They Said It! Quote to Remember.

"It takes a very special person to recommend someone on their staff inside of three weeks before our season starts, to say, 'I think you should leave this program and go somewhere else."

Zach Spiker during a radio interview with West Viriginia MetroNews Talkline discussing Steve Donahue's positive support of Spiker's interviewing for the head coaching position at Army.

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Local News on Zach Spiker Departure

Cornell Basketball's local media finally published some coverage of the weekend's news that Zach Spiker left his assistant coaching position at Cornell to take the head coaching position at Army. Cornell Coach Steve Donahue told the Ithaca Journal that he would like to promote current assistants Nat Graham and Woody Kampmann, leaving the third assistant's position to be filled by a new hire.

Here is the full article from the Ithaca Journal:

Army tabs Spiker as new head coach
Spiker has 6-year deal to turn program around

Zach Spiker, a 2000 Ithaca College graduate and five-year assistant coach at Cornell under Steve Donahue, has been hired as Army's men's basketball coach.

The hiring was announced Saturday by United States Military Academy director of athletics Kevin Anderson. Spiker replaces Jim Crews, who was fired on Sept. 21 after seven seasons and a 60-139 record.

"Obviously you want all your assistants to get a head coaching job, a Division I head coaching job," Donahue said. "And to get one at such a prestigious institution like the United States Military Academy, it's just incredible. I'm so happy for him. He deserves it."

Spiker did not immediately respond to messages left on his cell phone. He released a statement through Army's athletic communications department.

"I am extremely humbled and excited by the opportunity that Mr. Anderson has given me to coach at West Point," he said. "I can't wait to get to work, and I am looking forward to serving this senior class to make this season the best it can be. I am confident we will all work together and make this a great experience for everybody."

"We conducted a national search and spoke to a tremendous school of candidates," Anderson said. "Throughout the process, one individual clearly rose to the top."

Anderson confirmed to the Times Herald-Record, in Middletown, that Spiker was signed to a six-year deal. He'll be introduced officially at a 3 p.m. news conference Tuesday at West Point.

Spiker had a strong role in recruiting Cornell's current players, who have helped to win two straight Ivy League championships. Cornell will be a heavy favorite to win the 2009-10 title.

Donahue said Spiker evolved into an outstanding recruiter.

"Zach has an incredible work ethic," Donahue said. "He's willing to put in the time. I think a lot of guys in this business think recruiting is making a big splash and being dynamic in a setting. ... In reality it's the guy that's going to develop relationships over time through hard work, and really fulfilling all the things he talks about with the coaches and the families, and Zach does a great job of staying on top of kids and making them realize he's there for them. He did that for us time and again."

Army's long list of distinguished head coaches includes former Indiana and Texas Tech coach Bob Knight, and current Duke and U.S. Olympic Team head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Army finished the 2008-09 season with an 11-18 record, and a 6-8 mark in the Patriot League. The Black Knights' schedule this season includes games against Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Brown. Army last had a winning season in 1984-85.

Donahue said he hopes to have a replacement as quickly as Cornell can expedite the process. He said ideally, he would like to promote current assistants Nat Graham and Woody Kampmann, leaving the third assistant's position to be vacated.

Winter teams can begin practicing officially in two weeks.

Spiker celebrated his 33rd birthday last week. He and his wife, Jennifer, have a 1-year old son, Charlie.

Below is the full article from the Cornell Daily Sun:

Longtime Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Zach Spiker To Be New Head Coach at Army

Zach Spiker, a five-year assistant coach for the men’s basketball team, was hired to the head coach position at Army, the school announced on Saturday. Spiker replaces Jeff Crews, who was fired on Sept. 24 following a confrontation with a player, according to ESPN's Andy Katz. Crews signed a three-year contract with a two-year option over the summer, but Army athletic director Kevin Anderson said there was an issue involving Crews that he “couldn't ignore.”

Spiker has been a big part of Cornell’s success on the basketball court in recent years. The team won back-to-back Ivy titles in 2007-08 and 2008-09, the first time in school history and the first time in Ivy League history that a school other than Penn or Princeton has repeated.

According to Katz, head coach Steve Donahue called to recommend his top assistant to the Black Knights. Nat Graham and Woody Kampmann are the remaining assistant coaches on Cornell's roster.

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Cornell Football Promotional Video

Great job by Cornell Athletics putting together this promotional video for Cornell Football. As it does for football, the new Cornell Athletics channel on You Tube should offer postgame interviews from all of Cornell's home basketball games this year. Of course, we intend to post these postgame interviews here on The Cornell Basketball Blog.

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Red White Game Update

Sources are reporting to The Cornell Basketball Blog that the Red-White Game will likely take place on Saturday, October 24 at approximately 4:30 p.m.

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Recruiting News: Big Man Plans Penn Visit

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

Palmdale, California's Darrell Haley is a 6'11" tower with a 3.8 GPA. He has offers in hand from Iowa State and Wyoming. He told CycloneReport.com that he plans on taking advantage of his official visits this year before committing. "I haven't scheduled any quite yet, but I'm about in the process of doing that. I'm definitely going to head back to Iowa State, and also to Pacific, Penn and Colorado probably." He also noted, "I would say right now that my favorite would be Iowa State. I went up there and saw the campus. They have a good program in the major that I want, they are very big in engineering, which is important."

Scout.com reports that Brennan Wyatt, a 5'10" point guard out of Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley H.S. committed to Navy this weekend during his visit. He drew some interest from Cornell, while also holding offers from Columbia and The Citadel.

TexasHoops.com reports that 6'0" point guard Paul Garnica out of San Antonio Lee H.S. committed to Northern Colorado over Utah State and UT-Arlington. He also drew interest from Cornell.

NorCalPreps.com reports that 6'8" Will Davis of Sacramento H.S. has no offers but is drawing interest from NJIT, Santa Clara, and Ivies-- Columbia and Harvard.

HovpenSports.com reports that 6'8" forward, Steve Carver of Shawnee Mission Northwest HS in Kansas received his first offer this month from Holy Cross. He is also getting interest from Colorado State, UMKC, University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, Tulsa, Wichita State, Northern Iowa, Murray State, Kansas Stat. Cornell showed interest last spring.

ArizonaPreps.com is reporting that 6'9" Carter Warnock, a 4.0 GPA student out of Seton Catholic HS in Chandler, Arizona, has an offer on the able from Weber State, with James Madison, Arkansas-Little Rock and Eastern Washington all either visiting him or offering him a campus visit. Cornell is also reportedly involved.

RecruitRecon.com reports that Jabril Trawick, a 6'4" wing out of Abington Friends School in Abington, PA has an offer from Drexel and is currently receiving interest from Penn, Yale, Bucknell, Penn State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, St. Joe's, La Salle, Mount St. Mary’s, Temple, Niagara, Bowling Green, Xavier, Kent State, Nebraska, Miami, South Florida, St. Bonaventure, Hartford, Missouri State, Siena, and Quinnipiac. He is a member of the class of 2011.

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Cornell Basketball in the News

Throughout the day we have posted some additional links to articles relating to Zach Spiker's hiring by Army as its new head coach.

Some of the articles confirm that Army initially approached Cornell head coach, Steve Donahue for the position, but Donahue declined and instead recommended Spiker.

Donahue also turned reported interest in recent coaching searches during the last two years from Bucknell, Holy Cross, James Madison and Boston University.

As for Spiker, he was initially interviewed by Army in Chicago where he was on a Cornell recruiting trip. A second interview followed at West Point before he was ultimately hired.

Spiker was an assistant at Cornell for five years.

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Recruiting News: NBA Champion Visits Cornell

Below, some recruiting news from around the Ivy League.

CapitolHoops.com reports that Princeton received a verbal commitment from Ben Hazel, a 6'4" guard from Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, Maryland.

Scout.com reports that Chase Plummer, a 6'5" forward from St. Patrick's HS in Elizabeth committed to UMBC after gaining some Ivy interest.

With respect to Cornell, sources confirmed for The Cornell Basketball Blog that the Big Red had a visit this weekend from a former NBA Champion. Toni Kukoc and his son, Marin Kukoc, a 6'6" forward and former teammate of current Cornell player, Chris Wroblewski at Highland Park HS in Illinois is on the Cornell campus for an official visit.

Scout.com reports that Stanford is hosting Will Sheehey, a 6'6" forward from Sagemont School in Florida. He is a Penn and Princeton target.

Scout also reports that Dartmouth is hosting 7'0" 230 lb. David Wishon from First Assembly Christian School in Charlotte.

Scout also notes that Navy is hosting Brennan Wyatt, a 5'10" guard from Dudley HS in Greensboro, North Carolina. He also has an offer from Columbia and received some interest from Cornell.

IVY LEAGUE 2010-2011 RECRUITING VERBAL COMMITMENTS

CORNELL

• Jake Matthews G 6-2 Greensburg PA Greensburg Salem HS
  
• Manny Sahota F 6-6 Bramton ONT Canada St. Marguerite d'Youville Secondary
• Anthony Gatlin F 6-8 190 Pearland HS TX/Centenary College (Junior)

Brown

• Dockery Walker F 6-7 Westtown PA HS
  

Columbia

• Dyami Starks G 6-2 Duluth East HS MN
  
• Steve Frankoski G 6-2 Hanover NJ St. Benedict's Prep School of Newark
  

Dartmouth

• 
  

Harvard

• Matt Brown G 6-2 Northfield MA Northfield Mount Hermon School
  

Penn

• Dau Jok G 6-2 Des Moines IA Roosevelt HS
  
• Cameron Gunter F 6-8 Ridley PA HS
  
• Casey James G 6-3 Mission Viejo CA Capistrano Valley HS
• Kevin Panzer F 6-8 Mission Viejo CA Capistrano Valley HS
  
• Austin Kelly G 6-2 Hollywood CA Harvard-Westlake HS
  
• Steve Rennard G 6-0 Metuchen NJ St. Joseph's

Princeton

• Ben Hazel G 6-4 Wheaton MD Good Counsel HS
• Chris Clement G 6-1 Round Rock TX Stony Point HS
  
• Daniel Edwards C 6-9 Highland Park TX HS
  
• T.J. Bray G 6-3 Waukesha WI Catholic Memorial HS
  

Yale

• Jeremiah Kreisberg F 6-8 Oakland CA Head Royce HS
  
• Greg Kelley F 6-8 Newton MA New North HS
• Isaiah Salafia G 6-3 Crowell CT HS

Below are some related recruiting links:

• For posts with the label, "The Case for Cornell Basketball" (click here).
  

• For The Cornell Basketball Blog's list of Cornell Recruiting Targets and Recruiting Commitments, click here.

• For The Cornell Basketball Blog's list of Ivy League (non-Cornell) Recruiting Targets, click here.

• For The Cornell Basketball Blog's archived stories on Cornell and Ivy League Recruiting News, click here.

• For the Cornell Basketball's Official 2008-2009 Ivy League Championship Season Highlights and Recruiting Video Clip, click here.

• For the Cornell Basketball's Unofficial 2007-2008 Ivy League Championship Season Highlights, click here.

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