Return of the Konkol

Scott Cherry might be heading out west but he will be replaced on Larranaga's staff by a familiar face. Eric Konkol, a Mason assistant coach from 2002-2005 returns to Fairfax after coaching high school basketball and a short stint at North Dakota State, where he resigned after about 2 months. An excellent scout and recruiter, Konkol is a great young coaching asset that already knows Larranaga's system. Losing Cherry was unfortunate but Mason does get back a great all-around basketball mind.

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BB&T Classic to Air on MASN

The BB&T Classic will be aired on MASN this year and not Comcast, thank god. If I had to listen to the college basketball "analysts" on Comcast call the games again I'd probably hang myself. The article mentions that the switch was made due to scheduling conflicts and the fact that MASN offered a greater subscriber base. MASN has a larger subscriber base than Comcast, who knew? I for one greatly enjoyed the amount of coverage MASN gave the Patriots last season and I'm hoping they won't drop us like Triple X radio did. It's not only the announcers that I liked but also that they would actually have some pre-game and post-game coverage. This was something Comcast never did because they always had the Redskins coverage or something else immediately after the game. Originally it seemed that Mason was going to be playing George Washington in this event but it looks like that match-ups and other teams are still waiting to be determined.

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Cherry Pickin'

It's now official, assistant coach Scott Cherry will be leaving Mason to coach at Western Kentucky next season. The decision is based on a new opportunity for Cherry but also for him to be able to move his family closer to home. I wish Cherry the best of luck and maybe we might see him back at Mason in the future, but this move really shakes up the coaching staff as only Chris Caputo and big Coach L himself remain on the staff from last season. Will they look to hire someone with experience or bring in a young fresh face? Cherry was known more for his offensive strategies while at Mason but was also Larranaga's recruiting coordinator. But lately recruiting is not something I am worried about as the talent is starting to come in, Chris Caputo has been doing a great job of getting that talent in the DC area.

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Thursday Bullets

• Interesting article on assistant coach Scott Cherry's journey from a UNC Tarheel national champion to selling forklifts to serving pizza to Demon Deacons and then eventually finding a home at Mason. But rumor has it he has accepted a job at Western Kentucky, more to come later.
• Our friends at CAAZone.com give us an update on Mason players in the summer Kenner League at Georgetown.
• Assistant coach Chris Caputo's weekend at the Freshman All-American Camp at Hoop Magic Sports Academy mentioned in the Post's recruiting insider.
• Another local article on Tony Skinn's post grad life.
• 14 minute '06-'07 highlight video that I think shows just about every three pointer made last season. A little blurry but at least someones trying. I look for new Youtubes daily, please send them to me.
• check out where midatlantichoops.com has our 2007 recruits ranked.
• The DC Sports Bog can't resist to mention how Lee Humphrey "slayed" us in 2005.
  

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Skinn and Stokes Reunion

I'm sorry but I can't over look this. It's true, Tony Skinn and Loren Stokes are both going to be playing on the Orlando Magic summer league team. Their reunion represents a dark day in college basketball and the CAA when Skinn's below the belt punch to Stokes made national headlines thanks to a North Carolina news channel. Good thing Mason's historic run through the NCAA tournament occurred right after this so most people quickly forgot about that incident. But you can't tell me this isn't going to be awkward, even if Skinn apologized I doubt there isn't still some bad blood. But now they are professionals fighting for a chance to maybe get on an NBA roster for next season. According to the Magic's website they will be broadcasting the summer league games on the internet and will have players blogging about the games and their experiences. Hmmm, this could be interesting.

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Offers on the table

Another busy summer of hitting the recruiting trails continues for Coach L and his assistants. They have been heavily perusing four players from the DC Assault U16 AAU team which has garnered a lot of attention at local and nationwide tournaments. Larranaga is doing what he does best and trying to get after these kids before they start to get more attention from big conference schools. Mason has offered to 2009 prospects Javorn Farrell (Ireton), Rashad Whack (McNamara), and Rodney McGruder (Carroll), as well as 2010 PG Daryl Traynham. McGruder is a my kind of prospect as he is described as the kind of player that is very athletic and known to " punish rims and get up and down the floor". Meanwhile Traynham is a 5'9" floor general and has been talked about as the "best transition guard this area has had in awhile”. It has been very rare to see a rising junior sign with the Patriots this early on but I feel like these days it's a possibility that is starting to look realistic.

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Lamar takes it to the streets

Lamar Butler, probably the most recognizable Mason basketball alumni, is spending his summer days playing in the Goodman League which is known as "Washington's Premier Streetball League". The games are played at the Barry Farms Dwelling basketball courts located at Firth Sterling Avenue in Southeast Washington, D.C. The league, which has been around since 1975, features current and former NBA players, college players, and participants from various communities. Gilbert Arenas played last summer and you can find a video of it here. To me it seems streetball leagues like this would be more of Tony Skinn's style instead Lamar's, considering I have never seen anyone on the And 1 mixtape tour shot a three-pointer.

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