By Max Puro
Columbia Daily Spectator
February 5, 2009
Ivy League basketball’s wealthiest just got richer. While talent was already stocked for next season, Cornell was, until recently, not done replenishing its core group.
The Big Red received two transfers from big-time Division I basketball programs, forward Mark Coury from Kentucky and Max Groebe from the University of Massachusetts. Both players are eligible for the 2009-10 season.
The 6-foot-8-inch Coury began as a walk-on at Kentucky, but midway through the season, Wildcats coach Tubby Smith awarded him a full scholarship. After new head coach Billy Gillispie took over, Coury received an increase in playing time, starting 29 games in 2007-08.
During that time, Coury played 10.7 minutes per game, averaging 2.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per contest. His academics also shined, as he earned a 4.0 GPA and was selected to a number of All-Academic teams. With Jeff Foote graduating after this season, Coury is expected to continue Foote’s rebounding and defensive intensity.
“He is a physical presence and plays very hard,” Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. “He has a good motor and has become acclimated to our system during this off-season.”
Coury has two years of eligibility remaining.
Groebe, a 6-foot-5-inch shooting guard, comes to Cornell from the University of Massachusetts and has three years of eligibility remaining. In his freshman year at UMass, Groebe appeared in 19 games, averaging 2.1 points while playing 5.5 minutes per game.
He decided to transfer after UMass head coach Travis Ford took over the coaching position at Oklahoma State. Groebe looked for schools that possessed a solid combination of basketball and academics—just as he did out of high school. In high school, Groebe was named First Team All-Miami Dade and was a McDonald’s All-American nominee. His shooting ability will be greatly needed after juniors Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale graduate the season after next.
“This off-season benefited him [Groebe] greatly,” Donahue said. “He is an extremely good shooter and he can get his shot off the dribble—something that is difficult for most. He is learning how we play offensively and defensively. He is playing with more discipline.”
Cornell had “looked at them [both players] in high school, in which we made a solid impression,” Donahue said. “They took different paths, but after not getting the opportunity with basketball and academically, they wanted that opportunity.”
This is the second time in the past three seasons that Cornell has brought in a big-time Division I transfer. Two seasons ago, the Big Red received a commitment from former USC walk-on Collin Robinson.
Coming out of high school, the 6-foot guard was a McDonald’s All-American nominee, averaging 25.9 points per game at Diamond Bar (California) High School. He was given a conditional scholarship to USC, meaning that if he played Pac-10-worthy basketball, he would have his scholarship extended.
In his freshman year, Robinson appeared in only nine games, scoring 1.4 points per game, and was thus given the opportunity to look elsewhere, finally landing in Ithaca. In his last season for the Big Red, Robinson played in all 14 non-conference games, averaging 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per contest. The high point of Robinson’s tenure in Ithaca was a stretch of six games where he averaged 16.2 points, 2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists.
After only 14 games, Robinson transferred back to USC, but not to play basketball. He enrolled in the Annenberg School for Communication last fall, and hopes to become a broadcast journalist.
Donahue and the Cornell staff hope Coury and Groebe will follow the path Robinson didn’t take. Both are expected to be key players for the Big Red for the next two seasons, which will only provide the team with more depth. But how is it that Cornell—a school without substantial basketball tradition—was able to snag these players?
Winning certainly has to do with it—a belief that Donahue reaffirmed. But another factor must have been Donahue’s past at the University of Pennsylvania, which has been the crème de la crème of Ivy recruiting for the past 20 years, snagging future NBA players Matt Maloney and Jerome Allen.
So with all the talent in store for the Big Red, what’s next? Donahue’s reputation and Cornell’s recent “it” Ivy League team status continue to attract players to Ithaca, allowing the Big Red to perpetuate the winning attitude that began with Donahue’s coming to Cornell.
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