Connecticut News, DePaul News, Louisville News, Louisville Recruiting, Marquette News, Notre Dame News, Pittsburgh News, Providence News, Syracuse News, Syracuse Recruiting, USF News, Villanova News, West Virginia News, West Virginia Recruiting

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/9/2009)

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

Well the 2009-2010 season is upon us and Syracuse will look to earn a major milestone victory tonight when they host Albany to tip off the college basketball season. Many of the teams in the Big East will open play this week and Pitt, UConn, Notre Dame, Providence, DePaul, Marquette and WVU had final tune-ups over the weekend against lower level programs in exhibition games.

Elsewhere, today, a recruiting update on Tobias Harris as well as preview articles and stories on South Florida, Villanova and Louisville for readers to check out.

A little later this afternoon we will have Ray Mernagh’s first Belly of the BE-ast article of the new season. Tomorrow the NBE team will start releasing their preseason awards and power poll results after all the votes are cast and counted. For now, check up on all the news from the weekend below…

—————–

The 2009-2010 college basketball season gets underway officially tonight and the Syracuse Orange look to make it a party as Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim looks to earn coaching career victory #800 when SU welcomes Albany to the Dome for a 9 PM tip.

The University at Albany is the invited guest/victim in the first round of the 2K Sports Classic to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer, which can been seen on ESPNU, but the Danes Look to Crash Coach’s Party Albany Times-Union) and may have given UAlbany some hope with their recent exhibition loss to D-II LeMoyne.

For the Orange, this game is important in more than just getting that season-opening win. On one hand, SU needs to put the LeMoyne memory behind them and move forward by distancing themselves from that game. On the other hand, Syracuse Aims for Boeheim’s 800th Win in Season Opener (Syracuse Post-Standard), a milestone that would join Boehiem with Duke’s coach K and UConn’s Jim Calhoun as the only active coaches with 800 or more wins. The milestone is easily secondary in Boeheim’s mind as he looks to prepare a young SU backcourt that is dealing with the loss of juniors Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris to the professional ranks after last season.
———————————————————————————–

I am still trying to digest the halftime score of last night’s exhibition game between Pittsburgh and Division II Coker College: 41-6. Coker went over 16 and a half minutes of the game before they made a field goal. While the competition was something to be desired, Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon was please with how much Pitt Improves in Easy 83-40 Win over Coker (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) over their first exhibition game a week earlier over Slippery Rock.

The Panthers open the regular season Friday night at home versus Wofford.

On Sunday, redshirt freshman Travon Woodall may have taken another step forward in his quest to earn the starting point guard position in replace of Levance Fields who graduated after last season. Woodall Makes a Nice Impression in the Win (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) scoring a game-high 21 points in 22 minutes. Woodall was eight of 10 from the field and added three assists. Junior Gary McGhee added 13 points.

With Jermaine Dixon already out with injury and Gilbert Brown on suspension from the University until mid-December, the last thing Pittsburgh would need is an injury. The Panthers received a mild scare when starting forward Nasir Robinson left the game in the 1st half with a painful looking left finger injury. Robinson’s Injury is No Reason for concern (Tribune-Review), however, as the dislocated finger was put back into place and coach Dixon believed the sophomore could have came back into the game, but was held out as a precaution.
——————————————————————————

After a brief delay as the NCAA was awaiting some documentation from Connecticut guards Donnell Beverly and Jerome Dyson, who were both held out of UConn’s exhibition win over American International College last week, Compliance Clears Dyson and Beverly (ESPN) for the 2009-2010 season and a Patched-up Dyson Scores 32 in UConn’s Final Preseason Tune-up (Stamford Advocate) on Sunday.

Dyson, who was chomping at the bit to see his first game action since suffering a season-ending knee injury last February 11th and being held out of the opening exhibition game for compliance matters, almost missed his opportunity on Sunday, too. A couple hours prior to the game Dyson Rips Apart his Big Toe Entering Gampel Pavilion (Hartford Courant) and had to get the nail stiched back on, a shot to numb the pain and have the toe heavily bandaged just to play. The result, 32 points, 6 assists and 4 steals in 27 minutes in an 88-50 win over UMass-Lowell.

Point guard Kemba Walker added 15 points and 7 assists and freshman Alex Oriakhi continues to put his stamp on the starting center position by scoring nine points and grabbing 14 rebounds in 32 minutes. UConn will open their season Friday night against William & Mary at Gampel Pavilion.
————————————————————————————

It is going to be an exciting season in Morgantown for followers of West Virginia basketball and fans might have gotten a little preview on Sunday as WVU Whips Mountain State in a Hoops Exhibition (Daily Mail) 104-82.

Kevin Jones came off the bench to score 21 points and grab 10 rebounds with Devin Ebanks adding 19 points and 10 rebounds and Da’Sean Butler filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists before 7,114 at the Coliseum in the contest.

A pair of names familiar to Big East fans suited up for Mountain State as former Cincinnati Bearcats Alvin Mitchell (33 points) and Nick Aldridge (29 pts, 11 rebs) put up big numbers in the contest. Englishman Paul Sturgess, who measures in at 7-foot-8, also plays for Mountain State. Sturgess had one rebound in four minutes of action.

WVU freshman Deniz Kilicli played 19 minutes on Sunday. The 6-foot-9 freshman who is suspended for the first 20 games because he played on a team with professionals in his native Turkey before coming to the United States and attending Mountain State Academy last year made a solid impression in his last game action until February. Kilicli Shows Skills in Exhibition (Times of West Virginia) scoring eight points on 4 for 6 shooting, grabbing six rebounds, registering a pair of assists, blocking two shots and making a steal.

Junior guard Joe Mazzulla sat out the exhibition due to inflammation in the shoulder that caused him to miss most of last season. Coach Bob Huggins said Mazzulla could have played and should see the court in Sunday’s opener against Loyola Maryland at the Coliseum.

JUCO transfer Casey Mitchell showed off his scoring prowess with 19 points in 22 minutes for the Mountaineers.
—————————————————————————————-

Providence head coach Keno Davis has continually sang the praises of redshirt sophomore Jamine Peterson for the work he put in while sitting out last season to improve his game. Fans got a glimpse of that improvement on Saturday as Peterson Gets a Lot Done (Providence Journal) on the court in the Friars’ 91-55 exhibition win before 6532 fans at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center over Stonehill.

Peterson scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked four shots and had two steals in a very productive 23 minutes. Junior Marshon Brooks had a game-high 21 points for the Friars who open their season this weekend at the Dunk in the World Vision Invitational with games against Bryant, Bucknell and Mercer on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

In an effort to draw more fans on Saturday, PC Cuts Some Ticket Prices to $5 (Providence Journal) for the game with Bucknell, as well as six other games this season.
——————————————————————————————–

Notre Dame was in action back on Friday night as Slow & Steady Wins it for Irish (South Bend Tribune) in a 75-54 exhibition victory over Division II Quincy (Ill.) University at Purcell Pavilion.

As is the norm, Luke Harangody based the Irish with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He continues to show his willingness to step out beyond the arc and he connected on three of four three’s in the win. Mississippi State transfer Ben Hansbrough finished with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds for Notre Dame who opens the regular season Saturday afternoon against North Florida.
———————————————————————————-

Marquette was in action Saturday afternoon in their lone exhibition contest before opening the season Friday at home against Centenary College. Lazar Hayward scored a game-high 24 points leading MU to a 106-47 exhibition win over the Milwaukee School Of Engineering. After falling behind MSOE 2-0, Marquette ran off the next 23 points and never looked back, scoring 53 points in each half, leading 53-25 at the half.

On a team looking for some backcourt help, David Cubillan had a very solid game with 12 points and 9 assists and showing he can run the team and play off the ball as well. Cubillan States His Case (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) for the starting point guard spot that senior Maurice Acker currently holds. Cubillan is much more of a threat to make shots at the lead guard position and that might be a tipping point in the battle to succeed Dominic James this year.

JUCO transfer Dwight Buycks came off the bench to score 15 points and starting forward Jimmy Butler had 14 points and 10 rebounds in support of Hayward. Sophomore big man Chris Otule also scored 14 off the bench.
——————————————————————————–

DePaul gave their fans their lone look at the Blue Demons in exhibition action over the weekend as DePaul Defense Dominated Chicago (ChicagoNow.com) 81-36 at McGrath Arena.

Starters Will Walker and Devin Hill had 15 points a piece to lead the Blue Demons’ efforts on offense as the Big East squad led their Division III opponents 47-12 at intermission.

DePaul will open their regular season schedule a week from tomorrow (November 17) agains Columbia before heading to the Paradise Jam which tips off Friday, November 20th.

JUCO transfer Mike Stovall was held out of the exhibition because of a sprained ankle. He is likely to be ready next week when the season begins.
——————————————————————————–

South Florida opens up this season this Friday in Dallas against SMU. Quietly, their is some optimism out of Tampa with the 2009-2010 season as USF’s Men’s Basketball Team is Looking for Steady Progress This Season (St. Pete Times) as they hope to begin the move upward in the bIg East standings and become closer to competing in the conference.

Here is a good article on Dominique Jones as For Jones, Time to Win at USF (Lake Wales News).
——————————————————————————–

For all you need to know to follow the Louisville Cardinals this season, check out the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Louisville Men’s Basketball Preview as UL Brings on the Guards in 2009-2010. Also, with Terrence Williams and Earl Clark leaving for the NBA as lottery picks following last season, Louisville is Rebuilding Around the ‘Incredible Hulk’ (Courier-Journal) as Samardo Samuels is the new center piece of the team. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 11.4 points and 4.9 rebounds en route to being named to the Big East Conference all-rookie team last season.

Any successful team needs to have role players that accept their role and excel in the niche created for them. Junior guard Preston Knowles looks to have done that with UL as Knowles’ Niche is the ‘Best 6th Man in College Basketball’ (Lexington Herald-Leader) according to Pitino.

With all the controversy that has swirled around Rick Pitino off the court, the start of the season comes as a relief to the head coach as Basketball Keeps Pitino in Focus (Courier-Journal).
———————————————————————————

Villanova opens their highly anticipated season this Friday night when they host Fairleigh Dickinson at 7 PM. Coming off a Final Four run last season, expectations are high for the Wildcats with their highly regarded recruiting class and key holdovers from last year’s team. Pushing last year into the past, ‘Nova is Low Key on the High Expectations (Philadelphia Inquirer) this season as many new faces will need to be brought up to speed as they go.
——————————————————————————–

West Virginia took their turn to host elite forward recruit Tobias Harris over the weekend. Harris is Back from WVU (ZagsBlog.com) and tells Adam Zagoria it was a good time.

“I had a good time, I liked it,” the 6-foot-8 Harris told Zags Sunday night by phone. “I got to chill with the guys, see the practice facility and see the campus life.”

Harris would have an immediate opportunity to slide into the position of current WVU senior forward Da’Sean Butler and have the potential to make a bigger impact if Devin Ebanks turns pro like many expect him to do after the season.

Harris has now visited Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville and West Virginia with Maryland and Georgia Tech due up in the next week before making a decision on November 19th.