Late Day Coaching Carousel Notes

(Photo, Cornell Daily Sun)

Below, some late day notes on the coaching carousel...

• Jeff Goodman of FoxSports writes:

Boston College athletic director Gene DeFillipo interviewed Cornell’s Steve Donahue and Fairfield coach Ed Cooley on Wednesday and will meet with Richmond head coach on Thursday. Northeastern’s Bill Coen, who was on the staff with Cooley under Skinner, is also expected to get a look.

- The three names in the mix for Siena to replace Fran McCaffery are Saints assistant Mitch Buonaguro, Coen and Jacksonville’s Cliff Warren – who worked under Paul Hewitt at Siena.

- Iona spoke to Fran Fraschilla on Wednesday and will likely speak to a few more candidates in Indianapolis. The group is expected to include Louisville assistant Steve Masiello.

***

- Wagner is down to three guys: St. Benedict’s head coach Dan Hurley, Vanderbilt assistant King Rice and Texas A&M assistant Scott Spinelli.

• As we previously posted, we heard that Rice, a former North Carolina star and an upstate New York native, could be a possible fit at Cornell. It should be interesting to see if he lands the Wagner position. Here is our growing list of potential Cornell/Ivy League coaching candidates, in the event Steve Donahue leaves for another position:

Fran Fraschilla-ESPN analyst
Jay Williams-ESPN analyst
Gil Jackson-former Howard coach
Doug Olliver-Irvine assistant
Paul Grant-MIT assistant
Larry Anderson-MIT coach
Mike Maker-Williams College coach
Zach Spiker-Army coach
Paul Fortier-Washington coach
Dave Bliss-former Baylor coach
Izzi Metz-Hobart coach
Jim Engels-NJIT coach
Desmond Olliver-Canisius assistant
Fred Quartlebaum-St. John’s assistant
Dennis Wolff-former Boston U. coach
Mitch Henderson-Northwestern assistant
Dan Muller-Vanderbilt assistant
King Rice-Vanderbilt assistant
Chris Collins-Duke assistant
Steve Wojciechowski-Duke assistant
Kenny Blakeney-Harvard assistant
Mike Brennan-Georgetown assistant
Tony Newsom-Princeton assistant
Jim Fox-Davidson assistant
Joe Burke-Navy assistant
Matt Langel-Temple assistant
Andrew Toole-Robert Morris assistant
David Hixon-Amherst coach
Mark Edwards-Washington (Mo.) coach

• WHRB, the Harvard student radio station, also writes on the coaching searches as follows:

It's now Day 2 of the Boston College coaching search, and there's been some slight update from yesterday.

What we do now know:
-SI's Pablo Torre, a Harvard alum, said via Twitter that he has "very reliable" information that Boston College has not contacted Harvard's Athletic Director about Coach Amaker as of this morning, though that did not rule out it's happening in the future. Torre added that he had "less reliable" information that Boston College was also looking at Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski.
-Jeff Goodman writes on Twitter that Foxsports.com confirms that Cornell's Steve Donahue was interviewed today about the job. Goodman adds that sources close to the situation say that Boston College will interview Richmond's Chris Mooney tomorrow. The Greenwich Time, meanwhile, reported that Fairfield's Ed Cooley was also interviewed for the job today.
-Speculation continues thatNortheastern's Billy Coen is in the mix as well for the job, though WRBB, Northeastern Student Radio, reports that Northeastern is currently working on a contract extension for Coen, with Northeastern's AD calling him their coach for the foreseeable future.
-The Boston Globe reports that this looks to be only the beginning of the process. Gene DeFilippo was quoted as saying, "I think this is a very important hire, and if it takes us a while to find the right person, so be it,’’ he said. “We’ll take as much time as we need." The Globe also cites sources saying that Boston College will wait a few days to see if the unexpected opening brings any candidates from major conferences. DeFilippo is expected to spend the next few days paring down his list.
-DeFilippo also told WEEI this morning that he has spoken to three coaches so far, and that he still has two ADs left to contact.

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News and Notes: Early Evening Edition

Some news and notes...

• ESPN's Dana O'Neil gives a thumbs down on Penn's decision too hire Jerome Allen.

• The Sporting News, MassLive, and WEEI all have new pieces this afternoon on Boston College's coaching search. There is not much new information out there from what we previously posted except that sources tell us that Steve Donahue, Ed Cooley (Fairfield), and a third candidate, possibly Chris Mooney (Richmond), interviewed today and that two other coaches should be interviewed before the end of the week. These surces tell us that the two other interviews could go to Bill Coen (Northeastern) and Tommy Amaker (Harvard).

• The Dagger on YahooSports lists "Sixty Five Things" they loved about the NCAA Tournament, including, "Cornell validating its season-long hype by shredding Temple and Wisconsin, two of the nation's better defensive teams."

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Larranaga receives one-year extension, locking him up through 2016

From Washington Post and D1Scourse:

"George Mason basketball coach Jim Larranaga received a one-year extension today, locking him up at the Fairfax, Va., school through the 2015-16 season."

With the annual coaching carousel going on now in college basketball it's definitely a good feeling if your a Mason fan to see this happen.  Say what you want about how this past season went but the fact remains that Larranaga is still the winningest coach in CAA history and if that's the worst type year we as fans have to endure than I am ok with that. He continues to build something great at George Mason and you have to applaud the University for making sure he sticks around.

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Stay Connected with Cornell Basketball News

We are tweeting and retweeting all of the latest coaching news.... follow along! Join the conversation on the message board.

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Thank You Seniors

Thank You Seniors

A tribute to the eight players who changed Cornell basketball

By Sam Aleinikoff
Cornell Daily Sun
March 31, 2010

An overlooked, undersized, “too nice to be good” point guard who battled injuries his entire career and still earned three first-team All-Ivy selections. A high school multi-sport star who gracefully accepted a spot on the bench for his final year after previously starting and whose hustle, toughness and effort on defense may have exceeded that of any other player in the league. A lefty who came by way of a Texas community college to get his only career start on Senior Night, and spark the team with a pair of steals and buckets in the opening minutes. A guy who Division III coaches didn’t want but managed to transform himself into the top center the Ancient Eight has seen in years. An NBA veteran’s son who has done just about everything he can to put himself in a position to follow in his father’s footsteps. A tri-captain who managed to work his way from the end of the bench into a starting spot midway through his senior season, in time to propel his team to its first Big East win in 40 years. One of the other tri-captains who, without complaint, took a backseat to his close friend and fellow leader after he was sidelined with injuries and remained positive enough to be the catalyst for the most important league win of the year. A student-athlete who exemplifies both parts of the phrase as well as anyone else in the country, balancing simultaneously the all-consuming rigors of being an engineering student in addition to those of a Division 1 college basketball player.

You’d be hard-pressed to find another group in the country with as compelling individuals, but even more impressive over the last four years has been the seamless combination of these players from unique backgrounds to create a team that has become the pride of the University. Even international recognition as a top flight academic institution does not generate the excitement and campus unity that these eight seniors have helped to cultivate. And in that process, we’ve all caught a glimpse and a reminder of the beauty of college athletics and their intended, but often forgotten, role at a school.

Together, this class has had more success on the court in four years than the rest of the players who have come through this program for more than a century –– combined. A Sweet 16 banner in the rafters to go alongside a trio of Ivy League championships will be a nice way to begin their commemoration. As a witness to all that this group has accomplished, though, I would hope that Cornell takes it a step further. It would be unprecedented to retire the numbers of an entire class, particularly at an institution that has never retired a single basketball player’s number before, but the accomplishments of this group are unprecedented as well.

This class leaves Cornell having been part of teams that set all-time school records for points, assists, field goals and blocked shots in a season. It also helped to set the Ivy mark for 3-point field goals while leading the nation in 3-point field goal percentage, and won an Ancient Eight-best 29 games during a single season this year. In a streak that spanned nearly two full seasons, they ran off 21 consecutive wins at Newman Arena –– seven better than the previous high by a Big Red squad. The following year the same group that excelled in Ithaca was tops in the country away from home, winning 18 games at road and neutral sites. The three NCAA tournament appearances by the class of 2010 eclipses the total compiled by more than 10 decades of Big Red teams (2). And the pair of March Madness victories just last weekend are the only two ever by a Cornell squad.

Where the eight seniors will be next year is still up in the air. You think it’s tough to get a job in finance coming from Cornell? Try professional basketball. Still, Jeff Foote and Ryan Wittman have legitimate NBA aspirations and have both been selected to play in front of 200 scouts at the Portsmouth Invitational –– a pre-draft tournament for the nation’s elite seniors. In his final game, Louis Dale out-dueled John Wall, who has long been dubbed the No. 1 draft pick in 2010. Between that effort and his previous two nationally-televised gems in the NCAA tournament, you would expect and hope that Dale would generate some NBA interest as well. For the most part, though, as the NCAA loves to promote, these guys will be “going pro in something other than sports.”

Regardless of where they make their careers, this class will largely be disbanding following graduation in June. Before the Big Red’s historic run, Alex Tyler joked about the possibility of the group reuniting 60 years from now in a nursing home, with each guy filling the same dynamic. Whether or not Tyler’s jest becomes reality, this class will no doubt be remembered as a unit. One that played with unbridled passion and intelligence. One that played with a fun-loving attitude and an undying desire to succeed. And most importantly, one that played in the selfless manner that is so rare today on the biggest stages of collegiate athletics.

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Cornell and the Final Four

In addition to watching Cornell's Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote in The Reese’s College All-Star game on Friday, April 2, broadcast at 4:30 on CBS College Sports, Big Red fans can also see Wittman in the State Farm Three Point Championship event, broadcast on ESPN on Thursday, April 1 at 9:30 pm.

Click here for the NCAA's release on the College All Star Game.

Below is the NCAA's press release for the Three Point Championship.

The 22nd annual State Farm® College Slam Dunk and Three-Point Championships™ are making their first official appearance at the NCAA Men's Final Four®. The event, which is televised on ESPN, brings together college basketball's top three-point shooters and slam dunk artists competing in four separate competitions: men's three-point shooting, women's three-point shooting, men's vs. women's three-point champions and the slam dunk competition.

PARTICIPATING PLAYERS
Gerard Anderson, Cal St. Fullerton; Marques Blakeley, Vermont; Ryan Brooks, Temple; Chris Roberts, Bradley; Lazar Hayward, Marquette; LD Williams, Wake Forest; Jermaine Beal, Vanderbilt; Jason Bohannon; Wisconsin; Ali Farokhmanush, Northern Iowa; Eric Hayes, Maryland; Roman Martinez, New Mexico; Jerome Randle, California; Michael Roll, UCLA; Ryan Wittman, Cornell;

CELEBRITY JUDGES
Celebrity judges for the event include Gary Brackett and Eric Foster of the Indianapolis Colts, Danny Granger and Dahntay Jones of the Indiana Pacers and others to be named soon.

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Donahue Carousel Update

(Photo, Cornell Daily Sun)

Below, Brian Delaney's take on the coaching carousel involving Steve Donahue:

Sources: Donahue to interview at BC (UPDATED)

Foxsports.com's Jeff Goodman, who lives in Boston and is well-connected particularly in that area, is reporting that Steve Donahue will meet with Boston College director of athletics Gene DeFilippo today regarding the men's basketball coaching vacancy.

Donahue has not immediately returned calls and texts seeking comment. However, sources close to Cornell's program have confirmed that Goodman's report is accurate.

**
My take: I think Donahue should, and has every right to, give the BC job a long look, despite the fact that it may not be a "great job" in the eyes of some.

On a conference call a week or so ago, Temple's Fran Dunphy spoke about how Steve is a terrific CEO of the small corporation, as he termed it, that is Cornell Basketball. He not only does the X's and O's and recruiting part well, but he connects with alums, parents and fans and also is excellent with the media. He is everything that DeFilippo is looking for at BC. He is a quality CEO in every sense of the term. What DeFilippo needs to assess is can Donahue recruit the type of student-athlete that will make BC successful on a continual basis in the ACC? That is a hurdle Donahue will have to overcome in any interview for a high-level job. And if DeFilippo wants Donahue as his next coach, he'll have to make a little leap of faith there.

Every Ivy coach has to overcome the knock of lacking experience in recruiting scholarship athletes. Dunphy has already proven himself in four years at Temple, but there's a key difference there. Philadelphia basketball is much, much more fertile than Boston or Massachusetts, and Dunphy has been able to draw very good local talent to North Philly. The jury is still out on Craig Robinson at Oregon State, and it looked for a moment this year like Bill Carmody was going to get over the hump at Northwestern, but his team faded in the Big Ten.

Only time will tell if this ends up being Donahue's home run job, if he realizes it's not as good as it seems, or if BC simply decides to go another direction. But if BC ends up being Donahue's next stop, it's a move everyone in the Cornell community can respect.

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Wittman and Foote in National All Star Game

Below, a release from Cornell Athletics. Click on the picture above for a larger image.

Wittman, Foote At Final Four For Senior Showcases
CornellBigRed.com

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell seniors Jeff Foote and Ryan Wittman have been invited to compete in the Reese’s College All-Star Game, while Wittman was also participate in the ESPN 3-Point Shootout during Final Four weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

The Reese’s College All-Star game on Friday, April 2 will be broadcast on CBS College Sports at 4:30 p.m. Two teams comprised of some of the top senior student-athletes in the country will compete. There is no admission to the contest.

The day before, Wittman will put his shooting to the test against the nation's best in the 22nd annual event, with the slam dunk contest and 3-point shootouts televised live on ESPN on Thursday, April 1 from 9-11 p.m. Past participants and champions in the shootout include Aaron Brooks, Steve Nash and Kyle Korver.

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News and Notes

Below, some additional news and notes with added coverage of Steve Donahue and the coaching carousel. Above, former Cornell assistant and current Army head coach, Zach Spiker, cheering on the Big Red during the NCAA Tournament action in Jacksonville, Florida.

• On March 24, Cornell's recruit, Manny Sahota was on display for Slam Magazine and other media members at an Ontario showcase event at Ryerson University. Slam Magazine writes:

Manny Sahota | 6-6 | Wing | D’Youville | 2011
This Cornell Commit will be a great fit for Coach Steve Donahue and the hot shooting Big Red next year. Sahota has a nice stroke from mid-range and can extend to the 3-point line. Manny is patient in the offense whether it’s an all-star game or a league game, he lets the game come to him and takes what the defense gives him instead of forcing difficult shots. I anticipate this patience will be sustained at the college level where he will be solid for his Ivy League squad.

• ESPN's Chad Forde writes that Ryan Wittman's NBA draft stock dipped following his performance against Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen. Forde writes:

Ryan Wittman, F, Senior, Cornell:

Wittman was another Cinderella story who saw his fairy tale fall apart this weekend. Wittman isn't a great athlete, but the guy can really shoot. After two solid performances, he struggled to get his shot off against Kentucky's long, quick athletes. Again, NBA scouts read more than just a cold night into a performance like that. Good shooters look great against average athletes, but great shooters need to be able to hit and create those shots against great athletes. For one day, at least, Wittman couldn't live up to the challenge.

• A lot of Boston College media outlets are covering Steve Donahue's interview today with Boston College and are profiling his resume.
  

• The Boston Globe writes:

Steve Donahue
Coach at Cornell for 10 seasons, going 146-137.
Took a while to get it going, but is 72-20 the last three years.
Has never coached at the major level.

• Eagle in Action writes:

Steve Donahue: Head Coach, Cornell
Pros: Mature, successful head coach. Has recruited at school with academic restrictions. Good teacher of basketball.
Cons: No ties to BC. No ties to the ACC. Has only coached in the Ivy League. Has never had to recruit elite players.
Bottom Line: I like Donahue, but we have no idea if or how he will make the transition to the next level. His mentor, Fran Dunphy, was able to do it, but going from Penn to Temple is very different than going from Cornell to BC.

• BC Interruption writes:

...here's a look at current Cornell head coach Steve Donahue.

Main Selling Point. Young, energetic coach who turned around the Cornell basketball program, winning three straight Ivy League titles and dismantling Wisconsin to make the program's first ever Sweet 16 appearance

Resume.

Assistant, Springfield HS (1984-1987)
Assistant, Monsignor Bonner HS (1987-1988)
Assistant, Philadelphia (1988-1990)
Assistant, Penn (1990-2000)
Head Coach, Cornell (2000-present)

Steve Donahue has been the coach at Cornell since 2000 and has done a remarkable job turning around the Big Red basketball program. In Donahue's first season, Cornell went 7-20 overall and only won 3 games in Ivy League play. The following year, the team actually regressed, finishing with a mere 5 wins and 2 in conference. After that though, it was a steady climb to the top of the Ivy League, culminating in three straight Ivy League Championships. Donahue's squad has won 3 of Cornell's four total Ivy League titles.

Of course, we all know about Cornell's historic run to the Sweet 16 this year as a 12 seed, where they knocked off both No. 5 Temple and No. 4 Wisconsin by double digit margins. Donahue is one of the top coaching candidates from the mid-major ranks.

Before his time at Cornell, Donahue was a big part of Penn's rise in the Ivy League under coach Fran Dunphy. Donahue served as recruiting coordinator under Dunphy, helping the Quakers win six league titles in his last eight years before taking the top job at Cornell.

But what about those three pillars of job qualifications?

Qualification 1: Exciting Brand of Basketball. Check. Donahue and Cornell run a motion offense, pretty much the exact opposite of Skinner's tight flex. Free flowing? Unrestricted with no fixed patterns? Check. His motion offense has been compared to that of John Beilein's offense. The offense is meant to exploit the offense's quickness (Reggie Jackson?) and neutralize the size advantage of the defense (again, sound familiar?). This is probably Donahue's strongest qualification since he is basically the un-Skinner when it comes to offensive philosophy.

Qualification 2: Relate to Student Body, Staff, Alumni, and Fans. This one is a little more unclear. Yes, Donahue has breathed live, energy and enthusiasm into the Cornell basketball program. But he's also spent 20 years of his career exclusively in the Ivy League. The ACC and the Ivy League are two very different places in terms of college basketball. I'll give Donahue the benefit of the doubt though and hope that he can rally the student body, staff and fans by capitalizing on Cornell's improbable Sweet 16 run this year.

Qualification 3: Solid Recruiter. Donahue has proven a sound recruiter both at Penn and at Cornell. His senior class of Ryan Wittman, Jeff Foote, and Louis Dale have taken home numerous Ivy League awards and have been the spark that has propelled Cornell to three straight league titles. While Donahue does have deep roots in the Philadelphia area, he has shown that he'll scour the country to find the best talent for Cornell - Wittman is from Minnesota, Foote from New York and Dale from Alabama. Still, recruiting in the Ivy League and recruiting within the ACC with, you know, actual scholarships, are two completely different ball games.

Donahue is reportedly very excited about the BC opportunity and is set to interview with DeFilippo today. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Donahue's family has strong ties to the Philadelphia area and it's no secret that they would like to return to city life. Donahue also turned down overtures from Boston University a few years back, a position that would have tripled his current salary. The BU and BC jobs are clearly in different leagues but I thought that was certainly interesting.

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Wittman, Dale-- CollegeInsider.com Mid Major All Americans

CollegeInsider.com announced that Cornell's Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale were both named to the Lou Henson All-America Team, the site's Mid Major All America team.

Award Selection Committee: Stephen Bardo (ESPN), Dr. McKinley Boston (New Mexico State), Jimmy Collins (Illinois-Chicago), Mark Coomes (Retired Head Coach), Gene Cross (Former Head Coach Toledo), Chris Crutchfield (Oral Roberts), Tom Douple (Summit League), Joe Dwyer (CollegeInsider.com), Rob Evans (Arkansas), Steve Fisher (San Diego State), John Giannini (La Salle), Ed Groom (Great West Conference), Ted Gumbart (Atlantic Sun Conference), Lou Henson (Former Head Coach Illinois and New Mexico State), Kyle B. Kallander (Big South Conference), Jon Kasper (Big Sky Conference), Angela Lento (CollegeInsider.com), Marvin Menzies (New Mexico State), Scott Nagy South (Dakota State), Frank Sullivan (America East Conference), Riley Wallace (CollegeInsider.com).

CollegeInsider.com Lou Henson All America Team

Keith Benson	6-11	Jr.	Oakland
Marqus Blakely	6-5	Sr.	Vermont
Matt Bouldin	6-5	Sr.	Gonzaga
Noah Dahlman	6-6	Jr.	Wofford
Louis Dale	5-11	Sr.	Cornell
Kenneth Faried	6-8	Jr.	Morehead State
Charles Garcia	6-10	Jr.	Seattle
Robert Glenn	6-7	Sr.	IUPUI
Andrew Goudelock	6-7	Sr.	College of Charleston
Reggie Holmes	6-4	Sr.	Morgan State
Matt Howard	6-8	Jr.	Butler
Matt Janning	6-4	Sr.	Northeastern
Charles Jenkins	6-3	Jr.	Hofstra
Anthony Johnson	6-3	Sr.	Montana
Orlando Johnson	6-5	So.	UC Santa Barbara
Johnathon Jones	5-11	Sr.	Oakland
Adam Koch	6-8	Sr.	Northern Iowa
David Kool	6-3	Sr.	Western Michigan
Gerald Lee	6-10	Sr.	Old Dominion
Jeremy Lin	6-3	Sr.	Harvard
Shelvin Mack	6-3	So.	Butler
Ashton Mitchell	5-11	Sr.	Sam Houston State
Artsiom Parakhouski	6-11	Sr.	Radford
Larry Sanders	6-11	Jr.	VCU
A.J. Slaughter	6-3	Sr.	Western Kentucky
Ryan Thompson	6-6	Sr.	Rider
Edwin Ubiles	6-6	Sr.	Siena
Cameron Wells	6-1	Jr.	The Citadel
Ryan Wittman	6-6	Sr.	Cornell
Desmond Yates	6-7	Sr.	Middle Tennessee

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News and Notes: Wittman and Foote to National All Star Game, Wittman and Donahue Honored with National Awards

Below, some news and notes...

• Cornell Athletics announced that Cornell's Ryan Wittman was named an A.P. All-American while head coach Steve Donahue was presented with the Clair Bee Award. Cornell Athletics writes:

Wittman An AP All-American, Donahue Given Clair Bee Award

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell senior forward Ryan Wittman has been named an Associated Press honorable mention All-American, while head coach Steve Donahue was presented with the Clair Bee Award on Monday. Wittman joins classmate Louis Dale (2008) and Ken Bantum (1985) as Cornellians who earned AP honorable mention All-America honors.

Wittman became the third Cornelian to earn Ivy League Player of the Year honors, doing so unanimously, and was picked to the first team by each of the Ivy coaches for the third straight season. The USBWA and NABC first-team all-district pick averaged 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists while setting an Ivy League record with his 109 3-point field goals. He shot 47 percent from the field, 43 percent from beyond the arc and 83 percent from the line while chipping in career highs of 36 steals and 13 blocked shots. The six-time Ivy League Player of the Week scored in double figures in each of his last 32 contests and in 33 of the team’s 34 contests.

The MVP of the Legends Classic Regional was an all-tournament pick at the MSG Holiday Festival. Wittman posted 20 or more points in 12 contests this season (Cornell 10-2 in those games). The school’s career scoring leader (2,028 points) became the Ivy League’s fifth 2,000-point scorer with his 24-point effort in the NCAA tournament win over Wisconsin. He holds school and Ivy records for 3-pointers in a season (109 in 2009-10) and career (377) and was named to the collegeinsider.com’s Mid-Major All-Decade team. He has had some of his biggest moments in the biggest games, including scoring seven points in the final 2:14 to seal the 48-45 win at Princeton, hitting a 35-footer at the buzzer in overtime to lift Cornell into the MSG Holiday Festival against Davidson, or scoring 34 points at La Salle to overcome the loss of two starters to injury. Wittman averaged 22.0 points and 4.0 rebounds while making 17-of-25 shots from the floor (68 percent) and 7-of-11 from beyond the arc (64 percent) in helping the Big Red advance to the Sweet 16.

Donahue was given the Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award, which honors a Division I men's basketball coach who through his actions on and off the court makes an outstanding contribution to the sport of college basketball. The criteria for this award include a coach's ability to inspire, motivate, coach, and educate his team to achieve its fullest potential awhile insisting upon and demonstrating outstanding character and academic success. Missouri's Mike Anderson was the 2009 recipient of the award.

Donahue has already been named the NABC District Coach of the Year, the midseason Hugh Durham Coach of the Year by collegeinsider.com as the top mid-major coach in the country, and a finalist for both the Hugh Durham Award and the Jim Phelan Award for national coach of the year. His leadership pushed Cornell to the first Sweet 16 appearance by an Ivy League tournament in the 64/65 team field and an Ivy League record 29 victories.

The 2009-10 team won the program’s third straight Ivy League title and its first two NCAA wins. Cornell climbed as high as No. 22 nationally in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, the program’s first national ranking in 59 years, and set an Ivy record for 3-pointers in a season (326). The team also set single-season school records in points (2,545), field goals (913), assists (543) and blocked shots (127). The Big Red won the MSG Holiday Festival with a victory over St. John’s, Cornell’s first win over a Big East school since 1969 and captured a season-opening win at Alabama, the team’s first win over a school from the Southeastern Conference since 1972. Cornell went 11-1 at home and won 18 games away from home, the most among any Division I school. The most attention was given to Cornell’s noble effort in a 71-66 loss at No. 1 Kansas, a game the Big Red led with under a minute to play. The Big Red then shocked the world as a No. 12 seed, knocking out both fifth-seeded Temple and fourth-seeded Wisconsin by double figures to advance before falling to East No. 1 seed Kentucky.

Coach Clair F. Bee, the late Long Island University coach and Hall of Famer, compiled a .826 lifetime winning percentage, still the best in major-college coaching history. Known as the "Innovator," Clair Bee's influence on the game also extended to strategies (the 1-3-1 zone defense and the 3-second rule) and the development of sports camps (Camp All-America and Kutsher's Sports Academy). Coach Bee authored technical coaching books and conducted coaching clinics around the world.

Donahue joined Ben Jacobson of Northern Iowa, Dave Rose of Brigham Young and Mark Turgeon of Texas A&M as finalists for the award.

---

2009-10 AP All-America Basketball Teams

FIRST TEAM

Evan Turner, Ohio State, 6-7, 205, junior, Chicago, 20.3 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 5.9 apg, 54.0 fg pct, 1.8 steals (64 first-place votes, 323 points)

John Wall, Kentucky, 6-4, 195, freshman, Raleigh, N.C., 16.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 6.4 apg, 1.8 steals (62, 319)

Wes Johnson, Syracuse, 6-7, 205, junior, Corsicana, Texas, 16.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.9 blocks (45, 280)

Scottie Reynolds, Villanova, 6-2, 190, senior, Herndon, Va., 18.5 ppg, 3.3 apg, 39.9 3-pt fg pct, 82.7 ft pct (32, 243)

DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky, 6-11, 270, freshman, Mobile, Ala., 15.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 54.1 fg pct, 1.8 blocks (26, 205)

SECOND TEAM

James Anderson, Oklahoma State, 6-6, 210, junior, Junction City, Ark., 22.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg (27, 197)

Sherron Collins, Kansas, 5-11, 205, senior, Chicago, 15.6 ppg, 4.4 apg, 85.1 ft pct (15, 194)

Greivis Vasquez, Maryland, 6-6, 200, senior, Caracas, Venezuela, 19.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 6.3 apg, 85.1 ft pct, 1.7 steals (14, 190)

Jon Scheyer, Duke, 6-5, 190, senior, Northbrook, Ill., 18.6 ppg, 5.0 apg, 36.6 minutes, 87.5 ft pct (5, 144)

Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia, 6-7, 230, senior, Newark, N.J., 17.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.3 apg (10, 138)

THIRD TEAM

Greg Monroe, Georgetown, 6-11, 247, sophomore, New Orleans, 16.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.7 apg, 52.1 fg pct (9, 119)

Cole Aldrich, Kansas, 6-11, 245, junior, Bloomington, Minn., 11.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 55.9 fg pct, 3.5 blocks (7, 91)

Damion James, Texas, 6-7, 225, senior, Nacogdoches, Texas, 18.0 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 50.9 fg pct, 40.2 3-pt fg pct (1, 83)

Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, 6-8, 246, senior, Schererville, Ind., 22.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg (4, 76)

Darington Hobson, New Mexico, 6-7, 205, junior, Las Vegas, 16.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 4.6 apg (1, 50)

HONORABLE MENTION

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest; Kevin Anderson, Richmond; Luke Babbitt, Nevada; Keith Benson, Oakland; Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga; Randy Culpepper, UTEP; Noah Dahlman, Wofford; Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech; Devan Downey, South Carolina; Muhammad El-Amin, Stony Brook; Kenneth Faried, Morehead State; Alex Franklin, Siena; Jimmer Fredette, BYU; Marquez Haynes, Texas-Arlington; Gordon Hayward, Butler; Lazar Hayward, Marquette; Adnan Hodzic, Lipscomb; Reggie Holmes, Morgan State; Robbie Hummel, Purdue; Charles Jenkins, Hofstra; Garrison Johnson, Jackson State; Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara; Tyren Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette; Dominique Jones, South Florida; Adam Koch, Northern Iowa; David Kool, Western Michigan; Damian Lillard, Weber State; Kalin Lucas, Michigan State; C.J. McCollum, Lehigh; E’Twaun Moore, Purdue; Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford; Patrick Patterson, Kentucky; Quincy Pondexter, Washington; Jacob Pullen, Kansas State; Jerome Randle, California; Andy Rautins, Syracuse; Justin Rutty, Quinnipiac; Omar Samhan, Saint Mary’s; Kyle Singler, Duke; Ekpe Udoh, Baylor; Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State; Hassan Whiteside, Marshall; Ryan Wittman, Cornell.

• A press release from the NABC confirms what we previously reported that Cornell's Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote will both appear in the Reese's College All-Star Game in conjunction with this year’s Final Four. The game will take place at 4:35 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium following the team practices and is free to the public. In addition, the game will be televised by CBS College Sports. Below are the teams for the event:
  

Hershey’s Team (East)
Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)
Deonta Vaughn (Cincinnati)
Jermaine Beal (Vanderbilt)
Rodney Green (LaSalle)
Edwin Ubiles (Siena)
Lazar Hayward (Marquette)
Ryan Wittman (Cornell)
Adam Koch (Northern Iowa)
Jeff Foote (Cornell)
Gerald Lee (Old Dominion).

The Hershey's Team will be coached by former Indiana State coach Bill Hodges, who led Larry Bird and the Sycamores to the 1979 NCAA Championship game.

The Reese’s Team (West)
Jerome Randall (California)
Tre'von Hughes (Wisconsin)
Chris Kramer (Purdue)
Michael Roll (UCLA)
Tyren Johnson (UL-Lafayette
)Aubrey Coleman (Houston)
Patrick Christopher (California)
Dominic Calegari (UC-Davis)
Art Parakhouski (Radford)
Eric Boateng (Arizona State)
Bryan Davis (Texas A&M)

The Reese's All-Stars will be led by legendary Purdue Head Coach Gene Keady.

• Jeff Goodman of FoxSports reports that Steve Donahue will interview for the Boston College coaching position on Wednesday. The Ithaca Journal's Brian Delaney writes:

Why the BC job may not be a home run

I'd encourage you to read this well-constructed column in the Boston Globe about how the Boston College basketball job is not a great one within the sport's current climate.

Here's the link. Also, a second link to a video clip of BC's director of athletics, Gene DeFilippo, talking about the qualities he wants in his next coach.

Let me know what you think. Is this something Donahue should consider?

• A small college student newspaper considers Cornell 2010 one of the ten best cinderella stories in NCAA Tournament history.
  

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Big Red Peanut Butter Cups

We previously reported here that Cornell's Ryan Wittman was selected to participate in the Reese's NABC All Star Game and the State Farm Three-Point Shoot-Out as part of the NCAA's official events at the Indianapolis Final Four. We were recently informed by a source that Cornell's Jeff Foote was invited to join Wittman on the East All Star squad. Numerous NBA scouts will be in attendance.

As also previously reported here, Wittman and Foote have accepted invitations to the Portsmouth Invitational, an NBA scouting event. We have recently learned that Cornell's Louis Dale has been contacted as an "alternate" for the event should one of the sixty invitees decline or become unavailable.

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Will Amaker Land Boston College Coaching Position?

Both Cornell's Steve Donahue and Harvard's Tommy Amaker have been mentioned among a short list of targets by Boston College in its head coaching search. But the latter may be the more likely next coach in Chestnut Hill.

In addition to Donahue and Amaker, other top candidates in the search reportedly include Frank Martin (Kansas State), Bill Coen (Northeastern), and Chris Mooney (Richmond). The Ithaca Journal's Brian Delaney suggests that Donahue might consider the Boston College opening. He writes:

Would the BC job be a home run?

Has the first home-run job become open? Maybe.

First, a recap. I wrote in today's paper how Steve Donahue has turned away all inquiries from other schools so far seeking a new basketball coach. Here's the link.

Late last night and this morning, a story has been building up in Boston that Al Skinner will be fired as coach. The Boston Globe made it official this morning. The Globe is reporting that Boston College has already asked to speak to Steve Donahue, as well as Richmond coach Chris Mooney.

On the surface, the BC job would be a much more attractive job than any others that have been made available to this point. It's in a fantastic city when considering quality of living, in a fantastic conference (the ACC), it has a sound football program to help support the athletic department, and it's a high-level academic school that forces any coach to recruit smart kids. It's no coincidence that both Mooney and Donahue have strong Ivy League ties. Mooney is a Princeton guy, and had a great year with the Spiders.

So in my opinion, and this is based on absolutely no conversation I've had with Andy Noel or Steve Donahue, the BC job would be the closest thing to a home run on the market thus far. And again, that's on paper. There may be underlying issues that make a job like this unattractive. But it will be something to watch.

Notwithstanding the attractiveness of an ACC job to Donahue, sources report to The Cornell Basketball Blog that Donahue might not even get the offer as Harvard' Amaker may be the favorite and leading candidate to head up the Eagles. WHRB, the Harvard student radio station reports, "Multiple sources close to the team have said that Amaker will leave Harvard for Boston College if he is offered the head job." Our reports suggest Amaker is indeed the leader.

Amaker seems like and obvious and natural fit at Boston College and has the resume to get the job. He has BCS conference experience at Michigan and Seton Hall, he is a proven national recruiter and has had some success resurrecting a dormant Harvard basketball program which also defeated Boston College in each of the last two seasons. Further, Amaker has an established network of Massachusetts connections and is familiar with the area.

On Donahue's impressive resume, he can boast three Ivy League titles and a Sweet Sixteen appearance.

No matter what happens, the Boston College opening will likely impact the Ivy League's coaching carousel.

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Recruiting News

Below, some recruiting news from around the Ivy League...

ChicagoHoops.com reports that Jon Gac (Mt. Carmel HS) Chicago, IL 6-9, has committed to Loyola-Chicago over interest from Yale and other Ivies.

ScoutHoops notes that Tim Douglas (Mayfair HS) Lakewood, CA 5-9, committed to Portland. He drew some interest from Cornell, Hawaii, and Cal State Bakersfield. He also had offers from Cal Riverside and Lehigh.

The Harvard Crimson is reporting that Majok Majok (Northfield Mount Hermon School) Northfield, MA 6-8 has eliminated Harvard from consideration. He has reportedly narrowed his list to Boston College, Saint Louis, Oklahoma State, and Oregon State. Several sources have reported to The Cornell Basketball Blog that Tommy Amaker is the lead coaching candidate for the vacancy at Boston College and that Majok could follow along.

Cornell is expected to be adding some transfers this season, but one of them will not be Jeff Allgood, a former red-shirt at Army who spent the 2009-2010 season at Iowa Western Community College. Allgood committed to Eastern Kentucky this month after he averaged 8.6 points per game with Iowa Western. Like Cornell, EKU is one of the top shooting teams in the country. Allgood reportedly was interested in committing to Cornell before the Big Red moved in another direction with other guard prospects.

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Wittman, Dale, Foote--- Giant Killers!

ESPN.com has named Cornell's Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale to its five-player, All-Giant Killer team for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Jeff Foote was among the two players named honorable mention because ESPN, "didn't want three Cornell players on the first team." ESPN writes:

Forward: Ryan Wittman, Cornell: Wittman shot a staggering 68 percent in the first two rounds of the tournament, including 7-of-11 on 3-point attempts, and now the whole country knows why the ability to score in bunches is critical to GK success. Most lethally, his three straight bombs early in the second half against Temple squelched all hopes for an Owls comeback. He literally ran into a Wall against Kentucky but was so impressive overall that fans are now talking up his NBA potential. Oh, and he made our model look pretty darn good, considering where it had Cornell rated.

***

Guard: Louis Dale, Cornell: Dale, another Big Red senior, led Cornell with 21 points against Temple and then poured in a career-high 26 against Wisconsin. Everyone knows now that Dale sent video of himself to colleges after going largely ignored out of high school; few realize that Cornell recruited him as a student, and Dale sent one of those tapes to Steve Donahue's staff because his mom told him it was a good school. Of course, he still has to pass Cornell's swimming test to graduate, but his declaration after the Wisconsin game should become the official GK motto: "You can't sleep on us."

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Donahue Expected to Return to Cornell for 2010-2011

(Photo Patrick Shanahan, Cornell Athletics)

A source close to the situation reported to The Cornell Basketball Blog that Cornell's entire coaching staff is expected to return to Cornell next season. Absent a "dream job offer" -- Donahue would not consider leaving Cornell. He has reportedly already rejected potential opportunities for next season at Seton Hall, St. John's, Fordham, Penn, and Siena. He also rejected opportunities in recent seasons at James Madison and Boston University. And as Brian Delaney of the Ithaca Journal reports below in a series of articles, there are currently no coaching vacancies on the job market that presently attract Donahue.

'Home-run' job offer isn't out there for Donahue
Cornell coach thrilled to be where he is

Steve Donahue said Monday only a "flat-out home run" job offer would draw him away from Cornell, and despite his name being linked to multiple openings, no such job opening exists right now.

The 10th-year men's basketball coach is as popular as ever after leading the Big Red to a 29-5 record, including two NCAA tournament wins, and a third straight Ivy League championship. But he denied published reports that he was interested in either the St. John's or Siena jobs, and said he's turned down multiple inquiries.

St. John's cut ties recently with Norm Roberts, and former Siena coach Fran McCaffery accepted the head coaching position at Iowa on Monday.

"As I say to you all the time, really it has to be a flat-out home run," Donahue said. "No matter what you read, there's nothing that I've even entertained that I would even consider leaving Cornell for. Nothing. There's just not. I've said no to every single one of the (calls) that have inquired about me leaving here.

"To beat this situation, in terms of the people I work for, the university I represent, the family loving the area as much as they do, all those things, it would have to be an incredible situation for me to leave Cornell."

Donahue and Cornell director of athletics Andy Noel politely declined to name the schools that have shown interest. Noel said Monday evening "a significant number" have asked his permission to speak to Donahue, adding that while there's no absolute way to ensure Donahue stays in Ithaca, an ongoing effort has been made to make the coaching position "better and better."

Noel said Donahue has received yearly raises and "significant adjustments" to his contract. Cornell, as a private university, is not required to disclose salary amounts.

"We certainly have our limits," Noel said. "We haven't started to address the importance of retaining Steve Donahue in the last many months. We've been addressing it for the last many years."

On Monday, Donahue was named the Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award winner. The award is given to the Division I men's coach who makes an outstanding contribution to the sport of college basketball through inspiration, motivation, coaching and education while insisting on outstanding character and academic success.

Andy Noel on Donahue and NCAA money

Cornell director of athletics Andy Noel said "a significant number" of athletic directors have called him seeking permission to speak with Steve Donahue about their coaching vacancies.

Noel backed up Donahue's statement that he has turned down all inquiries thus far. Donahue said it would take a "home run" job offer to draw him away from Cornell.

"There have been a number of schools very interested in Steve, many of whom received my permission to speak because that's the protocol," Noel said. "Although a number of schools betray that protocol and I understand that not everybody is old school like me. Steve has not found any of them interesting enough or appropriate for him to declare (himself interested)."

Noel said the process to do everything possible to keep Donahue on board began several years ago, when it appeared clear to him that the culture surrounding the program was changing for the better.

"There's absolutely no way to make sure Steve stays," Noel said. "I can state that for the last many years, we have done all that we can each year to make the situation at Cornell a better and better situation. We certainly have our limits. We haven't started to address the importance of retaining Steve Donahue in the last many months. We've been addressing it for the last many years."

(BTW: Would it be too childish of me to want to nickname this story "The Situation," ala Jersey Shore? Yes? OK, let's move on then.)

**
Noel also said that Cornell's success has raised an interesting question with regards to what the Ivy League will do with the money Cornell earned by playing three games in the NCAA tournament. It had been 12 years since an Ivy team played multiple games at the Big Dance.

To recap, Noel said the university presidents voted years ago to take the yearly NCAA participation sum (Noel called it "a unit") and inject the whole amount into the base budget of the Ivy League office. The tournament representative (which has been Cornell for three years running) sees none of that money directly. Because the Ivy is granted an automatic tournament berth each year, the Ivy League office has always been able to count on that sum being available to them. That sum this year is $220,000 per game paid annually over a six-year span.

Since Cornell played three games, it garnered the Ivy League a $660,000 pay check each of the next six years. Noel said he hopes that when the question of what to do with the extra $440,000 is addressed by the league office, Cornell will garner some consideration for its role in the matter.

Donahue on job rumors: "There's nothing I've even entertained"

Steve Donahue has been fielding questions about other programs' job searches somewhat regularly over the last few weeks, particularly as Cornell's amount of national recognition increased. To his credit, he's handled that portion of the media crush well.

His answers have been consistent. He's said he didn't feel comfortable talking about the subject while the season was ongoing; didn't think it was fair to his current players; stressed how great a fit Cornell was for he and his family and added every so often that a new job would have to be a "home run" for him to be lured away.

Now that the season is over, Donahue spoke with me this morning (Monday) about the coaching carousel, and other topics, related to the Big Red. Here's his response to his name being floated for such positions as St. John's or Siena (if you haven't heard, the Iowa and Seton Hall jobs have been filled):

"I don't know if there's anything to address. As I say to you all the time, really it has to be a flat-out home run. No matter what you read, there's nothing that I've even entertained that I would even consider leaving Cornell for. Nothing. There's just not. I've said no to every single one of the (calls) that have inquired about me leaving here. It would have to be, to beat this situation, in terms of people I work for, the university I represent, the family loving the area as much as they do, all those things, it would have to be an incredible situation for me to leave Cornell."

Donahue has said repeatedly this year that people outside the program don't understand "how good I have it" at Cornell.

"The most important reason is the people I work for. I think in my business, you rely more on that than anything else. They really dictate your future and your career. I have such great confidence and such a tremendous working relationship with not only (athletics director) Andy Noel, but Susan Murphy our vice president and our president David Skorton. I can't imagine that I'd have a better situation anywhere else."

Donahue politely declined to name the schools that showed interest.

**
I didn't ask Donahue if he felt there could be another Jon Jaques story next year. He just flat out named 6-9 forward Aaron Osgood as a likely candidate.

"I think Aaron Osgood may be our most improved player over the last four months," Donahue said. "He's just done a real good job of relaxing and getting bigger and stronger and more confident. ... I think Aaron's ready to really help us."

**
I did ask Donahue where is low-post offense will come next year. From the guys he knows he'll have in 2010-11 (recruiting class hasn't been finalized yet), this was his response:

"I think you'll see Mark Coury be a very tough guard in terms of scoring down the low post. I think he can score down there now. I think he developed his game and I think he showed he can be a terrific passer. I think you'll see a lot more production out of him as a scorer. Just an all-around player. He's going to play a lot more minutes and I think he's going to be really good."

At that point, Donahue then mentioned Osgood and praised the off-the-court efforts of freshmen Josh Figini and Eitan Chemerinski.

**
Donahue added that he believes Cornell will be in the mix for a fourth Ivy title next year.

"Absolutely. I feel very confident with what these guys have done not only on the floor, but they understand how hard they have to work to maintain what they've done. I think the younger guys are chomping at the bit to prove to people they can keep this thing going. As are our coaches. We're excited already for next year."

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