NBA Player Kobe Bryant

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Nasty Dunk Last Night.

Nasty Dunk Last Night.

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News and Notes: Friday Edition

(Photo Tina Chou, Cornell Daily Sun)

Below, some news and notes for Friday...

• The NCAA released its official 2011 attendance figures. As we noted previously, after Cornell led the Ivy League in attendance for three consecutive seasons during the 2007-2008 through 2009-2010 seasons, the Big Red had the league's third highest attendance during 2010-2011, only behind Penn and Princeton. Behind Cornell, Columbia had the league's fourth highest attendance total in 2010-2011 with Harvard placing fifth.
  

Above, far right No. 15, John McCord (Cornell '97) is still getting it done in the French premier league at age 38. Through April 29, the 6'6" forward is averaging 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and notched 17 points (on 7/10 FGs) and 4 rebounds on April 23 in a loss to Orleans. McCord, a 1st Team All Ivy League selection in 1997 averaged a dynamic 18.1 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 58% from the floor during the 1996-1997 season. Arguably the most athletic player to ever play at Cornell, McCord was also a stalwart defender and at 6'6" he recorded 34 blocks in 26 games. His 20 rebounds (along with 23 points) against Penn on February 1, 1997 remains in Cornell's record books as the program's second highest single game rebound total.

The 2008 Ivy League Player of the Year, Cornell's Louis Dale ('10) is pictured in the main image on his pro club's website. Dale and his team, Goettingen of Germany's BBL (the Bundesliga) will take on the Deutsche Bank Skyliners on Saturday in game 1 of the first round of the BBL playoffs. Dale is considered a strong candidate for the BBL's All Newcomer Team after posting impressive rookie numbers of 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists off the bench in 17.9 minutes per game.

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NBA All-Star Game: You Lose

NBA All-Star Game: You Lose

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George Mason to interview Jeff Jones today?

There have been a ton of names thrown out there for the head coaching job at George Mason lately.  From names like Jeff Capel to guys like Stony Brook's Steve Pikiell.  People who we may have thought were in the early running like Bill Courtney and Mike Lonergan seem to not be high on Tom O'Connor's list. Neither have been contacted by the university and Lonergan is already talking to GW about their vacancy. Meanwhile the local media near Cornell seems to think Courtney isn't going anywhere. 

One name that may or may not make the Mason fan base cringe is Jeff Jones, who is currently the head coach at American.  Yesterday afternoon Greg Burton of ESPN950 radio in Richmond claimed that Jones will be interviewing at George Mason today.  You can listen here, it starts at about the 7 minute mark.  Could be the Mason administration just doing their due diligence of a local guy but you never know with these things.  

Jeff Jones is an interesting candidate because he doesn't seem like the type of character guy the administration would bring in after someone like Jim Larranaga.  Jones starred as a point guard at UVA and then went on to be come the youngest ACC coach at the time at the age of 29.  He had early success and compiled a 146-104 record while there and reached the Elite Eight in 1995. His teams went to the NCAA tournament five times out of eight seasons and he won the NIT championship in 1992. However the program unraveled during his last three seasons, some of which because of off-the-court issues from both Jones and his players. Apparently it was rumored that Jones had an affair with a UVA cheerleader that eventually led to a divorce from his wife in 1996.  He was  dismissed in 1998 after three sub-par seasons and then became the head coach at American in 2000.  Jones has taken American to the NCAA tournament twice but his overall work there doesn't exactly "wow" you.  

I can't say I'd really be all that thrilled if Jeff Jones was the next George Mason head basketball coach.  He seems like the polar opposite of Jim Larranaga, who Fairfax and the alumni/student body fell in love with.  When you hear things from media closer to the situation describing the end of his time at UVA as "a train wreck in slow motion", it's difficult to applaud Tom O'Connor for bringing this guy in.  I believe in giving people second changes but it's one of those 'is this the best guy out there' type of deals. O'Connor has to know hiring someone like Jones won't exactly win back the Mason fan base, right?

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News and Notes: Thursday Edition

(Photo Tina Chou, Cornell Daily Sun)

Below, some news and notes for Thursday...

• While many Cornell supporters feared that George Mason might attempt to lure Bill Courtney to fill its head coaching vacancy, The George Mason Basketball Blog reports that the Patriots have commenced interviewing. Multiple sources have reported that GMU appears to be targeting as its top candidates Mike Young (Wofford head coach), Jeff Jones (American U. head coach), Jeff Capel (former Oklahoma and Old Dominion head coach) and Mike Lonergan (Vermont head coach).
  

• A pair of new honors just came in for incoming Cornell recruit, Galal Cancer (Christian Bros. HS) Albany, NY, 6-3, G. Cancer was named 4th Team All State by the New York State Sportswriters Association (NYSSA) for Class AA (large schools). In addition, the The Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) named Cancer to its list of the State's Top 50 Players.

• The North Royalton Post notes that incoming Cornell recruit, Ned Tomic (North Royalton HS) North Royalton, OH, 6-7, F, "was named Academic All-Ohio by the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association. The Cornell recruit was one of 10 division I players [large schools] in the entire state to receive this honor and the only boy from the Northeast Ohio Conference. Tomic has a 4.22 grade-point average and is ranked first in his graduating class. He also finished with a 22.3-point scoring average and set North Royalton's single-season record with 293 rebounds."

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News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

Louis Dale ('10) is shown on Tuesday on the main page of Germany's BBL (Budesliga) website. Dale and his Goettingen club open the BBL Playoffs on April 30 at the Deutsche Bank Skyliners. Below, some news and notes for Wednesday...

• AnnArboor.com writes, "How did these kids get so smart, with a the 'brain drain' and lack of 'cool cities' in Michigan? Four seniors have committed to play at Ivy League schools: Flint Powers point guard Patrick Lucas-Perry to Penn, Dexter's 6-8 David LaMore to Cornell, Novi's 6-8 Samer Ozier to Columbia and Okemos do-it-all guard Mack McKearney to Dartmouth. Another all-stater, 6-7 Jackson Lumen Christi senior Dan Chilcote visited the Air Force Academy last week, but continue to have Columbia under consideration. The NYC school has hit up Michigan hard, and is looking for its second score with Chilcote. He'd likely take the East Coast prep school fifth year to add some muscle to his versatile wing forward game."

• Following Colgate's hiring of Temple assistant Mat Langel as the Red Raiders' next head coach, Philly.com noted, "Langel last year was a candidate for the Cornell job that went to Bill Courtney."

• Chris Wroblewski's former Rising Stars AAU program director, Mike Weinstein has sold his AAU program reports the Chicago Sun Times. The Times notes, "The Rising Stars, JG's travel team program, has been top-notch for more than a decade. More than 50 players -- including Mundelein's Ben Brust (Wisconsin), Highland Park's Chris Wroblewski (Cornell), Zion-Benton Lenzelle Smith (Ohio State), Waukegan's Jereme Richmond (Illinois) and Lincoln Park's Michael Thompson (Northwestern) -- have moved on to play Division I basketball."

• WVBR.com comments on Title IX and its implementation at Cornell.
  

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Top 10 NBA Players 2010

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George Mason will finally play VCU twice during the regular conference schedule

Since the 2006-2007 season George Mason and VCU have only met once annually during the CAA regular season schedule. The conference shifts the home and home series opponents every couple of years but the result has been the Patriots and Rams, two of the CAA's elite not facing each other more than once a year unless they got matched up in the conference tournament.  The CAA just released today the men's basketball scheduling format for the next three seasons:

"The new format features 18 conference games and is similar to the recently completed six-year schedule that was adopted prior to the 2005-06 campaign. Each team was assigned five “permanent partners” that they play home and away during all three seasons (10 games). The remaining six “non-permanent partners” rotate through a three-year cycle in which teams face two opponents at home, two opponents away and two opponents home and away (8 games) each year."

Here is the breakdown for George Mason opponents, you can find the complete list for the 3 year plan here:

Permanent Partners, Home & Away every year: JMU, ODU, Towson, UNCW, VCU

2011-2012 schedule:

Home & Away: Delaware, Hofstra

Home only: Georgia State, William & Mary

Away only:  Drexel, Northeastern

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News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Above, a special 2010 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Preview Issue published by the Daily Orange of Syracuse University which hosted the East Regional. Below, some news and notes for Tuesday...

Some tweets of the day from the Cornell Basketball family...

• Colgate Athletics announced that Matt Langel accepted the head coaching position. Langel, an assistant coach and member of Fran Dunphy's Temple staff, coached against Cornell in the Big Red's first round victory over the Owls in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Just weeks later after Cornell defeated Temple, Langel was one of three finalists for the Cornell head coaching vacancy when Steve Donahue departed to Boston College. Bill Courtney ultimately received the job offer over Langel and Wisconsin assistant coach, Gary Close) With Colgate, Langel will have a much tougher assignment taking over a struggling program which has known very little success. A Penn graduate, Langel played for Donahue at Penn between the '96-'97 and '99-'00 seasons when Donahue was the Quakers' top assistant coach on Fran Dunphy's staff. Langel's younger brother Casey played at Colgate during 2001-2002.

• From Brian Delaney of the Ithaca Journal:

Courtney loves Cornell, not planning to leave
CU basketball coach says he hasn't been contacted by George Mason

Cornell men's basketball coach Bill Courtney reiterated Monday his desire to continue coaching the Big Red, rebuffing reports and rumors that he was involved with the head coaching position at George Mason University.

Jim Larranaga, Courtney's mentor, left George Mason after 14 seasons late last week for the same position at the University of Miami. Almost immediately, Courtney's name was thrown around as a possible replacement. It was Courtney who recruited the bulk of the George Mason roster that advanced to the Final Four in 2006.

"No, I've not been contacted by anybody at George Mason," Courtney said. "I love my job here at Cornell. I'm looking forward to coaching the team next year."

Courtney was an assistant at George Mason for eight years, all under Larranaga. He added stops at Providence, Virginia, VCU and Virginia Tech before taking the Cornell job.

The Big Red finished 10-18 overall and 6-8 in Ivy League play in 2010-11. The program won six of its last nine games one season after graduating an eight-man senior class that won three league titles.

Courtney said he hadn't addressed what he called rumors and speculation with his team.

"My players haven't asked me about it, and I haven't really addressed it with them," Courtney said. "I think they're excited about next year, and so am I."

The Ivy League has been fertile ground for coaching turnover in recent years. The latest example came last month, when Sydney Johnson unexpectedly left Princeton for Fairfield. In his fourth season, Johnson led the Tigers to a share of the Ivy League championship with Harvard and an NCAA tournament berth.

Courtney replaced Steve Donahue in April 2010. Courtney has three years remaining on his current deal.

Harvard will enter the 2011-12 season as prohibitive Ivy League favorites. The Crimson returns its entire roster and coaching staff. Fifth-year coach Tommy Amaker reportedly turned down the Miami job to stay in Cambridge.

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No Conversation Between George Mason and Bill Courtney

Brian Delaney of the Ithaca Journal reports via Twitter that Bill Courtney has had no discussion with George Mason about becoming the Patriots' next head coach.

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Are all the assistant coaches following Jim Larranaga to Miami?

We already knew that the assistant coaches were looking for work elsewhere after the news about Jim Larranaga's departure surfaced. Now it seems they may be headed to Miami as well. Josh Barr of the Washington Post, who covers recruiting and local high school sports, tweeted today that all the George Mason assistant coaches were following Larranaga to the ACC:

Barr would be a reliable source as he has a long history of reporting on recruiting updates that have to do with the assistant coaches.  If the entire coaching staff goes to Miami you really have to start worrying about certain players following them there as well.  

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News and Notes: Monday Edition

Below, some news and notes for Monday...

• Below, some tweets from the weekend.

• Incoming Cornell recruit, Dave LaMore (Dexter HS) Whitmore Lake, MI, 6-10, C, was named First Team All-Washtenaw County by AnnArbor.com. The site notes, "Dave LaMore (sr., C), Dexter: LaMore averaged 14.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. Hacking the 6-9 LaMore -- a 48.8 percent shooter from the field -- wasn’t an effective strategy as he was 79 of 105 (75.2 percent) from the free-throw line. He had two of his best games of the year against Dexter’s toughest opponents with 29 points against Huron and 23 against Ypsilanti. LaMore will continue his playing career at Cornell."

• The Cornell Daily Sun writes, "Over the past three years, Cornell athletics has been on the verge of a national championship in men’s lacrosse, men’s hockey, women’s hockey (twice) and wrestling (twice), where the Red fell just short of a title in dramatic fashion on each occasion. The men’s lacrosse team’s loss to Syracuse in the final seconds of the 2008-09 National Championship game has been nearly as well-chronicled in the national media as the men’s basketball team’s miraculous run to the Sweet 16. And let’s not forget the men’s hockey team’s loss at the hands of previously-unknown Bemidji State in the Midwest Regionals just a few months prior. It took three overtimes for Minnesota Duluth to overcome the women’s hockey team last March in the championship game, and the same Cornell squad reached the Frozen Four once again in 2010-11 — a season in which the Red was ranked at least No. 2 in the nation at most points. In wrestling, Cornell nearly became the first Ivy team to ever win a national title, only to be denied by Penn State to finish in second place for the second consecutive season. Something finally gave for Cornell athletics on Saturday when both of the University’s polo squads hosted the National Championship game at Oxley Equestrian Center. The win by the women’s team over national powerhouse Virginia ... brought the first national championship to East Hill since the gymnastics team tied for first at nationals during its 2009 campaign."

• Louis Dale ('10) scored 17 points (4/5 FGs) and grabbed 4 rebounds in 19 minutes of action on Saturday night, leading Goettingen of Germany's premier league, the Bundesliga, in a 71-50 win over MBC. Goettingen concluded its regular season with a 19-15 record and captured 7th place in the 18 team league and will appear in the 2011 playoffs against the No. 2 seed, Deutsche Bank Skyliners. The series starts on April 30. Further down below, we provide updates on Cornell's other graduates playing professionally. For most of the Big Red pro alumni, the 2010-2011 season has come to a close.
  

• The internet rumor buzz of George Mason University targeting Bill Courtney as the next head coach of the Patriots range from calling calling Courtney one of two "finalists" for the job to GMU lacking interest and then on the other extreme, reports that Courtney already turned down the position. Even a former GMU player tweeted Courtney was not a candidate. The Washington Examiner considers Courtney the No. 2 candidate and writes, "2. Bill Courtney » The 40-year-old former player at Robert E. Lee High and current coach at Cornell served eight seasons under Larranaga, recruiting many of the players from the Patriots' 2006 Final Four team. Big question: Does O'Connor want a Larranaga disciple?" The George Mason Basketball Blog adds, "He might want to see what he can do [at Cornell] before taking on something else and at this point I'm not even sure if the school has contacted him."

• The Duke Basketball Report notes, "In short order now, the ACC has added [as head coaches] Brad Brownell (Clemson), Steve Donahue (B.C.), Tony Bennett (UVa), [Jim] Larranaga (Miami), Mark Gottfried (State), Brian Gregory (Georgia Tech) and Jeff Bzdelik (Wake Forest). All of these guys, to greater or lesser extents, have known meaningful success...Steve Donahue had a spectacular run at Cornell."

• 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)
-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)
-Max Groebe ('10)
-Aaron Osgood ('10)
-The Cornell Rebounders Club
-Max Groebe ()
-Andrew Ferry ()
-Peter McMillan ()
-Errick Peck ()
-Dominick Scelfo ()
-Jake Mathews ()
-Dwight Tarwater ()
-Manny Sahota ()
-Dave LaMore ()
-Shonn Miller ()
-Devin Cherry ()
-Assistant Coach Ricky Yahn ()
-Assistant Coach Mike Blaine ()
-Assistant Coach Marlon Sears ()
-Brian Delaney, Ithaca Journal ()
-Cornell Daily Sun Sports ()
-Slope Sports ()
-WVBR Sports ()
-Former assistant coach, Jay Larranaga ()

• Throughout the season we will provide periodic updates on Cornell's eight (8) overseas alumni playing professionally. Below, some updates:

-John McCord ('97) (SIG Strasbourg, Pro A France)-Through April 25, the 6'6" forward and long time veteran of the European leagues is averaging 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Strasbourg sits at 10-17 and in 13th place in the 16 team league. During his roughly fifteen year pro career, McCord, a former 1st Team All Ivy League selection, has played in France's pro leagues and in England.

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico/Arecibo Capitanes, Puerto Rico Basketball League)-Through April 25, the 6'11" Aubry is averaging 5.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for Arecibo (4-5, 5th place out of 10 teams). Aubry splits his time in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican professional leagues. He played several seasons in the NBA D League in the early part of his career with the Fayetteville Patriots and Florida Flame. During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry has also played professionally in the ABA and abroad in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Poland, Argentina, Uruguay and Peru.

-Cody Toppert ('05) (Forli, LegaDue Italy)-2010-2011 season concluded. Toppert, a 6'4" shooting guard was averaging 9.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for Forli before the franchise terminated his contract during March. Toppert previously also played this season with the Plymouth Raiders of the British Basketball League where he was averaging 14.2 points per game before moving to Italy. Like Aubry, Toppert is a veteran of the NBA D League, a former Albuquerque Thunderbird. During his pro career, Toppert has also played in the CBA as well as in Germany, Portugal, and New Zealand.

-Jason Hartford ('08) (Ginasio, LPD Portugal)-2010-2011 season concluded. The 6'9" Hartford concluded his season averaging 14.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Ginasio finished the year 10-12 and in 6th place in the 12 team league and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. During his career, Hartford has played professionally in Finland and Africa (Mozambique).

-Louis Dale ('10) (Gottingen, Bundesliga Germany)-2010-2011 season concluded. Dale completed the regular season averaging 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Goettingen ended up 17-15 on the season and in 7th place out of 18 teams in the Bundesliga.

-Ryan Wittman ('10) (Ft. Wayne Mad Ants, NBA D-League)-2010-2011 season concluded. With the season finished, Wittman averaged 7.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game for the Mad Ants of the NBA D-League. Ft. Wayne finished 24-26 on the season and in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference. Before moving to the D-League during January, Wittman averaged 14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game for Forli in Italy's LegaDue this season.

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel Winner's League/Melilla, Spanish 2nd Division)- 2010-2011 season concluded. Foote averaged 7.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the floor. Melilla did not qualify for the playoffs finishing with a 14-20 record and 11th place finish in the 18 team league. Foote is on loan to Melilla from Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv.

-Jon Jaques ('10) (Ashkelon, Israel Winner's League)-2010-2011 season concluded. Jaques finished his season averaging 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Ashkelon was 6-21 and ended in 10th place in the 10 team Israeli league.

And a few reminders....

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 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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Who will be the next head coach at George Mason?

Still weird to think I won't be seeing Jim Larranaga at the CAA media day this year but when you read about why he left George Mason, you almost can't blame him. If your a Mason fan your anger and blame really can't be placed on Larranaga but rather the University administration and AD Tom O'Connor.  They have made it pretty clear they don't seem to care all that much about staying competitive in what has become a much improved CAA conference. Larranaga on 106.7 The Fan this morning completely dodged the question about his rumored rift with O'Connor, it's safe to say that was a big issue. Here is the audio from that exchange:

Also here is a little piece of that Mike Wise article about Coach L's departure that the SB Nation highlighted and I think everyone should read:

"Mason could’ve done more.

Did you know VCU is spreading $150,000 among Smart’s three assistant coaches, who already make about $300,000 between them, because they understand what it takes to keep their young, hot coach to stay in Richmond?"

Sure money wasn't the only reason Larranaga left. He always wanted to coach in the ACC, has siblings in Florida, a house there already, and you can't blame his wife for wanting to spend their later years away from those Northern Virginia winters.

Now we look to who will be the next head coach at George Mason.  Unlike in 1997 when Larranaga was inheriting a basement CAA team, a new coach here would take on a team that could be receiving some Top 25 votes in the early weeks. The position seems pretty open and really anyone could be a candidate at this point.  I've already speculated Bill Courtney but remember he's only been at Cornell as a head coach for one season. He might want to see what he can do there before taking on something else and at this point I'm not even sure if the school has contacted him. The Washington Examiner posted this Top 5 list over the weekend:

5. Jim Baron » The last basketball coach O'Connor hired before Larranaga was Baron in 1992, when O'Connor was the AD at St. Bonaventure. Baron has six 20-win seasons in 10 years at Rhode Island but no NCAA appearances. At 57, is he too old and too settled?

4. Jim Ferry » The 43-year-old took run-and-gun Long Island to the NCAA tournament with two local standouts -- Springbrook grads C.J. Garner and Jamal Olasewere. But does O'Connor have bad memories of uptempo basketball after inheriting Paul Westhead when he took over at George Mason in 1994?

3. Mike Rhoades » If Shaka Smart had left VCU, the Rams would have been comfortable promoting his 36-year-old assistant, who posted a 197-76 mark in 10 seasons at Randolph-Macon.

2. Bill Courtney » The 40-year-old former player at Robert E. Lee High and current coach at Cornell served eight seasons under Larranaga, recruiting many of the players from the Patriots' 2006 Final Four team. Big question: Does O'Connor want a Larranaga disciple?

1. Mike Lonergan » In six seasons, the 45-year-old has taken Vermont to the NCAA once, CBI once and NIT twice. Lonergan has plenty of local ties, playing at Archbishop Carroll, playing and coaching at Catholic and working as an assistant at Maryland. George Mason is a logical next step.

Mike Lonergan seems like the most logical choice at this point because of this area ties and track record.  Apparently a radio station in the Vermont area says he's a finalist for the George Mason job. However the Junkies on 106.7 The Fan said this morning that Lonergan has yet to be contacted by George Mason.  Perhaps this could be happening this week. One name not on that list is American head coach Jeff Jones who also played and coached at UVA.  He's really brought up the program at American and has experience talking teams to the NCAA tournament.

We could very well be hearing some new names this week because at this point it's all speculation by fans and the the media.

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News and Notes: Saturday Edition

Cornell's first game in Newman Arena was January 6, 1989, a 96-70 win over Army. At the time, Newman's home building was referred to as Alberding Field House. Above, some game programs from the 1989-1990 and 1990-1991 seasons referring to the building's original namesake. Also above, a screen shot of the center court circle in Newman Arena circa 1990. In October of 2000, former President Hunter R. Rawlings III announced a major new investment in Cornell's athletic programs by Hank and Nancy Bartels, both members of the Cornell Class of 1948. They provided $15 million in endowment funds, as a one-to-one challenge match, in support of the athletic programs. The gift is on behalf of their family, including their sons, Ken and Phil, Cornell Class of 1971. In honor of their donation the Cornell Field House was renamed "Bartels Hall." Below, some news and notes for Saturday...

• If you have not checked it out yet, see Cornell's Official 2010-2011 Season Highlights Video as produced by SlopeTV.

• Back in the U.S. from Europe for the offseason, Jeff Foote ('10) has completed his rookie season with Melilla of the Spanish second division. The former Big Red center averaged 7.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the floor. Melilla did not qualify for the playoffs finishing with a 14-20 record and 11th place finish in the 18 team league. Foote is on loan to Melilla from Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv club, one of the elite clubs in the world and a member of the EuroLeague.
  

• The Washington Examiner comments on George Mason University's possible pursuit of Bill Courtney as its next head coach. The Examiner writes, "As for Larranaga’s replacement, consider Cornell head coach Bill Courtney a likely contender. Courtney, a long-time assistant under Larranaga, recruited many of the players that took Mason to the NCAA Final Four in 2006. After leaving Mason for Providence, Courtney coached at Virginia, Virginia Tech, and VCU, before taking over at Cornell last spring."
  

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Recruiting News

Below, some recruiting updates from around the Ivy League. Above, incoming Cornell recruit, Devin Cherry (Meridian HS) Meridian, MS, 6-3, G.

For a list of committed players to attend Ivy League schools, including profiles of incoming Cornell recruits, and a listing of Cornell's prospective recruiting targets, click here. For a list of general Ivy League prospective recruiting targets, click here. Please note that we update these lists daily.

Class of 2011 News

The Zanesville (OH) Times Recorder reports that Tanner Gibson (Zanesville HS) Zanesville, OH, 6-2, G, committed to the University of Albany after originally committing to Columbia. The Columbia staff reportedly requested that Gibson attend a year of prep school after he was declined admission to the University. Rather than go to prep school, Gibson decided not to pursue the Ivy League and instead committed to Albany which happened to have an extra scholarship available.

Montrael Scott (James Madison HS) Dallas, TX, 6-3, G, told TexasHoops.com that he selected Prarie View A&M over pursuit from Penn and Texas Pan American.

Class of 2012 News

Maurice Watson (Latin HS) 5-7, G, told Scout.com that he has interest from Cornell, Penn, Princeton, George Washinton and UMass. He holds and offer from Rice.

Amadi Udenyi (De La Salle HS) Concord, CA, 5-10, G, has a list of Bucknell, Fresno State, Penn, Princeton, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, TCU, and Yale and told NorCalPreps.com that he has offers from Penn and Princeton.

Jordan Chatman (Union HS) Union, WA, 6-4, G, has interest from Harvard, BYU, Utah St., and Portland St. among others and recently worked out for a member of Harvard's staff.

Parker Uu (Jesuit HS) Carmichael, CA, 6-4, G, told NorCalPreps.com he is considering Columbia, Penn, Princeton, and Yale among his college choices (but holds no offers). "The Ivy League is a very underrated basketball conference. The conference consists of some of the top academic universities in the country, and the basketball is just as tough. Princeton did a great job in this year's tournament and was really fun to watch. Their system has proven to be effective against anyone in the nation. I didn't get to watch many other Ivy League games out here, but I know that it is a solid basketball conference."

David Andoh (St. Mary's HS) Berkley, CA, 6-6, F also told NorCalPreps.com he is evaluating Ivy League options in Columbia and Penn. He holds offers to Colorado and Santa Clara. ""No league or school can compare to the Ivy League academically, well maybe my brother's Bucknell, but that's a different story. In addition to the Ivy League becoming more and more competitive, I would be set for life once my playing days are over after acquiring a degree from such a prestigious league."

Zena Edosomwan (Harvard-Westlake HS) North Hollywood, CA, 6-8, F, has offers from Colorado, USC, Harvard, Cal Poly and San Francisco. He’s also hearing from Texas, Vanderbilt and Gonzaga.

Tyrone Wallace (Bakersfield HS) Bakersfield, CA, 6-4 G, has offers from Gonzaga, Colorado, San Diego State, Arizona State, UNLV and Nevada. He is also hearing from UCLA, Penn, Harvard and Stanford.

From ScoutHoops.com, Rondae Jefferson (Chester HS) Chester, PA, 6-5, F, has an early, but expanding list of LaSalle, St. Joe’s, Penn, Villanova, Temple, Rutgers, Pittsburgh.

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Roster Report: Offseason Ivy League Transactions

Below is an updated look at the projected roster sizes for the Ivy League teams for the 2011-2012 season. Roster figures include incoming freshman and account for players graduating or departing the program for other reasons.

• Harvard (updated roster) (21 projected players including 3 seniors, 6 freshman, and 1 returning red-shirt)
• Cornell (updated roster) (21 projected players including 4 seniors, 6 freshmen)
• Penn (updated roster) (19 projected players including 6 seniors, 7 freshmen)
• Columbia (updated roster) 19 projected players including 6 seniors, 7 freshmen)
• Dartmouth (updated roster) (18 projected players, including 3 seniors, 6 freshmen)
• Princeton (updated roster) (17 projected players including 3 seniors, 4 freshmen)
• Yale (updated roster) (17 projected players including 4 seniors, 5 freshmen)
• Brown (updated roster) (12 projected players including 0 seniors, 4 freshmen)

A listing of recruited players verbally committed to attend Ivy League programs next year may be found by clicking here. Below is also list of players who were on Ivy League rosters, but left their respective programs since the 2008-2009 season due to reasons other than health/medical, graduation and/or exhaustion of NCAA eligibility. This list could be considered as an indicator of Ivy League players' satisfaction with their respective programs or evidence of coaching staffs that force out and cut players from the program.

Ivy League Roster Departures

BROWN
Hakeem Harris (left during '10-'11)
Colin Aldridge (left during '09-'10)
Sean Kane (left during '09-'10)
Stefan Kaluz (left during '09-'10)
Jean Herbert Harris (left during '09-'10)
Noel Hollingsworth (left during '08-'09)
Morgan Kelly (left during '08-'09)

COLUMBIA
Dyami Starks (left during '11-'12)
Dan Feldmann (left during '11-'12)
Sandeep Dhaliwal (left during '10-'11)
Tom Piscina (left during '10-'11)
Issa Masse (left during '10-'11)

CORNELL
Alex Hill (left during '09-'10)
Marc Van Burck (left during '09-'10)

DARTMOUTH
David Eads (left during '10-'11)
Josh Riddle (left during '10-'11)
Herve Kouna (left during '10-'11)
Josef Brown (left during '10-'11)
Garrett Brown (left during '09-'10)
Marlon Sanders (left during '09-'10)
Brandon Ware (left during '09-'10)
Elgin Fitzgerald (left during '09-'10)
Jarrett Mathis (left during '09-'10)

HARVARD
Max Kenyi (left during '11-'12)
Pete Edelson (left during '10-'11)
Spencer de Mars (left during '10-'11)
Hugh Martin (left during '09-'10)
Peter Boehm (left during '09-'10)
Peter Swiatek (left during '09-'10)
Eric Groszyk (left during '08-'09)
T.J. Carey (left during '08-'09)
Kyle Fitzgerald (left during '08-'09)
Adam Demuyakor (left during '08-'09)
Ndu Okereke (left during '08-'09)
Darryl Finkton (left during '08-'09)
Cem Dinc (left during '08-'09)
Alex Blankenau (left during '08-'09)

PENN
Casey James (left during '11-'12)
Tommy Eggleston (left during '10-'11)
Sean Mullan (left during '10-'11)
Malcom Washington (left during '10-'11)
Carson Sullivan (left during '09-'10)
Brian Fitzpatrick (left during '09-'10)
Tommy McMahon (left during '08-'09)
Harrison Gaines (left during '08-'09)
Remy Cofield (left during '08-'09)
Garvin Hunt (left during '08-'09)

PRINCETON
Zane Ma (left during '09-'10)
Max Huc (left during '09-'10)
Gus Gabel (left during '09-'10)

YALE
Michael Sands (left during '10-'11)
Garrett Fiddler (left during '09-'10)

(updated 5.16.11)

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Top NBA Star Kobe Bryant

Top NBA star kobe bryant

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Update on the assistant coaches

Photo by John Powell

While the search begins for next head coach in Fairfax I've learned that the George Mason assistant coaches all have interviewed for other coaching jobs.  

-Chris Caputo interviewed for assistant coach jobs with Kentucky and Florida

-Mike Huger interviewed with Villanova

-Eric Konkol interviewed at a Division III school

All three coaches were asked by Jim Larranaga to join him in Miami. It doesn't seem like any are being considered for a promotion to head coach at George Mason.

Also regarding the 2011 incoming freshmen it seems that both Corey Edwards and Vaughn Gray are undecided about if they will still be coming to George Mason.  They both are waiting to see who the new head coach is before making a final decision.

[Source: Steven Goff]

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Cornell 2010-2011 Season Highlights Video

The Season Highlights Video as Produced by SlopeTV.

The Season Highlights Video as Produced by SlopeTV.

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Coach Courtney on the Twittersphere

Above, a sample of some of the chatter from the Twittersphere about George Mason University's potential pursuit of Cornell's Bill Courtney as a head coach. As a word of caution, all of the above "tweets" are mere speculation. George Mason has not publicly identified a list of candidates, nor are there any reports that Cornell has been contacted for permission to speak to Courtney. On the same topic, the Daily Pennsylvanian writes, "First-year Cornell coach Bill Courtney may not be long for Ithaca. This one's very preliminary, but here's the theory, as per the Washington Post: George Mason coach Jim Larranaga is bound for Miami to take over the Canes' opening (You know, the one that Harvard coach Tommy Amaker was in talks for, but turned down). That leaves the Mason job open — and the Post's Matt Bonesteel (awesome last name...) lists the Big Red's Courtney as a possible replacement. Courtney was an assistant to Larranaga at Mason for eight years, and was key in recruiting the Patriots' 2006 Final Four team. I wouldn't take much from his one season at Cornell (seeing as there is a major vaccum of talent after last year's senior class left), but as the head coach there, he compiled a 10-18, 6-8 Ivy record. For what it's worth, he was able to beat Penn both times around this year."

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George Mason University to Target Bill Courtney?

The Washington Post is reporting that Cornell's Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Men's Basketball, Bill Courtney is a potential target replacement for George Mason University after its coach, Jim Larranaga left his head coaching position at George Mason today for the University of Miami. The Washington Post writes, "One candidate to replace Larranaga could be Cornell Coach Bill Courtney, who was an assistant to Larranaga at George Mason for eight seasons from 1997 to 2005. He helped recruit a number of the players who led George Mason to the Final Four in 2006. Courtney also has been an assistant at Virginia, Virginia Tech and Providence."

The Blog, GMU Hoops, endorses Courtney's hire by George Mason. GMU Hoops writes:

Early favorite to replace Jim Larranaga could be Bill Courtney

With Jim Larranaga now officially leaving for Miami who will be the next George Mason head coach? One name your going to hear a lot about is former Larranaga assistant Bill Courtney. Courtney practically built the 2006 Final Four team and still has ties to the school. Boosters have told me he paid money out of his own pocket to travel to Cleveland to watch this year's team in the NCAA tournament. Courtney left the program right before the 2005-2006 season to go to Providence and watched the team he had a large hand in recruiting reach the Final Four. The university paid for him to be there during that year at the NCAA tournament. He then moved on to be an assistant at Virginia, Virginia Tech and brief stint at VCU before becoming head coach at Cornell where he is at currently.
Courtney would be a great hire as he is already familar with the program and the university. There could be a few more sexy candidates out there, such as Harvard's Tommy Amaker, a Fairfax native. Wouldn't that be ironic if the guy who turned down the Miami replaces the guy who took it? Also current Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan could be a candidate. I would love to see Chris Caputo get the job but I heard rumors he's got something else in the works, we'll have to wait and see.
Mason AD Tom O'Connor, who I'm sure most fans aren't happy with right now, says he wants to replace Larranaga quickly but as thoroughly as possible.

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Early favorite to replace Jim Larranaga could be Bill Courtney

With Jim Larranaga now officially leaving for Miami who will be the next George Mason head coach?  One name your going to hear a lot about is former Larranaga assistant Bill Courtney.  Courtney practically built the 2006 Final Four team and still has ties to the school.  Boosters have told me he paid money out of his own pocket to travel to Cleveland to watch this year's team in the NCAA tournament. Courtney left the program  right before the 2005-2006 season to go to Providence and watched the team he had a large hand in recruiting reach the Final Four. The university paid for him to be there during that year at the NCAA tournament.  He then moved on to be an assistant at Virginia, Virginia Tech and brief stint at VCU before becoming head coach at Cornell where he is at currently.  

Courtney would be a great hire as he is already familar with the program and the university.  There could be a few more sexy candidates out there, such as Harvard's Tommy Amaker, a Fairfax native.  Wouldn't that be ironic if the guy who turned down the Miami replaces the guy who took it?  Also current Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan could be a candidate. I would love to see Chris Caputo get the job but I heard rumors he's got something else in the works, we'll have to wait and see.

Mason AD Tom O'Connor, who I'm sure most fans aren't happy with right now, says he wants to replace Larranaga quickly but as thoroughly as possible.

Update: The latest from the Post:

"However, a source close to the team said Courtney would be a long shot to get the job, at best.
Another possibility is Vermont Coach Mike Lonergan, a former assistant at Maryland and former head coach at Catholic, where he led the Cardinals to the 2001 Division III national championship. Lonergan was born in Silver Spring and raised in Bowie, and he attended Archbishop Carroll High School.

American Coach Jeff Jones and Virginia Commonwealth assistant Mike Rhoads are also seen by some as possible candidates."

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Lebron James Wallpaper And

Lebron James Wallpaper and

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Jim Larranaga to leave George Mason, accept Miami head coaching job

Gary Parrish of the CBSSports.com and Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports have confirmed that Jim Larranaga is taking the Miami job.

The news came as a bit of a shock to the Mason nation yesterday.  I certainly didn't see this coming, especially after Larranaga turned down the Providence job for the 2nd time.  The move is a little puzzling to the college basketball community because the University of Miami isn't exactly a better coaching job despite being an ACC opportunity.  Larranaga is leaving behind a potential Top 30 team in next year's Patriots and at 61 is taking on the task of rebuilding a struggling ACC program.

Almost every member of the seems to be scratching their head as to why now and why Miami. He's had opportunities to coach in power conferences before at much more established programs.  The Miami job is arguably the worst one in the ACC in terms of program support and fan attendance.  Does he really care that much about newer facilities at this stage of his career? Perhaps the move is strictly about money.

This whole speaks to the George Mason administration. Gary Parrish said "it got nasty between Jim  and athletic director Tom O'Connor at the end. Both egos played a role". Larranaga has talked about resources before in his career and it was the reason he left Bowling Green for Fairfax back in 1997.  He's resources were being cut there and who knows if something like that is happening here.  For instance where is the basketball practice facility the school talked about almost two and half years ago? I wouldn't be surprised if Larranaga was promised things back in 2006 and then again in 2008 that didn't quite materialize.  There was a clause in his contract that stated the school would spend $150K a year to promote the of the program. Aside from a funny cartoon YouTube that went semi-viral I'd love to see how exactly that money was spent.

In the end it's about getting paid. Larranaga is at the end of his career and just saw a 2nd year fellow CAA coach get $500K more in annual base salary then him after doing exactly what he did in 2006. It's not about winning, he has done that already it's about him doubling his salary when he has the opportunity.  People will say he's looking for a challenge, as if bringing George Mason out of the basement of the CAA wasn't enough of a daunting task especially when you think of what this program was like back in 1997.

Larranaga is responsible for the George Mason program you now see that will most likely be a Top 30 team unless a bunch of guys transfer. The program obtained some brand recognition over the last couple of years and he really built something great here in Fairfax.  It's sad to seem him go as he has been the face of George Mason basketball but this was going to happen sooner or later.  The head coaching job at Mason is now one of the most coveted currently available so at least we aren't searching for a new coach during a rebuilding process.

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Roundup of the Larranaga to Miami news

Confused about what is going on with all this Jim Larranaga to University of Miami news?  Your not alone.  The news broke yesterday afternoon and the latest is that he is expected to meet with Miami officials today.  As of late Thursday he has not accepted the job. Here is what we know at this point:

- Gary Parrish broke the news yesterday that Coach L was in serious discussion with Miami about their coaching vacancy

- Steven Goff of the Washington Post confirmed that Miami asked for and was given permission to talk to Larranaga

- Local DC radio station 106.7 The Fan reported that George Mason assistant coaches were looking for other jobs.  They also insinuated that one of Larranaga's reasons for leaving could be the University not paying to keep his assistants.  Some rumors also flowed around yesterday that Chris Caputo was out securing a new gig.

- Many are saying the move could have something to do with GMU president Alan Merten retiring.  It was no secret Merten's dedication to the basketball program was one of the reasons Coach L stayed after the offers were pouring in back in 2006. Might Larranaga think a new president won't be as committed to helping the program's growth continue?

- Later on yesterday Len Robbins of the NY Post stated that Larranaga was holding a team meeting and that is basically a done deal that he was moving on to Miami. A few hours later this report was shot down by Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman who tweeted no such team meeting happened.

- This brings us to today were the Miami Herald is saying Larranaga is one his way to Miami today to meet with University officials. They go on to say a deal could be reached today and that the two sides were close to a deal last night.  

-This morning Michelle Kaufman who wrote that article from the Miami Herald was 106.7 The Fan this morning.  Sounds like all speculation to me.  If Larranaga is doing a dance to get more from George Mason I could definitely see him going to Miami and meeting with them. Nothing is signed yet.  Will post podcast of that when it is up.

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News and Notes: Friday Edition

Above, Cornell's postseason NCAA Tournament Media Guides from 2008, 2009, and 2010. Below, some news and notes for Friday...

• Tonight is Cornell's season awards banquet. The season highlights video produced by SlopeSports will be premiered during the awards banquet. The video will be made available later during the weekend (and possibly as early as tonight) on The Cornell Basketball Blog.

• Numerous sources, including Jeff Goodman of FoxSportscom, are reporting that Jim Larranaga, head coach of George Mason has accepted the head coaching position at Miami (Fl). Cornell head coach, Bill Courtney and Cornell assistant coach, Ricky Yahn, are both former George Mason staff members. Several George Mason beat writers and bloggers have already speculated that Courtney is a potential replacement target for George Mason. Under Larranaga at George Mason, Courtney was largely credited with recruiting the core of players that helped the Patriots to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. He spent eight seasons as an assistant and associate head coach (1997-2005), helping the Patriots to a pair of regular season CAA titles and four postseason bids, including trips to the NCAA tournament in 1999 and 2001. During that run, George Mason won at least 18 games five times and won 10 league games in each of his last seven years there. The 2003-2004 squad set a then-school record with 23 wins.

• The Daily Princetonian published an article on the topic of the Tigers' booster club, The Friends of Princeton Basketball. James Lane ’92, president of the Club had this juicy comment,“It wouldn’t surprise me if the other schools are more aggressive in that area [regarding recruiting, facilities and attracting coaches and personnel] because everyone is always trying to catch Princeton,” he said. “Year after year there are flashes in the pan, but there’s this one consistent force in the national news in Ivy League basketball, and that’s Princeton.” Lane must have been asleep or on a deep space voyage during Cornell's three-year dynasty during 2008-2010 which culminated in Cornell becoming the only Ivy League program in the last thirty (30) years to finish the season ranked in the Top 25 and to reach the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. A message to Mr. Lane (who may have personal views which do not represent the views of his booster club): Cornell was not and is not chasing Princeton. The Big Red have already passed Princeton, broke the Ivy glass ceiling and set the bar to a new level. Now the rest of the Ivy League is trying to accomplish what was already been achieved by Cornell
  

• The Staten Island Advocate notes that Allan Weissglass ('56) (far right) was inducted into the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Staten Island's Hall of Fame. The Advocate notes of Weissglass, "After playing youth basketball at the JCC, he played at Curtis HS and eventually became captain. At Cornell University, he made the freshman team moving up to the Varsity in his sophomore year. That year Cornell won the Ivy League Championship and played in the NCAA Tournament. After returning to Staten Island, Allan coached such legends at the JCC as his younger brother Julian, Wally Kaner, Joel Cohen and Irwin Sherman. He also played in the Adult League until as he put it- 'it took me a week to recover from all the elbows and rough play of the others.'" Weisglass was a member of Cornell's 1954 EIBL/Ivy League Championship team.

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Best Sports Players: Kevin

Best Sports Players: kevin

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Jim Larranaga in discussion with Miami officials about the school's coaching vacancy

Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com just posted this interesting little tidbid about Coach Larranaga:

"George Mason's Jim Larranaga has had serious discussions with Miami officials about the ACC school's coaching vacancy, multiple sources told CBSSports.com on Thursday. Whether Larranaga is leveraging for a better deal from George Mason or on the verge of actually moving to Miami is unclear, both sources said. But the talks are advanced and ongoing, and the 61-year-old New York native has developed into Miami's top target."

More to come as this story develops. Hopefully it's just some smoke and perhaps Larranaga is trying to get another raise from George Mason. Keep in mind that Larranaga is widely viewed as the ambassador of the CAA (and mid-majors for that matter) and VCU's Shaka Smart is set to make about $500K more per year in his base salary.

Update: Steven Goff of the Post writes that George Mason granted Miami permission to talk to Jim Larranaga.

Update: According to 106.7 The Fan this afternoon some of the assistant coaches are looking for new jobs. Losing a guy like Chris Caputo would be a huge loss.

Update: Len Robbins from the NY Post reported that Coach L called a meeting to address the team tonight. Hard to think this would be for anything other than his departure from Fairfax.

Now Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports has stated there was so such meeting at George Mason. Wow.

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