Notes at the Start of March
Quick hitters as we reach the weekend and the start of March:
- Brown is holding out hope for one of the postseason tournaments, although the NCAA Tournament is a long shot. The Bears currently have 16 wins and can set a school record for wins in a season with two more (they have three games left), which would surpass the 17 they have had three times, most recently under Glen Miller in 2001-02 and 2002-03. Their RPI could reach the highest mark ever if they win out, and their hope is to get into the NIT (which is much tougher to get into now than it was several years ago) or the new 16-team College Basketball Invitational. Before they can think about that, they need to win their final three games to finish 19-9.
- Harvard won its third straight game on Friday, knocking off Columbia 61-54 in New York. The Crimson have battled all season long, having to deal with injuries along the way, so getting the recent wins has been a welcome development for the team. On Saturday, they head to Cornell and can play spoiler if they come up with an effort similar to what they did in the first meeting between the two teams.
- ESPN.com reported on Friday that Norm Roberts will be the head coach at St. John’s next season, and likely beyond as the report said Roberts and athletic director Chris Monasch will work on a long-term deal. Roberts has been thought to be out at the end of the season, but that would have been a raw deal because no one was going to turn around that program in just four years in the state it was in when Roberts arrived.
- The field for the National Championship of prep school basketball was announced on Friday, based on the final National Prep Poll of the season. (Full disclosure: I am one of the poll voters.) The first game features No. 1 Hargrave Military Academy (VA) against No. 8 St. Thomas More (CT), followed by No. 4 Brewster Academy (NH) against No. 5 America Christian (PA), No. 3 Patterson School (NC) vs. No. 6 Notre Dame Prep (MA) and No. 2 Findlay College Prep (NV) vs. No. 7 Harmony Community School (OH).
- Hoop Mountain and the New England Recruiting Report will hold the Greater Boston All-Star Game on March 22 at Harvard. The event is actually a doubleheader that will feature most of the top high school players in Massachusetts. It will start with the Senior Game at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Junior Game at 8 p.m. The latter will feature players from one of the best classes in the state’s history as well as a few from the class right behind it, the class of 2010. The Junior Game will feature players who have already committed to a number of big-time schools, like Florida commit Erik Murphy, Connecticut commits Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs and recent Louisville commit Mike Marra.
