News and Notes: Monday Edition

Below, some news and notes for Monday...

• A reminder, Cornell's Red-White Game, the annual open-to-the-public intersquad scrimmage is scheduled for October 22 at Newman Arena. Game time is TBA.

• Cornell's 2011-2012 schedule will feature several televised games including at Illinois (ESPN3), at Penn State (Big Ten Network), and at Maryland on a to be determined network.
  

• Check out The Cornell Basketball Blog's Season Preview Index for a listing of 2011-2012 Cornell and Ivy League basketball season previews.

• Harvard had a successful recruiting weekend with several top players visiting the campus. Although no commitments have surfaced yet, the Crimson feel good about the show they put on for their prospects. The Recruit Scoop has a good summary of what was well covered on the twittersphere over the weekend. The Recruit Scoop notes of Harvard's weekend, "Not since the 2009-2010 Cornell squad that made the sweet sixteen has there been a more interesting storyline in the Ivy League."
  

• In alumni news, in South America, Jason Hartford ('08) and his club Cader (Uruguay) lost their regular season opener 80-79 to Bohemios on Saturday. "J-Hart" earned the start and finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Also starting their regular seasons and pro careers on Saturday, Adam Wire ('11) and Aaron Osgood ('11) both started for Vaerlose (Denmark premier league) in a 73-70 defeat to Aalborg. Osgood finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds while Adam Wire picked up 5 points, 3 assists and 9 rebounds. Also in Europe, Ryan Wittman ('10) did not make appearances in either of Zastal's (Poland, PLK League) tune-up exhibition games over the weekend. Fellow Cornellian and pro teammate, Jeff Foote ('10) notched 4 points for Zastal in the 88-87 exhibition win over PBG Basket Poznań on Friday, then followed the performance with 7 points in a 78-69 exhibition loss to the same team on Saturday. Further below in this post, additional updates on Cornell alumni playing professionally overseas.

• Speaking of Wittman, Jeff Potter, Owner and President of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (NBA D-League), where Wittman played last season, writes on his personal blog, "Ryan Wittman: The aforementioned sharp shooter will be taking his talents to Poland this season. I really think Ryan is a talented player, and I am sure he will do very well over there. There are very few players in the world with his ability to knock down jumpers, and he will have a long, successful career because of it. I was really hoping we could get Ryan back, but I wish him well and will dream of Ryan in a Mad Ants jersey next season!"
  

• Check out The Cornell Basketball Blog's profiles of Cornell's three committed recruits from the classes of 2012 and 2013, Holt Harmon (Plano West HS), Plano, TX, 6-9, F; Nolan Cressler (Plum HS) Plum, PA, 6-4, G (class of 2012); and Tim Higgins (Paul VI HS) Fairfax, VA, 6-10, C (class of 2013).

• On Cornell's 2011-2012 schedule, several websites have already started with daily countdowns of preseason national rankings. Below are the Cornell opponents ranked thus far:
  

The Sports Bank- Top 111
-Penn State (No. 109)
-Yale (No. 84)
-Maryland (No. 78)

CollegeSportsMadness.com- Top 144
-Lehigh (No. 134)
-Boston U. (No. 118)
-Maryland (No. 108)
-Bucknell (No. 91)
-Princeton (No. 89)
-Illinois (No. 63)

TheHoopsReport.com- Top 68
-Princeton (No. 59)
-Maryland (No. 58)
-Harvard (No. 41)
-Illinois (No. 35)

• If you have not had the opportunity to check it out yet, take a look at the exclusive Inside Tour of Cornell Basketball. The tour video was produced by the staff of Slope Media with background music performed by Cornell alumnus, Alex Kresovich. The background song, "The Return" will also be the main theme song for the upcoming 2012 version of the video game, NBA2K. Also a must see-- check out the three-year combined highlight video package produced by Slope Media from the '08-'09, '09-'10 and '10-'11 Big Red seasons.

• Below is an updated directory listing of some Twitter feeds associated with the Cornell basketball program. You can also follow The Cornell Basketball Blog on Twitter.

-Josh Wexler ('88)
-Steve Cobb ('05)
-Ryan Rourke ('06)
-Andrew Naeve ('07)
-Jason Canady ('08)
-Khaliq Gant ('09)
-Conor Mullen ('09)
-Ryan Wittman ('10)
-Pete Reynolds ('10)
-Jon Jaques ('10)
-Louis Dale ('10)
-Alex Tyler ('10)
-Geoff Reeves ('10)
-Jeff Foote ('10)
-Andre Wilkins ('10) (inactive)
-Aaron Osgood ('11)
-Adam Wire ('11)
-The Cornell Rebounders Club
-Max Groebe ()
-Andrew Ferry ()
-Peter McMillan ()
-Errick Peck ()
-Josh Figini ()
-Galal Cancer ()
-Ned Tomic ()
-Dominick Scelfo ()
-Jake Mathews ()
-Dwight Tarwater ()
-Manny Sahota ()
-Dave LaMore ()
-Shonn Miller ()
-Devin Cherry ()
-Nolan Cressler (committed recruit)
-Tim Higgins (committed recruit)
-Assistant Coach Mike Blaine ()
-Assistant Coach Marlon Sears ()
-Assistant Coach Arlen Galloway ()
-Brian Delaney, WPIE/ESPN Radio Ithaca ()
-Cornell Daily Sun Sports ()
-Slope Sports ()
-WVBR Sports ()
-Former assistant coach, Jay Larranaga ()
-Former head coach, Steve Donahue ()
-Former assistant coach, Nat Graham ()
-Former assistant coach, Woody Kampmann ()
-Former Assistant Coach Ricky Yahn ()
-Former Intern Assistant Ryan Woerner ()

• Throughout the year we provide periodic updates on Cornell's alumni playing professionally. Below, some updates:
  

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico premier league/Arecibo Capitanes, BSN Puerto Rico premier league)-Aubry, a 6'11" center, splits his time in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican professional leagues. Aubry, a well traveled pro player spent several seasons in the NBA D League in the early part of his career with the Fayetteville Patriots and Florida Flame and earned honorable mention all D-League in 2002. During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry has also played professionally in the ABA (Miami Tropics) and abroad in Puerto Rico (Arecibo, Leones de Ponce, and Santurce, BSN Puerto Rico), Spain (Tarragona, LEB Gold Spain 2nd Division), Mexico (Halcones Rojos and Chihuahua Dorados, LBBP Mexico premier league), Poland (Slask Wroclaw, PLK Poland premier league), Argentina (Libertad Sunchales, Liga A Argentina), Uruguay (Hebraica, LUB Uruguay )and Peru (Alas Peruanas, Peru).

-Cody Toppert ('05) (Ourense, LEB Silver Spain 3rd Division)-Toppert currently plays in Spain with Ourense. Like Aubry, Toppert, a 6'4" guard, is a veteran of the NBA D League, a former Albuquerque Thunderbird. During his pro career, Toppert has also played in England (Plymouth Raiders, British Basketball League), Italy (Forli, LegaDue Italy 2nd division), the CBA (Great Falls Explorers), as well as in Portugal (Barriernese, LCB Portugal premier league), Germany (Goettingen, BBK Bundesliga Germany premier league) and New Zealand (Taranaki Mountain Airs, NBL New Zealand premier league).

-Jason Hartford ('08) (Cader Rocha, LUB Uruguay premier league)-Hartford currently plays in Uruguay with Cader. The 6'9" Hartford also has played professionally in Portugal (Ginasio, LCB Portugal premier league), Finland (Huima, Korisliiga Finland premier league) and Mozambique (Maxaquene, D1 Mozambique premier league).

-Louis Dale ('10) (Goettingen, BBK Bundesliga Germany premier league)-Dale is in his second season in Germany with Goettingen.

-Ryan Wittman ('10) (Zastal, PLK Poland premier league)-Wittman currently plays in Poland with Zastal. He played the 2010-2011 season in Italy (Forli, LegaDue Italy 2nd division) and the United States (Fort Wayne Mad Ants, NBA D-League).

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Zastal, PLK Poland premier league/Maccabi Tel Aviv, Loto League Israel premier league)-Foote currently plays in Poland wth Zastal. He played the 2010-2011 season in Spain (Melilla, LEB Gold Spain 2nd division) while on loan from Euro League powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.

-Adam Wire ('11) (Vaerlose, Denmark BBK premier league)-The 2011-2012 season is his rookie year with Vaerlose of Denmark.

-Aaron Osgood ('11) (Vaerlose, Denmark BBK premier league)-The 2011-2012 season is his rookie year with Vaerlose of Denmark.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter.

Blueprint for Success, the yearbook commemorating Cornell's memorable 2009-2010 season is now on sale and available for delivery. Visit the Cornell Athletics website to order your copy today! Or pick up a copy sold in the Cornell Store on campus.

Fans of the basketball program in the Ithaca area should not miss the opportunity to join the Cornell Rebounders Club.

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Paul Hewitt's speaks to the George Mason supporters

Last week Paul Hewitt spoke to the Patriot Club supporters about this upcoming season and the state of the basketball program. He briefly discusses the Andre Cornelius situation, his coaching philosophy, Mike Morrison's diet, the backcourt, and more.

For more from gmuhoops follow us on twitter (@gmuhoops) and on Tumblr

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Athlon Sports' Ivy League Preview

Above, the Athlon Sports College Basketball 2011-2012 preview of the Ivy League.

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Fishtail Braids For Black

Fishtail Braids For Black

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Iverson Hairstyles Where The

Iverson hairstyles where the

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Paul Hewitt and his staff are targeting Greece's Ioannis Papapetrou

This summer we talked about how Paul Hewitt coaching the U19 United States FIBA team could help bring some international players to George Mason.  The first international recruit's name that has been linked to Mason's staff is 17 year old Ioannis Papapetrou. A 2012 prospect from Greece, Papapetrou is described as an outstanding outside shooter. He has played some high school basketball here in the states in Melbourne, Florida but the bulk of his recent experience comes from the 2010 U16 FIBA European Championship were he averaged 11.4 points per game.  He already has interest from Florida, Texas, and Kansas so there will be some stiff competition for his services. Rumor has it the Hewitt and his staff are flying to his home in Greece this weekend to meet with his parents. 

At 6'7" Ioannis Papapetrou is the ideal type of shooter Paul Hewitt often covets.  He likes taller players that can shoot well from the perimeter (i.e. Brian Oliver) and will no doubt be looking for this type because of the  mismatches they pose in the CAA. Papapetrou is also described as having a "tremendous basketball IQ" and being a good facilitator. We've heard about Hewitt's recruiting abilities and we will soon start to see just how much talent he can bring to Fairfax. 

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News and Notes: Friday Edition

Below, some news and notes for Friday...

• The Yale Daily News published an article on some of the challenges facing student-athletes at Yale and in the Ivy League.
  

• The Harvard Crimson published an article about a group of prospects visiting Cambridge this weekend.
  

• In our continuing series, A Date in Cornell Basketball History, we look back at the last time that Cornell played a nonconference game after the Ivy League season concluded. Heading into the 1988-1989 season, Cornell was scheduled to face Southern Methodist University (SMU) on December 27, 1988 in Dallas. During that 1988-1989 school year, the SMU athletic department was without a football team as their Mustangs' program was the recipient of the infamous NCAA "death penalty" for committing egregious recruiting violations. Nevertheless, SMU's basketball team was flourishing and was coming off a 1987-1988 Southwest Conference championship. But a massive snow storm forced the teams to cancel the December 27 game as the Big Red were stranded in a Chicago airport when their flight to Dallas was grounded. But Cornell did not return to Ithaca. The team continued it southern road trip and made its way to Duke where the Big Red were hammered, 94-59 on December 29, 1988 in freshman Christian Laettner's first collegiate start. A rescheduled SMU game was later played on March 6, 1989 after Cornell finished its entire Ivy League slate. The Mustangs won the game in Dallas, 67-59, and Cornell ended its season 10-16 overall and 7-7 in the Ivy League. Below, a clipping of the Cornell Chronicle shows the scheduled December 27 game with SMU. Also an A.P. article recaps the Duke game and Cornell's travel woes. Also below, the cover of Cornell's 1988-1989 media guide.
  

Below, our Tweets of the Day from the world of Cornell Basketball...

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