Arizona Sending Sophomore to Pros: Sophomore Marcus Williams will leave Arizona to play in the NBA. The 6-7 forward is averaging 16.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season. Speculation that freshman Chase Budlinger may leave with Williams has been verified as rumors, and he will stay for his sophomore year at Arizona. [2/28/07]
Butch Out as Badgers’ Misfortunes Continue: Wisconsin starting forward Brian Butch suffered a dislocation and fracture of his right elbow during Wisconsin’s 49-48 loss to Ohio State Sunday and will be out four to six weeks, a potentially season-ending injury. The 6-11 Butch, the Badgers’ third-leading scorer averaging 8.8 points per game and top-rebounder at 5.9 per game, injured the elbow in the first half while trying to brace himself as he fell to the floor. Wisconsin dropped from No. 2 to fifth in the rankings after the loss and may have missed a chance at grabbing one of the top seeds in the upcoming NCAA tournament. [2/28/07]
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Quarterfinals: No. 1 Austin Peay used an early 8-2 run in overtime to get past pesky No. 8 Tennessee State 89-84 Tuesday night and move into the Ohio Valley Conference semifinals to face No. 5 Samford Friday. The Governors’ Drake Reed scored 27 points, but Austin Peay still needed a Fernandez Lockett jumper with 30 seconds left to tie the score at 69 and send it into overtime. Ervin Reiley paced the Tigers with 24 points.
Randall Gulina and Jerry Smith scored 20 points apiece, and Samford shot a blistering 75 percent from the field in the second half to overcome No. 4 Murray State 70-60. Samford and Murray State were tied at 26 going into the half, but the Bulldogs began the second period with a 10-0 run to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Guard Ed Horton led the Racers with 16 points.
No. 2 Eastern Kentucky had little trouble dismissing No. 7 Morehead State 63-45 and will play No. 3 Tennessee Tech Friday. The Colonels never trailed and put the game away early with a 16-0 first-half run. Reserve Jamaal Douglas, who played only 19 minutes, led Eastern Kentucky with 16 points. Morehead was led by Cordaryl Ballard with 17 points.
No. 6 Southeast Missouri State couldn’t throw it in the ocean Tuesday night, as Tennessee Tech handed them an 88-60 whooping that puts the Golden Eagles in the Ohio Valley Conference semifinals. The Red Hawks shot only 35 percent from the field, while the Eagles shot 60 percent. Tennessee Tech, which scored 50 points in the second half, was by Belton Rivers and Anthony Fisher with 17 points apiece. [2/28/07]
Horizon League Tournament Opening Round: In the opening round of the Horizon League tournament, No. 5 Youngstown State pulled out a win after blowing a 17-point lead against No. 8 Detroit, winning 82-80. The explosive second half from No. 4 Wisconsin-Green Bay sealed a win, defeating No. 9 Cleveland State 78-59. No. 6 Illinois-Chicago’s Robert Bush had a career-high 21 points for the Flames, scorching No. 7 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 83-77. [2/28/07]
Big Ten Conference Notebook
Locked up
It’s good to be an Ohio State fan these days. The Buckeye football squad handled nemesis Michigan (a decent consolation prize for a team overrun in the national title game), the women’s basketball team sewed up a Big Ten title, and on Sunday, the men followed suit.
In a 40-minute trip through the meat grinder, the Buckeyes enacted revenge on Wisconsin and outlasted the feisty Badgers 49-48. OSU can cruise through its final game (at Michigan Sunday) knowing the conference crown has been delivered, and begin preparing for a seemingly inevitable third meeting with the Badgers for the Big Ten Tournament title. It seems likely that with Sunday’s win, the Buckeyes also have themselves in an enviable position to grab a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio State is closing out the season as well as any team in the nation, considering the recent losses by Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin. And they showed Sunday that they can win half-court, possession-by-possession games. Their 49 points were the fewest they’ve scored all season (by ten points) and they only canned four 3-pointers (they average nearly eight a game). And while they’ve only played five games all season decided by five points or fewer, they improved to 4-1 in those games. They are tournament ready.
Still a lock
Even though Wisconsin‘s Big Ten losses increased by 200 percent this week (from one to three), the Badgers should still feel comfortable as a shoe-in for at least a No. 2 seed. They fell to a surging Michigan State team before Sunday’s loss in Columbus. Alando Tucker had a relatively quiet week, virtually disappearing in the second half against Michigan State, and throwing bricks from downtown against Ohio State. Tucker shot 11-30 in the two contests and attempted only three free throws.
A scarier sight for Badger fans was Brian Butch leaving the floor Sunday in pain, holding an elbow that moved in a direction elbows are not supposed to move. Butch will miss 4-6 weeks with a dislocation and fracture of said elbow. That all but ends his season, barring a speedy recovery, coupled with a Final Four run by his teammates. Wisconsin, without Butch, ends the season at home against Michigan State and will have a chance to regain momentum through the conference tournament. Again, they’re a No. 2 seed at worst, and if things fall correctly, they could vault to a top seed.
Turning the key
It’s clear which team is ready to step up and claim third place in the conference: Michigan State. In their last four contests, all home wins, the Spartans have beaten Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana, all of whom were above MSU in the standings at the time of the game. They close out the conference season with difficult games at Michigan and Wisconsin. While one win would certainly be enough for a bid, an 0-2 finish would still probably leave them in, pending their performance in the conference tourney.
Drew Neitzel has quietly put together a stellar season for the Spartans and should be a lock for first team all-conference. He’s averaging over 18 points per game, and leads the conference in free throw percentage and 3-pointers made. It was hard to tell coming into the season whether or not Neitzel could step up as the number one option. He clearly can. Can we call MSU a lock at this point? Probably not. But the key’s halfway in.
Indiana, while falling behind MSU in the pecking order, still remains solidly in the tournament, but needs to finish strongly to sew up a bid. The Hoosiers have lost 3 of 4 but finish against the conference’s bottom feeders, Northwestern and Penn State. All signs point to a 10-6 finish and likely third-place standing. Michigan State has better wins overall (IU also beat Wisconsin, though) and both will probably receive similar seeds.
The puzzling aspect of Indiana’s slide is a lack of consistent shortcoming. They surrendered 81 points in a loss to Purdue, but gave up only 58 to Michigan and still fell. D.J. White and Roderick Wilmont combined for 33 points to beat Minnesota, but were equally as present in the Purdue defeat. The constant, it appears, is one that afflicts the rest of the league as well: an inability to win on the road. The only win came at home while the three defeats were on unfriendly territory. With that said, Indiana must beat Northwestern on the road to regain their confidence. In all honesty, if I’m on the selection committee, a loss to Northwestern is an automatic eliminator.
At the door
At 9-6 in conference, with an RPI of 31 and the 25th-toughest schedule in the country, Illinois‘ resume looks like one of a tournament team. But this team is as up-and-down as any in the league. Injuries and suspensions have curtailed Bruce Weber’s ability to maintain a consistent rotation, but luckily, those players who avoided such afflictions have played well. Warren Carter is the obvious benefactor of Brian Randle’s bad groin, Rich McBride’s bad decision-making and Jamar Smith’s bad, well, there may not be a word for someone who drives drunk, hits a tree, and leaves a concussed teammate in the car, thinking he had died. Ouch.
Illinois has shown solid resolve since the accident, however, beating Michigan and winning at Penn State. A winnable game at Iowa remains for the Illini, who, with a win, would improve to 4-4 on the road in the Big Ten. That stat alone is good enough for a bid.
Next in line is Purdue, boasting a respectable RPI (47), SOS (28) and conference mark (7-7). And of the teams in the hunt, the Boilermakers have the easiest remaining schedule, with home games against Minnesota and Northwestern. Purdue has also beaten each team around them in the standings, preventing them from being eliminated due to a lack of quality wins. Throw in early-season wins over Virginia and at Oklahoma, and the resume looks better. We’ve seen 9-7 Big Ten teams be left out, and with the mess of teams likely to finish at or around that record, Purdue could be the next squad omitted. A win in the conference tournament would help, and two wins would probably be more than enough. Get to 9-7 first, then we’ll talk.
The most difficult remaining schedule, which in turn presents the biggest opportunity to stake a claim for a bid, belongs to Michigan. The Wolverines will welcome the conference’s hottest two teams, Michigan State and Ohio State, to Ann Arbor, needing at least one win to have a chance. There should be no need for motivation against the rival in-state school, and who knows how hard OSU will play with virtually nothing on the line.
Michigan’s RPI and SOS are markedly worse than the teams mentioned above, so an 8-8 finish probably wouldn’t cut it, save for a deep tournament run. The fact remains that Michigan does not have the quality wins the other contending teams do. They were also embarrassed by both UCLA and Georgetown on national stages, and those losses will be hard to forget. This week gives them a chance to shore up many things.
The only other team with any type of claim is Iowa, who, at 8-6 in conference, is without question the surprise of the year. How have they done it? They’ve defended home court in conference (only loss to Wisconsin) and picked up a couple road wins. They’ll have an opportunity to add a tally to each of those categories this week, with a road test (more like a quiz) at Penn State and a home game against Illinois.
A 10-6 finish would normally equal a tournament bid, but for Iowa, it probably will mean nothing. They played incredibly poorly in their non-conference schedule, losing games to both Arizona State (1-15 in the Pac 10) and Drake (6-12 in the MVC). They were only 8-6 coming in to conference play, and without a signature win, it seems far-fetched that the Hawkeyes will be dancing. They must advance to the conference tournament title game to demand a double-take.
Big South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals: No. 1 Winthrop, the Big South favorite and regular-season champ, took care of business in the quarterfinals against No. 8 Charleston Southern, thrashing the Buccaneers 74-42. Senior center Craig Bradshaw led the Eagles with 20 points. The Eagles move forward to play No. 5 UNC – Asheville, which won at No. 4 Coastal Carolina 77-64. The Bulldogs won at Coastal Carolina for the second time within a week after beating the Chanticleers 82-77 Thursday.
No. 2 High Point remained on a collision course with the Eagles after dispatching No. 7 Radford 90-73 in the quarterfinals. The Panthers advance to the semifinals to play the country’s fastest-paced team, No. 6 VMI, which sprinted to a 79-78 upset at No. 3 Liberty to become the worst advancing Big South team. The Keydets average nearly 100 possessions per game, about 20 more possessions than the next fastest team in college basketball. [2/27/07]
Brad Brownell: Success Central
by Bill Kintner
DAYTON, Ohio – Late in the second half as the clock ticked down, the overflowing crowd in the Ervin J. Nutter Center screamed and the students crowded down to the end of the court waiting to start their celebration as the home team Wright State Raiders led the 10th-ranked Butler Bulldogs by 12 points.
As Wright State’s Reinaldo Smith streaked past the Raiders’ bench with the ball, he had a clear, unguarded path to the basket, but Wright State Coach Brad Brownell signaled to Smith to hold up and dribble out the clock.
When the buzzer sounded, the Raiders had knocked off Butler 77-65 to move into first place in the Horizon League by a half game.
The crowd of 10,837 was the largest crowd to see a Wright State game in the 16-year history of the Nutter Center. Maybe even bigger than that is the buzz that his team has created in Dayton.
Wright State has always played second fiddle to the University of Dayton, the much older and more established team on the south side of town. But in just his first year at the helm of the Raiders, Brownell has created some real excitement in this basketball-crazy town that seems to have finally embraced Wright State as a winner.
It’s all in a day’s work for Brownell, who did the same thing at University of North Carolina-Wilmington. There, he went 83-40 in four years as head coach, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
When Brownell decided to leave UNC-Wilmington and take up residence In Dayton, Ohio as the new coach of the Raiders, it raised a few eyebrows from the college basketball community. He went from a team that finished the season with a RPI of 37 to a team that had an RPI of about 158.
But he saw an opportunity to build this program into a real winner. He had a great arena, one of the best basketball training facilities in the country, a tired fan base that still averaged over 5,000 fans per game even though the team has been only around .500 the last three years. Maybe more importantly, he had an administration willing to get behind his efforts to take this program to the next level.
The Evansville native led his team to a 25-8 mark last season, where they won the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. They lost a heart-breaking game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to George Washington after building a big lead in the second half.
Brownell played basketball at DePauw and graduated in 1991. When he finally retires from basketball he may challenge former Vice President Dan Quayle as the most famous graduate of DePauw.
Upon graduation he became a graduate assistant at Evansville under Jim Crews, where the Purple Aces finished 24-6 and won the MCC Championship to reach the NCAA Tournament.
In 1994 he joined Jerry Wainwright at UNC-Wilmington, where he helped him bring the Seahawks into the national sport-light. During his tenure at UNC-Wilmington as an assistant coach they went 136-103 during that eight-year period, including two NCAA and two NIT appearances.
This record led to Brownell to be named the coach when Wainwright left.
What excited Wright State about Brownell, besides his winning ways, was his clean-cut image and values. It seemed to Wright State that they were getting an Eddie Schilling type, squeaky-clean coach that would do a little better in terms of winning than Schilling did.
Schilling coached the Raiders from 1997 to 2003. He probably ran the cleanest program in the country on his way to a 75-93 record. The best he would do was 18 wins as almost everything that could go wrong during his tenure did go wrong. He brought in sparkling student-athletes who would get hurt or get homesick and transfer closer to home or just quit basketball altogether.
Wright State Athletic Director Mike Cusack proudly announced when he hired Brownell, “While Brad’s record is outstanding; it is his character and values that excited us most in making a final decision.”
Brownell is off to a great start with his team headed into the Horizon League Tournament as the number one seed. His team is the talk of the town and the crowds at the Nutter Center lately are bigger than ever.
Brownell sat down for an in-depth interview that covers almost everything, including his past, recruiting, scheduling and even getting into a boxing ring with Bobby Knight. This is part one.
Bill Kintner: You went from Wilmington, where you ended up having a RPI of 37 then you went to Wright State and they that had a RPI of 158 that raised some eyebrows. What brought you to Wright State?
Brad Brownell: One of the factors was a change in leadership at Wilmington. The AD changed a couple of years ago and we just didn’t see eye-to-eye on how some things should be run in the program. Wilmington was a great place, I enjoyed it immensely and I had 12 great years, eight of those years with Coach Wainwright. As an assistant working with him, we rebuilt the program and I was able to continue to have success there. My wife and I loved living there. I met a lot of wonderful people, great fans, it was a terrific job and I just had some differences in leadership that were becoming a problem. I was fortunate to have a couple of offers and to be able to look at some different places. I really liked and felt comfortable with the leadership and people here. So I really liked Dr. Goldenberg (president), Dr. Hopkins (provost) and Dr. Cusack (AD), Bob Grant (Associate AD) and his wife that I met during the interview process. I also met some boosters, including Fred Setzer and Bob Mills, and I felt like they were great people. I saw some similarities in terms of a young school that wants to be good in basketball. Wilmington was a little bit like that. It just felt like being back in the Midwest, where I’m from, that this could be an area where I would still be able to recruit some and I still have some ties. I just kind of felt like this was a program that was on the move and I would have a chance to do some good things. It just needed a spark and hopefully I’m going to help be that spark.
BK: If you had stayed in Wilmington and you didn’t have problems and everything had worked out, how far could you have taken that program?
BB: It is hard to say. Every year I thought we were continuing to recruit good players; it was a good job in a lot of ways. We had kind of developed that name where when you called people there was respect there, and you had been to four NCAA tournaments in seven years, so it got you in the door with some good kids. We had an unbelievable home court, great place to play and a wonderful school. How far you could you go? I don’t know because it still is a situation where the CAA most years is going to be a one-bid league and you still have to play great over three or four days to win a tournament to get to the NCAA. I still think that you can win a lot of games there. I think once you get to the tournament, you never know what is going to happen. I felt like I had been snake bit a little bit in that we had lost two close games, tough games, one in overtime and one on a last-second shot. Had we won those games you never know what could happen in terms of winning a couple of games, advancing to the sweet sixteen and doing something special. I think that’s out there. I think that is a possibility and more for any mid-major that gets hot, has a right group of kids, has a good draw and things kind of fall your way in terms of match-ups.
BK: What is the difference between Wright State and Wilmington?
BB: Just in name and in terms of recruiting, being able to get your name in with some people and having an edge in terms of already having success versus having to prove that you are going to be successful. The other difference is in being in the same town with a university that is very successful and has a tremendous support that we didn’t have somebody like that in Wilmington in our own backyard. We were the hometown team so that is certainly a challenge that is here for us at Wright State. Those are some differences. The leagues are very similar, the CAA and Horizon are I think very challenging leagues that are difficult to win in. You know you better win them (league tournament) because most years I think it is once every several years that you are going to have a second bid. I think those are some of the similarities and differences.
BK: How do you cope with having a school right in your backyard not to mention one 35 miles down in Oxford and two 50 miles that way in Cincy and one 65 miles away in Columbus? How do you cope with having so many schools so close and specifically Dayton?
BB: Well you know, I mean you just don’t worry about those people as much as you just worry about doing the best you can with your job. I hope that University of Dayton is successful and I hope that we are successful because that brings more notoriety to this town and this area. I hope both teams do well and right now they are the established program and we are the new kid on the block trying to do the best we can to get noticed. If we do our job well, have some success, play well on the court and put our good product out there I think people will want to come support us.
I think that Dayton is a college basketball town. Dayton is a town that really likes college athletics – without having a lot of pro sports teams here you can get notoriety and get support. That is another reason I wanted to come here. So I think people are willing to come out and support you as long as you are successful and put a good product on the floor. The biggest thing is I don’t think we can worry about what Dayton is doing. They have got their league and what they are trying to do with their situation and we have got our league and what we are trying to do in ours.
But it certainly isn’t easy being here and having Miami right down the road. Then Xavier down the road, Cincinnati down the road and all the MAC schools. I mean that is another difficulty with this job. At Wilmington we had a little different niche in that we were in the Colonial and there were a lot of schools in the Southern Conference. The Colonial was a little bit higher league so that helped us. We didn’t really recruit against Duke, Carolina, NC State, and Wake a whole lot, so we were kind of that next echelon under them. We are not going to recruit against Cincinnati and Ohio State here, but we are kind of in the next echelon within the state. In North Carolina we had built ourselves to be in that next echelon, where we were beginning to recruit better players at that level in the state, I think that is something that right now is the challenge for us to continually build that and not have to fight the MAC, Dayton and Xavier. There are so many good programs right here in our backyard that have had success that there is a lot of competition.
BK: Before you took this job did you go back and look at what Wright State had done that last 15 or so years, so that you knew what the possibilities were?
BB: I asked those questions in my interview. I talked to people and knew about the support Wright State has. I knew that initially just like with any new building (Nutter Center) the excitement was there and there was great attendance. But I think that attendance in a lot of places as dwindled in some regards because there is so much saturation with games on TV every night. Big Monday, Super Tuesday, you can stay home and watch some pretty good basketball. With all the cable packages like ESPN Plus, you watch almost any game you want if you are a real basketball fan. I think more kids work in college than ever before. More kids work in high school than when I as in school. There are a lot of things that are drawing people’s attention away.
But I did know that Wright State has had success and had put people in the stands. I thought that we could get back to that point if we are successful.
Ivy League Notebook
by Jay Pearlman
It’s All in the Family, as Joe Jones’ Lions Deal James Jones’ Elis Crippling Defeat
Coming into this penultimate weekend in the Ivy League, the focus was in fact on old Payne Whitney Gym in New Haven, home of James Jones’ second-place Yale Elis. One game behind Penn in the all-important loss column and with sights set on next Friday’s showdown at the Palestra (winning which could cause a one-game playoff), Yale needed to win both games this home weekend, and specifically beat Cornell and Ryan Wittman on Friday night.
Well, in what was expected to be the weekend’s big game in the conference, Yale did beat Cornell on Friday, 68-55, with Casey Hughes returning to play 26 minutes and score 18 points, Eric Flato matching that 18 in all 40 minutes, and even Sam Kaplan returning to play 9 minutes. Andrew Naeve’s stellar effort (14 points on 6-11 shoting, 10 boards) couldn’t overcome Wittman’s subpar night (9 points on 3-13 shooting, 5 boards), and on Saturday, everyone in the league was talking about Friday’s showdown in the Palestra.
Everyone, that is, except Joe Jones’ Lions.
What seems like eons ago (but is barely two months), this writer deemed Columbia’s talent second in the league to Penn’s, focusing on the additions of Niko Scott and particularly Patrick Foley to John Baumann, Brett Loscalzo, and projected Player of the Year candidate Ben Nwachukwu. Well, Big Ben has hardly had a Mark Zoller-type season (8.5 points, 5 rebounds per game), leading to Columbia’s 4-7 conference record after falling to Brown Friday. And with Foley ill and unavailable against Yale Saturday night, it was time to book hotel rooms in Philly next Friday.
Well, not quite.
In what turned out to be the biggest game in the conference all season long, finally we got a glimpse of that talent Columbia has. Finally, the team that would have pushed Penn, the team that can shoot, rebound and defend, the team with size and depth, played to its potential. That came with present star and future conference Player of the Year Foley absent.
In a one-sided win by the road team (and by the younger Jones brother), Columbia out-rebounded Yale 31-20, out-shot them 60 to 45 percent, had 22 assists to 10 turnovers, scored 15 straight points early to lead 15-5, and were never seriously challenged. Steady John Baumann scored 20 on 7-12 shooting and Big Ben finally showed his stuff on offense, scoring 14 on 7-7 shooting. Kevin Bulger scored 17 on 6-9 shooting, with 6 assists, while Mack Montgomery scored 10 with 5 rebounds, Loscalzo had 9 assists, and Joe Bova had 8 rebounds.
In a season in which Penn has consistently been underwhelming, including a lackluster showing in Friday’s 83-67 win at Harvard and barely surviving 80-78 Saturday at Dartmouth, Yale is now behind by two losses and all but eliminated from the race. Cancel your hotel rooms in Philly next weekend, because no matter what happens between Yale and Penn Friday night, Penn will still be up a loss, with only Brown at home and hapless Princeton away separating it from another crown.
So while Columbia’s Joe Jones targets .500 in conference and 16-12 overall with home games against Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend, James Jones must agonize over Saturday’s crippling home loss to his younger brother. With one win already against Penn, and a real shot down in Philly, the erstwhile showdown next Friday at the Palestra now will be just another game. A win over Penn would only show what might have been absent Saturday’s loss.
Northern Iowa Extends Coach Ben Jacobson: Ben Jacobson, who has led the Northern Iowa Panthers to an 18-12 record in his first year, has had his contract extended one year, through 2012. Jacobson signed a five-year deal last year. His salary will remain at $150,000 annually. [2/26/07]
Fourth Player This Season Leaves St. Bonaventure: Jermaine Calvin, a junior guard for St. Bonaventure, has left the program, becoming the fourth player this season to do so. Calvin was a JuCo transfer from Southern Idaho who had played in 24 games this season with unimpressive numbers. Previously, Zarryon Fereti, the team’s second leading scorer, was dismissed for not following the team’s philosophies. Guard James Williams quit in December, and center David Fox became academically ineligible. [2/26/07]
Gladness Sets New NCAA Blocks Record: Move over, David Robinson. Sit down, Shawn Bradley. Later, Roy Rogers. Bye-Bye, Loren Woods. Mickell Gladness of Alabama A&M had an NCAA record 16 blocks against Texas Southern Saturday night, breaking the single game record of 14 shared by those four men. As a team, Alabama A&M had 21 blocks, tying the NCAA single-game record. The Bulldogs won 79-73. [2/26/07]
Former Montana State Athletes Face Death Penalty: Former Montana State basketball player John Lebrum and football player Branden Miller have asked the Montana State Supreme Court to overturn a district court’s ruling that the two are eligible for the death penalty if convicted. The two are accused of murder, aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence in the killing of alleged cocaine dealer Jason Wright. Lawyers for the pair argue that the district attorney should not be allowed to seek the death penalty because he did not notify the court in writing within 60 days of the arraignment. [2/26/07]
Dudley a Unique Player and Young Man
Jared Dudley is the antithesis of the modern day athlete, especially in basketball and even more so among the elite players. That holds true more than you might think.
In an age when most top players at the forward spot are elite athletes, Dudley won’t have anyone drooling over his athleticism. In an age where basketball fundamentals seem to be less emphasized among young players, Dudley is as fundamentally sound as they come. In an age when many top players at a BCS conference school came into college with big-time reputations, Dudley was lightly recruited. And whereas a number of players and coaches have a seemingly adversarial relationship with the media, the native of San Diego has always been just the opposite: a great interview because he doesn’t talk from a script. He’s very engaging, tells it to you as he feels and lets out some of his real personality in doing so.
Dudley’s accomplishments at The Heights are many. We won’t run them all down, but among the highlights are that he will finish his career with two first-team all-conference selections (one in the Big East and one in the ACC), is ten points shy of becoming the sixth Eagle to score 2,000 points and could reach the top five all-time in scoring, and recently became the school’s all-time leader in career minutes played. He’s also earned the admiration of a number of opposing coaches like Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.
Most important of all, he’s part of a senior class that is a win away from becoming the winningest class in school history, and they are on the verge of becoming the first ever to reach the NCAA Tournament all four years.
That’s not bad for a young man whose only Division I offers at the end of his senior year of high school were from St. Mary’s, Creighton and San Diego State (very late). It’s not bad for a young man who decided to come to The Heights just two weeks before the start of his freshman year when he was all set to go to prep school in Connecticut.
As amazing as it might seem, Dudley always knew he would get to this point. Even as a 6’2″ high school sophomore who didn’t play much for some of that season, he knew what his basketball destiny was.
“I knew when I was younger that I would go to the NBA,” he reflects. “It was my goal, it was something that was instilled in me. Even being under-rated and overlooked, I just knew, when I went up against the best players and especially coming out of high school, I was right there with them.”
By the end of his sophomore year, Dudley had become a starter and helped his team make a deep run in the postseason. He got his chance because two players got suspended, which makes it only fitting that his chance at BC came about in part because two players had been dismissed from the program not long before he visited the school and decided to attend.
He had grown to about 6’5″ by the beginning of his senior year, and after good junior and senior years was still lightly recruited. It wasn’t until late in the spring and summer after his senior year that everything changed, as his AAU team twice beat the much-hyped Atlanta Celtics (with a frontline of Dwight Howard, Josh Smith and Randolph Morris) for championships and he had an excellent showing at the ABCD Camp.
All along, Dudley’s mother was a big key to his accomplishments. A great supporter of the Boston College program, she’s the person Jared highlights as having the greatest impact on his basketball career. She helped him get on travel teams, trusted his ability, and even slept in a car until he would get out of practice on some days. She didn’t want him playing football, although he did play baseball up through junior high in addition to basketball. His older brother, a better baseball player, was always there helping him out as well.
Watching him on the court, it’s clear that Dudley has a lot of energy and spirit. What you see is what you get; he’s an emotional young man, but it’s reflective of how he lives life because he really embraces the entire experience. Just as he’s a unique player, he’s a unique young man. You really get the sense that, contrary to the belief of some, he’s not a showboat when he gets excited after a big play; he loves what he does and he loves life. You get that sense even more in talking to him about the college experience nearly 3,000 miles from home, near a big city he had never been to before. He’s only been here for about three and a half years, but he already understands a lot about it, from the history to the local sports scene.
“You’ve got to experience it for what it’s worth, because it all goes by so quick,” Dudley said.
A number of us in the media have had running jokes (all in good fun) about how fast he speaks. We can’t measure it, but suffice it to say that he speaks about as fast as he plays the game. He’s always been a fast talker, reflective of the fact that he has a lot of energy and was hyper as a child. He says he’s always been a class clown-type, something that was certainly evident a couple of years ago when former teammate Jermaine Watson was a guest on a local sports talk show and Jared called the show during that time and had some fun with him.
To have many athletes say it, their world is a vacuum in which there’s no media other than the fact that they talk to the media from time to time, and the only team they know much about is the next team they play. Dudley is a junkie and knows what’s happening around the country, and he’s not afraid to show it. He is, after all, a regular young man, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he mentions recognizable TV terms like SportsCenter, Top Play nominees or the Bottom Line. And all along, he’s enjoyed a great relationship with the media. Clearly, he’s embraced dealing with the media in much the same way he embraces everything else in life.
Dudley is young for a college senior, as he won’t turn 22 until this July, but he’s clearly wise beyond his years. It shows in how he plays the game, how he approaches life and how he deals with people. That also becomes apparent in just talking with him about what’s ahead in his life. The NBA is a given, although as has been the case before, he’s not at the top of anyone’s list and right now is nobody’s NBA lottery pick. But at this point, can anyone bet against him, based on results?
When basketball is all said and done, the communication major has a lot he wants to do and not just professionally. As is the case with basketball, he knows success will come in what he does, and there’s a lot he wants to do. Specifically, he notes possibilities like being an agent, coach and a businessman, and no one can put it past him to do all three. He’s also quick to mention that he looks forward to one day being a family man and having kids.
Hopefully Boston College fans enjoyed him while they had him, because a young man like Jared Dudley doesn’t come along very often, both on and off the court.
Miami, Akron, the MAC, Money and Mid-Majors
by Bill Kintner
OXFORD, Ohio – Tonight it is the Mid-American Conference at its best as the first place Akron Zips come to do battle with the Miami RedHawks.
Miami came in at 13-12 and 8-4 in the MAC. They took their lumps in the non-conference schedule going 4-8 against a very tough schedule that included Wright State, Kentucky, Illinois, Xavier, Illinois State, Michigan, Dayton and Cincinnati.
Since that grueling stretch, the RedHawks have gone 9-5 in the conference plus a win at Indiana State in the Bracket Busters. The question is did the early season games toughen Miami up for MAC play or is the MAC not that tough this year? Chew on that for a bit and we will come back to it in a moment.
As for Akron, they came in 20-5 and 10-2 in the MAC. They went 9-3 in their pre-conference games. The toughest team they played was 10th-ranked Nevada at home, a game they lost 73-71. Oral Roberts was a tough road opponent that they beat 61-59. The rest of their games were against opponents that are fairly weak, including Tiffin University, Gardner-Webb, Binghamton, Winston-Salem State, St. Francis and Loyola Marymount.
Since starting conference play the Zips have gone 11-2, including a home win against Austin Peay in the Bracket Busters.
So what we have learned is the team that struggled with a killer pre-conference schedule is doing well in MAC play. The team that did well in a much easier pre-conference schedule also is doing well in the MAC.
Am I beginning to see a pattern? Let’s keep looking.
There is no doubt that the MAC is down a little this year. But they have been somewhat down for awhile now. Hasn’t it been eight years since the MAC has gotten multiple bids to the NCAA? The last time that happened was in 1999 when Miami and Kent State went to the Big Dance. That is the year that Wally Szczerbiak led the RedHawks to the Sweet sixteen.
Well, let’s look at the conference RPI. The RPI is not perfect, but at least it is an apples-to-apples comparison. This year the MAC is ranked 15th.
How about similar conferences?
The CAA is 13th, the Horizon League is 12th and the Missouri Valley is 7th.
And last year the RPI had the MAC at 16, the Horizon League at 15, the CAA at 10 and the MVC was sixth.
So the two-year RPI average is MAC 15.5, Horizon 13.5, CAA 12.5 and the MVC 6.5.
The two prior years the RPI average was the Horizon League 15.6, CAA 14.6, MAC 12 and MVC 10.3.
So is it just a cycle? The MAC is a little down the past several years compared to the other three similar conferences?
That is how Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone explains it. He was attending tonight’s game as a member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee taking a look at Akron.
“It is hard to tell because everything is cyclical,” said LeCrone. “The MAC certainly has a great reputation as a basketball conference. They have been successful in the past and they will continue to be successful. We have had years in the Horizon League where people would say the league is down and we’ve had a breakout team get in and do very well. I think all four of the leagues you mentioned, the MAC, Horizon, CAA and even the MVC are all very similar.”
Back to the question you were chewing on.
“I think we may slipping in the eyes of those people that pick teams, but how can you say we are not good? Like two years ago, we should have gotten in the tournament,” explained Miami Coach Charlie Coles. “We played the schedule, our RPI was high and then they come up with a new RPI.”
For the record, Miami was 18-10 that year with an RPI of 43.
And Coles is right that the MAC had been slighted by the NCAA Selection Committee a few times in the last few years. In 2002, the year Kent State went to the Sweet Sixteen, Bowling Green was 23-7 with an RPI of 59 and they went to the NIT. In 2000, Ball State went to the Big Dance, but Kent was 19-7 with an RPI of 36 and Bowling Green was 21-7 with an RPI of 56. Both went to the NIT.
So it is not like the MAC is in the toilet, but they seem to be a step behind the MVC and the CAA. They have never put three teams in the NCAA like the Horizon League did in 1998, when Butler, Detroit and UIC went to the dance.
Let’s do another comparison between our four so-called Mid-Major conferences.
So the fan support is a little lower than those that of a few other conferences, too. Does that mean the teams are slipping? Better teams do tend to draw a little better at the gate.
Now on the other hand, Akron Coach Keith Dambrot thinks the MAC has emphasized football and not funded basketball.
“You have to put resources into a business to make it grow. I think the CAA and the Missouri Valley have put a big investment into basketball. I think years of neglect have caught up to our conference. If you check the history of our league we have put many more players into the pros than those other leagues,” explained Dambrot.
“The MAC made their investment in football, which is fine, but when you look at basketball they are paying the price for it. It is salaries, budgets and buildings. We played at Creighton and we played at Temple. You look at Wichita State’s and George Mason’s buildings. Our fans expect us to be as good as those teams, but in realty we don’t have as good as buildings as the Horizon League.”
Plain Dealer Sportswriter Elton Alexander, who has covered the MAC since 1986, agrees that the emphasis on football in the MAC has hurt basketball, but he pins it on the entrance of football power Marshall into the MAC in 1997.
“When Marshall came into the league, had Marshall been as good in basketball as they were in football, I think schools in the MAC would have matched that across the board, like they tried to do in football. But basketball was doing pretty good anyway,” said Alexander.
How about coaches? This year the Horizon League hired two new coaches and they both were Division I head coaches in their most recent job, Gary Waters at Cleveland State and Brad Brownell at Wright State. Waters was the coach at Kent State and Rutgers, Brownell was the coach at UNC Wilmington.
Brownell is making about $220,000 a year. Butler’s Todd Lickliter, UIC’s Jimmy Collins, Loyola’s JimWhitesell and USM’s Rob Jeter are making in that ballpark or a little more.
As for recent hires in the MAC, prior to this season Ball State hired Ronny Thompson and Central Michigan hired Ernie Zeigler. Both were assistant coaches in their most recent job.
In fact, I think the last MAC coaching hire who was previously a Division I head coach was Coles and that was 17 years ago.
The only coaches making in the $200,000 range per year in the MAC are Jim Christian at Kent and Tim O’Shea at Ohio University.
So what does all this add up to? I am not sure, but it looks like the MAC will need to invest a little more money in basketball in the future to keep up with the Joneses of the Mid-Major World.
The Game
That’s right, you wanted to know about tonight’s game.
Miami beat Akron 64-62 in overtime. That game was worth the investment in a ticket.
Marshall A Quiet Winner
If you’ve been watching Boston College the past few seasons, you may have occasionally overlooked Sean Marshall. Considering who he’s had for teammates, you probably wouldn’t be alone.
As overshadowed as Marshall has been by stars like Craig Smith and classmate Jared Dudley, the 6’6″ senior co-captain has also been a real barometer of this team in his career. The Eagles have at times gone as he has, in part because early in his career he was a shooter on a team full of inside threats, and later because the team counted on him for a lot.
While he has played alongside bigger stars, including a pair of 2,000-point scorers, Marshall has contributed his fair share as well, as he enters his last regular season game next Sunday just five points shy of 14th place on the school’s all-time scoring list. He has quietly started all 128 games since arriving on campus and will leave with the school’s all-time record in games started.
Marshall isn’t new to being overshadowed, and indeed, his college career has been spent as a teammate of players who were largely overlooked in high school. He wasn’t as overlooked as some, as several Pac-10 schools recruited him and Washington was the other finalist he chose BC over. Although he is from Rialto, California, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, he has a lot of family in the Boston area and his mother is originally from there. He wanted to get away from home, and the school seemed like the best fit in every way for him. Even so, he didn’t have much in the way of expectations when he arrived.
“I really didn’t know what to expect coming out here,” he reflected. “My mom tried to explain it to me since she’s from here, but I really had no clue what it was going to be like.”
Marshall is the youngest of three boys in a sports family and as may be expected, always competed with his brothers. His oldest brother played football throughout high school and his other brother played at a Division II school before transferring to a Division III school. He’s the tallest of them, a fact which led to a definite change in one life trend before that time.
“They always kind of beat me up when I was younger,” said Marshall, who notes that they were more physical. “The beating up kind of stopped once I got bigger than all of them.”
Marshall was 6’4″ as a high school sophomore at Eisenhower High School, ultimately growing to his 6’6″ frame now. He came in as a big guard and has used that to his advantage on plenty of occasions, sometimes posting up smaller guards and other times being able to shoot over a smaller defender or drawing a small forward instead.
Although his long range shooting is an important part of his game, it’s his other abilities that have helped him at times take over games. There have been many times where he has grabbed a rebound or loose ball and then led a fast break he finished. Just this season, he has scored points in bunches several times, most notably in the Eagles’ win over Rhode Island earlier this year when he scored 13 straight BC points on fast breaks and jumpers. He also scored eight points in under three minutes to start the second half against Duquesne and 11 straight BC points against North Carolina State in the second half.
“I’m a rhythm kind of player,” said Marshall. “Once I get into a rhythm, I feel like I can make any shot I take. I get my confidence going, get into a rhythm, start making shots, and I usually score a lot of points once I get into that rhythm.”
Marshall will probably be best remembered for his buzzer-beater against Florida State last month, but just as he has become more than just a shooter offensively, he’s done more than score for this team. He’s become a better rebounder every year and is averaging 4.5 per game this year, and with at least two games left has tied a career high in steals this season. Most importantly, he’s become a better leader when the team has needed it this year and is clearly more driven because he knows this is his last chance.
The soft-spoken Marshall is also the team barber, something he first got into during his early high school years. He admits he wasn’t very good at first, but it grew on him, so he kept working at it and felt he was pretty good by the time he got to college. When he got to Chestnut Hill, his first customers were a few football players and someone who might seem like an unlikely candidate given his hairstyle – classmate Jared Dudley. Dudley, like Marshall, is from southern California and didn’t know any barber shops in the area, but he trusted Marshall.
When his college days are done, Marshall will surely get a chance to play professionally somewhere. He has good size to play on the wing and has had a good career in two major conferences, and he’s skilled enough to play for a while. After his playing days, the human development major would like to get into counseling and work with kids. As he’s experienced a good deal in life, especially living on both coasts, he certainly has a lot to offer. He also draws from his own past experience with someone in that capacity. He still talks to his guidance counselor from his high school days, a man he trusted very much.
Marshall may have been overshadowed in his college career by great teammates, but there’s no question he’s left his mark. He is part of the class that is now tied for being the winningest class in the school’s history, and if the Eagles make the NCAA Tournament, which seems likely now that they have 10 ACC wins, they will be the first class to do that all four years. Expectations or not, that goes down as a pretty good accomplishment for just about anyone.
Success Nothing New For QU’s Gonzalez
by Zach Smart
Adam Gonzalez arrived at Quinnipiac University sporting a pair of braids down to his neck and a perma-smile that’s evolved into his trademark both on and off the basketball court.
Anytime a former National Junior College Player of the Year inks with a Northeast Conference program, high expectations, hype, and hearsay tends to brew around campus faster than a keg party.
Not at Quinnipiac. Hockey has always been given the torch to carry for the University and intramural basketball seems to generate more interest than the Bobcats do.
In Gonzalez’s year and a half with Quinnipiac, however, doubters have morphed into believers. Gonzalez and the Bobcats (11-12, 9-5 NEC) have vaulted into second place in the NEC, and their transition to the TD Banknorth Sports Center has come with much excitement and fanfare.
Gonzalez, a highly sought after product on the recruiting market after his sophomore year at Cecil Community College – a breeding house for mid-major to major Division I ballers – has turned many heads this season.
The Bronx, N.Y. native is averaging 14.6 points per game and leading the team with 83 assists. The well-traveled senior has developed into a playmaker with a proclivity for schooling opponents in one-on-one situations.
“You really won’t find anyone in the Northeast Conference that’s better off the dribble and in one-on-one situations than Gonzalez,” said Bill Schweitzer, the voice of Quinnipiac basketball, during a loss to New Hampshire earlier in the season.
He’s a superstar camouflaged as a role player. The 6-foot-3 combo guard sets up his teammates before taking it upon himself to take over.
Last year, Gonzalez would facilitate the offensive attack right off defensive rebounds.
He’s done much of the same this year. With speedy guards Casey Cosgrove and Job Casimir operating the offense, however, Gonzalez has become more of a scoring threat.
“Gonzalez is a hell of a player for them (Quinnipiac),” said Central Connecticut guard Javier Mojica, a NEC player of the year candidate. “He’s a go-to-guy and you can’t let him get hot.”
He’s a New York kid with a New York savvy. Most of his success, however, has come outside the Big Apple. Gonzalez left home at just 15, on a quest to pursue better opportunities for his hoop career.
As a freshman at St. Raymond’s High, a perennial powerhouse in the Bronx, Gonzalez found himself buried behind a lineup that featured a couple of then-major Division I prospects in Allan Ray (Villanova, Boston Celtics), Julius Hodge (North Carolina State, Milwaukee Bucks), and Gavin Grant (North Carolina State). He wanted a new situation where he could grow as both a player and leader.
“I had to get out of New York,” Gonzalez said with a brief laugh. “I wasn’t doing too well over there.”
Gonzalez found a golden opportunity when he learned of a prestigious high school program in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, a close drive from where his aunt was living. Gonzalez transferred schools, got acclimated to a different environment, and was flushed into a prominent role. During his three-year stay at Pocono Mountain High, Gonzalez established himself as the school’s most prolific scorer, finishing with 1,771 points.
At the end of Gonzalez’s junior year at Pocono, however, tragedy emerged. His aunt passed on and he was ready to return to New York, settle back in and help his family during the grieving process.
Coaches and teammates convinced him to stay.
“I wanted to leave (Pocono) at that point,” Gonzalez said. “I ended up staying with a couple of teammates in a house that (final) year,” explained Gonzalez.
Playing with a heavy heart, Gonzalez led the state in scoring with 29 points per game.
Though actively pursued by Cecil Community coach Bill Lewit, Gonzalez opted to attend Lackawanna Junior College in Scranton, Pa., for its proximity.
“It was really only 45 minutes from my high school and I was familiar with the area,” he said.
In his lone year at Lackawanna, Gonzalez made his presence felt. He averaged 25 points, leading a sleeper team to the NJCAA Division-II championship. “We were pretty much a Cinderella team that year,” he recalls. “We were expected to lose in the first round but we made it all the way to the championship in Illinois.”
A buzzer-beater did Gonzalez and Lackawanna in, as they surrendered the title to Mott Community College (Va.).
At the season’s conclusion, Gonzalez (who averaged 25 points per game as a freshman) was selected as a first team All-American and National JUCO Player of the Year.
Gonzalez transferred to Cecil Community two years later, another NJCAA school located in Maryland. There, he was re-united with Lewit and teamed up with current teammates Chris Wehye and Victor Akinyanju during his stay at Cecil.
“We were number one in the country for 12 weeks in a row (at Cecil). I think we lost only three games that whole year,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez averaged 14 points and seven assists while at Cecil.
On Jan. 6, with Quinnipiac dropping into a 0-9 freefall, Gonzalez addressed his teammates before a critical conference game at St. Francis (Pa.). He talked about the importance of playing to win and guaranteed victory.
Shouldering the burden of savior, Gonzalez went off for a game-high 26 points, collecting seven boards and dishing out three dimes while leading the Bobcats to a much-needed 89-82 victory.
“I kind of woke up that morning feeling real good,” said Gonzalez.
The weeks following this, Gonzalez had a lot to feel good about. The Bobcats reeled off six straight victories, their longest winning streak since being elevated to the Division I ranks in the 1998-1999 season.
In the arena-opening win against Long Island, Gonzalez scored 21 points and handed out a game-high seven assists en route to a 73-70 overtime win. The highlight came in the game’s waning seconds, when Gonzalez calmly found center Victor Akinyanju, who got free for the game-winning layup.
It’s selfless play like this that Gonzalez said he thrives on, as he’s a firm believer in surrendering “me” for “we” on the basketball court. This is a disciplined brand of basketball that builds winners.
Gonzalez buys into it because he respects the game. After all, it took him from a bad situation in the Bronx to the scenic campus of Quinnipiac, where his glowing smile is now recognized by many.
In May, Gonzalez will graduate with a degree in sociology. He said he never could have expected this while attending public schools in the Bronx, where educational inequality is a serious problem. He’s established himself as a winner in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and now Connecticut, where he’s helped resurrect an ailing program.
Gonzalez makes his presence felt as another season on the hardwood hits its final stretch.
Crimson Close Out Home Slate With Big Second Half, Take Out Tigers
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – This time, there was no heart-breaking last-minute comeback by the visiting team.
Last season, Princeton scored the final seven points in a devastating 60-59 defeat of Harvard that helped send the Crimson’s season in the wrong direction for good. They lost the next six games after that before winning their final game of the season. On Saturday, Harvard scored 15 unanswered points early in the second half to take the lead for good, then held on for a 50-43 victory over the struggling Tigers.
The second half was a change from the first half, where the Crimson got nothing going offensively in scoring just 12 points and shooting below 16 percent from the field. They didn’t score a field goal in the final 16:49 of the half and went into the locker room down 21-12, as the Tigers didn’t shoot much better at just over 30 percent. In the second half, the Crimson shot over 68 percent from the field and held the Tigers to over 33 percent from the field, a fine defensive effort that gave them the chance to get going offensively.
“As disappointing as it was at halftime with the way we played offense, the thing we did was appeal to the guys to maintain the level of defense that they had,” said Harvard head coach Frank Sullivan. “I think we did a fine job defensively from beginning to end.”
The Crimson have struggled at the defensive end all season long, and Friday night was no different as Penn went 12-23 from long range against them. On Saturday, they held Princeton to 4-18 from long range and won the battle on the glass. Evan Harris continues to develop at the defensive end, as he had seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Much like the first meeting between the two teams, sophomore guard Drew Housman got hot after halftime for Harvard. After struggling to an 0-6 first half, Housman missed just one shot in the second half en route to a game-high 20 points. Early on, he started to take control of the game as he was able to penetrate at will.
“Their defense is predicated on switching all the screens,” said Housman. “When they’re focused on switching screens, they’re less likely to be able to help out on drives.”
Senior Jim Goffredo struggled again at the offensive end for Harvard, scoring eight points on 3-10 shooting, but went out a winner in his final home game and made a couple of key plays late. He had a jumper with over two minutes to go to push the lead back to seven, then a key rebound and later two free throws.
The Crimson got several key contributions, notably from freshman guard Jeremy Lin, who had a nice couple of games and continues to show some real potential in the future. He made a couple of nice passes and showed that he can drive and create. That certainly bodes well for the future.
Recently departed center Brian Cusworth was at the game on Saturday night and joined the team on the bench.
Other Notable Games
UCLA 75, Stanford 61: The Bruins finish the season perfect at home.
Georgetown 61, Pittsburgh 53: The Hoyas have now won 11 straight games and have taken over the lead from Pittsburgh – after it seemed a foregone conclusion early on that Pittsburgh would win the Big East regular season title comfortably.
LSU 66, Florida 56: Perhaps the Tigers are telling us not to write them off just yet. They almost won at Kentucky without Glen Davis, but break through against Florida without him on Saturday.
Auburn 86, Alabama 77: Again I must ask: can anyone figure out the Crimson Tide?
Notre Dame 85, Marquette 73: A good win for the Irish over a Marquette team that has been playing well of late.
Syracuse 71, Providence 67: For the Orange, it could be “Hello NCAA” with this win. The Friars, on the other hand, may have said hello to the NIT in losing at home on Senior Day for Herbert Hill.
Texas Tech 59, Oklahoma State 57: The Red Raiders continue the Cowboys’ late-season slide. Oklahoma State has now lost four in a row and six of seven, and they are 5-8 in the Big 12.
Boston College 59, Clemson 54: It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles held off the Tigers on Senior Day for Sean Marshall and Jared Dudley for their 10th ACC win.
Virginia Tech 73, Miami 57: The Hokies head into the final week of the regular season with a couple of home wins in a row.
Florida State 78, North Carolina State 52: The Seminoles couldn’t afford to lose this one, and it was never in doubt as they improve to 6-9 in ACC play.
Michigan State 66, Indiana 58: The Spartans get another good win and pull into a three-way tie for fourth in the Big Ten with a week to go.
Kansas State 87, Colorado 71: Win number 20 on the season for the Wildcats.
TCU 71, Air Force 66: The second straight loss for the Falcons was a real shocker considering the Horned Frogs have struggled mightily, in addition to the fact that the Falcons won by 33 in the teams’ earlier meeting.
San Diego State 86, Brigham Young 74: A nice win for the Aztecs over the Mountain West leaders.
Southern Illinois 76, Evansville 69: The Salukis will ride an 11-game winning streak into the Missouri Valley Tournament.
Creighton 71, Wichita State 54: The Bluejays take second place in the Valley, while the Shockers limp into the conference tournament with four straight losses.
Marist 98, Siena 88 (OT): In the first game of the day, Marist clinches the regular season title in the MAAC outright and will be the top seed in next weekend’s conference tournament.
VCU 72, Georgia State 70: The Rams win the CAA outright with a 16-2 mark after barely holding off the Panthers. The 16 conference wins are a record, with several teams having won 15 before including two last season.
Old Dominion 62, William & Mary 57: The Monarchs finish the regular season with 11 straight wins, making them easily the hottest CAA team heading into next weekend’s conference tournament.
Northeastern 73, George Mason 50: The Huskies finish Bill Coen’s first season at 9-9 in CAA play. They also snap the Patriots’ streak of eight consecutive seasons with at least 10 CAA wins.
Fordham 71, Rhode Island 62: The road team wins both games this season as the Rams fall two games out of first in the loss column in the Atlantic 10.
Temple 81, Charlotte 69: Charlotte’s disappointing season continues as the 49ers fall below .500 at 13-14.
Davidson 87, Citadel 70: Bob McKillop has done another outstanding coaching job. The Wildcats finish the regular season with ten straight wins and a 26-4 record, 17-1 in Southern Conference play. Not bad for a team that lost seven seniors off a team that went 20-11 last year.
Columbia 82, Yale 64: With Penn holding off Dartmouth, Yale is now in trouble in the Ivy League race and must beat the Quakers in Philadelphia on Friday to have any chance.
Bucknell 54, Army 49: The Bison still have a shot to win the Patriot League regular season title after finishing with this road win. They need Lehigh to beat Holy Cross on Sunday.
Delaware State 77, Florida A&M 65: The Hornets clinch their third straight MEAC regular season title.
Eastern Kentucky 65, Tennessee State 53: Jeff Neubauer did quite a job with the Colonels this season, as they will be the No. 2 seed in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament after finishing tied for second. The Colonels suffered heavy personnel losses from last season’s team and were no one’s pick to finish near the top.
Northeast Conference Notebook
by Zach Smart
A Devil Of A Time
This year’s Central Connecticut team possesses a three-headed monster that all of two conference teams have been able to maintain.
This is, however, the Northeast Conference we’re talking about now. The top dog can never be inked in as the champion, regardless of how many top-tier teams it has dumped off by 30 or more points this year.
“In this conference we know anyone can beat anyone on any given night,” explained Quinnipiac senior guard Adam Gonzalez. Gonzalez and the Bobcats were twice trounced by Central in lopsided losses, all while they stood right behind them in second.
But make no mistake about it, this year’s Central team is something else. The proof is in the record. The Blue Devils (18-11, 15-2) have eaten up the conference schedule in shark-sized bites.
The trio of Javier Mojica, Tristan Blackwood, and Obie Nwadike is simply too much to counter for most teams. Mojica, originally a walk-on, has developed into one of the conference’s most prolific scorers, leading the Blue Devils with 17 points per game. He averages seven boards while shooting .426 from beyond the arc. Blackwood, who went off for 40 points (13-23 from the floor including 10-17 from behind the arc) against Robert Morris on Feb. 22 to avenge a loss, has come into his element. He’s flourished in a role that allows him to create offense, averaging a team-high four assists per game, highlighted by nine in a win against Mount St. Mary’s at the beginning of the month.
Nwadike is the senior strongman who has led the conference in rebounding since his sophomore year. The forward from Jersey City is a double-double waiting to happen with 14.3 points and 10.7 boards per game.
The team is only about seven deep. The finely-tuned starting five of Mojica, Blackwood, Nwadike, big man Jemino Sobers, and Joe Seymore, a freshman guard from Delaware, average 32.8 minutes per game. At week’s end, the Blue Devils have the upper hand on the entire conference.
At the beginning of the season, there questions surfaced about how well the Devils would recover from the loss of last year’s MVP, Justin Chiera. Chiera, the best three-point shooter in program history averaged 14 in 2005-2006 while facilitating the offensive attack.
No worries. Blackwood has certainly filled the leadership void left by Chiera, and Mojica has certainly carried the load on offense at times. He scored a career-high 32 against Quinnipiac, weeks after putting 31 on New Hampshire.
Blue Devils coach Howie Dickenman beefed up the Devils’ out-of-conference schedule with a season-opener at Michigan and meetings with Delaware, UMass, and Vermont. It’s seemed to rub off on the team.
Super DeMario
Quinnipiac’s dreadful losing streak, during which the Bobcats failed to mesh together, delayed it a bit, but forward DeMario Anderson (a transfer via Central Connecticut) held his coming-out-party against Vermont, going off for 20 points and scoring timely buckets in clusters. Since then, he’s emerged as one of the conference’s marquee players. Anderson poured in 31 in a win against in-state rival Sacred Heart on Feb. 8. It was one point off his collegiate career high. Surprisingly enough, Anderson’s career-high 32 points came against Quinnipiac during his final regular season game in a Blue Devil uniform in 2004-2005.
Quinnipiac, without standout big man Victor Akinyanju (favoring his right foot), suffered an embarrassing 73-72 loss to basement-dweller St. Francis (Pa.) on a night which featured all sorts of lineup changes. Guard Adam Gonzalez (14.7 points, 3.7 assists per game) sat in Joe DeSantis’ doghouse for much of the game, playing just eight minutes – all in the first half. The loss puts Quinnipiac in a log-jam with Sacred Heart for second place. A tough conference match with the Pioneers at the Pitt Center awaits them.
Crusaders Have Super Seniors
Ralph Willard can’t sing the praises of his two seniors enough. It’s not about their play on the basketball court, although both Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas have had more than their share of success. Rather, where Willard won’t mince words is when speaking of their character.
“I haven’t coached two better people in 37 years of coaching,” said Willard, now in his eighth season as head coach at his alma mater. “I can’t tell you how much those guys are respected and loved by their teammates. There’s no way to even describe it, because you would think I was full of baloney. There is admiration, there is respect, there is love on the part of everybody on this team. They extend themselves into every single person on this team.”
Although there is a noticeable difference in their personalities – Thomas is very outgoing while Simmons is more reserved – the two New York-area guards are practically joined at the hip, and it’s only appropriate. It doesn’t end with being backcourt mates for the last four years on the hardwood. They are good friends, roommates this year, have the same major, and do homework together even when their class schedules are different. For good measure, they were born two days apart, as Thomas informs me after our conversation was interrupted because Senior Night was his birthday and over 30 family and friends came to the game to support the charismatic floor leader. It’s not hard to see what Willard means when he says that “they’re about as close as you can be without being related by blood.”
On several occasions this season, the duo has carried the Crusaders to victory. That has especially been true during times where injuries have thinned out the roster, which has been a constant concern. They’ve had to play major minutes all season, with both averaging over 35 per game. There was the first Bucknell game, where Simmons led the way with 22 points and Thomas sealed the game with a big defensive rebound and two free throws after getting fouled. Another good example is the Lehigh game at home, where Thomas surpassed 1,000 career points and the two combined for 34 points and made many key plays down the stretch.
But there is far more to these two young men than their success on the court. There are reasons Willard can’t stop praising the young men.
Torey Thomas: Go-Getter
Even if he never played a minute of Division I college basketball, you will know Torey Thomas’ name one day. Mark it down.
What is noteworthy about it is that we almost didn’t get to see him playing at this level.
Thomas played at Trinity Catholic in Stamford, Connecticut, a long commute from his home in White Plains, New York. It required getting up very early and taking an express bus to Stamford every morning, a sacrifice he saw as an investment in himself. The school has sent its share of players to Division I over the years, and Thomas is one of them, but that was hardly a foregone conclusion as his senior year came. He stands 5’10″, which didn’t grab the attention of many programs, and didn’t go to camps that would have large Division I coach turnouts. He had only a handful of Division I scholarship offers, notably from a couple of schools in the MAAC as well as Hartford and William & Mary. Even Willard didn’t have much to judge his talent on when he offered him a scholarship; indeed, he made the offer based more than anything on his character and hoped for the best.
“Nobody looked inside his chest and saw how big his heart was,” said Willard. “I couldn’t really tell about his basketball ability. After talking to him for an hour, I said, I’ve got to get this kid. He’s perfect for our basketball program, he’s perfect for Holy Cross.”
Thomas backed up Jave Meade, then another beloved senior guard, as a freshman. He gained a great deal from Meade, one of the best defensive players in the league’s history and a proven winner. Thomas was a second-team All-Patriot League selection last season and led the league in assists. He currently leads the league in that category and steals this season and is certainly in line for another all-league selection.
Assistant coach Andrew Sachs jokes that Thomas is running the campus of Holy Cross, and let’s just say the old cliché that many a truth is spoke in jest comes to mind. He’s not that far off the mark. Besides his basketball exploits, Thomas has been a resident assistant for three years and has also been the chief of staff for the school’s Black Student Union. In addition, he has reached out to incoming freshmen and their parents. He felt it was his responsibility to not just take advantage of the educational opportunity that his basketball abilities earned him.
“I’ve just developed a great relationship with a lot of people, and I go out with a different source of people,” he reflected. “The obligation is for me to become a whole person when I graduate, and that’s the way it’s got to be.”
The Worcester campus isn’t all that Thomas is running these days. In October 2005, he started the non-profit New York Blaze organization in his hometown of White Plains. He joined it with the YMCA of Central and Northern Westchester and has also had some help from the local school district, which has identified students in need of additional academic support, one of the things the organization offers.
Running the organization is one reason Thomas wants to attend law school when his playing days are over. Although he has an interest in being a criminal defense attorney, his primary reason isn’t for the profession itself as much as what having a law background can do for him as a businessman and in everyday life. He feels it’s a real necessity and can help him take a business that much further.
“If I have the law background that I need, I’ll be able to go into meetings, know my law jargon, and write my contracts,” he noted. “I want to be able to work for myself, not have anybody have to work for me.”
Keith Simmons: Support Is Always There
For Keith Simmons to get this far, nothing came easily. He grew up in Kingston, a small city about 75 miles north of New York City. The city is mostly working class and lower class, and resources were constantly limited. Some schools are over-crowded, there weren’t many activities for kids outside of school, and the public high school, which Keith attended, is regional and thus a big school, where it can be easy to just get lost amidst the many students.
The senior guard is a strong candidate for Patriot League Player of the Year after being a first-team all-league selection the past two seasons. That followed up a selection to the All-Rookie team as a freshman, when he provided instant offense coming off the bench. In an age where a number of players seemingly live and die on the three-point line, Simmons’ judicious shot selection and his hard work show up in the stats: in each of his first three seasons, he shot 42 percent or better from behind the arc. He is shooting 36 percent this season after Wednesday’s game, which certainly isn’t up to the previous three seasons but is hardly a terrible percentage.
Simmons, who chose Holy Cross over a host of MAAC schools, fellow Patriot League member Lehigh and William & Mary, didn’t arrive as a shooter at all. At Kingston High School, Simmons ran the show and was a slasher, playing alongside Siena guard Tay Fisher. That certainly gave him an advantage with his 6’5″ frame, and his time running the show is apparent when you see the decisions he makes even now playing off the ball. He rarely forces something bad and always seems to know when to force the action and when to let the game come to him. Willard describes him as “probably one of the most efficient offensive players I’ve ever coached.”
A down-to-earth young man, Simmons is the last of eight children, a fact that speaks to a constant source of support over the years. He has four older brothers, one of whom played at Division III SUNY-Cobleskill, and he was competitive with all of them growing up. Before college, Simmons wasn’t the best player in his own family, and that’s why he’s amazed at the success he’s had at the college level. He played against his brothers a lot growing up, noting with a laugh that he was “usually on the losing end.” Now they won’t play him anymore, especially the one brother he has never been able to beat – John, who walked out on the court along with Keith and his mother on Senior Night.
His brothers were far more than just competition fodder for him. When he was 14, he lost his father to a sudden heart attack in the latter part of his freshman year of high school. He was very close to his father and knew this would force him to grow up a little faster, but he knows how fortunate he is to have his older siblings. He knew they made it easier for him than it would be if he was an only child or even the oldest.
“It’s funny now because I’m one of the last ones in college. I’ll always be the baby, so the average person might have two parents, but I have like seven or eight,” Simmons says with a laugh. “I have a lot of guidance and I’m blessed to have that.”
Indeed, there was even a silent way in which his siblings all supported him. They all went through the same school system, and as is bound to happen, teachers and other officials picked up a thing or two along the way.
“Having seven brothers and sisters that go through one education system, I wasn’t flying under the radar,” he reflects. “They knew all the tricks my brothers and sisters did.”
His support also included the many school officials in his life, which has inspired his desire to go into education when his basketball playing days are done. He knew the obstacles he faced, and they did a lot to help him out. He would like to do the same, and it’s not surprising considering Willard raves about how caring both he and Thomas are.
Still Work to Do
Both players aren’t finished yet. In fact, they still have at least one more game at the Hart Center since the Crusaders will host at least the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament. A win will get them another home game, and they may get another in the championship game if they are the highest remaining seed. The duo has yet to win a league title, coming close two years ago in a heart-breaking loss to Bucknell.
They knew coming in the kind of tradition the program has, and they’re primed to do their part to keep it going. They’ve already done well with a 79-42 record, but they still want that title.
More importantly, if they never win a Patriot League title, it’s clear that they will be winners in the game of life. Willard is certainly among those who are convinced of that.
“I think you’re judged in life on your body of work, and their body of work has been tremendous in their four years here,” the coach reflected.
A Few Quick Hitters From the Holiday Weekend
by Ray Floriani
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – We have several stops and notes from the long President’s Day weekend on tap.
IPFW 52, NJIT 47
Visiting Indiana Purdue of Fort Wayne overcame a double-digit deficit to edge the Highlanders on Saturday. IPFW is coached by Dane Fife, the youngest Division I coach in America. It is an independent school headed to the Mid-Continent Conference next season. NJIT fought gamely while playing without their best player, senior guard Clayton Barker, who was out with an injury. In the end, 6’9″ senior Tyler Best’s 11 points did the damage inside and the visitors prevailed.
Fordham 86, Duquesne 83
A noon contest on Sunday saw the Rams hold on in a furious finish to stop a four-game losing streak. The Rams certainly let coach Dereck Whittenburg’s recent message about rebounding set in. Fordham was out-rebounded 44-32 and soundly beaten inside during Thursday’s loss to UMass, but against Duquesne, the Rams responded by winning the rebounding battle 38-35. Included in that number were 19 offensive boards. Bryant Dunston put up a solid 19-point, 10-rebound effort. The most damage, though, was done by Brenton Butler. The Fordham freshman guard scored a game-high 28 points and made a succession of big plays in the stretch.
Pitt 71, Seton Hall 68
On Monday evening the Panthers were without their outstanding big man Aaron Gray, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Seton Hall got out to an early lead before Pitt gained control. The Panthers enjoyed a double-digit led in the final half, but the Hall kept fighting back. With four seconds remaining, Levance Fields missed the second of two free throws. Seton Hall rebounded and pushed the ball up court. Jamar Nutter (19 points) had a good, though long, look from straight beyond the arc. His potential game-tying shot rimmed as time expired. Pitt senior forward Levon Kendall took up the inside slack (14 points, 8 rebounds). Eugene Harvey, Seton Hall’s outstanding freshman, played the full 40 minutes and scored a game-high 24 points while handing out four assists and committing only three turnovers.
Second Chances
Although it wasn’t quite as bad as last season, this was hardly one for the books for Wake Forest. After an 82-60 blowout loss against Maryland on Thursday, the Demon Deacons finished 13-18 overall. That doesn’t seem so bad, and a few teams had worse records, but look deeper and you see a team that, quite simply, was not good.
Ron Hunter is a terrific addition to the Colonial Athletic Association coaching ranks. That could have been said before the season given his track record and the impression he made on Media Day in October, but after the CAA Tournament it bears repeating because it was so obvious.
In theory, the next six days should be quite stressful for Drexel and head coach Bruiser Flint. As the regular season champions of the CAA, they are guaranteed a bid to the NIT, but naturally hope the NCAA Tournament comes calling. Flint doesn’t seem stressed at all about it, however, and his experience is a key factor in that.
Northeastern fought turnovers often this season, and had relatively mixed results with some streaks along the way. The Huskies should be better next season, but there is clear room for improvement and that was evident on Saturday night in the season-ending loss.
With UNCW’s season over, there’s a look toward a brighter future that was helped by this weekend in Richmond. The young Seahawks had some bright spots during the season in trying to rebuild, and capped it off with something else they can take with them.
James Madison came into the season as an interesting team to project. There was not a lack of talent, and it wasn’t a young team, but there were intangibles questions. In the end, injuries were the biggest problem, but the Dukes kept fighting right to the end no matter how demoralizing the injuries were.
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