Connecticut News, Connecticut Recruiting, Providence News, West Virginia News, West Virginia Recruiting

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (10/30/2009)

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

It is a pretty quiet Friday afternoon around the Big East basketball conference on this Halloween eve. In our links for the Big East news and notes we touch on UConn trying to make do with limited size this year. Ater Majok injury update and the status of a possible practice facility in Storrs is also in the news today. West Virginia is set to embark on a highly anticipated season and yesterday they were named in the top 25 of both major polls. However, the missed out on one of their top recruiting targets. Also, Providence College opens up their exhibition schedule on campus, a Big East preview from the South Bend Tribune is available and new NCAA proposals regarding influence gained on the recruitment of prospects takes a step forward towards becoming official rules yesterday.

As mentioned, West Virginia was ranked in both the AP and USA Today top 10′s. While the Big East is considered to be down this season, the conference was well represented in the preseason polls:

AP: Villanova (5), West Virginia (8), UConn (12), Louisville (19), Georgetown (20). Notre Dame, Syracuse and Pitt also received votes.

USA Today: Villanova (6), West Virginia (9), Connecticut (14), Georgetown (21), Louisville (23), Syracuse (25). Notre Dame and Pitt also received votes.

——————

Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun is concerned about an area he has not had to worry too much in the past about with his previous Husky teams: size. UConn got some good news this week as Ater Majok is Back to Practice (Hartford Courant) after sustaining a stress fracture of the left tibia a few weeks ago. Majok is ineligible to play in games for the Huskies until after the first semester in December and until then UConn will be shorthanded up front with Alex Oriakhi, Gavin Edwards and Charles Okwandu handling the duties. It is conceivable that a line-up of Edwards, Stanley Robinson, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and two guards could be used early on as it will be a big key for Connecticut to push the tempo, even more so than in the past.

“I don’t know if we can get into a 50-shot game,” Calhoun told the Hartford Courant. “I think it’s got to be a 60-70 shot game where some of our inexperience won’t show and some of our quickness will show.”

The first exhibition game is Wednesday against American International at the XL Center in Hartford.

On the recruiting front, Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun can sell UConn basketball to potential recruits based on his resume, 13 former players playing in the NBA, three final fours and two national championships. He also hopes to be able to talk of the University community’s commitment to basketball in the near future with updated facilities, including a basketball-only practice facility to rival new buildings on the campuses of other Big East programs. It might be a while before UConn catches schools like Louisville and Syracuse in the practice facility arms race, but Calhoun is Encouraged by Facility Talks (Hartford Courant) going forward.
——————————————————————————-

Bob Huggins certainly has things going very well at West Virginia and learning that his Mountaineers were ranked in the top 10 by poth major polls, the USA Today Coaches Poll and AP Writers Poll, yesterday confirms the high expectations of the 2009-2010 season.

However, the News is Not All Good for WVU’s Huggins (Charleston Gazette) as the news spread yesterday that Adreian Payne Committed to Michigan State over the Mountaineers.

West Virginia was believed to be in very good position to land Adreian Payne following his official visit during the Mountaineer Madness celebration where WVU students showed Payne major attention, which has caught the attention of the NCAA for possible secondary recruiting violations. However, as the wait for a commitment continued, Michigan State solidified their position and even a last-minute visit from Huggins could not turn things back to WVU’s favor.

The next top target for the Mountaineer staff is Tobias Harris, who has an official visit scheduled for Morgantown next Friday.
———————————————————————————–

For the first time since an exhibition game against the Russian National Team on Jan. 22, 1978, the Friar men’s team will play a game at Alumni Hall as PC’s Alumni Hall Hosts Exhibition Kickoff (Providence Journal) between Providence and Merrimack College, a pre-season top 10 school in the NCAA Division II ranks.
———————————————————————————–

Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune takes an in-depth look at the 2009-2010 Big East and looks at key questions on nearly each and every team. There is a Tough Act to Follow for Big East Clubs this season and Noie alo looks at the players you need to know about this year.
———————————————————————————-

The NCAA is Tightening Up Teams’ Hiring Processes (Louisville Courier-Journal) as a proposal banning the hiring of someone associated with a recruit to a noncoaching position was approved by the NCAA Division I Board and was sent along for ratification through the NCAA’s legislative process. It could be voted on by an NCAA legislative committee in January.

The board also approved a series of rule clarifications to “to eliminate the funneling of money to gain access to recruits” that would ban the following, effective immediately:

- Paying someone associated with a recruit to work a camp or clinic.
- Allowing someone associated with a recruit to volunteer at a camp or clinic.
- Paying a consulting fee to someone associated with a recruit.
- Paying excessive fees for “recruiting service” material of little value.
- Donating to a nonprofit that runs a nonscholastic basketball program.
- Calling a 1-900 service that connects to a recruit or anyone associated with a recruit.
———————————————————————————–

Be Sociable, Share!

•