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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (11/10/2009)

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The 2009-2010 season is underway and the Syracuse Orange put any memory of an embarrasing exhibition loss behind them to earn Jim Boeheim a major milestone victory in the Carrier Dome Monday over a neighboring rival. While the news at SU is much better today than last week, Seton Hall is dealing with their own adversity just days before their season of high hopes is underway. A key member of their team was arrested early Monday morning for his role in a wrong-way accident that caused injuries on the Parkway. Not good news…

Elsewhere, UConn gets good news on the eligibility of an expected freshman contributor while some questions have arisen about the age of one of ‘Nova’s big recruits in their celebrated freshman class. Pitt is still awaiting for a timetable for Jermaine Dixon to return to action. Also, stories on Deniz Kilicli and his handling of his 20-game NCAA imposed suspension, answers learned from Notre Dame’s exhibition wins and Marquette seniorLazar Hayward staying grounded even as one of the top players in the Big East.

Read these stories below in today’s News & Notes and check back today for MUCH, MUCH more on the way…
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It was a milestone night at the Carrier Dome for Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim as Syracuse tipped off the 2009-2010 season Monday. Boeheim Gets Win #800 as Syracuse Beats Albany (Syracuse Post-Standard), 75-43, putting the memories of the exhibition loss to LeMoyne well in the past.

It is not to say things were pretty, even in a 32-point victory. The Orange turned the ball over 21 times, were poor from the foul line (15-31) and beyond the arc (2-17), but this Boeheim team is built for the SU signature 2-3 zone and their length, quickness and ability to trap out of it forced 32 Albany turnovers. In their exhibition against LeMoyne, SU played very little zone defense…

The 32 turnovers committed by Albany was a school record, surpassing the previous high of 28 set back in 2001 against Ohio State. The Danes Gift Wrap #800 (Albany Times-Union) with their inability to take care of the basketball against the Orange zone.

Syracuse used a balance attack offensively, placing five players in double figures, led by senior Arinze Onuaku who was six of seven from the field and two of five from the charity strip for 14 points. Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson stuffed the stat sheet for the Orange with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists while Kris Joseph and ‘Scoop’ Jardine each added 12 points off the bench. Rick Jackson connected on all four of his shots from the field and two of four from the line to score 10.

Brandon Triche started at the point over Jardine and scored eight points in his debut, but turned the ball over six times compared to just three assists. Jardine finished with four assists and just one turnover in the contest.

Senior Andy Rautins went scoreless, missing all six field goal attempts, including four from beyond the arc. Rautins injured his Ankle in SU Win (Post-Standard), leaving the game and not returning with 14 minutes left in the second half. After the game Rautins was in a walking boot and will be getting treatment ahead of Wednesday night’s contest with Robert Morris at the Carrier Dome as part of the 2009 Coaches vs. Cancer event. The Orange will move to Madison Square Garden to face Cal on November 19th in the semifinals with North Carolina and Ohio State on the other side. Link below for tickets…

Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Tickets – Semifinals (Syracuse vs. Cal; North Carolina vs. Ohio State) November 19 2009

A great night of basketball for a great cause!!
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While they are celebrating in central New York, the mood is much different around the Seton Hall program with police reporting that a Seton Hall Player was Drunk in a Wrong Way Crash (Bergen Record) just before 3 AM Monday morning.

According to New Jersey state police, Keon Lawrence, 22, of Irvington was driving with a suspended license and had two outstanding traffic warrants when he struck a car driven by a 56-year-old Newark man.

Lawrence was charged with driving while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license according to Sgt. Steven Jones.

Lawrence played for the Missouri as a freshman and sophomore, averaging 11.0 points per game in the 2007-08 season. He made his debut with Seton Hall on October 30th, scoring 13 points in an 89-62 exhibition victory against Carleton University. NBE Sports learned that this came after Lawrence sat out of a scrimmage with Fordham as part of a suspension for violating team rules.

Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com also followed up on the story with Sgt Jones in his entry this morning that SHU’s Lawrence was Arrested and Suspended indefinitely from the team. Sgt. Jones told Zags in an interview that Lawrence is facing a DWI charge, although results from the blood test administered at the hospital are not in with an exact BAC.

We will follow the story as it continues to develop. Not the way Bobby Gonzalez and the Seton Hall administration was hoping their promising season would kick off.
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An odd story concerning Villanova circulates this morning as Questions About Age of Moupthau Yarou Arise according to Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News.

Multiple sources pointed Sporting News to an item on the website for FIBA—basketball’s international governing body—that listed a Mouphtaou Yarou, age 23, as competing in a 2007 Africa club tournament.

If Yarou were 25 now rather than 19, as his bio on the Villanova website indicates, it would be possible he could be ineligible to compete for the Wildcats. If it were the same person and the FIBA age is correct, this could jeopardize Yarou’s college basketball eligibility. NCAA rule 14.2.3.5 states that in each year an athlete enters any organized competition beyond his 21st birthday, the athlete sacrifices one year of eligibility.

Villanova is currently not concerned with the issue as they have received his passport, his naturalization papers and his international student athlete form which report him as being born in 1990. A compliance official, according to the Sporting News, plans to speak with the freshman big man about the issue.
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The is still no concrete timetable for Pittsburgh senior guard Jermaine Dixon to return to the Panthers’ line-up. Head coach Jamie Dixon referred to the set of x-rays taken Monday on the injured foot of his guard as ‘good’ and Dixon (Jamie) Says Dixon (Jermaine) Needs More Time (Beaver County Times) before returning to action.
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Marquette will certainly be relying on the talents and experience of Lazar Hayward this season with many new faces and the talented guard trio of Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Mathews graduating following last season’s NCAA Tournament appearance. Hayward is definitely one to lead by example as his success has not gone to his head and the 6-foot-6 forward out of Buffalo (NY) is Posted on the Low Key (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) personality. Last season Hayward posted numbers of 16.3 points and 8.6 rebounds a game while also knocking down 53 threes as the lone interior threat for the Golden Eagles. Not bad for a kid who played out of position after coming to college with a reputation of a perimeter scoring threat.
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It is a tough loss for West Virginia to be without Deniz Kilicli for the first 20 games as the NCAA issued a harsh penalty for Kilicli playing on a team in his native Turkey that had a professional player on it. Kilicli Takes his Suspension in Stride (Charleston Gazette), concentrating on what he can control.

“No, actually,” Kilicli told the Gazette when asked if he thought the punishment was unfair. “I mean, if something happens it happens. You’ve got to do it. And this is the NCAA rules. Nothing is unfair, I think. It’s just giving me much more time to practice and get better, I think.”

The 6-foot-9, 265-pound freshman with a space-eating body and soft hands will be eligible to play in his first game in a Big East showdown with Pitt on February 3rd.
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Notre Dame has a couple exhibitions under their belt as their season opener approaches this weekend with North Florida on Saturday. The South Bend Tribune takes a look at the Few Answers Offered by Exhibitions on this year’s club. Many more questions remain to be answered when the lights come on beginning Saturday.
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Connecticut got more good eligibility news on Monday as the NCAA announced freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel is Eligible to Play (Hartford Courant) and is eligible to suit up in Friday’s opening contest with William and Mary. Coombs-McDaniel is expected to be a key member of the UConn rotation this season, possibly as the 6th man. He sat out the two previous exhibition games as the NCAA researched his qualifying status for initial eligibility.
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