Michigan coach who was hired to revive the Crimson’s long-dormant program, landed a highly touted recruiting class, controversy erupted. Yale coach James Jones said there appeared to be a shift in Harvard’s admissions standards. Mr. Amaker’s program was also investigated by the league for overly aggressive recruiting tactics—and cleared. But Frank Ben-Eze, considered the best of his recruits, later decided to go to Davidson. Harvard tied for sixth place last season in the Ivy. A Harvard spokesman said Mr. Amaker and Harvard athletic director Bob Scalise were unavailable to comment and he had no further comment.

The Ivy still holds its own in many respects. The league still compares favorably with the Patriot League, another group of Eastern colleges that mandates its athletes be reflective of the student body academically. Most of the Ivies rank ahead of the Patriot members, which include Lehigh and Holy Cross, in the latest Directors’ Cup standings (which rank the nation’s college-sports programs), and the Ivy went 9-9 against the Patriot in football this season. Harvard finished 14th in the final Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll last season, and might have been a factor in the tournament were it allowed to participate. “I’d personally like to see our programs in the Ivy compete after the regular season,” says Cornell athletic director Andy Noel. “I don’t think it’s an investment in time that’s detrimental to those athletes.”

But the league remains ambivalent about taking steps that would appeal to fans and players alike. The Ivy is starting a lacrosse tournament next season, which Mr. Noel says will provide some insight about the viability of a basketball tournament. For now, though, the Ivy remains the only Division I conference that doesn’t hold a basketball tournament. The athletic directors are split down the middle on the matter, says Ms. Murphy of Columbia—who counts herself on the against side. “It’s another week of being out of class,” she says. “In our league that matters.”

Thursday, May 28, 2009

News and Notes: Around the Ivy League


Yale Athletics announced its involvement in the Connecticut Six-- an annual men's basketball tripleheader played on a neutral site featuring six Connecticut schools. The members of the Connecticut Six are Yale, Fairfield, Sacred Heart, Central Connecticut, Quinnipiac, and Hartford.

Leading the way on mid-major recruiting

Over the last two years I've been gushing about how well Larranaga and his staff have been recruiting, grabbing players like Ryan Pearson and Andre Cornelius who could be playing on BCS teams right now. Last week Antonio Williams of ESPN and Scouts Inc. tabbed Mason #1 on his list of top mid-major recruiting. Williams seems to be high on Sherrod Wright and it's exciting to hear more about his ability to get to the rim. Johnnie Williams being referred to as a "dominant post player" really makes you hope the next Will Thomas is being groomed. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, the squad is packed with talent but chemistry is something you can't get overnight. What I'm really excited about is the depth this squad is building, and that is something that is really a luxury most mid-major teams don't have.



Yahoo ranks Larranaga in Top 5

Some good press for Coach Larranaga from Yahoo sports:

"3. Jim Larranaga, George Mason: Jim Larranaga -- two "r's", one "n"; you can spell this right Eamonn, you can do this -- is known nationally for one thing: 2005-06. That's the year the Larranaga-coached George Mason Patriots made their legendary run from a No. 11 seed to the Final Four, the year they beat Michigan State, North Carolina, and UConn on their way there, the year that helped reaffirm everyone's faith (not that it was ever lost) that in the NCAA tournament, anything can happen. Larranaga was the architect, and for that alone he deserves inclusion on the list.

That might be selling him slightly short, though. Larranaga's teams are consistently competitive. They've been to the tournament three other time, and would have gone to two more were it not for Eric Maynor's recent dominance. He's more than a one-hit wonder. There's a reason the 2005-06 team happened. It wasn't a fluke. It was Larranaga."

Recruiting News

Below, we bring you a bit of recruiting news from around the Ivy League...

Jacob "Jake" Kreuser, a 6'11" 220 lb. center from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, Sibley HS told MinnesotaPreps.com this week, "The recruiting has really picked up in the spring, I recently have gotten offers for UW-Green Bay and North Dakota State, and earlier in the year I got an offer from Santa Clara. I have taken a lot of calls from Ivy League schools like Penn, Princeton, Yale, and Cornell. I have also received some notice from some schools closer to me like Loyola (Chicago) and South Dakota. I have also gotten some interest from Colorado State as well."

Scout.com reports that Albany Academy's (NY) Nolan Hart, a 5'10" guard is hearing mostly from Dartmouth, Harvard, Columbia, and Pennsylvania.

SCPrepNation.com reports that
Greer High School (South Carolina) 6'0" point guard, Chandler Hash is drawing interest from the Ivy League as he has worked out for Harvard and Princeton according to his Carolina Celtics AAU coach Derrick Drummond.

Rivals.com lists Dartmouth and Yale, as well as couple of the Dakota schools, Wofford and Western Michigan as among programs showing interest in Peter Crawford, a 6'4" guard out of
Benilde, Minnesota and St. Margaret's High School.

Below are some related recruiting links:

Alumni News: J-Hart Back in Oregon, Joins Minor League Franchise

Jason Hartord ('08) is back in the United States after a successful rookie season of professional basketball overseas in Finland's First Division where he played with Huima. Hartford has since landed a roster spot in the International Basketball League with the Yamhill High Flyers and has played two games thus far in the minor league.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Recruiting News: Cornell Recruiting News, Columbia Announces Class

Below some recruiting news for Cornell and the Ivy League...

In the leading news, Columbia formally announced their recruiting class.

A pair of players that we've mentioned before on The Cornell Basketball Blog both announced on Scout.com their summer plans. Anthony Gaffney, a class of 2010, 6'2" 170 lb. football/basketball prospect from The Pennington School in Pennington, New Jersey has announced he will attend Cornell Basketball's Elite Prospect Camp, as well as camps at Columbia, Penn, Bucknell and St. Joseph's. He will be joined at each of these camps by his teammate, Chandler Fraser-Pauls, a 6'0" 160-pound class of 2011 guard who is also getting recruited for soccer.

Several recruiting sources have indicated that Cornell could be closing in on landing a commitment from 6'10" post player, Fred Heldring. Schools such as Davidson, Southern Illinois, San Francisco and Wisconsin-Milwaukee have already scholarships to Heldring, and he has a reported offer from Harvard, but sources indicate Heldring will decide between Cornell and William & Mary. While nobody doubts Heldring's skills and upside, "high major" schools such as Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, Illinois, Northwestern, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Gonzaga would like Heldring to stay available until the spring to observe his maturity and development during his senior year. Heldring, however, could be Big Red bound before August and would be a tremendous addition in the Ivy League.

The UteZone.com notes that Ben Volzola, a 6'5" wing from Centennial High School in Las Vegas, holds offers from Northern Arizona and Santa Clara, and is receiving interest from Cornell, Utah, Washington State, Arizona State, UCLA, Gonzaga, Colorado State, San Diego, UNLV, and Cal.

Cornell is also reportedly making a push for Jackson Jeffcoat, a 6'5" 235 pounder from Plano, Texas. Jackson is the son of Jim Jeffcoat, the former Dallas Cowboy defensive end. Jackson Jeffcoat is an elite football recruit and holds scholarship offers on the gridiron to Nebraska, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, USC, Stanford, Cal, Georgia, Florida, and Rutgers. But Cornell could have an advantage. The Big Red want Jeffcoat in both football and basketball (and will allow him to play both) and since he wants to play both sports in college, Cornell could sneak its way into the picture for a family that doesn't really need scholarship money.

NYCHoops.net notes that 6'4" Long Island guard, Josh Elbaum has landed at Northfield Mount Hermon School for a postgrad season. Both Brown and Yale were giving him hard looks as a high school senior.

Scout.com notes that Brennan Wyatt, a 5-10 point guard from Greensboro, N.C. is hearing from Cornell, Harvard, Bucknell, Richmond, Appalachian State, UNCG, Western Carolina, and Georgia Southern.

Scout also reports that Michael Fabiyi, a 6'3" guard from Gary West Side HS in Gary, Indiana has the attention of Cornell, Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth, Lafayette and American.

Jacob "Jake" Kreuser, a 6'11" 220 lb. center from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, Sibley HS has scholarship offers from North Dakota State, Santa Clara and Wisconin-Green Bay, but he is also considering Cornell, Minnesota, Drake, Indiana State and Loyola Chicago according to Rivals.com.

Tom Droney of Sewickley Academy in Sewickley, PA, a 6'5" wing told CavsCorner.com that, he is widening his recruitment. "I don't necessarily have a plan. I'm pretty open right now," Droney said. "I really like Virginia, Davidson, Notre Dame and Harvard, and Boston College has just come into the picture." He continued, "Other schools have been calling, but Virginia and BC are the two I'm letting in. I'm looking for a really highly rated academic school." Droney added, "I've visited Notre Dame and Davidson already, and I'm going back to Davidson on Friday since I'll be in North Carolina for the Bob Gibbons tournament this weekend."

Jerry Meyer of Rivals.com noted that 6'8" Rod Odom of the Middlesex School in Massachusetts could become a scholarship target of Roy Williams and North Carolina. Such an occurrence could be devastating to the hopes and dreams of Harvard, Columbia and Princeton. Harvard was also just recently shoved aside by 6'9" Will Regan of Buffalo, NY who eliminated the Crimson from his consideration.

Scout.com lists a pair of potential "high major" targets with Cornell's recruitment involvement. Demon Brooks, a 6'5" 190 lb. forward from Hopewell, HS in Huntersville, N.C. lists Cornell, Clemson, Charlotte, Davidson, St. Mary's, Harvard, Wright State and Navy among his suitors. Meanwhile, Georges MaNgoue, a physical 6'8" 230 lb. post player from Forsyth Country Day School in Lewisville, NC lists Cornell, Auburn, Old Dominion, Richmond, Northeastern and UNC-Wilmington among his major suitors.

In other Ivy recruiting news, Scout reports that Harvard has offered Chad Calcaterra, a 6'10" 225 lb. post player from Cloquet, Minnesota. Calcaterra already holds offers from Auburn, Colorado State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, and Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Also courtesy of Scout, Princeton, James Madison and Elon are on keeping tabs on Corey Raley-Ross, a 6'1" 170 lb. point guard from Gaston Day School in Gastonia, N.C.

On the northern horizon, Scout.com notes that Thomas Feeney, a 6'1" guard from Anchorage (Alaska) West High School is drawing interest from Penn, Cal, Nevada, San Diego, Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara, Portland State, Washington State, Portland and Oregon State.

Below are some related recruiting links:

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Men's Lax Reach the Big Stage

Congratulations to the Cornell men's lacrosse team for reaching the national championship game. The Big Red face Syracuse in Foxboro, Massachusetts on Monday at 1 p.m. in a game that will be televised by ESPN.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Steve Donahue Years at Cornell...


Since Steve Donahue assumed the position of The Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Basketball, the Cornell Big Red have achieved a stellar record of retaining recruited players in the program and ensuring their success on the hardwood and in the classroom.

On the playing court, Cornell's year-by-year results speak for themselves. The Big Red has finished among the Ivy League's top three teams in each of the last five seasons, including consecutive Ivy League Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances during the past two campaigns.

Outside the Ivy League, the Big Red strive to play the best and regularly schedule elite programs and participate in the most prestigious preseason tournaments. During just the last two seasons and the upcoming 2009-2010 season, the Big Red will have faced teams such as Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, Indiana, Minnesota, St. John's, Seton Hall, Alabama, Stanford, Missouri, St. Joseph's, La Salle, and Siena among many other well known opponents.

Below is a glimpse of Cornell's yearly results under Coach Donahue.

CORNELL'S RESULTS UNDER STEVE DONAHUE
  • 00-00- 7-20 overall, 3-11 Ivy League
  • 01-02- 5-22 overall, 2-12 Ivy League
  • 02-03- 9-18 overall, 4-10 Ivy League
  • 03-04- 11-16 overall, 6-8 Ivy League
  • 04-05- 13-14 overall, 8-6 Ivy League-2nd place in conference
  • 05-06- 13-15 overall, 8-6 Ivy League-3rd place in conference
  • 06-07- 16-12 overall, 9-5 Ivy League-3rd place in conference
  • 07-08- 22-6 overall, 14-0 IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS/NCAA Tournament
  • 08-09- 21-10 overall, 11-3 IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS/NCAA Tournament

Not only is Cornell winning basketball games, but the players are loyal to the program, whether they are All-Ivy League selections or the player with the fewest minutes of playing time.

With the exception of just three players, every member of Cornell 's last three recruiting lasses of 2010, 2011, and 2012 (the current seniors, juniors, and sophomores) stayed with the program and either graduated or are on track to graduate on time. (Note: The exceptions are Collin Robinson, Marc Van Burck and Alex Hill. Robinson transferred to Cornell from the University of Southern California during 2006, sat out the 2006-2007 season at Cornell as a red-shirt, then played one semester during the 2007-2008 season. He ultimately decided to return to USC to complete his education, but never played college basketball again. Van Burck left the basketball pr0gram in his final year of school to focus on academics, while Alex Hill returned back to Canada to play basketball in his hometown of Toronto.)

From recruitment to becoming part of the program, Cornell's players are motivated to work hard academically and to buy into the "Team First Concept" and to sacrifice individual glory for the greater good.

And the philosophy has worked.

“We want talented kids who are really passionate about basketball and [also] are just really great people," Coach Donahue said in an interview appearing in the Cornell Daily Sun on January 24, 2007. "They are unselfish, they think team first, when you get those type of kids … they think about what’s best for the team. What we see are kids that will really buy into our philosophy.”

Cornell Basketball alumni under Coach Donahue have played in the NBA's NBDL ("the D-League"), are playing professionally overseas, pursuing professional careers in business such as in the securities and banking industry and are enrolled in some of the nation's elite law, medical and graduate schools.

(edited 12.11.09)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Recruiting News

Today, the Indianapolis Star references Cornell's recruitment involvement with Erik Fromm, a 6'9" forward who recently committed to Butler this week. Pictured above, new Penn recruit, Tommy Eggleston (Heritage Christian High School, Indianapolis, IN) shoots over Cornell recruit, No. 32 Errick Peck (Cathedral High School, Indianapolis, IN) during high school action earlier this year. According to Peck's high school coach, Peck turned down a scholarship to Butler, among other mid-major offers, to attend Cornell.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Recruiting News

Below is a dosage of recruiting news from around the Ivy League...

The Mississauga News reports that 6'4" senior, Nik Stauskas of the Loyola Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario (Canada) is hearing from Cornell and Baylor.

EagleInsider.com reports that Rod Odom, the 6'8" forward from the Middlesex School in Massachusetts has scholarship offers from West Virginia, Boston College, Seton Hall, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State and Providence among others. Odom noted that he will narrow his final list to one Ivy League school along with several of his scholarship offers. “For me the educational opportunities will play the biggest role. At the end of the day I want to look at one Ivy league school. It is between Harvard, Princeton and Columbia. Then it will be the other schools, but academics will be a factor there as well.”

Jeff Goodman of FoxSports reports that Erik Fromm, a skilled 6'9" forward from Bloomington, Indiana committed to Butler this week. He was reportedly a high priority target for Cornell in the class of 2010.

Scout.com reports that 6'3" Kam Ritter of Christian Bros. Academy in Albany already has a scholarship offer to Drake while drawing interest from several Ivies including Cornell, Harvard, Penn and Princeton. Other schools showing interest include Davidson, Siena, Holy Cross and William & Mary.

Scout.com notes that Chase Plummer, a 6'5" guard from St. Patrick's HS in Elizabeth, NJ. is receiving interest from unspecified Ivy League schools.

Scout.com is also reporting that Pat Moore, a 6'6" forward from Notre Dame High School in Utica, N.Y is hearing from Cornell, Columbia, Fairfield, Fordham, St. Francis, Manhattan, Northeastern, Stony Brook, Colgate, Jacksonville, and Rhode Island.

Below are some related recruiting links:

Gant Receives Inspiration Award

On Monday at Cornell's annual senior athletics banquet, men's basketball player Khaliq Gant was chosen to receive the Inspiration Award presented to the Cornell athlete who has overcome adversity with courage and dedication, and is an inspiration to teammates and the Cornell community.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Alumni News: J-Hart and Rourke Back on the Free Agent Market

And 'tis the life of a professional basketball player overseas. A new team, a new country almost every year. Time we catch up with a few Cornell alums playing professionally overseas. Pictured above, Jason "J-Hart" Hartford.

Jason Hartford (Cornell '08) had his first season of professional basketball come to an end on March 31 with Huima (Finland) and his management agency, SBS Players is now listing him as an available free agent. Hartford's impressive rookie performance should earn him an opportunity in a more competitive national league elsewhere in Europe should he choose to continue his professional basketball career.

Meanwhile, Ryan Rourke (Cornell '06) recently completed his second season of professional basketball overseas. After spending his rookie year in Luxembourg, Rourke had an All-Star season in Japan's BJ League. Represented by Tank Sports Marketing Group, Rourke may find his way back to Europe.

Jeff Aubry (Cornell '99), a former NBA Developmental League (NBDL) player is having another solid season in Puerto Rico's professional league. Aubry is averaging 7.9 points and 10.7 rebounds for the defending league champions, the Arecibo Capitanes.

Former First Team All-Ivy League selection, John McCord (Cornell '97), arguably Cornell's most accomplished alum overseas, is averaging 15.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while shooting 59% from the floor for Olimpique Antibes in the French ProB League.

Of course, not all Cornell basketball alums pursue professional basketball careers. Former players under Head Coach Steve Donahue have gone onto graduate schools such as Harvard Law School, Georgetown Medical School, Cornell Medical School, Stanford Graduate School and pursued careers in the financial services industry and other professions.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Recruiting News

Cornell's Adam Gore (No. 23 background), the 2006 Ivy League Rookie of the Year watches Chris Wroblewski (No. 3), the 2009 Ivy Leaue Rookie of the Year during NCAA Tournament action last March.

In recruiting news around the Ivy League...

The Gwinnett Daily Post provides an update on Adam Demuyakor, one of five Harvard basketball players cut last season by Tommy Amaker just before the commence of fall practices. Amaker's decision drew criticism and made national headlines, including in the New York Times.

Several Columbia players will play on a college travel squad this summer in the Bahamas including new Lions addition, Max Craig, a 7'0" transfer from Loyola Marymount. Craig could be a potential All-Ivy League player this coming season.

Indiana Hoops is listing Tommy Eggleston, a 6'5" forward from Indianapolis, Indiana and the younger brother of Penn's Jack Eggleston as a commitment to the Quakers basketball program. Eggleston originally committed to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee during late February 2009. It was the the only publicized Division I basketball scholarship he received, but he did have multiple NAIA scholarship offers, as well as a long list of D-I offers for football. He is the 42nd best basketball prospect in Indiana's senior class class of 2009 as ranked by Indiana Hoops. He was not ranked among the Top 50 players in Indiana by Rick Bolus as published on Hoosier Scout.

The Reno Gazette-Journal is reporting that Nevada Wolfpack received a verbal commitment from Serbian 6'9" forward, Marko Cukic. He reportedly drew widespread Ivy League interest coming out of Brandenton, Florida's IMG Academ.

The Detroit News notes that Christian Dawkins, a 6'1" guard at St. Mark's, a prep school in Southborough, Massachusetts is hoping to land a roster spot in the Ivy League.

Schedule Update: Big Time Schedule for Cornell Big Red

Below, we provide a bit of an update on the 2009-2010 schedule. Above, a 1942 Cornell-Syracuse game program.

A source confirmed for The Cornell Basketball Blog this week that while Cornell and Syracuse are expected to play during 2009-2010, no contract has been signed and the two schools have not yet agreed upon a date.

Ivy League teams are permitted to schedule 28 regular season games. Exempt tournaments count as only 1 game against the 28 total. Thus, last season Cornell played 26 games, plus the Preseason NIT (4 games). As an exempt tournament, the NIT provided Cornell with 30 total regular season games. The Big Red were actually permitted to schedule an additional "27th game," but opted not to do so.

Thus far for 2009-2010, we have published 22 known games for Cornell. They include the 14 Ivy League games in addition to the following 8 games:

Seton Hall (Home) Friday November 20, 2009
@South Dakota
@Kansas
St. Joseph's (Home)
@La Salle
@Boston University
Bryant (Home)
@Syracuse

In addition, Cornell will likely get 2 games in a holiday tournament (non-exempt) as well as between 2-4 games in an exempt tournament (probably 4 games). Both tournaments involve major venues with "high profile" programs. Both tournaments are tentative, but are expected to happen.

Finally, Cornell will likely play at least a pair of regional New York State rivals and could end up with a Division III opponent.

Assuming Cornell plays 4 games in an exempt tournament, the Big Red will likely have 31 regular season games next year.

As always, just click the "Schedule Update" tag below to view our prior updates.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Recruiting News

Pictured above, Cornell's Jeff Foote. Below, some Ivy League basketball recruiting news.

ChicagoHoops.com is reporting that class of 2010 6'1" guard, Nick Kladis of Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois and the Illinois Kings AAU program is receiving interest from Cornell, Yale, Harvard and Columbia.

Below are some related recruiting links:

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Recruiting News

Pictured above, Cornell's Alex Tyler takes the opening tip-off at Duke during January 2008.

Information on Cornell Basketball's Elite Prospect Camp, held from June 26-28 on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York can be found by clicking here. The Cornell Basketball Elite Prospect Camp will provide basketball instruction by Cornell coaches and players and serves as an opportunity for high school prospects to gain invaluable exposure to the Cornell coaching staff. The Big Red are expecting a very strong turn out for the camp including some the program's top recruiting prospects in the class of 2010.

In other Ivy League recruiting news this week, the Ravenna Record reports that 6'8" Mark Henniger of Ohio, a known recruiting target of Harvard, committed to Kent State this week. Henniger chose Kent State over an early offer from Liberty. “I was also looking at Navy, Holy Cross and a few Ivy League schools,” said Henniger. “But I’ve always liked Kent State. In my younger days, I always wanted to play college basketball, and as I got older, Kent State started to appeal to me more and more.”

Below are some related recruiting links:

News and Notes: Around the Ivy League

Below, some news tidbits from around the Ivy League... Cornell's Geoff Reeves above in action during the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Princeton Assistant Coach Scott Greenman will coach the U.S. junior Maccabi team in Israel this summer.

Dime Magazine did a two-page feature on Harvard's Jeremy Lin in this month's issue. Dime did a similar feature on Cornell's Louis Dale and Ryan Wittman during September 2007.


Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Schedule Update: Big Season for Big Red

Cornell's Jeff Foote posts up during the 2009 NCAA Tournament against Missouri.

Well, we have some lite bite teaser updates on the 2009-2010 schedule for The Cornell Basketball Blog's readers.

First, there will likely be no game against Penn State this year despite some expressed interest and preliminary discussions between the schools.

Second, Cornell could potentially be playing in two tournaments during 2009-2010, including an exempt tournament which would involve 3-4 "exempt" games for the Big Red. Both tournaments involve "name recognition" opponents from quality conferences. The venues could be extremely attractive to Cornell Alumni and fans.

Next season's schedule appears to be the most exciting yet under Head Coach Steve Donahue. This is the type of schedule that fans love to see and that recruits dream to play! Moreover, it is the type of schedule that draws respect from the NCAA Tournament Selection/Seeding Committee.

As always, just click the "Schedule Update" tag below to view our prior updates.

Stay tuned, more to come in the coming weeks on next season's slate!

Big Red Champions (updated August 2009)

Congrats to the Cornell Men's Outdoor Track and Field team which won its seventh straight Ivy League-Heps championship this week!

Below is a list of Cornell Athletic teams that have captured league, regional or national championships.
Also notable:

Penn Recruit Visited Cornell

Pictured above, Cornell Head Coach, Steve Donahue.

New Penn recruiting commitment, Steve Rennard, a 6'0" guard from St. Joseph's High School in Metuchen, New Jersey confirmed in an interview with NJHoops.com that he visited Cornell and Princeton before ultimately committing to Penn. Several sources, including Rivals.com and Scout.com, noted however that Cornell did not continue to recruit Rennard.

Wittman Ranked as a Top 100 Player

On May 9, OnLineSportsFanatic.com ranked Cornell's Ryan Wittman (No. 20 above) as the 86th best player in the country heading into the 2009-2010 season. The site's ranking of the Top 150 players does not include any other representatives from the Ivy League. OnLineSportsFanatic notes as follows:

86. Ryan Wittman, Cornell: 18.5ppg-3.6rpg-2.6apg-0.9spg-0.2bpg-34.1mpg Comment: Playing in the Ivy League at Cornell, Wittman is very underrated. He is an excellent shooter and playmaker, leading the Big Red to the NCAA Tournament and an Ivy League title.


Monday, May 11, 2009

Big Red Miss Out on Talented Transfer

The Associated Press is reporting that former University of Iowa point guard, 6'3" Jeff Peterson (Washington, D.C./DeMatha Catholic High School) has verbally committed to transfer to Arkansas.

Peterson reportedly selected the Razorbacks over interest from Cornell, Missouri State, Georgetown, and Georgia Tech according to multiple sources close to the situation. Peterson originally committed to Princeton coming out of high school, but later broke his commitment during his senior year and accepted a scholarship to Iowa.

Pictured above, the Cornell Big Red huddle up at Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena during 2006.

Should Cornellians Support an Ivy League Conference Tournament in Basketball?

The Cornell Big Red are back-to-back Ivy League champions in men's basketball. With all five starters returning for 2009-2010, including seven of the top eight players in minutes played, Cornell is the favorite to three-peat as Ivy League Champion in 2009-2010 and make its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Ivy League is the only conference in the country that does not use a conference tournament to determine its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Now that Cornell is on top of the Ivy League basketball world, should Cornellians be in support of an Ivy League Conference Tournament?

Vote in the poll on the right column of The Cornell Basketball Blog. Share your thoughts by posting a comment to this post or leaving a message on The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board (click here, free membership).

Big Red and Crimson Scout Point Guard

Pictured above, Cornell point guard Louis Dale (No. 12) brings the ball up the floor against Missouri's pressured defense during the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Dale enters his final season of eligibility during 2009-2010.

In recruiting news, Scout.com reports that Brennan Wyatt, a 5'10" point guard from Dudley HS in Greensboro, N.C. is drawing recruitment interest from Cornell, Harvard, Richmond, Bucknell, Appalachian State, Georgia State, UNCG, and Western Carolina.

Penn Lands 2010 Commitment

Scout.com reports that Penn is the first Ivy League school to land a commitment from the class of 2010. This weekend, 6'0" combo guard Steve Rennard of St. Joseph's Metuchen, N.J. decided to play for the Quakers over offers from Iona and Vermont. Several other schools showed interest, including Brown, Princeton, Davidson, and Bucknell. Cornell reportedly showed isome interest serveral months ago.

Below are some related recruiting links:

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Offseason Excitement for Cornell's New Additions

The Big Red of Cornell are back-to-back Ivy League champions in men's basketball. With all five starters returning for 2009-2010, including seven of the top eight players in minutes played, it is no surprise that Cornell is the favorite to three-peat as Ivy League Champion in 2009-2010.

The role as playing the favorite is nothing new to Cornell. The Big Red were projected to finish on top by the Ivy League media in both the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 preseason polls. The Big Red came through both seasons.

But what makes this Cornell team especially intriguing for next year and beyond is the group of new players, especially the transfers. Only insiders with the program have had the opportunity to become familiar with or get to see these players on a regular basis.

In newcomer Max Groebe, a 6'4" shooting guard/small forward transfer from UMass, the Big Red could have the league's most explosive scorer. Pretty scary thought for opponents when Cornell already carries lethal scorers in Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale, a pair of two-time First Team All-Ivy League selections.

Groebe has three years of eligibility with the Big Red.

With Mark Coury, a 6'9" 245 lb. power forward/center transfer from the University of Kentucky, Cornell adds a player who started all 31 games for the Wildcats during 2007-2008. Coury who is very mobile and athletic by Ivy League standards, was specifically utilized by former KU head coach Billy Gillespie as the team's "enforcer"-- the guy that would scrap and bring toughness and energy to the floor, especially at the start of games to set the tone for the Wildcats.

Because Coury red-shirted last season at Cornell and also sat out a season after high school, his age is equivalent to a 5th year senior. He maintains two years of eligibility for Cornell.

Among the freshmen, Errick Peck is an explosive athlete and fundamentally strong on both ends of the floor as an interior player on the blocks. At 6'6", Peck plays above the rim and attracted scholarship offers from more than a dozen schools at competitive levels far above the Ivy League or comparable conferences.

Peck appears to be the most highly sought after incoming freshman recruit that Steve Donahue has brought into the program during his tenure.

Speaking of Coach Donahue, he along with assistant coaches Zach Spiker, Nat Graham and Woody Kampmann have established the "gold standard" in identifying and successfully recruiting the very best talent in the Ivy League. In fact, Cornell rookies have won the 2003 (Lenny Collins), 2006, (Adam Gore), 2007 (Ryan Wittman), and 2009 (Chris Wroblewski) Rookie of the Year Awards.

Penn, Princeton, and Harvard and the other Ivies barely recruited any of those players.

The balance of Cornell's incoming freshmen class has tremendous upside and each are capable of earning immediate playing time despite Cornell's veteran roster depth next season.

With Miles Asafo-Adjei, a 6'1" guard from Nashville, Cornell gets a point guard with blazing speed (at Louis Dale velocity levels). Miles can create his own shot and has a knack for getting himself into the paint on dribble drives. But what makes him truly special is his defense. Asafo-Adjei was widely considered one of the mid-south region's top defensive point guards. Because he was focused on only attending an Ivy League school, he ignored many other D-I college suitors that did not fit his academic ambitions.

Like Asafo-Adjei, incoming metro-Washington, D.C. freshman Eitan Chemerinski, a still-growing 6'9" forward ignored most college recruiters from outside of the Ivy League. Chemerinski is slender and lacks competitive basketball experience. But his Ivy League upside is tremendous in light of his guard-like skills. At 6'9" he can handle the ball, shoot off the dribble, and score from the perimeter. He will only get bigger and better with each passing day as he practices with Cornell's veterans.

The Minnesotan rookie, 6'8" Josh Figini also brings a similar body-frame as Chemerinski with the same guard-like skill set. If he had 20 pounds more muscle on his frame, perhaps Figini is playing on scholarship at a much higher level. Certainly Tubby Smith, head coach of the Minnesota Gophers recognized the upside. The Gophers offered Figini an opportunity as a preferred walk-on, perhaps with an opportunity of getting an academic scholarship to the University. But Figini did not need or want to "sell himself for free" and opted to go someplace that valued him as a prize basketball recruit. That school was Cornell.

Last but not least, Cornell adds Pete McMillan, a 6'7" perimeter oriented forward from Los Angeles, California. Coach Donahue's Cornell teams are known for their shooting and McMillan can shoot the basketball. With improved defense and ball handling, he can turn himself into an elite Ivy League player.

Finally, it is worth noting that Cornell has several sophomores and juniors that were good enough last season to start or earning significant minutes at some other Ivy League schools. These players will get their opportunity to play once Cornell graduates nine seniors in May 2009. But make no mistake about it, younger players such as Wroblewski, Adam Wire, Alex Hill and Aaron Osgood have the talent, but have had to sit out patiently and wait their turns while Cornell's older classes shine for one last season.

Below are some links to older posts on The Cornell Basketball Blog discussing Cornell's transfers:

Friday, May 8, 2009

Cornell Basketball Elite Prospect Camp

Information on Cornell Basketball's Elite Prospect Camp, held from June 26-28 on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York can be found by clicking here. Pictured above, Cornell's Brian Kreefer ('09) inbounds the ball at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.

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