SB Nation - Penn Quakers

11/16 Game Links: UCLA looks poor, Duke looks white

SFBE.NF — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:10:41 -0000

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UCLA is going to have a rough year, shocked by CS Fullerton

Caucasian Invasion dominates Coastal Carolina

The Lance Stephenson era begins, erratically, in win over Prairie View A&M

Six ('Nova) Wildcats score in double figures, Quakers go quietly

Big-bad SEC Auburn loses to mid-major Missouri State

UCONN controls second half, downs upstart Colgate

Preseason Q&A with Philly.com's Jonathan Tannenwald

SFBE.NF — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:07:22 -0000

We thought we were done with these, but Jonathan Tannenwald from Philly.com (yes, the Soft Pretzel Logic guy) went to the Big East Media Day and went "A-HA! Basketball! Syracuse! Billy Edelin! Oh shit...that damn guy from the blog! I gotta get back to him!" And he followed through. Jonathan talks about guard-centric Villanova, the Palestra, and shows the A-10 some love.

1. Where could we find you this summer? On the beach, on the golf course, or in a gym filled with DI prospects? I was definitely on the beach a lot. I also took a cross-country train trip (for the second straight summer), from Philly to Chicago to Seattle to L.A. (last year I went from Philly to San Francisco by way of the Rocky Mountains, which is spectacular).

While in Seattle I saw the Sounders play FC Barcelona. I'm really into soccer as well as college sports, and that was one of the best atmospheres I've ever seen in person. For soccer or much of any other sport, to be honest.

2. Quickly, your reflections on last year. Was a thin NBA draft just proof that the 2008-2009 college basketball season lacked excitement and raw talent? For me, the college basketball season did not lack excitement. That's in part because of Villanova's run to the Final Four - okay, it was in large part due to that. It got people talking about college hoops in Philly quite a bit, which was really nice considering how much the Eagles dominate the local sports media landscape.

But in general, I don't care much about or for professional basketball. A college basketball season is exciting for me in and of itself. Even when it's 20 degrees in February and I'm walking down Thayer Street in Providence, R.I., after the Penn-Brown game, I'm pretty happy.

I'm lucky. I get to spend a lot of my winter nights in the Palestra. I'm supposed to be objective about this stuff, but there's no better place to watch a basketball game. Just about anyone who's been there will tell you the same thing.

3. What do you expect from Kentucky? How many years until they play for a national title? And, when his tenure is over, will John Calipari leave the program in good hands, or in disarray like he did with Memphis and UMASS? From Kentucky I expect a lot of loud shouting by their fans. Obviously they're at a fever pitch already, and if they get off to a good start it won't get any quieter. I haven't seen John Wall in person or on film, but I've read reports that he is as good as advertised.

It won't surprise me if they make a really deep run. They have a combination of upperclassmen and talented freshmen that seems to be a good mix. And Calipari can coach. That much is for certain, even if we don't know what the freshmen will do.

4. How does Jay Wright handle all the talented guards on his roster this year? Will there be an odd man out? I don't envy the situation Jay Wright finds himself in with the backcourt. I talked to him, Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher at Big East Media Day, and they all said they didn't think it would be a problem. Winning certainly takes care of a lot of that, and Wright showed he could manage the situation pretty well last year. He also hasn't been afraid to let players go from the program if they don't buy in, with Malcolm Grant a recent example.

Wright may have inadvertently acquired some latitude with this when Reggie Redding was suspended for the semester after being caught with marijuana. Obviously, Wright would rather have Redding on the team, as would anybody. But it's something to keep in mind.

The other thing worth noting is that most of Villanova's new players this season are coming into the front court, most notably Mouphtaou Yarou and Taylor King. The preseason hype is that Yarou is the big guy Wright has needed to finally get the program over that last big hurdle, and there can't be many hurdles left if they made the Final Four with last year's squad.

The freshman guards are big names, Dominic Cheek and Maalik Wayns. But I would expect them to play second-fiddle to the upperclassmen for a while. As they're both from relatively close to Philly (Cheek is from Jersey City and Wayns is from Philly itself), I would think they knew what the situation would be coming in.

5. Outside of The Palestra, what is your favorite venue in college basketball? I'm going to split that question in two parts, if I may. My favorite non-Palestra venue in the country is Allen Fieldhouse, because it's so historic and so loud. It edges out Maryland's Comcast Center, an arena that proves you can create a modern facility without compromising the atmosphere that makes college basketball what it is.

My favorite arena that I've been to is probably Yale's John J. Lee Amphitheater. It's built into one side of Yale's athletics center, which looks like a big Gothic cathedral. The inside of the arena has a pressed ceiling and semi-cylindrical wooden bucket seats.

It also has balcony-style seating behind the baskets, and bleachers for the students right along courtside. When the place is packed, it gets really, really loud.

I took some pictures of the place for my blog the last time I was up there. I don't think I can let you use them because my company owns the rights to them and is really picky about that stuff, but you can definitely link to it.

6. Your premature surprise team of the season... I would pick Dayton or Temple but I know too much about them to consider them surprising. So I'll go with Marquette. With Lazar Heyward back, I didn't expect them to be picked 12th in the Big East. St. John's is picked higher than the Golden Eagles. As young as Buzz Williams' team is on the whole, I expect them to do better than that.

7. My premature Final Four picks... I have no idea. I don't even like picking Final Fours on Selection Sunday until I've gone all the way through the bracket. But I'll give you four teams I think can get there: Kansas, West Virginia, Michigan State and Villanova.

8. Because of the name of our blog, we ask all journalists who come on here and give us the time of day to name their favorite forgotten college basketball player. Name a few of your favorites who never established themselves at the next level. My forgotten player has to be Penn's Ugonna Onyekwe. A player with athleticism and skill way above the usual Ivy League level, and there hasn't been anyone like him in the league since. He led the Quakers to Ivy League titles in 2002 and 2003, and an outright Big 5 championship in ‘02 (4-0 record) as well. Granted, it was a down year for some of the other programs in the city, but that's still an accomplishment for Penn.

Onyekwe had a legit shot at being a lower NBA pick. But he struggled at the draft camps, and ended up in Europe. He's done pretty well there from everything I've read. He comes back to Philadelphia every once in a while, and very few people recognize him - especially among the current students.

7. Finish this sentence: I like using twitter because...I like using Twitter because it's a great way to get my content out there, and it‘s an even better way to engage in great conversations with fellow college basketball writers and fans. It's why I created the Big Dance widget, and I'm hoping to find other ways to use the platform throughout this season.

BtB 2009-10 Ivy League Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:00:19 -0000

It was a relatively quiet offseason in the Ivy League, the lone Division I conference that forgoes a postseason tournament and sends its regular season winner to the NCAA Tournament. Cornell begins this season in great position to cement itself as the league's new dynasty. (Well, as cemented as any team with five senior starters can be.) The Big Red have their third straight league crown firmly in their sights, and a non-conference schedule that could help them win their first tournament contest in that span.

Meanwhile, former league bullies Penn and Princeton look to be in position to challenge. The Tigers return all five of their starters from a team that finished last season in a second place tie with Yale. The Bulldogs' eternal rivals, Tommy Amaker-led Harvard, are looking for a breakthrough. Meanwhile, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, and the aforementioned Elis appear to be in various stages of rebuilding.

I'll go into more specifics for each Ivy team after the jump.

Let's first take a look at last season's Ivy League standings.

Ivy League Standings

(updated 3.11.2009 at 4:11 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Cornell Big Red	11	3	21	9
Princeton Tigers	8	6	13	14
Yale Bulldogs	8	6	13	15
Columbia Lions	7	7	12	16
Dartmouth Big Green	7	7	9	19
Harvard Crimson	6	8	14	14
Penn Quakers	6	8	10	18
Brown Bears	3	11	9	19

Now, here are my picks for the 2009-10 Ivy League season, presented in reverse order.

Dartmouth (last NCAA: 1959) The Big Green have to begin life without Alex Barnett, last year's ivy League Player of the Year, who averaged almost 20 points per game. With him, Dartmouth only managed a .500 mark in the league and won only two games outside of the league. Without him, the team could struggle mightily. While Jerry Dunn returns a boatload of players, led by PG Jabari Trotter, offense and rebounding are issues. Trotter is the leading returning scorer, and he only averaged 7 points per contest.

Brown (last NCAA: 1986) The Bears return three double-figure scorers from the team that earned the Ivy League's Wooden Spoon last season, senior F Matt Mullery (16.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg), junior F Peter Sullivan (14.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg), and junior G Adrian Williams (11 ppg). Despite this, the Bears offense was more inept than you'd expect a team with three double-digit scorers to be last season, averaging 57.5 ppg in Ivy League contests. That's probably because Jesse Agel's team lacked an established point guard, a situation that hasn't been addressed.

Columbia (last NCAA: 1968) The Lions get two transfers to replace the graduated Jason Miller and Joe Bova in froutcourt, 7-foot C Max Craig from Loyola Marymount and 6-7 F Brian Grimes from LaSalle. Grimes actually would have been eligible last season, but a knee injury cost him the year. who sat out last year with a knee injury. Columbia's backcourt has plenty of experience, as Patrick Foley (10.9 ppg, 2.5 apg), who battled injuries last year, Kevin Bulger (5.3 ppg, 2.1 apg), and Noruwa Agho (9.1 ppg) all return. If the new frontcourt can pack a punch, expect to see the Lions higher in the standings.

Yale (last NCAA: 1962) The Bulldogs will be hard-pressed to repeat their first division finish this season, as they lost three starters: Ross Morin, who averaged 13-plus points and nearly 6 boards a contest, Travis Pinick (10.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg), and PG Chris Andrews (3.1 ppg, 2.8 apg). The good news for the Elis is that SG Alex Zampier and his 13.2 ppg is back. The Bulldogs have a good stable of frontcourt players, including Jordan Gibson, Greg Mangano, Paul Nelson, and Michael Sands. However, none of them averaged more than 4.1 ppg in 2008-09. The Bulldogs could face UConn in the second round of the North Region of the NIT, but they'd have to get by Hofstra in round one first.

Pennsylvania (last NCAA: 2006) Being relatively close to Philly, I made the trip to the Palestra to see a couple of Penn games last season, and I can tell you that Quaker fans weren't happy with Glen Miller in the middle of the season. They can't be any happier after Penn finished with its first losing Ivy record since 1990-91. If the Quakers can stay healthy, they should be improved this season. Miller has a solid backcourt featuring sophomore PG Zack Rosen and junior SG Tyler Bernardini, that should be even better with the return of senior as SG Darren Smith from a knee injury. However, the Quakers biggest health issues last year were in the frontcourt Jack Eggleston (9.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg) should receive significant support from Swede Andreas Schreiber (2 ppg, 1 rpg in 08-09, 5.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg in 07-08), who missed all but two games last year with a shoulder injury, along with Larry Loughery (who featured in only seven contests), and Justin Reilly (who played in 11).

Harvard (last NCAA: 1946) Tommy Amaker's team seems to be good for one good non-league win a season (Michigan in '07-'08 and Boston College in '08-'09); however, translating those wins into consistent Ivy success is a different story, as the 6 wins recorded last year will attest. Guard Jeremy Lin (17.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg) can do a little bit of everything, and the Crimson will need him to after losing Drew Housman (9.6 ppg, 2.8 apg) and Andrew Pusar (6.4 ppg) from backcourt. Lin should get valuable help from sophomore guard Oliver McNally, who averaged 5.9 points a contest last year and looks to be ready to take on a bigger role this time around. Harvard's frontcourt could be a difference maker as 6-7 Pat Magnarelli and 6-10 Andrew Van Nest return after injuries. They'll join two players who performed admirably last season in their absence, 6-8 Keith Wright (8 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and 6-7 Doug Miller (6.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 70.4% from the field).

Princeton (last NCAA: 2004) The Tigers finished second last year (even if it was three games behind Cornell) and look to be back after some lean years. Head coach Sydney Johnson loses no starters from last year's squad. The Tigers will trot out a backcourt featuring the Ivy's highest scoring freshman, Douglas Davis (12.3 ppg), three-point sharpshooter Dan Mavraides (10.3 ppg, 42.6 from outside), and reliable PG Marcus Schroeder (4.9 ppg, 3 rpg, 3 apg). The Princeton frontcourt, meanwhile, returns starting center Pawel Buczak (7.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and forward Kareem Maddox (5 ppg, 3.5 rpg), along with two key reserves, 6-9 C Zach Finley (4.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and swingman Pat Saunders (5.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

Cornell (last NCAA: 2009) Like the team that should be their closest rivals, Steve Donahue's Big Red also features five returning starters, all seniors. Ryan Wittman (18.5 ppg, 2.8 apg) and Louis Dale (13 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.6 apg) form a truly formidable starting backcourt, made even moreso by the presence of Chris Wroblewski who average 6.7 ppg off bench, while shooting 44.1% from beyond the arc. The frontcourt is equally strong, as seven-footer Jeff Foote (11.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg), F Alex Tyler (6.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg), G/F Geoff Reeves (9 ppg) are all back. Donahue even has newly eligible transfers Mark Coury, a F/C who started at Kentucky, and G Max Groebe (from Massachusetts) at his disposal. The Big Red will need the help in the non-conference part of the schedule, which features road trips to Syracuse, Massachusetts, and Kansas and a home game against Seton Hall.

So, heading into the season, I am picking the Big Red to take their third straight Ivy League crown. You'll see them in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. Now, to wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-Ivy League team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-Ivy League Team

Player of the Year: Ryan Wittman, 6-6 F, Sr. (Cornell)

Remainder of the Team
Louis Dale, 5-11 G, Sr. (Cornell)
Jeff Foote, 7-0 C, Sr. (Cornell)
Jeremy Lin, 6-3 G, Sr. (Harvard)
Matt Mullery, 6-8 F, Sr. (Brown)

Poll

Which team do you pick to win the Ivy League this season?

Brown

3 votes

Columbia

1 votes

Cornell

10 votes

Dartmouth

0 votes

Harvard

2 votes

Penn

2 votes

Princeton

31 votes

Yale

0 votes

49 votes | Poll has closed

Where are College Basketball's top metropolitan areas?

SFBE.NF — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:12:51 -0000

When in doubt...make a list. When you're in the end of August, and many are completey rearing their head towards pennant races and the start of football season, just make a damn list - and you might get some attention.

There's a ton of great college towns in America. We all know them, and we all have spent 4+ years there or maybe a wild weekend in a blur of inebriation. Please, we aren't asking for your stories.

But there's also some major markets in this country that can claim the name as a "College City," where fans ignore their crappy professional teams and fuel the talk radio waves with (basketball) recruiting buzz, conference titles, and a deep run in March.

After the jump are our Five Top College Basketball Metropolitan Areas.

1- Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The area of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill receives its number one ranking almost strictly because of two teams: Duke and UNC. No surprise there. The bad blood between these two schools has solidified itself as one of the best rivalries in all of sports, and for good reason. Ask Dick Vitale about this 8 mile war path that separates the two schools and you will receive a bevy of adjectives (mostly made up words) more fit for a NC-17 movie. Both schools are perennial national championship contenders and have produced 17 National Player of the Year honors, appeared in 21 Final Fours and hold eight National Championship Trophies.

While being in the top 10 all season is expected for both these programs, their rankings are completely irrelevant when they hit the hardwood (well at least Blue Devil fans have been holding on to that statement lately). It’s Duke and UNC and that’s really all that matters.

Success from both sides has generated a lot of verbal shots between their students and fans. While Blue Devil undergrads will tell you that the only trace of intelligent life in Chapel Hill is a sign directing you to Duke’s campus, Tar Heel students have made a hobby of explicitly voicing their opinions on Duke’s top players and their unfavorable sexual preference...and lack of African-American talent.

Completing "The Triangle" is North Carolina State. Located just east of Duke and UNC in Raleigh, NC State is a nationally recognized program and always competitive in the ACC.

2- Philadelphia

In addition to boasting four major professional sports teams, The City of Brotherly Love is also home to a one of a kind tradition in college basketball. The Big 5, comprised of La Salle, Saint Joseph's, Temple, Pennsylvania and Villanova are all located within a 17 mile radius of each other, and many of the games are played at the historic Palestra located on Penn’s campus.

The Big 5 was formed in 1955 and games were played as double or tripleheaders. As schools began to join conferences, conflicts with scheduling arose and it became more difficult to allow all the schools to play each other. By 1991 the format was non-existent, but eight years later the series was back, much to the delight of the fans.

The most notable rivalry within the Big 5 is between St. Joes and Villanova. Dubbed the Holy War for the schools religious affiliations, the game is sort of an inferior vs. superior match-up. St. Joseph's is a smaller school who would love to shake the mid-major label, while 'Nova is in the Big East...and frankly a notch higher on the academic hierarchy.

3- Cincinnati

At first you may question the credibility of this mid-sized Midwestern city, the setting to the now infamous Karen Sypher abortion, as a college hoops hot bed, but consider this: In addition to being the location for the University of Cincinnati and Xavier, two schools separated by just a few unsafe neighborhoods, the city is within 100 miles of Dayton, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami of Ohio and Ohio State. UK plays at least one game a season in Cincy, Andy Kennedy causes trouble in Cincy, and many grads from the nearby universities land jobs here creating a brew pot of bad blood.

The rivalry between XU and UC may not get enough national attention as it deserves. While UC, a public school, has had more success in the past 20 years with 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1992-2005, the Musketeers have won nine of the last 13 meetings. Some say that the rivalry has lost some of its luster with the departure of Bobby Huggins coupled with Xavier's inability to retain a head coach, but true fans in Cincinnati know that the local media hype and hostility between the two sides will continue to exist regardless.

4- Louisville, Kentucky

You can't exclude the Bluegrass state in a ranking like this, so by default Louisville gets the nod. Undoubtedly this will be on of the most anticipated seasons on record for Cardinal and Wildcat fans. From a summer filled with John Calipari and John Wall, Rick Pitino and Karen Sypher, the tides have quickly turned and it may be the school in Lexington with the upper hand as it's grads continue to flock roughly 100 miles to work and start fights with their rival during the weekends.

5- Washington, D.C.-Baltimore

While the top four metropolitan rankings have been predicated on rivalries, the DC-Baltimore area simply boasts a good amount of quality college basketball. Maryland is a perennial powerhouse in the ACC, has won a National Championship in 2002, and have rabid fans that are still probably chanting derogatory comments about JJ Redick's sister. It is also rumored that much of the Chesapeake River water flow begins at Gary Williams post game laundry basket.

Georgetown, one of the more successful teams in the 1980s and 1990s under John Thompson, has re-established themselves in the Big East under his son John Thompson III.

The area is also home to mildly successful George Washington, one-hit wonder George Mason, American University, Coppin St, Howard, Loyola College, Morgan St, Towson St and UMBC.

It is also worth mentioning that Prince George's County is an absloute hot bed for producing major Division I, and in turn NBA, talent

Ultimate Rankings Countdown: 268 - 254

aGent37 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:25:17 -0000

268. Wagner: Veteran coach Mike Deane is coming off his second straight winning season with the Seahawks in which he finished with a respectable 16-14 record. The team saw its fair share of ups and downs but overall they could not expect much more. However, Deane is going to be hard pressed to continue his winning streak beyond the 2009-10 season. The Seahawks will lose four of last year’s starting-five. These four starters; Joey Mundweiler, Jamal Smith, Llew Radford and Justin Drummond were responsible for a staggering 72% of the teams offensive production. This is a big blow to the Wagner team and it will take a while for Deane to rebuild the program.

267. Valparaiso: Homer Drew’s team looked as if they were going to be the Horizon League’s elite team at the start of the 2008-09 season. However the Crusaders ended up disappointing all their supporters by finishing 9-22 with a 5-14 conference record. Things look as if they will get a lot worse as Drew is set to lose his two senior leaders in Urule Igavboa and Jake Diebler. These two were not only the team’s top performers on the court but also led the team off the court as well. With the loss of these two it looks as if the Crusaders struggling offense (60.1 ppg) will be even weaker come the tip-off of the 2009-10 season.

266. Hampton: The 2008-09 Hampton team was incredibly young and inexperienced and coach Kevin Nickelberry was well aware of this. The team consisted of five freshmen and only two seniors. Nickelberry never seemed to really connect with his young players and this was mostly likely the cause of his resignation subsequent to the season. Now that he has bailed this young team will have to start from scratch yet again with interim head coach Edward Joyner calling the shots. Expect many big wins but also many devastating loses from this Pirates team. They will have to learn a new style of play, which will be a major setback in their on-court developmental process.

265. Marist: The Red Foxes showed signs of promise at times during the 2008-09 season but ultimately ended with a 10-23 record. Coach Chuck Martin will return for his second year in Poughkeepsie but still has a lot of work to do before getting his team to where he wants them to be. Martin took over a very unmotivated team and quickly changed them into hard-working athletes. He will face a major holdup as he loses the teams top players Ryan Schneider and guard Kaylen Gregory. Schneider led the team last year in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game. Martin will have a very young team with no standout leader, causing them to drop off a bit from last year.

264. Tennessee Tech: The Golden Eagles started off the season scorching hot as they were victorious in six of their first eight games. However the team quickly began to cool down and by the end of the season they were ice-cold, losing eight of their final nine games. The Eagles struggled on both sides of the ball but more noticeably on defense where they ranked 7^th in the OVC by allowing 73 points per game. Mike Sutton is going to have to really turn this team around to maintain his position as head coach. He will have to do so without Daniel Northern who led the team with 12.6 points per game along with 8.8 rebounds. Players like Northern are very difficult to replace, leaving Sutton with a lot of work before the 2009-10 season.

263. Campbell: The Fighting Camels looked as if they began a new chapter in their basketball program in the 2008-09 season. They had a roster that showed a lot of promise, consisting of eight new players and not one single senior. They finished conference play at 11-9 marking their first winning record in the Atlantic Sun. The 11 wins marked a five game improvement from there six in 2008-09. Coach Robbie Laing was able to put together a lethal bunch of sharpshooters that finished with a 35.5% from beyond the arch. The Fighting Camels are pleased to return their leading scorer Jonathan Rodriguez (15.6 ppg) for the upcoming season. They might be able to make a legitimate run at the conference title if they carry over their lights out shooting from a year ago.

262. Penn: The Quakers had high hopes heading into the 2008-09 season. Glen Miller’s crew was almost a unanimous pick to be a contender for the Ivy League championship. The Quakers seemed to not be able to handle the pressure and ended the year with a 10-18 record mainly due to their poor performance at home in conference play. Last years team was fairly young and seemed promising for the upcoming season. This all changed when their top young player Harrison Gaines announced his intentions of transferring. Gaines scored 9.9 points per game in 2008-09 and was one of the few players that continuously played to his full ability.

261. Southern Utah: Things are on the upside in Cedar City, UT. The Thunderbirds are looking better and showing improvement year-after-year. The team has a top-notch player in Davis Baker coming back to run the SUU offense. Barker averaged a team high of 17.4 points per game making him one of the nations top-100 scorers in 2008-09. The only question for the Thunderbirds is if head coach Roger Reid can assemble a supporting cast to help Baker take the team to the next level. As we all no there is no "I" in team and with out a little help I do not believe SUU will be able to make any improvement.

260. Jacksonville St.: Last years leading scorer Jeremy Bynum will have fine tune his game over the offseason in order for the Gamecocks to have any hopes of a successful 2009-10 season. Bynum will lose two of his fellow starters as Jonathan Toles and DeAndre Bray both graduated last spring. Head coach James Green’s main focus seems to be on tightening up the team’s weak defense. Last season the Gamecocks allowed opponents to shoot 45.9% and average 71 points per game. They have a solid recruiting class coming in that Green feels will be the missing piece to the puzzle.

259. SMU: A disappointing 2008-09 should not put a damper on the Mustangs high hopes for this year. The team will only suffer one loss, big man Bamba Fall to graduation. This means that they will bring back a lot of experience. I would keep an eye out for Paul McCoy who returns to Dallas, TX for his sophomore year. As a freshman McCoy led the team with 13.4 points per game. Another player that has the potential of a great season is point guard Derek Williams. He was not only an impressive scorer but also led the team with 3.5 assists per game.

258. Bethune-Cookman: Clifford Reed Jr. has finally found his go-to guy on offense. Ironically enough it is his son C.J. Reed who proved to be the needed spark to ignite the Wildcat scoring. C.J. averaged 15 points and 3.9 assists per game and looks as if he is capable of putting up even higher numbers this year. The team will lose two role players in Tobias Malone and Kevan Creppy but they were more additional depth and did not play a major role for the team. The only thing standing in the Wildcats way is a much-improved Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. It will be difficult to overcome the increased level of competition but I would not rule anything out with this father-son combo.

257. Lehigh: The Mountain Hawks struggled throughout the 2008-09 season with ice-cold shooting. The team was not able to step up to the challenging defenses from their in-conference rivals and this caused them to fall 5-9 in the Patriot League. They will need big play from Zahir Carrington. He is perfectly capable of this as he averaged 14 points and 8.6 rebounds per game finishing fourth and first in the conference, respectively. Although Carrington is clearly very talented, I am not sure if he is the kind of player that can carry a team by himself. If the Mountain Hawks continue to shoot the ball poorly they will continue with their ever so frequent losing streaks, simple as that.

256. Savannah St.: The Tigers ended the 2008-09 season with a middle-of-the-road 15-14 record. Horace Broadnax’s team will have to find someone to take over for the team’s top-player Chris Linton. Linton led the team in both scoring (9.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 rpg). The absence of Linton will be a setback for the Tigers and could put them a couple steps back from last season. In order to continue to improve, Broadnax will need strong play from his sophomore forward Rashad Hassan. Last season Hassan finished second on the team in scoring and if he gets more aggressive could become a force under the boards. It is going to be a difficult task for the Tigers to lockdown a winning record in 2009-10 but it is defiantly not out of reach.

255. Arkansas St.: It looked as if the Red Wolves were going to have a very promising 2008-09 season as they got out to a 13-7 start. All of a sudden the tempo changed and John Brady’s team found themselves on many losing streaks. The team lacked an offensive presence and finished the season shooting a dismal 43% from the floor. This was mainly due to forced shots and it looks as if the loss of point guard Ifeanyi Koggu will make this matter even worse. Koggu was not necessarily a scoring threat but he did posses the ability to find the open man. Brady will need his star player Donald Boone to expand his game from being solely a scorer to a solid all-around player. This will be a difficult transition for Boone and could take some time before he fully blossoms.

254. UC-Davis: Head coach Gary Stewart will be in search of a scoring threat during the off-season. The Aggies will lose their top player Vince Oliver who was one of the main reasons that the Aggies were even able to win 13 games last season. Oliver is an electrifying scorer that can get it done in the paint or behind the arch. The loss of such a valuable component of the team will be very difficult and in order to bounce back they will need strong play from Joe Harden. As a sophomore Harden averaged 14.8 points per game but it will be interesting to see if he can do this again without Oliver’s presence on the court.

Penn State Basketball Update

BSD — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:00:06 -0000

When we last left our heroes they were about to begin a four game road stretch that was going to go a long way toward determining how successful their season would be. We're three games through that stretch, and so far the results are mixed.

The Nittany Lions started off well with an 85-73 win over Penn at the Palestra. They dominated the first half doubling up the Quakers 49-24 by the intermission. But they coasted in the second half and allowed Penn to cut the lead to ten, but they held on thanks to some solid free throw shooting to get the win. Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle were sensational scoring 24 and 25 points respectively. Cornley chipped in 16 points to go with his 9 rebounds.

Penn State stayed in Philly to take on Rhode Island as part of the Philly Hoop Group Classic. After trailing for most of the game, Penn State rallied and had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Pringle's three point attempt was off the mark and the Nittany Lions suffered their first loss of the season. For the first time this season our guards were outplayed. Jimmy Baron scored 20 points and gave Battle fits on defense all night. Battle finished with 15 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

So Penn State was forced to settle for the consolation game against Towson on Saturday. It was a dangerous game for State. They could have come out hung over and tired from the night before and played down to the level of their inferior opponent. But instead they came out firing on all cylinders and responded with a resounding 78-54 victory. Battle nearly scored a triple-double with 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

What we've learned so far...

Talor Battle is a star and easily the best kept secret in the conference. If he played in the Big East or the Big XII everyone would be talking about him being a future lottery pick. When he and Stanley Pringle are on we can play with anyone in the country.
We are not very deep. Ed is playing just six or seven guys for most of the game. Battle in particular is playing a ton of minutes. If Woodyard and Babb can't get up to speed and allow him to rest for a few minutes here and there I'm afraid we're going to wear down late in the season.
This team has learned how to win away from the Jordan Center. Does everyone remember the big fat egg we layed in the Old Spice Classic last year? Though it would have been nice to beat Rhode Island and get a shot at Villanova, they responded well following the loss and played solid basketball against Towson. Last year they would have never got their mojo back until they went back home.
Somebody has to step up and help Cornley in the paint. Jones took a big step toward that with eight points and 13 rebounds against Towson.

Next up the Nittany Lions travel to Georgia Tech on Wednesday (7:30 PM) to compete in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on ESPN2. Then they return home on Saturday for a huge game against Temple. That game will be televised on the Big Ten Network at 6 PM. We'll have your open threads here.

UNC 86, Penn 71: And Now, Kentucky

T.H. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:49:53 -0000

I've haven't mentioned basketball much this fall, in part because I've had little to say. UNC brought back practically everyone from last year, added an impressive recruiting class, and was unanimous preseason #1. There's only so many ways to say, "This team is going to be good," and I figured most of them had already been said. Then, of course, I had this conversation at the UNC alumni shindig prior to the Maryland debacle:

Fellow UNC Fan: ...and I'm recording the game, in case the rain's so bad we need to find out what happens after the fact.

Me: Ah, but are you also recording the basketball game?

F.U.F: There's a basketball game?

Me: Yep. Against Penn, at four.

F.U.F.: Man, I've really got to start reading the sports page again.

So for those of you I've let down and left without the information you so desperately need: Yes, basketball season has started. It began in what has become a tradition in the last couple of years, with lackluster play against an inferior opponent, but at least it wasn't an embarrassing home loss or anything. The freshmen outperformed expectations - Zeller with 18 points, and Davis with 10 points and 14 rebounds - and the team played well with a good chunk of its senior leadership on the bench and what for Carolina passes for not a lot of depth. After all, when was the last time only seven players had more than fifteen minutes of floor time?

Next up, of course, is UNC-Kentucky, moved over to ESPN and shoved ridiculously early in the basketball calendar as some sort of marathon television stunt. This game in particular deserves better, but it managed to get Bobby Knight in a Carolina blue sweater, so it's still head and shoulders above anything else you'll see before the new year.

The Wildcats return much of the same team that was dispatched by the Heels last year in an orgy of fouling; they lost their go-to shooter Jamal Crawford and point guard Ramel Bradley to graduation. The core of the team is now the Patrick Patterson / Perry Stevenson front line with Jodie Meeks (who missed the UNC game, and much of the season, to injuries) out on the perimeter draining shots right and left. Hansbrough won't play in this game, either, but the matchups for Kentucky are still pretty rough. UNC has interior size the Wildcats can't match, and depth (even short two starters) to keep pace should Kentucky try to outrun the Heels to compensate. Provided the youth holds up - and they're being thrust into the deep end quicker than expected - Carolina should win by a nice eight point margin with the home court advantage.