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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (12/8/2008)

We have already caught up readers on the action from last weekend with our early morning post serving as a Big East Round-up of the weekend’s on-court action. So, this time out, we will take a look at other news and notes around the world of basketball and how it relates to the Big East.

Several recruiting notes to share with an impending decision from Dominic Cheek as well as stories on Big East commits such as Brett Roseboro, Dion Waiters, Markel Starks and a couple Nova commitments teamming up this season. Also, notes on where some Big East coaches were hovering this weekend, including Rick Pitino and assistants from PC, Pitt, SHU and Georgetown.

Also, around the Big East, Pitt might have seen that elusive go-to offensive player develop before their very eyes, Notre Dame has some questions to answer of themselves and Syracuse gets to exhale, finally.

Three Big East teams are in action tonight as Louisville hosts Lamar to close out the Marques Maybin Classic at Freedom Hall. It is the third game in as many days for the Cards. Also, Georgetown will host Savannah State at the Verizon Center and St. John’s welcomes in NJIT to Carnesecca Arena.

Our weekly Big East Power Poll will be released just before 5 PM today…so check back to see where your favorite team grades out at this point of the season.

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The long awaited decision of St. Anthony’s shooting guard Dominic Cheek seems to be coming to a head as ZagsBlog.net reports that Cheek Will Decide this Week, according to St. Anthony assistant coach Ben Gamble.

Cheek has narrowed his choices to Kansas, Memphis and Big East suitors
Villanova, Pittsburgh and Rutgers.

NBE has long believed that Cheek would stay relatively close to home. Cheek is a native of Jersey City (see the excellent video piece put together by Collin Orcutt and Michael Preston of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism: Dominic Cheek: A Star Emerges from City Streets) has made official visits to all five finalists. A recent source with a close tie to a person close to Cheek, has indicated that staying close to home might not be the final decision and believes indications are Kansas will land the highly prized shooting guard. As always in recruiting, we will wait for the final answer…and in truth, it would be a bit of a surprise to us if that is the case.
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Even though Louisville is quite busy with three games in three days, head coach Rick Pitino and his son Richard still managed to head to the western part of the state to do some recruiting at the Marshall County Hoops Fest Saturday night. Stopping in the loaded event around midnight, the Pitino’s were visible watching Findlay (Nev.) Prep School 6-foot-3 junior point guard Cory Joseph.
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Sunday was the third, and final, day of the Hoop Mountain Prep Tournament at Marianapolis Prep in Thompson (CT). The Day One and Day Two Recap (NERR) was highlighted by the events opening game where Syracuse-bound James Southerland led Notre Dame Prep to a win over Forida’s IMG Academy. Southerland tallied 23 points and 11 rebounds against the big frontcourt of IMG.

In the New England Recruiting Report’s Day Three Recap from the Hoop Mountain Prep Tournament (NERR) they note that assistant coaches from Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Providence and Seton Hall were in attendance over the weekend and the IMG frontcourt duo of Dwight Powell and Kyryl Natyzhko, one of the best unsigned players in the class of 2009. NERR believed that the 6-foot-10 Powell, class fo 2010, was the top player of the weekend and was the reason the Big East coaches were there to watch.

Southerland and Providence-commit Johnnie Lacy both drew praise from NERR for their play with ND Prep this weekend.
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Marquette got a late commitment just prior to the early signing period from Brett Roseboro, a 6-foot-9+ Quakertown (PA) senior forward. Roseboro is a definition of a late bloomer as he was not on many high-major radars even through the summer on the AAU circuit. It was not until a few impressive performances this fall in NYC’s IS8 fall league that got the attention as word got out of his improvements. The Panthers’ Roseboro Grows into his Game (The Intelligencer) after an eight-inch growth spurt took his body some time to adjust and allow his skills to catch up. After averaging about 10 points and 12 rebounds as a junior for the 10-14 Panther squad coached by Kevin Keeler, Roseboro was not really regarded as anything more than a Division II or low-level 1-A recruit, but his fall performances led to many schools becoming interested in his potentiel, with the Golden Eagles winning out for his services.
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While 2010 Georgetown-commit Markel Starks will have to make many of the same adjustments competition wise as many of his peers going from high school to the college ranks, there will be some things that will seem very familiar to the 6-foot junior. When Starks is through with his prep career at Georgetown prep, he will go From Little Hoya to Big Hoya (Business Gazette) as he is an early commitment for John Thompson III.

As a sophomore, playing for former Hoya guard Dwayne Bryant, Starks averaged 15.8 points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals per game last season.
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Villanova fans will be glad to hear a couple of their future players are teamming up this season for Montrose Christian. Recently, Montrose Boys Win (Business Gazette) big, 77-18, over Mercersburg Academy. Isaiah Armwood scored 20 and Mouphtau Yarou added 19 points and 6 blocks.
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Over the weekend we profiled 2010 Syracuse recruit Dion Waiters as Waiters is Ballin with Life Center Academy this season. The Philly native is becoming more of a complete backcourt player for Wilson Arroyo’s squad.

Waiters is not the only Life center player on the Big East radar as fellow 2010 prospect Daryus Quarles has heavy interest from the Orange and others, including Connecticut. For more, see our weekend story on the Warriors: Life Center Academy Taking on All in 08-09.
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Some Big East Notes:

This weekend was supposed to be a dress rehearsal for Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis as it hosted its first college basketball games. The environment was supposed to similate a second weekend of NCAA Tournament action as the new Indianapolis Stadium will be one of the four regional finals hosts of the 2009 tournament. It was even expected that Notre Dame would be a likely participant when college hoops returns in March to downtown Indianapolis. However, the ND Effort Puts a Return Trip in Doubt (South Bend Tribune) as Ohio State looked like the tougher team in controlling tempo and the play with their defense.

Irish point guard Tory Jackson realized that the Irish were forced into the preferred tempo of Ohio State, who turned the contest into a grind-it-out game, something the point guard knows he needs to do a better job of avoiding as Jackson Takes the Blame of ND Loss (News Sentinel) upon himself. His coach, Mike Brey, however, found several other factors that the Irish can learn from as a result of the match-up.
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Pittsburgh senior Sam Young showed signs of potential dominence last season in the Big East Tournament, where he was named the MVP as he led the Panthers to the tournament title with four wins in four nights, including victories against Louisville, Marquette and Georgetown in consecutive nights. Young has continued his progression from very good to an elite college basketball player this season as Young Steps into Rare Role as Top Scorer (Post-Gazette) in the Pitt attack. No Panther has finished a season averaging more than 20 points a game since the 1989-1990 season when NBE Big East All-Time Top 50 Player Brian Shorter averaged 20.6 points a game. Through nine games, Young is averaging 20.8 a game for the Panthers. he is also second on the club in rebounding and assists and doing all of it while averaging under 30 minutes a game. As Ray Mernagh announced to our NBE audience last week…is really the Sam I Am show in Pittsburgh, no matter how much DeJuan Blair smiles and reaches a double-double.
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It has been quite an early season whirlwind of games for Syracuse and the Orange have passed all tests with an 8-0 record, all in just 17 days. Now, with a break for finals, the Orange Finally Get a Breather (Syracuse Post-Standard) before returning to action next weekend at home against Long Beach State.

So, while the action on the court will be quiet this week, news off it around SU might be a little more busy. Eric Devendorf could find out his fate from a Judicial Review Board and the football coaching search should also be determined.

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