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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/2/2009)

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There are plenty of news and notes of interest on this Monday morning. There were a couple of verbal commitments made to Big East schools over the weekend and Tobias Harris is on a visit as we speak with a Big East school. Where will Harris land? Nobody seems to know as he has the poker face of the hardest to read Texas Hold’em player you see in the World Series of Poker shows on TV when it comes to questions on his recruiting.

Three Big East teams were in action in exhibition games over the weekend which featured three impressive individual performances for the winners over D-II opponents. Also, Cincinnati is hoping the fresh faces combine with the returning vets for a big season. PC hosted a NJ high school visitor for their Saturday exhibition game. UConn looks for a more conistent Stanley Robinson this year and Dan Jennings took the long road, but he has made it to the Big East where he will be counted on to provide some muscle for WVU this year.

Wonder how some of the former Big East stars are doing in the NBA? You can follow the action at NBE’s Association Report on the NBE Sports Network!

Read on for the rest of today’ News & Notes around the Big East…

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While Syracuse is still putting the finishing touches on an elite recruiting class for 2010, the Orange have struck on the trail for the 2011 class as 2011 Prospect Michael Carter-Williams Commits to Syracuse (Syracuse Post-Standard) over the weekend.

As a sophomore at the St. Andrews School in Rhode Island, the 6-foot-5 Carter-Williams averaged 13 points a game playing guard for coach Mike Hart.

“He’s been up there for the past two years at their elite camp,” Hart told Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard. “He fell in love with the place. He absolutely loves. I thought he was going to commit in August.”

According to the Post-Standard, Carter-Williams also held scholarship offers from Providence, Notre Dame, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
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Also picking up a commitment this weekend was South Florida as Waverly Austin, who visited USF this past weekend, decided to pledge to the Bulls. The 6-foot-10 Center Austin Commits to USF Hoops (St. Petersburg Times) and joins recently committed Chicago guard Lavonte Dority in Stan Heath’s 2010 recruiting class.

“I just felt like when I was spending time with my teammates, I had a good feel for them,” Austin told Greg Auman of the St. Petersburg Times. “I feel like I fit in real good there and an can max out all my potential.”

Austin is finishing out his prep career at Heat Academy in Martinsville (VA). He recently visited Cincinnati and was fielding interest from Seton Hall and UConn.
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Also on the recruiting front, it is the home stretch for Long Island forward Tobias Harris as the highly touted 6-foot-8 forward is checking out Louisville currently. Harris is Making Trip to Louisville (Courier-Journal) over the course of Sunday and Monday with a November 19th announcement date planned for his college decision. Harris has visited Syracuse, Tennessee and Kentucky, and he’s expected to see Maryland, West Virginia and Georgia Tech prior to the announcement of his decision.
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His freshman season at his hometown University of Cincinnati was full of Lessons Learned for Yancy Gates (Cincinnati Enquirer). After finishing the season with averages of 10.6 points and 6.1 rebounds, playing an average of 23.3 minutes per game, Gates believes the lessons of his rookie season are a prelude to what he will accomplish in his career. With the added experience, the Cincinnati – Withrow HS graduate looks to be more a more consistent force in the Big East this season.

Gates is one of three starters returning for Mick Cronin’s Cincinnati club this year. Along with all-league performer Deonta Vaughn, the duo was expected to be the stalwarts of a team hoping to rise in the conference standings. But, the big story around UC this season is their talented new comers, led by uber-hyped recruiting jewel Lance Stephenson as the New Talent Raises UC Hopes (Cincinnati Enquirer) for a trip to the NCAA Tournament this year.
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Well, DeJuan Blair has moved on to the NBA ranks and left a majo hole in the expected Pittsburgh attack this season. However, McDonald’s All-American Dante Taylor took major steps in showing Panther fans last night that the cupboard is not bare in Jamie Dixon’s frontcourt. It was an Impressive Debut for Pitt Freshman Taylor (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) against Division II Slippery Rock in an exhibition game at the Peterson Events Center last night. The prized recruit scored 27 points, shooting nine of 11 from the floor and the line and grabbed nine rebounds in 23 minutes of action in Pitt’s 75-64 win.

With Slippery Rock launching three-pointers time and again, an early hot streak had the D-II foes up 20-13 just over 10 minutes into the contest. The Panthers then assumed control, outscoring SRU 48-23 over the next 20 minutes to go ahead 61-43 with just over nine minutes left in the game. After another hot spurt from three by the visitors cut the lead into single digits, it was too little too late as the Panthers held on for the win.

Sophomore Nasir Robinson added 11 points in the win for Pitt, who held Slippery Rock to 29% shooting fromt he field in the game.
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Notre Dame was also in action on Sunday, hosting Division II Lewis (IL) University at Purcell Pavilion. The Big East coaches preseason player of the year, Luke Harangody was in mid-season form and the Irish needed that. Harangody Powers Irish in Exhibition (South Bend Tribune) with 33 points and 9 rebounds in the 70-54 win.

Harangody connected on 15 of 25 field goal attempts (17 more attempts than any other Irish player), including one of five from beyond the arc, while playing 36 of the 40-minute contest.

ND looked to have things in relative control, up 32-25 at the half and leading by as many as 16 in the first half. However, a 28-10 run by the visitors spanning the end of the first half and first six minutes of the second half had Lewis leading 44-42 with 14:06 left. At that point, Harangody took over scoring 10 of the next 12 for the Irish in a 12-2 run.

Ben Hansbrough added 12 points and 7 rebounds for the Irish. Notre Dame predominately played just seven players, who accounted for 198 of the 200 available minutes. The bench provided just 4 points and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes and freshman Joey Brooks and Mike Broghammer played just a minute each.
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In contrast to the Irish, Providence saw 11 players receive at least 10 minutes of playing time each as the PC Friars Win Exhibition Opener 97-74 over Merrimack College (Providence Journal) at Alumni Hall on Saturday.

Junior Marshon Brooks led the winners with 33 points and 8 rebounds in 27 minutes and redshirt freshman Bilal Dixon added 16 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks off the bench in just 17 minutes. Senior Sharaud Curry contributed 15 points and 6 assists to the cause.

The Friars played without redshirt sophomore Jamin Peterson who sat out the contest as a precaution due to minor injuries. Peterson is expected to be a major contributor at forward this season.

Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal also reported that Myles Mack, a junior point guard from New Jersey (Paterson Catholic), was at the game as a guest of Providence.
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Turkish frosh Deniz Kilicli was expected to add some bulk and tughness underneath for Bob Huggins’ West Virginia Mountaineers this season. However, the NCAA ruled that his participation with a professional team in his native country warranted a 20-game suspension to start the 2009-2010 season. That ruling will likely put fellow freshman Danny Jennings more predominately into the rule of inside banger for the first 2/3′s of the season. Jennings’ Long Road Brings Him to WVU (Times West Virginian) and the 6-foot-8, 260-pounder looks to contribute right away now he is here.
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With Connecticut seeing AJ Price, Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie graduate and Hasheem Thabeet exit for the NBA Draft Lottery, it is going to be Stanley Robinson’s turn for the Huskies in 2009-2010. The UConn career to this point of the smooth 6-foot-8 wing has been anything but smooth as he has been in and out of the starting line-up and spent several months away from the basketball program last year. Now, the Huskies Need Robinson to Produce Nightly (Waterbury Rep-Am) and live up to his advanced billing as a top NBA prospect.
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South Florida faces a tough climb in the Big East but they hope that this is the season progress begins to show. South Florida is Hoping to Make Strides in the Big East (Tampa Tribune) this season led by high-scoring Dominique Jones and JUCO addition Jarrid Famous.
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