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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/12/2008)

Not only is today the first day of the early signing period for class of 2009 prospects to sign their Letters of Intent with the college of their choice, but the Big East will be naming their new commissions, who will replace Mike Tranghese after the season. According to ESPN, Sources Indicate John Marinatto Will Follow Tranghese as Big East Commish.

Marinatto, a Providence graduate, is a current associate commissioner of the Big East and a former PC sports information director and athletic director. Marinatto has worked under Tranghese since 2002.

As for today’s Big East News & Notes, big, big edition. We have several exhibition summaries from both Monday and Tuesday along with recruiting notes and team updates that in some form or another touches base on ALL 16 Big East teams. This edition is jam packed…

Exhibition Action:

Expectations for Rutgers seems to be slowly building under Fred Hill Jr., the third year coach. RU is Looking to Bounce Back from a Difficult season (Woodbridge Sentinel) and the additions of Mike Rosario and Greg Echenique is as good of a start as any.

The frosh duo did their part to rise expectations in Monday’s exhibition 91-56 win over Division II Caldwell College. Rosario Shined in Debut (Scarlet Scuttlebut) in front of the RU fans by scoring 23 points, including a blistering 18 in the first half.

Echenique added 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks while junior Hamady N’Diaye was credited with a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks.

All is not quite rosy (or should I say scarlet), however, for RU. Highly regarded junior Corey Chandler was in street clothes on the bench next to previously suspended seniors JR Inman and Jaron Griffin. Chandler say out with what was termed ‘personal issues’ by head coach Fred Hill. Sources with knowledge of the situation indicate that Chandler may have briefly left the team in the last week. It is a situation to keep an eye on…
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Northern Kentucky is making the rounds of some of the Big East teams on the exhibition schedule. After playing Louisville tough over the weekend when the Cards travelled to their gym, the Norse took a trip to Cincinnati to meet the Bearcats. Mick Cronin’s Bearcats Will Be Improved this Season (Cincinnati.com) and their 73-61 win over NKU showed some signs of it.

Deonta Vaughn led UC with 24 points, but he also committed six turnovers (making it 11 over two exhibition games) as he is being asked to score the bulk of the points and run the offense now that frosh Cashmere Wright has been lost for the year. As a team, UC committed 17 turnovers last night.

Senior forward Mike Williams scored 14 points with six rebounds for UC. Freshman forward Yancy Gates had eight points with four rebounds in 19 minutes.
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South Florida got 27 points from Jesus Verdejo as they won their final exhibition over the University of Tampa. Chris Howard added 18 points and Dominique Jones chipped in with his passing as he racked up 11 assists as USF 79 UT 64 (Tampa Bay 10) was the final score.

Another USF note is that Freshman Guard Gaby Belardo is considering Transferring (St. Pete Times) from the program. The Bulls have had a tremendously high rate of roster turnover under Stan Heath, not only among the holdovers from the previous coaching staff, but several of Heath’s recruits have also left, not including the academic casualties of a year ago that included Dwan McMillan, now at Miami-Dade CC, Teen Akol, who is now at Oklahoma State and still awaiting NCAA clearance at last check and Eugene Teague, who returned for another season of prep school at Apex Academies and recently took an unofficial visit to Big East school Seton Hall last weekend.
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More Big East Notes:

Georgetown will reload this year after seeing a lot of experience and talent leave the program since last season due to graduation and a couple transfers. While the spotlight of the league favorite or Final Four expectations from the press might not be placed on the Hoyas this November, Something is Oddly Familiar (Washington Times) with this Hoya squad and the one from two seasons ago that reached the Final Four.

The Hoyas open their season Monday versus Jacksonville. The key area to watch for the Hoyas is how physical they will be willing to get in the Big East this season.
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After back-to-back trips to the NIT, Syracuse is determined to dance this season in the NCAA Tournament. However, in this loaded Big East, SU is a team that is being overlooked, by many, including in certain areas you would not expect as Orange Optimism Isn’t Running Rampant (AuburnPub.com) even with the season just days away.

Also, meet SU’s ’Energy Guy’ (Syracuse Post-Standard): Kristof Ongenaet.
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Last season injuries played a major disruption in the Pittsburgh season. Already this year injuries have hit the club hard as they prepare for Friday’s opener with Farleigh Dickinson as expected starters Gilbert Brown and Levance Fields will likely not play. However, the Panthers continue to plow forward and Recruits Help Ease No. 5 Pitt Through the Injuries (Lebanon Daily News).
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Connecticut was left reeling when small forward Nate Miles was expelled from the University for violating a judge issues restraining order against a fellow female student. With Stanley Robinson working at a sheet metal factory and Ater Majok waiting to clear the NCAA Eligibility Center, line-up uncertainty hit the Huskies. However, the immediate success of Kemba Walker and the versatility of guards Jerome Dyson and AJ Price along with Craig Austrie and freshman shooter Scottie Haralson means that Backcourt Depth Gives UConn Line-up Options (Norwich Bulletin) that are numerous.

In an odd story, apparently Hasheem Thabeet called out Luke Haraongody in the ESPN The Magazine’s college basketball preview issue as saying he did not see much last year in the conference’s Player of the Year. Apparently, Thabeet is not a ‘Gody Guy (South Bend Tribune). Thabeet has said he intends to apologize to Harangody, coach Mike Brey as well as Tyler Hansbrough, who he also commented about in the story, that he thought was being said as a ‘joke’.

Expectations are high for both the Connecticut men’s and women’s teams this season. One area that colleges are wondering what will happen is the impact that the nation’s economic problems will have on their ‘business.’ After all, most college programs are competing for fans to spend their entertainment dollars with their program, much like TV contracts are also driven by advertising revenue which is spent by the major corporations and businesses that have many scaling back their expenditures. The Connecticut Post wonders aloud: Will the Bad Economy Hurt UConn Basketball? It is a question many athletic departments have around the country.
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One of the major questions folks had regarding West Virginia this season was who would replace the go-to scoring ability of Joe Alexander? Answer might be junior Da’sean Butler. The drawback on Butler previously was he might be too unselfish to score a high amount of points regularly. After his 38 point exhibition game performance against Mountain State, just maybe Butler Might Remind Mountaineers of No Ordinary Joe (Daily Mail).
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Butler’s high school teammate, Casseim Drummond, is a key player at Villanova this season. Drummond is the biggest Wildcat and battled an injured ankle last season the required off-season surgery. A Healthy Drummond Could be Pivotal for ‘Nova (DelcoTimes.com) this season.
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The transformation of Notre Dame star Luke Harangody continues as Harangody Develops into a Leader at ND (Indianapolis Star).

While Harangody gets it done inside, Kyle McAlarney helps him create space with his long-range shooting. Despite his strong junior season, ND’s McAlarney is Still Shooting Down Naysayers (5 Boro Sports).
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The Mike Glover saga with Seton Hall has come to a conclusion as Glover is No Longer at SHU (ZagsBlog.net). The Pirates also continue to await word on the eligibility Melvyn Oliver who has yet to be cleared by the NCAA.
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Jerry Carino’s Hoops Haven blog has his Cystal Ball as he takes a look at the year he expects from Seton Hall and Rutgers. He expects both to fall in at 6-12 in the Big East.

Recruiting Notes:

Signing Day New & Notes:

It seems like Malik Wayns has been part of the Villanova program for years. Well, today is the day it becomes official as Wayns is to Finally Sign With Villanova (Philadelphia Inquirer), 16 months after giving Jay Wright a verbal commitment in the summer after his sophomore year.
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Rutgers received a verbal commitment in the middle of last season from Dane Miller. Today, Rush-Henrietta’s Miller Will Sign With Rutgers (Rochester D&C) making the union official.
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Today is the day that Chicago’s Whitney Young HS point guard Chris Colvin will make his college decision. Big East schools such as Providence and Marquette have long been in the mix and even Connecticut has made a late play to get into the mix. PC Hopes Point Guard Colvin is Pointed in it’s Direction (Providence Journal) when he makes his pick. This is a player that is a perfect fit for Keno Davis’ system and would give the new Friar coach his point guard of the future.
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Time to Sign those Letters of Intent says the Daily Herald. DePaul is expecting one this week, from JUCO G/F Mike Stovall, a Chicago Marshall grad, who attends Mineral Area CC after playing briefly at Oregon State last season.
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Connecticut guard Kemba Walker has indicated to the Hartford Courant that his former Rice (NY) HS teammate Durand Scott will decide between the Huskies and Miami. Pittsburgh has also been a finalist of Scott’s as well. The Latest on Scott from ZagsBlog.net indicates a decision will not come today, but could come at anytime during, or after, the early signing period which runs from today through November 19th.

More Recruiting Notes:

According to the latest Recruiting Blurbs from Illinois Preps Bulls-eye, Lavonte Dority or Chicago’s Foreman High School has recently picked up scholarship offers from Seton Hall and Marquette. Dority is a member of the class of 2010.

Stanford has joined Notre Dame in hot pursuit of 6-foot-2 shooting guard Ben Brust of the class of 2010. Brust attends Mundelein High School in Mundelein, IL.

Marquette, Indiana and Notre Dame have all been in to see the highly regarded 6-foot class of 2012 guard Cameron Harvey from St. Joseph High School in Westchester, IL.
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Recruits in Action:

Many Big East targets and a few commitments were in action yesterday as Oak Hill (VA) ran past Mountain State Academy 85-63. West Virginia commitment for the class of 2010 Noah Cottrill scored a game-high 27 points for Mountain State. The 6-foot-2 junior guard impressed Oak Hill coach Steve Smith as he also added five assists, six rebounds and two steals while being matched up against Oak Hill senior guard ’Mo Mo’ Jones, who has offers from Seton Hall and Cincinnati, among others) and Doron Lamb, a 2010 recruit with offers from Louisville, St. John’s and others.

Jones, a former Rice (NY) High School guard hit seven three’s in the game, including six in a row at one point.

Cottrill transferred this summer from Poca High School after being named the 2008 Kanawha Valley Player of the Year. The transfer has left some hard feeling around the hometown and Cottrill, Still Hearing Echoes from Poca, Scores 27 in Big Game (Daily Mail) against Oak Hill.
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Here is a little JUCO game action as Indian Hills blasted Westchster the other night, 91-55. Indian Hills is a JUCO power with Marquette commitment Dwight Buycks, who scored 11 in the contest. Westchester was led by Jarrid Famous’ 16 points. Famous is being recruited by several Big East schools, most notably Seton Hall, Connecticut, West Virginia and St. John’s.

The Indian Hills Warriors Host John Wood Tonight (Ottumwa Courier).

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