December 2005

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 31, 2005

Happy New Year! Hope everyone and their families has a healthy, happy and prosperous 2006 and here is to a great season of Big East basketball ahead!

Last night around the league Syracuse, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Connecticut pretty much cruised to easy home wins while Notre Dame had to work a little harder for theirs. South Florida lost at home to UAB last night as well.

Today, Seton Hall has a tough task this afternoon with Iona, but seems to be in control into the second half. DePaul is off to a slow start against Florida International, but will look to get back on track as the game goes on. Later this afternoon Rutgers will host low-scoring Princeton, who is coming off a loss to Division III Carnegie Mellon. Louisville travels to Miami (FL) and Villanova meets Temple in the Palestra. Wisconsin travels to Pittsburgh for one of the marquee games of the day this evening.

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YESTERDAY’S GAMES:
Notre Dame survived a scare on their home floor from Wofford, but sneaked past 74-71 on the help of a pair of free throws with 12.5 seconds left by Torin Francis to seal the deal: Gold in Francis’ Game (South Bend Trib). The Irish Hope Close Game Prepares them For Big East (Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette) as they meet Pittsburgh on the road in their Big East opener on Wednesday. The Irish were led by Russel Carter’s 16 pts and Francis added 12 pts and 11 rebounds and freshmen Kyle McAlarney continues to shoot the ball well and he finished with 12 as well.

With 11 minutes left in the game, WVU had pulled away to a 28-point lead over Canisius, however the Griffins Gave the Mountaineers a Scare (Buffalo News) by trimming the lead to just 6 in the final minute before falling 80-68, as the Mountaineers Hang On (Charleston Gazette). Kevin Pittsnogle led WVU with 34 pts and 7 rebounds and Mike Gansey added 15 and Fran Young 13 for WVU, which hit 12-24 from beyond the arc.

Greensboro native Eric Hicks had friends and family on hand to watch him play against North Carolina A&T last night and he did not disappoint as Hicks Puts on a Show for Family and Friends (Cincinnati Post) in scoring 24 pts on 11-14 shooting and James White added 23 and freshmen Devan Downey added 13 pts and 11 assists in the Bearcats 105-69 win over winless NC A&T.

With Josh Wright out because of injury and the Big East schedule right around the corner, Jim Boeheim knew that getting Louie McCroskey back in the flow was important and last night McCroskey Went from the Doughouse to the Penthouse (Utica Observer Dispatch) as McCroskey Gave SU a Jolt (Rochester D&C) with his 14 pts and 33 minutes played. Terrence Roberts playing the role as Roberts: Unstoppable Force (Syracuse P-S) paced the Orange with 21 pts and 7 rebounds and Gerry McNamara recorded 10 pts with 12 assists to lead SU to a 78-66 win over Kent St in the Dome.

With Marcus Williams set to return for Tuesday’s game with Marquette, the Big East opener, Craig Austrie Continued to Make His Point (Waterbury Republican American) that he is not going to be a forgotton man with 7 pts and 14 assists in Connecticut’s 111-75 win over Quinnipiac. Hilton Armstrong Had a Career Game (Stamford Advocate) for the Huskies with 26 pts and 10 rebounds and Rashad Anderson added 20 as UConn Cruised to their 11th Win (News Time Live).

The Birmingham News has a game story on UAB’s 59-47 win over USF in what was not a thing of beauty: A Win is a Win for UAB. Soloman Jones scored 10 pts and grabbed 15 boards for undermanned USF.

TODAY’s ACTION:
The Courier News offers scouting reports for today’s SHU and Iona Battle as well as Rutgers and Princeton. The Seton Hall game is already a final as Kelly Whitney led the Pirates with 22 pts as the Hall knocked off Iona 73-59 today in early action.

Today, Wisconsin travels to Pittsburgh as the Fearless Badgers Look for Payback (The Capital Times) against the team that ousted them in Milwaukee in the NCAA Tournament two season’s ago. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offers a scouting report on tonight’s game: Nothing Fancy About the Badgets.

Louisville travels to Miami and Taquan Dean looks to raise his game and his teammates: UL’s Dean Not Yet Satisfied (Miami Herald) and will look to snap out of a shooting slump as the Cardinals Compete in Orange Bowl Classic (Courier-Journal)today. Also, Miami’s Guillermo Diaz likes a challenge: Diaz at His Best fro Ranked Foes (Sun Sentinel).

Nearly all Big 5 games are instant classics and today may prove no different as Villanova & Temple are Set to Clash (Philadelphia Inquirer) to ring in the New Year. The Wildcats are off to their best start in more than 25 years put definitely remember last year’s 53-52 loss to Temple: Nova Guards Lead to Great Start (Comcast SportsNet).

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
SU recruits Paul Harris and Johnny Flynn made it to Syracuse for the Kent St game and Orange Fans Welcome Flynn and Harris with Star Treatment as they were constantly asked for autographs and greeted by well-wishers.

Gregg Doyel writes that What Vilanova is Doing this Season Looks Familiar (CBS Sportsline) as it is similar to what Illinois did last season in reaching the NCAA finals.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 30, 2005

OK, after a day and a half of unexpected travel, I am catching up…so, it is kind of a hodge podge edition of recaps from Wednesay night and last night and previews of tonight’s games.

Tonight, nothing too exciting. USF hosts UAB in a likely loss for the home team. UConn, SU, Notre Dame, Louisville and WVU look to add easy home wins in final tune-ups for conference play.

St John’s and Georgetown picked up tournament titles since we last met. Pittsburgh left the city limits for a game and got an impressive win. Marquette, ND, UConn, SHU, Cincinnati and Louisville also picked up rather easy home wins on Wednesday and USF fell at home to Bethune-Cookman, in ot.

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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Manual Cass’ recruitment might lead to some sanctions against the DePaul basketball program, although nothing majer, but now, as Les Winkeler of the Southern reports Confusion Between Cass, Coach Continues and Cass is no longer a member of the Carbondale HS team. The Chicago Sun-Times also reports on the story and interviewed Cass: Demon Recruit Cass Kicked Off Team.

Notre Dame cruised to an 85-49 win over Fordham on Wednesday as the Irish Use the Extra Pass (South Bend Tribune Game Notes) to jumpstart the offense. Chris Quinn led the Irish with 14 points and added 9 rebounds and 8 assists and frosh Luke Zeller added 11 pts and 9 rebounds. The Irish Starters in Flux, But Rotation Solid (Fort-Wayne Journal Gazette) as the Irish seemed to have settled on a starting line-up of Quinn, Colin Falls, Russel Carter, Zeller and Torin Francis with Kyle McAlarney rotating in at guard and Rick Cornett and Rob Kurz rotating in for Zeller and Francis. Here is the South Bend Tribune’s game story of the Irish win over Fordham: ND 85 Fordham 49.

Tonight’s WVU-Canisius match-up reunites Old Friends as Adversaries Tonight (Buffalo News) as Canisius coach Mike MacDonald meets his prime mentor, and former Canisius coach, John Beilein. The Charleston Daily Mail also previews the game and Patrick Beilein’s quest to become WVU’s all-time leader in made 3-pters: WVU take on Canisius and the Wheeling News Register also previews the contest: Canisius Up Next for WVU.

The Dayton Daily News has a game story from Wednesday night’s 75-65 win for Cincinnati over Miami (OH): @nd Half Surge Carries Bearcats. UC trailed by 5 at the half and was led by Devan Downey’s 19, including 9-9 from the line and Jihad Muhammad’s 15 pts. The Bearcats, as a team, shot 23-26 from the line to put away the fiesty Redhawks. The Cincy Post chronicles Jihad Muhammad’s impressive game against Miami: ‘Wild Card’ Wins a Hand as Muhammad is back in the fan’s good graces.

The Cincinnati Enquirer previews tonight’s Bearcats match-up with winless NC A&T and how the UC Schedule Has Bearcats Prepared for the Big East. Cincinnati is currently 9th in the RPI.

Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal writes that the Turnovers Mount for Tim Welsh as the apparent defection of Desean White would be the 21st player to leave PC under Welsh with eligibility remaining. That would leave the Friars with 8 scholarship players and four are freshmen.

Louisville battled FDU on Wednesday and Kentucky.com has the wrap up: High Energy Cards Rip FDU as the Cardinals cruised to a 89-66 win, led by their big 4: Taquan Dean with 19 pts, Brandon Jenkins 17 pts, David Padgett 16 pts and Juan Palacios had 13. For Louisvile, the Big Easy is Over, Big East to Begin (Lexington Herald-Leader) as tougher tests are around the corner for Louisville which was largely untested so far this season.

Seton Hall had little trouble in their 93-46 win over Morgan St in a game that should help SHU Builds Confidence (NJ Daily Record), even if it can at the expense of hapless Morgan St (0-10) who only dresses 8 players. The NJ Star Ledger also has a game story: SHU 93 Morgan St 46. SHU got 15 pts from Donald Copeland and 13 pts and 9 rebounds from Kelly Whitney in their win. The easy win is something to enjoy, because nothign else will be that easy this year, especially tomorrow with a very tough Iona on tap: Bigger Challenge in Store (Star-Ledger).

UConn cruised to an easy win over Stony Brook on Wednesday in a game that had Some Good, Some Bad (Hartford Courant) from the Huskies point of view. Marcus Johnson and Rashad Anderson led Connecticut with 14 a piece, as UConn overcame a poor shooting night but held a 63-36 edge on the boards (WOW!). Tonight, UConn Looks to Kick Bad Habits as they host Quinnipiac.

Gerogetown captured the Sun Bowl Classic championship with a 76-64 win over UTEP in El Paso. Darrel Owens hit all 6 of his shots from the floor, including 5 3-pters and added 4/5 from the line to score a team high 21 pts to lead the Hoyas. Here is the game story from the Washington Post: GTown 76 UTEP 64.

When Temple and Villanova ring in the New Year together in a Big 5 battle in the Palestra, it will be a Battle of the Guards (Philly Inquirer).

Pittsburgh extended their season opening win streak to 10 games with a 58-51 win Wednesday night at South Carolin, in a game in which Sam Young Impressed His Peers (Pittsburgh Trib-Review) with his 16-pt, 7-rebound performance off the bench. He was the spark Pitt needed to overcome a slow start which saw them down 16-8, 11 minutes into the game. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette adds that Young is Shooting for More Minutes as he is averaging less than 17 a game at this point. The Beaver County Times has a game story as the Panther Pass First Real Test and they did it with rebounding and defense. Pitt won the battle of the boards 38-22 with Aaron Gray grabbing 13. Carl Krauser added 15 to Sam Young’s 16 as Pitt made 17-21 from the line to ice the game.

Kim Baxter and Mike Waters offer up some New Year’s Resolutions for the Big East (Syracuse Post-Standard).

For the Orange, Josh Wright is close to returning as Wright Tested His Toe (SYR P-S) yesterday in practice. The Post-Standard also previews Tonight’s SU/Kent St Match-up.

St John’s held UMass to 14 pts in the first half and held off their rally to win the championship of the Holiday Festival on their home floor Wednesday night 51-49. The NY Daily News has the story: Holiday Cheer for SJU. Remember, this was without Daryll Hill.

The Big East still sits in at #2 in the RPI by conference rankings: RPI by Conference.

Here are the Big East team’s RPI Rankings: RPI’s of the Big East.

Also, Ken Pomeroy Ranks the Big East.

BIG EAST RECRUITS UPDATES

Holiday tournament and showcases continue to be in full swing this week. we have linked an article on Reggie Redding and a recruiting update on Tyler Smith. NY Hoops profiles Big East targets Malcolm Grant, Andrew Gabriel and Malik Boothe and Corey Raji continues to shine this season. South Kent School is loaded once again and we linked the player profiles provided by the school.

The Fayetville Online has an article on recruiting and covers players such as Lance Thomas, Hamady N’Diaye, Vernon Teel, Kiwan Smith, Casey Crawford, Devon McClendon and others. The NJ Star Ledger also offers profiles on the top NJ players in the area and the NYC Sporting News gives their thoughts on the top 10 area players by class.

There are reports of a resurgence in the Pittsburgh area of basketball talent and the class of 2007 is well represented by Herb Pope, DeJuan Blair, Steve Sweich and DJ Kennedy and there is a much anticipated match-up tonight between Blair and Swiech. Also, Louisville has been in the Pittsburgh area of late and 2008 prospect Terrelle Pryor is another getting a lot of attention.

Plus, there are more articles included below…

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Jon Mahoney of Scout.Com has an article on Yahoo! Sports about Villanova commitment Reggie Redding, A True Home Boy. The article also appears in the December 2005 edition of SchoolSports Magazine.

Rob Gidel of Scout.Com has an article on Tyler Smith of Hargrave Military Academy and his recruitment at this time. He has visited Pittsburgh and, according to the article, Iowa recently and is still planning to visit Memphis and Arkansas this spring. Those four, along with Charlotte comprises Smith’s current top 5: Tyler Smith Lists Pitt in Top 5.

NY Hoops offers player profiles on: Malcolm Grant a SHU commitment, Andrew Gabriel who lists UConn and St John’s in the article and has also had Pittsburgh check him out and Malik Boothe who lists St John’s in the article and will be evaluated by numerous schools from the Big East over the course of winter and spring ahead.

Corey Raji, although saddled with foul trouble, still scored 32 pts in Westwood’s 58-55 victory over Kennedy. Raji is a 6′5 junior that is going to command a lot of attention from the Big East this spring and summer and will be a high priority for Rutgers: Raji Nets 32, but has Help (NorthJersey.com).

St Anthony’s of NJ was competing on the Chick-Fil-A Classic in Columbia, SC just prior to the Christmas Holiday and netted coach Bob Hurley Career Win #850 in their first round win over Dunwoody. Miles Beatty is a PG that will be targeted by the Big East for coach Hurley.

Player profiles of the South Kent School Prep Basketball Team, courtesy of the South kent Official Website. Players include Pitt signee Gilbert Brown, Big East target Rob Thomas and a host of talented underclassmen which include Mathew Bryan-Amaning, Ayodele Coker, Dragoslav Papic, Mike Walker and sophomore Christian Morris from NYC: South Kent Player Profiles (PDF Form). Gilbert Brown led South Kent with 23 pts in a win over Berean Institute last week and Rob Thomas added 18, as did Bryan-Amaning, who also grabbed 17 boards: Brown Leads South Kent (Kent Tribune).

The NJ Star Ledger’s Players to Watch which ranks the top players by (broad) position in the NJ area. MANY Big East commitments and targets are profiled briefly.

Thad Mumau of Fayetville Online has a recruiting article with an ACC point of view, but gives updates (which most are nothing new) on Lance Thomas (Rutgers target and center point of article), Hamady N’Diaye (Pitt and Rutgers), Devon McClendon (UConn), Kiwan Smith (Cincinnati), Vernon Teel (WVU, PC and SHU) and Casey Crawford (PC and ND) as players showing interest in Big East schools per the article: Fayetville Online Recruiting Article.

The Blackhawk Basketball Classic shows the increased talent in the Pittsburgh area in high school basketball: Impressive Field in Blackhawk Tournament (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). In the opening round, Steve Sweich, a 6′9 junior whoo has seen interest from Pitt and WVU, poured in 42 pts in Elizabeth Forward’s 77-63 victory over Blackhawk: Sweich Scores 42, Beaver Falls beats Carlisle, too (Beaver County Times). Tonight, Sweich and his teammates will battle DeJuan Blair and DJ Kennedy from Schenley HS in the semi’s as Blair scored 20 in yesterday’s win over Kennedy Catholic: Talented Big Men Battle Tonight. Blair is a regular at Pitt games.

Terelle Pryor and Herb Pope may be the most talented duo from the Pittsburgh area in some time, here is a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tidbit on their recruiting:

This might give you an indication of the talents of Jeannette sophomore Terrelle Pryor. An assistant coach from Louisville was expected to attend Jeannette’s practice yesterday.

Pryor, a 6-foot-6 forward, is already ranked by a few scouting services as one of the top sophomores in the country.

“Louisville also is coming in to see [Aliquippa junior] Herb Pope play,” said Jeannette coach Rick Klimchock. “Xavier already has been here to see [Pryor]. Pitt has been to a couple practices. North Carolina State has been here a couple times. I get calls about him all the time.”

Pryor also is a quarterback-linebacker in football, and Klimchock said Penn State already had offered Pryor a scholarship for football and basketball.

“I expect a lot more offers to start coming this spring and summer in basketball,” Klimchock said. “Plus, you have to remember he’s only 15 years old right now.”

As you can tell, if Louisville is interested, you know your in demand. Herb Pope, along with AAU teammate DeJuan Blair are seen at most Pitt games rooting on the Panthers. Pope a junior, teamed with 6′6 sophomore Jonathan Baldwin for a dominant win over Freedom recently: Pope, Baldwin Lead Quips.

NYC Sporting News ranks the top players, by class, in NYC: NYC Sporting News Top 10’s.

Corey Fischer and his St Patrick teammates fell to UNC recruit Brendan Wright and Brentwood 63-56 in Classic Semifinal: Brentwood Tops St Patrick (The News-Press).

The Primetime Shootout is a Hardwood Heaven and has another loaded field set for this February (Trenton Times).

Led by DePaul commitment Will Walker, Bolingbrook is on Cruise Control (Herald News). The Naperville Sun also covered a recent game of Bolingbrook’s: Walker Scores 25, Grabs 10 boards.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 28, 2005

Last night Providence hit the boards and came away with a win over San Diego St. Syracuse was victorious in Gerry McNamara’s homecoming game played in Wilkes-Barre, PA and Georgetown and St John’s earned wins in Holiday Events and will be in action again tonight.

This evening, Pittsburgh leaves the city for the first time to face South Carolina in an interesting test against South Carolina. Also in action for tune-ups for the conference season are Connecticut, South Florida, Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati and Marquette, and all should have little trouble in earning victories this evening.

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YESTERDAY’S ACTION:
Providence College rebounded from their latest personnel distraction and Bounced San Diego St on the Boards (San Diego Union-Tribune) in leading the Friars to an 80-65 win over SDSU. PC, never known as a great rebounding team in recent years, out-rebounded the frail Aztecs 49-32, leading to 20 second chance points for PC. Playing without pre-season Mountain West player of the year Marcus Slaughter, SDSU had no answers inside for the Friars and were left to fouling or allowing 2nd chance points of PC misses. PC made 27 of 35 from the foul line, SDSU scored just 12 from the charity stripe, accounting for the 15-pt difference.

Of the 80 pts, the Friars got 57 from their four freshmen players, proving the PC Kids are All Right (Providence Journal). Geoff McDermott recorded his 2nd double-double in 3 games with 15 pts and 13 rebounds. Jonathan Kale, getting the bulk of the time vacated by AWOL Desean White, set career-highs with 15 pts and 12 rebounds. Weyinmi Efejuku hit 10-14 from the line to finish with 14 pts and Sharaud Curry added 13. Senior Donnie McGrath also scored 15 for the balanced Friar attack.

Kale was a player we were high on in the preseason because he plays with effort and toughness inside, something the Friars have lacked in the past and paired with McDermott, they add defensive effort and some tenacity ont he boards. Despite not getting a lot of time early on, kale did not sulk, he worked harded and Kale Maintained Proper Focus (Providence Journal) which paid off last night. Not overly skilled for their positions offensively, McDermott and Kale make up for it with their all out efforts. McDermott was honored as the Big East freshmen of the week for his efforts last week. Tim Welsh would be wise not to mortgage the future of the program by coddling to those that have their own interest put forth ahead of the team. With Dwight Brewington gone and Desean White looking to be on his way out (although the door is open for him as he deals with a personal and family issues), it looks like the Friars will be forced to go young, but it might be their best bet. The team was picked 13th, nearly universally, in the Big East and you might as well raise the interest level of these freshmen and sophomores without mortgaging the future with talented, but enigmatic players only looking out for their interest.

Brendan McGair of the Patucket Times has a game story, focusing on Kale’s big night: PC 80 SDSU 65.

Syracuse honored senior Gerry McNamara by playing a “home” game in Wilkes-Barre’s Wachovia Arena against Towson and it turned into A Real Lovefest Down I-81 (Syracuse Post-Standard)as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s icon G-Mac scored 20 pts, dished out 7 assists and made 5 steals as Syracuse Rolled in G-Mac’s Stomping Grounds (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle).

Demetris Nichols, The Game’s Quiet Star (Syracuse P-S) hit 9 of 11 shots from the field to finish with a game-high 25 pts as the Orange were credited with 17 steals in forcing 22 Towson turnovers. Josh Wright missed the game with an injured left foot and with the impending Big East schedule ready to open and Wright’s return up in the air, Jim Boeheim also turned to Louie McCroskey a little more than in the past few games to get him back in the mix. for a complete game story, here is the Syracuse Post-Standard game coverage by Mike Waters: Syracuse 86 Towson 52.

Last week Columbia University played Notre Dame tough from start to finish. Last night, however, they looked to be completely overwhelmed by the athleticism and defensive intensity of the St John’s Redstorm, who were playing without star guard Daryll Hill, as St John’s Took Control Early (NY Daily News) and never let up. The Redstorm shot 50% from the field and hit 7 of 16 from beyond the arc and were credited with 20 assits on 24 made baskets, a unusual display of offensive effeciency from St John’s.

The NY Post also has a game story for St John’s, who will meet UMass tonight in the Holiday Festival Final without Daryll Hill again: Storm Must Survive Down-Hill Battle.

Georgetown got a strong second half effort to put away Colgate last night in the 1st round of the Sun Bowl Baksetball Tournament in El Paso. Roy Hibbert led the Hoyas with 18 pts, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks and Georgetown hit 10-21 from beyond the arc to earn the win and the Hoyas Pass Their First Test on Texas Trip (Washington Post). Tonight, Georgetown will meet the tournament host, UTEP, in the finale.

TONIGHT’S ACTION:
Pittsburgh’s Cushy Schedule Ends (AP Article) as the Panthers prepare to face upgraded competition tonight, as they travel to play South Carolina. Aaron Gray is at the Center of Pitt’s First Test (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) as he puts his impressive start to the season on the line against South Carolina’s long and lean big man Brandon Wallace (6′11 and 200 lbs). With Wallace and Renaldo Balkman (6′8 and 210 lbs) the Pitt front line will face an athletic pair, but Gray and Levon Kendall have the strength and size advantage, how will the fouls shake out? South Carolina is NOT a deep team at all and Pitt will see 10 players get significant time, USC will likely use 7 for the most part. It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh responds over the course of tonight and Saturday (home against Wisconsin) as Pitt Risks Unbeaten Record (Pittsburgh Trib-Review) for, in reality, the first time. South Carolina will retire the uniform of BJ McKie tonight.

Jim Calhoun Faces Another Former Player (Stamford Advocate), Steve Pikiell, across the way on the bench tonight as his 2nd ranked UConn Huskies battle winless Stony Brook at the Hartford Civic Center. For UConn, it is Another Holiday Cupcake (New London Day), but Jim Calhoun will still look for the Huskies to Maintain High-Level of Play (Waterbury Republican-American).

Derek Whittenberg and Mike Brey go way back as high school teammates at Dematha High School, tonight, they will be on opposing benches as Whittenberg takes his Fordham team into Notre Dame to face the Fighting Irish this evening. For Fordham assistant Martin Inglesby, it is also a Chance for the Assistant to Reunite with Mentor (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette) as Ingelsby played for Brey at Notre Dame and it was Brey that recommended Inglesby to Whittenberg.

Louisville is set to take on Farleigh Dickinson University tonight at home and Rick Pitino Looks to Solidify his Rotation with the Big East Looming (AP, Kentucky.com). Another aspect Pitino wants to work is is for Louisville to Run Offense Through David Padgett (Lexington Herald-Leader). As they work to get better, Pitino Finds Film More Useful (Louisville Courier-Journal) than his first look like, case in point, Louisville’s sluggish 56-48 Christmas Even win over Detroit.

Injuries and Illness Won’t Help Miami (OH) (Cincinnati Enquirer) as they get set to take on a hot Cincinnati Bearcat squad that has been rolling, especially since Eric Hicks Got Mad and Got Better (Enquirer) after their November 29th home loss to Dayton. The Dayton Daily News also previews the game: Redhawks Brace for Bearcats. With a Dangerously Thin Roster (Cincinnati Post), Andy Kennedy breathed a sigh of relief when Cedric McGowan went through practice yesterday and will be able to play tonight.

The St Petersburg Times has a scouting report on tonight’s Bethune-Cookman/USF Match-up.

The other three games tonight features UMass and St John’s in the Holiday Festival final, an interesting match-up for the Redstorm who will be without Daryll Hill and will face a team that has athletic ability to match theirs in some areas. Georgetown will battle UTEP in the Sun Bowl Classic championship and Marquette tunes up for UConn next week with Division II Lewis.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
The Hartford Courant examines the recruiting process and that there are no guarantees in recruiting, even when you have a “solid” verbal commitment: Orally Wrong?. The article was obviously motivated by Doug Wiggins switching from a verbal commitment to St John’s to a signed commitment of Connecticut a week later.

Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News looks at the new college phenomenon: Guards are now the Big Men on Campus.

Tagged:

BIG EAST BLOGGERS POWER POLL

Here is our 4th in-season weekly Bloggers Power Poll and Round-up for the 2005-2006 season. Bloggers and Website admins from around the Big East took the time to rank the teams 1-16 and Big East Basketball Report tallied up the rankings. Here are this week’s contributors:

Cracked Sidewalks (Marquette)
Pitt Sports Blather
Orangefan Blog
RU Baksetball Blog
Big East Basketball Report
BlueDemonsNation.Com
HoyaSaxa.Com

With the Holidays upon us, we are a little light on participants this week. However, please welcome the knowledgeable folks over at HoyaSaxa.Com to the weekly poll and we look forward to their continued participation in the future.

The final tune-ups for conference play take place this coming week. Louisville hits the road on New Year’s Eve to play Miami and Pittsburgh finally puts their undefeated record on the lin when travelling to South Carolina on Wednesday and then hosting Wisconsin on Saturday. St John’s takes part in the Holiday Festival and Georgetown is playing in the Sun Bowl in El Paso this week. The only other key games of note this week is Seton Hall and Iona on Saturday and USF and UAB on Friday. Villanova has a Big 5 match-up with Temple, the rest of the league slate is made up of final tune-ups in preparation for the Big East season, which tips off a week from tonight!

If you have a blog or a Big East Related web site and would like to participate, e-mail us at: [email protected]

Click below to see the poll results and an update on each team.

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BIG EAST BLOGGERS POWER POLL (1st place votes in parenthesis)

1) Connecticut (7) 112 pts. Put up 129 points on Morehead St and this week, have little to worry about with Stony Brook and Quinnipiac. Last Week #1.

2) Villanova 105 pts. Ended laSalle’s undefeated start in impressive fashion with a 41-pt romp. This week they ring in the new year with Temple at the Palestra. Last Week #2.

3) Louisville 92 pts. Hosts FDU this week and then travels to Miami on Saturday. Not too sure why they moved back up the rankings this week, but Saturday will be another telling tale of how good this team will be. Last Week #5.

4) Pittsburgh 90 pts. Had an impressive effort against Coppin St before breaking for the holiday. Now, things get interesting as they travel to South Carolina on Wednesday and plays host to Wisconsin on New Year’s Eve. We will see what Pitt is made of this week, finally. Last Week #3 (tie).

5) Syracuse 83 pts. Took care of business against Ill.-Chicago last week and has Towson tonight and Kent St on Friday this week. Last Week #3 (tie).

6) West Virginia 81 pts. Got a signature out of conference win by dumping Oklahoma in Oklahoma City last week, 92-68. Apparently, the voters are waiting for others to lose before moving WVU up too much. They host Canisius this week. Last Week #6 (tie)

7) Georgetown 64 pts. (tie) Had no problems with Savannah St last week and will play Colgate tonight in the Sun Bowl Classic and, most likely, UTEP in the finals tomorrow and will look to revenge last season’s loss. Last Week #6 (tie).

7) Cincinnati 64 pts.(tie) Picked up two more quaility wins last week beating Dayton and LSU in Vegas and did what they needed early in the week against Division II Arkansas-Monticello. Not too many conferences can boast a #8 this strong, expect them to move up soon, I would think. Last Week #8.

9) Notre Dame 56 pts. Pulled away in the 2nd half to beat Niagara and needed all 28 of their made free throws to survive against a game Columbia team. This week, a couple more tune-ups with Fordham and Wofford before the Big East starts. Last Week #9

10) Marquette 54 pts. (tie) Oakland and Delaware St were dispatched by the Golden Eagles comfortably enough and this week they tune-up for a final time with Division II Lewis. Last Week #10

11) Rutgers 39 pts. Suffered a home lose to UNC-Charlotte last week in thier only outing, showing the Scarlet Knights still have a ways to go to close the gap with the top of the conference. Meets low-scoring Princeton this weekend in their only game of the week. Last Week #11.

12) DePaul 34 pts. Somewhat perplexing that a team could have wins, away from home, over Dayton, Wake Forest and Cal in their last 4 games, with the lone loss on the road to Old Dominion and still be pegged 12th, but, that is what the survey says. Is this conference DEEP or what? DePaul hosts Florida International on Saturday. Last Week #12.

13) Providence 27 pts. Possibly more internal strife at Providence as the future of Desean White is in question today. They host San Diego St tonight in what might be an interesting game if the Friars are not focused on the task at hand. Last Week #13.

14) St John’s 26 pts. Gave a solid effort at Duke, but lost. Now, the knee injury of Daryll Hill looks to keep him out of action this week as they get ready to tip-off the Holiday Festival tonight with a game against a solid Columbia team and either St Peter’s or UMass tomorrow. The Redstorm need some help. Last Week #14.

15) Seton Hall 18 pts. Seton Hall had some time off and will tackle Morgan St on Thursday and Iona on Saturday. Will this be a job interview for Iona coach Jeff Ruland? Last Week #15.

16) South Florida 7 pts. Just a battered and beaten team that deserved a little rest in Hawaii last week. They played tough, but fell to Iowa St and Oregon St in the Rainbow Classic before pulling out a win in their final game on the Island. This week they host Bethune-Cookman and former C-USA mate UAB. Last Week #16.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 27, 2005

The basketball action gets underway again tonight, as does blogging! Easing my way back into it after a little Holiday Respite. We will have our Big East Power Poll released later this afternoon and tomorrow we will have our weekly look at how the high school prospects of the Big East are performing and any recruiting articles of interest.

Tonight, the G-Mac Homecoming Game in Wilkes-Barre, PA pits Towson against the Orange of Syracuse. Providence, which might be dealing with the 5th player defection of the last 11 months, is hosting San Diego St this evening. Also, St John’s will be taking the floor tonight and tomorrow in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden without their best player, Daryll Hill. Georgetown kicks off the Sun Bowl Classic in El Paso, TX tonight when they meet Colgate.

Jim Calhoun knows his team will have a bull-eye on their backs, this year it might be larger than others, so, he wants to make sure there is effort and intensity every time they play and, therefore, there are NO wasted games on the schedule. Pittsburgh is busing preparing for an upgrade in competition and carl Krauser has been around these battles since the beginning of the Big East (or so it seems). First test, South Carolina in Columbia, SC. Cincinnati can’t afford any injuries, so the status of Cedric McGowan’s shoulder injury is one of inerest for the Bearcats. Just remember, Villanova does have more players on their team other than four guards…

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

READ MORE…CLICK “Read Rest of Article” BELOW

TONIGHT’S ACTION:
For one SU game night in December, the buses in Scranton do not have to load up and head north on I-81 to Syracuse because their hometown hero will be playing in their backyard as the Syracuse Orange take on Towson tonight in Wilkes-Barre in Wachovia Arena. Gerry McNamara Looks Forward to Homecoming (Syracuse Post-Standard) and will cherish the opportunity to play in front of many of his hometown supporters. The community of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has been known to full 40 buses for trips to Syracuse to see G-Mac play in the 30,000+ seat Carrier Dome, so, the 8300-seat Wachovia Arena will be a tough ticket tonight. Towson is led by former Florida St and DePaul (among others) head coach Pat Kennedy who is a True Coaching Vagabond.

Georgetown prepares to compete in the Sun Bowl Classic in El Paso tonight when they squate off against Colgate. Mississippi Valley St and UTEP, the host school, are the other schools in the field. Expectations for Georgetown this season were quite high for a program on the rise again. They have kind of taken a step out of the spotlight thus far, but with the Big East season right around the corner, there is plenty of time for them to be heard from and a big part of their success will hinge on their big man, Roy Hibbert. Hibbert gives the Hoyas a commodity that is rare in the college game, an effective “true” center. Even at 7′2 Hibbert’s Game Growing” (Washington Post) as he has put the work in during the offseason to become more physical. The El Paso Times also previews the match-up: Georgetown/Colgate Set to Meet.

Providence College is gearing up to host San Diego St tonight and might be down yet another player when they head into action as sophomore Desean White has not returned to the team following a short Christmas break. Since last January, the Friars have seen Gerald Brown, Jeff Parmer, Robert McKiver and Dwight Brewington already leave the program, which has put the Friars at just 9 scholarships, 4 under the NCAA limit of 13. White would make 5 and further thin the Friars, leaving just 8 scholarship players. Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal, who broke the news on his blog last night (White AWOL from PC) has more on the story this morning: White a No-Show as PC Prepared for SDSU.

The Providence Journal also has the Scouting Report on PC/SDSU, SDSU will be without their best player, Marcus Slaughter, the preseason player of the year in their conference.

St. John’s participates in the Holiday Festival, which begins tonight, by meeting Columbia. St. Peters and Massachusetts comprise the rest of the Holiday Festival Field. Throughout the season, Daryll Hill’s left knee has been bothering him. Earlier, sources close to Hill seemed to indicate the knee was more serious than the Redstorm were letting on and minor surgery was contemplated earlier in the season. When asked, coach Norm Roberts dismissed the knee as the reason he missed the Hofstra game, which SJU lost 64-51, and said it was his chin (or shin?). For now, Hill is set to miss both games of the Holiday Festival and his status for the Big East opener on January 4th against Seton Hall is unknown at this time. The NY Post has the full story: No Hill of Beans. The NY Daily News also previews the game with Columbia and reports on Hill’s status: Storm Loses Hill for Holiday Fest. Columbia, even with Hill, would provide the ’storm a test as they are coming off a 7-pt loss at Notre Dame, in a game where ND went to the foul line 45 times.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Jim Calhoun coaches with passion and years for maximum effort from his Huskies every time out, whether they are playing Syracuse, Morehead St, Pittsburgh or Stony Brook, there are No Wasted Games in Calhoun’s Eyes (Hartford Courant) and every game is a test and he expects everyone’s head to be in it.

UConn is always a target, as one of the most successful and high-profile programs in the country, that comes with the territory, but, this year, they may be even more of a target: http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=624″>Huskies Reside in Bulls-Eye (Waterbury Republican American).

Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant Breaks Down the Season around college hoops through the first 2 months.

Pittsburgh prepares to travel to Columbia, SC to meet the University of South Carolina in their first road game outside of the city of Pittsburgh this season. Pitt’s highlight dunker, freshmen Sam Young, will be doing so without a couple teeth: Pitt Prepares for Road Test (Pittsburgh Trib-review). With a team full of players that might have not had the chance to experience a road game, carl Krauser Mentors the Pitt Players (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) on what to expect in the new surroundings.

In Desmond Conner’s weekly look around the Big East for the Hartford Courant, he looks at WVU’s impressive win over Oklahoma as the main topic of his article. He also looks at the nice stretch of basketball Cincinnati has played of late and the homecoming game reward for G-Mac. Conner also wonders how good is Pitt? Here is his article: Mountaineers Find the Range.

UC Forward Cedric McGowan Expects to Play Wednesday (Cincy Post) against Miami (OH) after suffering a seperated shoulder against LSU in Cincinnati’s last game. However, the Cincinnati Enquirer has a less optimistic view of McGowan’s status for Wednesday: McGowan Still Uncertain for Wednesday as X-Rays and a MRI are scheduled for today.

McGowan is scheduled to be X-rayed this morning and if there’s no structural damage, he may be cleared to participate in some of today’s practice to see how much he can do, according to assistant coach Frank Martin.

“If we were to play a game today, I don’t think I could play,” McGowan said Monday.

Front and Center: Dismissing Villanova as only a team with four guards might be a big mistake, writes Dana Pennett O’Neil of the Philadelphia Daily News.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 26, 2005

An abbreviated edition, as I am sure everything will be in full swing tomorrow. Look for our weekly Power Poll late tomorrow afternoon and a regular blog update around 10 AM, too.

Some of the big ticket news items include a Providence player is AWOL after Tim Welsh’s crew returned from leave for the Holiday. Also, Cedric McGowan battled a shoulder injury for UC and his status is uncertain at this time.

Some feel good holiday stories on Josh Boone and his mother, Pitt’s John DeGroat and an epic on the career of Gerry McNamara, who is getting a chance to play at home for the holidays.

Also, Hoops Weiss weighs in on his Top 25 and the Holiday Festival in MSG this week, with St John’s. Also, the Notre Dame line-up seems to have become clearer in the 2nd half of their last game with Columbia. Pitt basketball fans are surely thankful for the gifts Barry Rohrrsen has left in theit stockings while at Pittsburgh. And, does the UConn basketball program get everything they need from the state of Connecticut?

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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According to Kevin McNamara’s blog at the Providence Journal, Desean White might be another in the long line of players at Providence to bolt, but, details are very limited, so, it could be an extended personal break for White: Desean White AWOL from PC.

You can go home again! Tommorrow, Gerry McNamara Can Indeed Go Home Again (AP, CBS Sportsline) as the Syracuse Orange will battle Towson at the Wachovia Arena is Wilkes-Barre, not far from Bishop Hannan High School in Scranton. On Christmas Day, Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard had a feature story on Gerry McNamara and his career: The G-Mac Prequel.

The Holiday’s are also special went one can spend it with those they love and family, for Josh Boone and his mother, Rosalie, it is very special for son to spend it with a special mother: Mom Has All-Around Game (Hartford Courant).

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel looks at the week ahead for Marquette: Weekly Marquette Preview.

In their last game, the Cincinnati Bearcats rallied from a 5-pt defecit in the last 3 minutes to beat LSU, but JUCO PF Cedric McGowan sufferef a seperated shoulder in the contest and there is No Word Yet on McGowan’s Injury (Cincy Enquirer) as the team was set to report back from a short Holiday respite Monday night. Despite the injury, suspension and everything else that has posed a distraction to the Bearcats, Cincinnati Finds Ways to Persevere and UC now has a 6-game win streak.

As the Big East schedule nears, the Irish Line-Up Becomes Clearer (South Bend Tribune) and Rick Cornett looks to be the odd man out in the front court and freshmen Zeller and McAlarney will definitely get plenty of time as well.

Dick “Hoops” Weiss looks at the upcoming Holiday Hoops Festival at Madison Square Garden featuring the St John’s Redstorm, who might be without Daryll Hill for at least those 2 games because of an ailing knee, and he also unveils his top 25 ballot that has UConn #1, Nova #2, Louisville #16, Pitt #17 and WVU #20: Weiss on Hoops (NY Daily News).

Ed Daigneault of the Waterbury Republican American wants UConn to Play More Games on ‘Calhoun Court”. He offers a Holiday Wishlist for the UConn basketball program.

Pittsburgh can be thankful for their 9-0 start, but John DeGroat is thankful for so much more: DeGroat Transitions from Hard Times to Hardwood (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). For Pittsburgh, which has had a dearth of local talent to choose from the last decade or so (a tide that seems to be turning), their recruiting success in NYC has helped the program reach new heights and associate head coach Barry Rohrssen has been instrumental in getting Pitt access to the players of NYC: Slice of Success (Pittsburgh Trib-Review).

2005-2006 BIG EAST CONFERENCE OVER/UNDERS

OK, let’s have some fun and some audience participation! I am going to list all 16 Big East teams below and a projected conference W/L record. I would like the readers to respond in the comment section with their thoughts on, at least, 2 teams they feel will be OVER the projected WIN total and, at least, 2 teams they feel will be UNDER the projected win total, in addition to maybe a projection and thoughts on the Big East team you tend to root for.

Now, I have had some issues with the comments of late, so, if there is still trouble accessing the comment section, please e-mail us: [email protected].

Here are the projections…please, place your bets!!

Connecticut: 13-3
Villanova: 13-3
Louisville: 10-6
West Virginia: 10-6
Syracuse: 10-6
Georgetown: 10-6
Pittsburgh: 9-7
Notre Dame: 9-7
Cincinnati: 9-7
DePaul: 7-9
Marquette: 7-9
Rutgers: 7-9
Providence: 5-11
St John’s: 5-11
Seton Hall: 2-14
South Florida: 2-14

Please, have some fun with this and consider it an open thread for the Holidays!!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! Now…bring on the Big East conference schedule!!!

The only likely days that we won’t have any blogging is on December 25th and December 26th. We will be a little sporatic over the New Year, too…but, back in FULL FORCE January 3rd for the start of the VERY anticipated Big East season!

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 23, 2005

Last night West Virginia put a hurting on Oklahoma in their backyard and impressed many people with thier team effort. Cincinnati went out to Vegas to earn revenge over Dayton for an earlier loss and Villanova pummelled LaSalle out of the ranks of the unbeaten. Marquette and Providence picked up home wins as well and Rutgers was not as fortunate in the RAC. USF fell to Oregon St, but at least they are doing it in Hawaii!

This afternoon USF wraps up their time in Hawaii going up against Loyola Marymount and Connecticut hosts Morehead St this afternoon. This evening, Notre Dame welcomes Columbia and Cincinnati will try to hit a double jackpot in Vegas when taking on LSU.

The NY Post throws a big name into the hat for the, in all liklihood, soon to be open Seton Hall coaching job. Jim Boehein is bemoaning his team’s rebounding as the holidays are upon us!

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YESTERDAY’S ACTION:
Oklahoma jumped out to an 11-2 lead on West Virginia and had the OU-partial crowd of 17,522 in the Ford Center of Oklahoma City whipped in a frenzy. However, it would not last…

West Virginia put on a clinic in earning a Signature Win (Charleston Gazette) while thumping the Sooners 92-68. Oklahoma was the #8 team in the country and the game was just 20 miles from their campus in Norman.

West Virginia put up 92 pts, but only hit 8 3-pters in the game. It was their effecient offense at its best as the Mountaineers hit an amazing 67% of their shots from the field against a program that prides itself on defense. WVU hit 8-20 from beyond the arc and 24-28 (86%) inside the arc! Other typical WVU traits included 19 assists and just 6 team turnovers, 3 of whoch were in the first few minutes when they were trailing 11-2.

Kevin Pittsnogle showed a variety of offensive skills in leading the way with 25 pts and 6 rebounds and Joe Herber pitched in with a career-high 21 pts. Mike Gansey added 15 and Frank Young 14 for the winners.

The Loss Embarrassed OU (NewsOK.com) and left coach Kelvin Sampson seething. The Norman Transcript also has a game story: WVU 92 OU 68.

Dave Hickman of the Charleston Gazette has a WVU Notebook from the game.

With 7:51 left to play, Dayton had all but wiped out an earlier 11-pt defecit at the hands of the Cincinnati Bearcats and cut the lead to 59-58, game on…for the Bearcats, at least. UC outscored the Flyers 22-5 the rest of the way, inlcuding a 17-2 run to finish the game in whoch freshmen Devan Downey scored 8 of his team high 21 pts as the Game Was Revenge for the Bearcats who lost at home to Dayton in late November. This time the setting was much different, playing in a high school gym in Las Vegas with Dayton fans making up the solid majority of spectators, UC Was Able to Sprint Past Dayton (Dayton Daily News for the win.

James White added 19 pts to the cause as the Bearcats overcame their woes behind the arc (2-17) by hitting 25-27 free throws, compared to 14-28 from Dayton and only committing 7 turnovers, compared to 20 comitted by Dayton. The Cincinnati Enquirer adds a game story: UC 81 Dayton 63. Cincinnati laces them up again tonight against LSU in the conclusion of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.

Despite being outrebounded by Yale 42-31, the Providence Friars got a Blast of Fresh(man) Air (Providence Journal) to overcome the Bulldogs. Freshmen Sharaud Curry scored 20 of his career high 25 in the second half and classmate Geoff McDermott added 18 pts and 9 rebounds to the winning cause. Randall Hanke added 10 pts and 6 blocks.

Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal has a PC Hoops Notebook from the game and covers the injury to Charles Burch and stomach bug that limited Desean White last night. The Attleboro Sun Chronicle has a game story: PC 76 Yale 63.

Rebounding and interior play on both ends of the floor is a concern for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and last night in their 85-82 home loss to UNC-C, both were important factors for the loss as Charlotte, Power Dim Rutgers (Trenton Times). Despite getting 29 pts from Quincy Douby it was Douby who seemed frustrated at not getting the ball and Douby’s Too Frequent Calls for Ball Irk (NJ Star Ledger) head coach Gary Waters.

Anthony Farmer added 14 pts for RU and Marquis Webb scored 12 and dished out 5 assists. JR Inman and Adrian Hill also scored 10 apiece.

The COurier News has a game story on Rutgers Frustrating Home Loss.

Once again for Marquette it was their three top freshmen leading the way to a win over Delaware St. A 21-2 First-Half Run Propelled Marquette Past DSU (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) and gave the Golden Eagles the cushion they needed against the Hornets deliberate style. Wesley Mathews led MU with 12 pts and Dominic James and Jerel McNeal joined their freshmen classmate in double figures with 10 each.

The Delaware News Journal has a game story: Marquette 60 Delaware St 48.

The St. Petersburg Times has a game story on South Florida’s loss yesterday in Hawaii at the Rainbow Classic to Oregon St: Oregon St 61 USF 56. The Bulls played just 6 players in the game, which came just 16 hours at the conclusion of their loss to Iowa St in the tournament. Solomon Jones led the way for the Bulls with 19 pts and 1o rebounds.

LaSalle came to the Villanova campus undefeated yesterday, but left with their tail between their legs after being dealt a 98-57 thrashing at the hands of their city rivals. Villanova is Purring Along at 8-0 (Philly Inquirer) and got 21 pts from Allan Ray, 20 from Randy Foye and 13 from Jason Fraser. Shane Clark did not get in the game for Villanova, who is not in action again until New Year’s Even when they play Temple.

TODAY’S GAMES:
South Florida wraps up their Hawaii trip with Loyola Marmount this afternoon and Cincinnati closes out the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic with LSU tonight in a very interesting game.

Former Kentucky star Kyle Macy brings his Reeling Morehead St to Visit UConn (Torrington Register Citizen) in what the New London Day refers to as Another Turkey for the Holiday for UConn to feast on this afternoon. However, if you play for Jim Calhoun, you know you can’t afford to be skating through the holiday schedule and tonight’s game, UConn is Looking for Production Inside (Hartford Courant) as they prepare for the Big East schedule ahead.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Jim Boeheim urges the Orange to improve on the boards: Syracuse Bad at Board Game (syracuse Post-Standard.

Some Big East recruits (Tory Jackson-ND) and targets (Larry Wright-SJU, Ramar Smith and Corperrayle Harris-SU) were in action last night in the Detroit area: Harris Leads Detroit-Redford to Win (Detroit News).

The fact that Louie Orr is in trouble at SHU is no secret, the NY Post has an article on a possbile successor, and it is a familiar name: PJ Talk Fills Hall.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 22, 2005

As exams are now over and the holidays are among us, teams are cramming in their finals tune-ups prior to Big East play around the Christmas and New Year holidays. Last night saw DePaul pick up another solid win away from home while St John’s fell to #1 Duke on the road and the undermanned USF Bulls gave a game effort, but fell short against Iowa St. The rest of the action was of the tune-up variety with Syracuse, Notre dame, Georgetown, Pittsburgh and Louisville all picking up home wins rather easily.

Tonight, USF is right back in action against Oregon St in the Rainbow Classic and West Virginia travels to Oklahoma City to meet the Oklahoma Sooners in a marquee match-up. Also, Cincinatti will have to travel to a high school gym in Las Vegas to earn revenge for a late November loss to Dayton in an interesting game. Other games on tonight’s schedule include LaSalle laying their undefeated record on the line at the Pavilion on the Villanova campus and Rytgers hosting a disappointing UNC-C team tonight at the RAC. Marquette and Providence also have home tune-ups tonight as well.

On Ken Pomeroy’s site, he looks at the Conference RPI Ranks where the Big East is #2 and not behind who you might think! Here is the listing of the team’s in the Big East: Big East RPI’s. Just by playing Duke last night, St. John’s SOS rating soared up the ranks. Also, here is how Pomeroy’s computer rankings see, and forecasts the Big East: Pomeroy Ranks the Big East. By clucking on each team you will see hie projections for the upcoming games.

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YESTERDAY’S ACTION:
The Yo-Yo season continues for DePaul (6-4) as they picked themselves back off the mat, following Saturday’s 44-pt loss to Old Dominions, and beat Cal, 68-65, in Oakland last night. Just like Wake Forest last week, DePaul faced a Cal team that had been off for at least 10 days from game action. Last night, the Cold Bears Faded Down the Stretch (SF Chronicle) as they scored just 4 points in the last 7 minutes, being outscored 14-4, after taking a 7-pt lead.

The Bears rust showed early as DePaul used a zone to stymie the Cal offense and generate a 21-12 lead before Cal found a rhythm and it looked like Cal had recovered before their offense hid again down the stretch. Cal Faltered Early and Late (InsideBayArea) and the Blue Demons took advantage.

DePaul played without 6′9 big man Wesley Green who is out with a foot injury. Sammy Mejia led the Blue Demons with 20 pts and freshmen Wilson Chandler grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked 3 shots to bolster the interior defensive effort in Green’s absence. Draelon Burns added 4 key points late as the AP game story indicates: Mejia, Burns Bad News for Bears.

DePaul finished their grueling 4-game, away from home stretch at 3-1, getting wins at Dayton and Wake Forest and in Oakland against Cal. The lone blemish was the loss to Old Dominion, in, what looks to be, just one of those days. I do not think anyone around DePaul can complain about that 3-1 stretch!

Notre Dame found Niagara to be pretty competitive, maybe more than expected, for about 23 minutes last night before the Irish (6-2) used a 14-3 spurt to grab a 56-44 lead and pulled away from there to defeat the Purple Eagles (2-6).

Freshmen McAlarney Sparks Irish with his career high 16-pts, playing extended time with Chris Quinn in the backcourt together (meaning less time for Russell Carter). The Irish also got 19 pts from Colin Falls and 14 pts and 9 rebounds from Torin Francis. Rick Cornett added 10 pts in 15 minutes and got the first dunk for the Irish of the season. The South Bend Tribune game story also centers around McAlarney: Freshmen Makes His Point.

Syracuse earned their 6th straight victory and Blocked the Flames (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle) from Ill.-Chicago from the hoop in registering a school record 16 blocked shots.

UIC had already registered non-conference wins over schools from the SEC, Big 10 and ACC, but the Flames Could Not Add Big East to their List (AP Game Story) as Terrence Roberts led Syracuse with 19 pts and 10 rebounds and Gerry McNamara added 18 pts and 12 assists (also, 7 turnovers) to the cause. Eric Devendorf scored 12 and Demetris Nichols 10 to round out the SU players in double figures.

SU played without back-up point guard Josh Wright, who was on the bench in street clothes and a walking boot as a result of an injury suffered in practice on Monday Something Wasn’t Wright (Syracuse Post-Standard) and SU used Devendorf at the point at times to get McNamara time off the ball.

One of the Orange’s 16 blocks was registered by devendorf, who then stood over the 5′10 Josh Mayo, who had falled to the floor, and talked trash in his face and was immediately whistled for a Technical foul (I really think Devendorf is going to be one of those guys that opponent fans love to hate!). In typical Jim Boeheim fashion, he hopes the freshmen, who was immediately removed form the game, learns from it:

“He said something,” Boeheim said of his freshman’s technical. “It wasn’t a big thing but he’s a freshman. He should keep his mouth shut. I hope he learns that. He’s made one good defensive play this year and that’s what he’s talking about.”

Besides the 16 blocked shots, the night belonged to Terrence Roberts who energy on the floor carried the Orange and was the highlight of the Syracuse Post-Standard’s game story: Roberts Rules.

Of all the players on the Louisville Cardinals that you would expect to be selected as the unanimous MVP of the Nilly Minardi Classic, brandon Jenkins would probably be pretty well down on the list. However, it was the junior Jenkins Stepping into the Spotlight (Kentucky.Com) as he wrapped up the 2-day tournament with 13 pts, 4 assists and 2 steals, one day after scoring a career-high 20 pts, in Louisville’s 78-63 win over the College of Charleston.

Rick Pitino needs his young guys to grow up in a hurry and last night Louisville got half of their point production from their freshmen class, Cards Kids are Fine, (Louisville Courier-Journal) as they were led by Terrence Williams’ 16 pts and Andre McGee added 11 pts to help the winner’s cause.

Following an embarrasing losss to Marist in Madison Square Garden, you knew St John’s would put forth their best effort of the season on the floor of Cameron Indoor Stadium against Duke last night, and, they probably did, hanging with the Blue Devils for much of the 1st half before a 32-11 run by the nation’s #1 team over a 14-minute stretch that ballooned the Devil’s lead to 60-37 and the Redstorm Were Squashed (NY Post). St. John’s finished the game by scoring 20 of the last 30 points to add some cosmetic work to the final score, 70-57.

St John’s is still a team that can not shoot and went into the contest hitting less than 25% from the 3-pt range and went 1-6 last night to lower their percentage. Aaron Spears had his best game with SJU, scoring 14 pts and as a team, SJU outrebounded Duke and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds to their 5. However, when Daryll Hill and Lamont Hamilton are pretty much non-factors, SJU pretty much has no chance, and that was the game in a nutshell last night, even though the game was probably closer than most expected. It also wont help SJU down the road that Hill missed the last several minutes with an unspecified injury.

In Hawaii, the Bulls of South Florida raced out to a 35-23 lead in the first half and saw the Rainbow Classic tournament favorite roar back with an 18-2 run to close the 1st half and the Bulls never could completely recover and they fell 83-74. The Bulls, with just 5 scholarship players healthy, are back at it again today at 6:30 PM against Oregon St, which is a tough turnaround for a team that ended play early this AM at 2:30!

USF committed 25 turnovers against the ISU trap. McHugh Mattis hit a school record 10-10 from the floor and scored 23 pts. Mattis scored all his point on dunks, putbacks and lay-ups has not attempted a jump shot all season, according to the St Petersburgh Times, which has the game story: USF Loses 1st Round in Hawaii.

Georgetown welcomed back alum Horace Broadnax last night and the Hoyas Rolled to Third Straight Rout (Wash. Times), 78-49 over Savannah St. For the Hoyas, it was a chance to Get Home Work Done (Wash. Post)and allow other players to et in the flow. Roy Hibbert led the Hoyas with 16 pts and 11 rebound, Jeff Green added 14 and 8 and freshmen Jessie Sapp scored 11. Next up for the Hoyas is a trip to El paso to meet Colgate in the Sun Bowl tournament and then either Mississippi Valley St or UTEP to complete the action prior to playing Providence for their Big East opener.

The highlight of “Fang” Mitchell’s coaching career and the program at Coppin St occurred in Pittsburgh back in 1997 when they upset South Carolina as a 15-seed in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament and came 1-pt away from moving to the sweet 16 when they lost to Texas.

Last night’s return was not one to remember, however, as Pitt Rolled Over Coppin St 77-51, handing Fang’s team its 9th consecutive defeat to start the season, all coming away from home, for a team that actually playes its first 15 away from home!

Pitt was led by Aaron Gray’s 14 pts. Gray also registered 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots. Carl Krauser added 12 pts, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. The Panthers were credited with 21 assists on 24 made FG’s. Levon Kendall added 11 pts and Ron Ramon 10 to a balances Panther cause. For Pitt, the easy road is over, the will travel to meet South Carolina on the 28th, return home for Wisconsin on the 31st and then host Notre Dame on January 4th to begin Big East play.

TONIGHT’S ACTION:
Tonight, West Virginia is back in action after a long break for exams and the challenge will not get much tougher as the Mountaineers battle the Sooners of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. Dave Hickman of the Charleston Gazette previews the game and, although It is Not a Must-Win Game it is still a BIG game for WVU. The WVU players are starting to realize there is some pressure to pull off a win in a big game:

“I think it’s that big a game just because I’m not sure [the selection committee is] going to look at our strength of schedule in the non-conference and [take into account] that we lost those three games against pretty good teams,’’ senior guard Patrick Beilein said. “There’s a chance they’ll look at it and say, ‘Well, the Mountaineers were just lucky last year. They haven’t beaten anybody this year.’ ’’

Tonight’s game is part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts All-Star Classic, in which Oklahoma St and Tennessee play the opening game. The Register Herald (WVU on the Road Again) and CSTV (Gray, OU Look to Keep on Rolling) also have preview articles on tonight’s game.

NewsOK.com looks at WVU’s Kevin Pittsnogle and how the ‘New-Age’ center Has Made a Name for Himself.

In an odd sceduling quirk, Dayton and Cincinnati, 2 in-state rivals, get another crack at each other tonight in Las Vegas as part of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. This time, instead of Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, the contest takes place in a high school gymnasium hundreds of miles away from either school. Dayton Looks for the Same Result (Hamilton Journal News) as earlier in the season as the Flyers upended the Bearcats 75-66 backon November 29th. The Dayton Daily News reports that Fans Travel with the Flyers for Hoops and Blackjack and a chance to catch their team in action at Valley High School.

The Cincinnati Enquirer has the story from Cincinnati as the Bearcats Crave Revenge agianst the Flyers and are chomping at the bit to hit the court against Dayton. Also while in Vegas, the Bearctas will meet LSU on Friday.

Providence, which went 23 days without a win, will look to make it 2 in 3 days as they host Yale tonight. A key for Providence going forward might be to just Pack it In but, as kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal explains, for all the right reasons, in a zone defense.

Tonight is a key measuring stick game for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights as they host the 49ers of UNC-Charlotte. Last season, hopes were high for Rutgers after they went to Charlotte and came away with a 73-71 win behind 20 pts form Quincy Douby, of course, we all know, that was the high point of their season last year. The 49ers have been surprisingly dissappointing in the early going. The Courier news has a scoting report on tonight’s game: Rutgers/UNC-C Scouting Report.

Also tonigh, Marquette will host Delaware St (2-7) and a pair of unbeaten Philadelphia schools hook up as LaSalle and Villanova meet tonight. Jay Wright is unsure if Shane Clark will be on the floor tonight for Villanova: Clark Expected to Bolster Nova Line-up (Philly Inquirer).

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News imagines what his perfect Big 5 imaginary game would look like: Let’s Just Throw it Up.

Jim Calhoun and his Connecticut Huskies worked yesterday to spread some holiday cheer to those that needed it: Huskies Bring Holiday Cheer (Torrington Register Citizen). The Hartford Courant also reports on the good tidings that the UConn men’s team spread around Connecticut and also reports that Denham Brown will also miss Friday’s game with Moorehead St: Drive and Assist. The time spent at the Asylum Hills Boys and Girls Club had a special meaning for UConn senior Rashad Anderson, who is getting a 2nd chance to do these things this year after his healthy scare last season.

John Reiter of the News Tribune doles out the grades for Indiana, Louisville and Kentucky: Big Three Get Grades.

Zach Smart of Hoopville looks at the powerful Mt. Vernon high school basketball program which has sent Ben Gordon and Keith Benjamin to the Big East recently and has Mike Cobourn whom several Big East schools would like to land next: Mt Vernon a NY High School Power. Smart also took the time to look at the West Virginia’s team this year: WVU Not Slowing Down, yet.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 21, 2005

Providence used a 31-0 run that ended the first half and bgean the 2nd half to rally from as much as 11 down to defeat Northeastern. Louisvill picked up a win over MTSU, but still has a ways to go to make their head coach comfortable with the amount of success they can have in the Big East.

Tonight, St John’s travels to Duke, where they hope to pull Duke into the mud and slop to keep the game close. DePaul has another test as they meet Cal in the Pete Newell Challenge. South Florida will face a grueling 3-games in 3 days, but no better place to be doing so than in Hawaii as they meet Iowa St tonight in the Rainbow Classic. Louisville closes out the Billy Minardi Classic, meeting Charleston Southern. Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Georgetown are all large favorites at home tonight as well.

Marcus Williams begin practice in full force for UConn yesterday while his coach, Jim Calhoun, is involved fully in the season of giving in the Connecticut community. Villanova gets an early Holiday Present with the addition of Shane Clark to Jay wright’s stable. Despite playing basketball in what must seem like different wolrds, Dominic and Germayne James remain tight. CollegeHoopsNet ranks the NY Metro area colleges and the Syracuse Post-Standard writers think of gifts for “Needy” Big East coaches. Also…anyone know where Theo Davis is these days??

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YERSTERDAY’S GAMES:
Louisville got a 76-68 win last night over Middle Tennessee State and were led by junior Brandon Jenkins’ career high of 20 pts. It was quite a disjointed game with both teams being whistled for a combined 53 fouls, prompting the Louisville Courier-Journal to caption the game as A Foul Night For All and Kentucky.Com to simply refer to it as A Bizarre One.

Tonight, the Cardinals will take on the College of Charleston, who beat FAU Last Night (Charleston Post), in the championship of the Billy Minardi Classic. For the most part, many have dismissed Rick Pitino’s concerns about his club as typical coach-speak, but, he reiterated his concerns last night:

“I’m not playing mind games,” Pitino said. “We’ve got to win games. The freshmen have enough experience. I can’t concern myself with playing time. I’m very concerned about double-digit losses going into the Big East and getting into the NCAA Tournament. We’ve got a rough and rocky road ahead of us.”

The AP story on the game talks about Rick Pitino’s Line-Up Switch of Insterting Bran Gianiny into the Starting Line-up.

Things may not be looking, or sounding great now, but as Jerry Brewer of the Louisville Courier-Journal says, History Shows Rick Pitino’s Team Will Improve Quickly.

With about 3 minutes left in the 1st half the Friars were reeling. Providence was trailing 39-28 to Northeastern, and for a team that had not won a game in 4 weeks, things were not looking too good. However, what happened over the next 10 minutes might be a turning point for the young Friars. Providence embarked on a 31-0 run that turned the 11 pt defecit into a 20 pt lead as the Friars cruised from then on to a 92-70 win over a pretty solid team from Northeastern.

The Providence Journal sums up the game: Friars in a Runaway After Amazing String. Randall Hanke had a career night, scoring 34 pts and grabbing 12 rebounds. Geoff McDermott added 10 pts and 16 boards as the Friars held a 51-37 rebounding advantage over the Huskies. Senior Donnie McGrath nailed a 3-pter to put the Friars up 90-65 and allowing him to surpass the 1000-pt mark.

Kevin McNamara has a PC Hoops Notebook for the Providence Journal and also looks at the good job freshmen Sharaud Curry, who had the tough task of matching up with NU’s Jose Juan Barea, whco added 8 pts, 7 assists and 5 rebounds to the good defense he played in helping frustrate Barea as the PC lead grew.

The Boston Globe has a game story: Friars 31-0 Run Decimates NU.

TONIGHT’S ACTION:

Tonight, Norm Roberts takes his St. John’s Redstorm squad into Cameron Indoor Stadium to meet the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils. The Storm, coming off a bad loss to Marist, in the Madison Square Garden opener over the weekend, better be Ready to Put up their Dukes (NY Post) tonight. For St John’s to remain in the game, they will have to make it ugly, likr they did last season, as Norm Roberts tells the NY Daily News:

“The game has to be ugly and it’s got to be that way from start to finish,” he said. “That’s the kind of game where we can be right in it with them. If this game is smooth and flowing that’s going to be playing to their advantage.”

Here is the NY Daily News game preview: Set to Duke it Out.

Tonight at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse-native Jimmy Collins leads his Ill-Chicago team against Jim Boehiem and the Orange. Despite spending more time in his life in the Windy City, Collins is Still Faithful to his Roots (Syracuse Post-Standard) in the Salt City. For Syracuse, they are still searching for Daryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts to be an offensive force in the post, and provide more than finishes from the work of others and putbacks. They need them to create offense, otherwise, it is going to get tighter and tighter on the perimeter for Gerry McNamara and Demetris Nichols.

You know your getting older when you see the picture of Horace Broadnax in the huddle for Savannah St. Broadnax, 41, is the former hard-nosed point guard for the Hoyas that was part of their national championship team from 1984, now, he is Building from the Bottom-Up (Washington Post) as head coach of Savannah St. Tonight, the Division 1-A punching bag Savannah St travels to the alma mater of their head coach to face Georgetown.

Pittsburgh gets set to meet another of the Division 1-A punching bags in Coppin St tonight. With Pitt, they have always been a balanced team when it comes to scoring. This year, they have Carl Krauser and Aaron Gray leading the chanrge then another 7 players behind them that average between 7.5 and 5.0 PPG: Balance Still Big Key for Panthers (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). The high-point of the Coppin St program did occur in Pittsburgh, in the 1997 NCAA tournament when, as a 15th seed, they shocked South Carolina in round 1 before losing to Texas in round 2. Tonight, it is a Battle of an Undefeated and a Defeated (Pitt Trib-Review) as Pitt tries to extend their 13-0 all-time record against MEAC opponents.

DePaul continues their grueling road schedule, which concludes tonight in their participating in the Pete Newell Challenge tonight at the Arena in Oakland when they meet Cal. DePaul must face a tough Cal team without big man Wesley Green who has an injured foot. For Cal, the game is their first in 10 days because of finals and they have not had a lot of full practice time. DePaul knocked off Wake Forest on the road last week in a similar situation, but came back to earth with a LOUD thud over thr weekend, losing to Old Dominion by 43 pts. InsideBayArea.Com has a game preview: Eager Cal Meets Depaul in Newell Challenge.

If there is a team that deserves a little rest in relaxation in Hawaii more than the South Florida Bulls already this season, I would be very surprised. Hawaii Allows Bulls a Respite (St Pete Times) from all th einjuries and grueling early season with a lack of depth. However, they will be tested tonight against Iowa St and with three games in three days as part of the Rainbow Classic. The St Petersburg Times previews the game with Iowa St, which opens the Classic for USF: USF Meets Iowa St.

2-5 Niagara has had a couple near misses, but tonight they will face an uphill battle when travelling to South Bend to meet the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Niagara’s Charron Fisher was a highly recruited football player out of Philadelphia, getting letetrs from Notre Dame, but Fisher’s Nuts for Hoops and his heart was on the hardwood. Fisher was also an AAU teammate of ND’s Rob Kurz. Notre Dame which played without Chris Quinn, their leading scorer, in their narrow victory at IPFW might be without their senior PG tonight too as Quinn is Still Nursing Sore Ankle.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Syracuse Post-Standard writers Kim Baxter and Mike Waters offer up a Christmas wish list for Needy Big East Coaches.

CollegeHoopsNet ranks the teams of the NY Metropolitan Area and throw little respect towards the Big East teams: NY Metro Poll.

Despite being at other ends of the college basketball spectrum, Germayne and Dominic James remain a pair of close-knit brothers: James Brothers Remain Close (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). Germayne is a starting guard for Division III Lakeland College in Sheybogan while Dominic is off to a fast start for Marquette of the Big East.

Tuesday was the first full practice for UConn’s Marcus Williams: UConn’s Williams Returns to Practice (Hartford Courant).

The Waterbury Republican American reports on the busy time of season for Jim Calhoun, off the court and in the community: Calhoun Thrives Off the Court.

Villanova just got a little deeper with the addition of Shane Clark. Villanova head coach Jay Wright says the Plan is to Ease Clark into Action (PhillyBurbs). The Philadelphia Daily News also has the story on clark, who played with Villanova teammates Bilal Benn and Kyle Lowry (who is a relative) as well as PC’s Desean White at Cardinal Dougherty in high school and again with Benn at Hargrave Military Academy, as well as Pitt’s Sam Young. The Daily News article also looks at the CBS Sportsline article on Jay Wright and the Cincinnati coaching position: Clark Joins Wright’s Cast at Nova.

HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS AND RECRUITS:

The Cincinnati Post has an article on OJ Mayo and Bill Walker after their win over St. Xavier of Fairfield: No Ham with this Mayo.

Not too long ago, everyone wanted Theo Davis. The long, lean and athleic 6′9 Canadian big man was on the top of everyone’s recruiting list. Syracuse, Texas, St John’s Pittsburgh, etc all wanted in with the player who was attending Cardozo HS in NYC and he eventually chose Texas. However, he then changed his mind and opted for Iowa St last spring, since then, he failed to qualify and is now attending Philadelphia Lutheran, his 5th, and hopefully, final high school. For now, the future is still up in the air for the big man with loads of potential and questions: Theo Far From Cardozo (NY Daily News).

BIG EAST RECRUITS UPDATES

It is a busy time of year for high school basketball as many of the higher profile teams are travelling around the country playing in showcase tournaments. Of course, the leaders of this group is the always in demand North College Hill team, led by OJ Mayo and they will be playing in California this week. In the past week, a loaded Prep Tournament in NYC (Boys Club of NY Tournament), the Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic on the SHU campus and the Circle City Challenge all took place with a lot of coverage and Big East recruits and targets participating.

Huntington, WV native Patrick Patterson is getting a lot of attention, Corey Raji surpassed a personal milestone, Johnny Flynn and Paul Harris keep their bond strong and Jacob Pullen is getting a look from Notre Dame, among others.

Will Walker keeps rolling and Larry Wright might be one of the most in-demand players in the spring period.

Don’t forget to check out our Big East News & Notes from earlier today (December 20th) for the happenings around the conference.

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Corey Raji is a player to keep an eye on when the recruiting season heats up this spring and summer. The class of 2007 Westwood (NJ) star hit a personel milestone Friday with his 1000th point of his varsity career: Raji Reaches 1000 pt Milestone (NorthJersey.Com).

The Stars Have Aligned for North College Hill (Cincinnati Enquirer) with Oj Mayo, Bill Walker, Keenan Ellis, etc. Mayo and company has the California high school basketball community buzzing with their trip out West: Comparisons Fly for Mayo.

Dozens of Division 1-A coaches were expected to be on hand for the Tip-Off Classic at Seton Hall this past weekend as NorthJersey.Com previews: Local Talent Showcase at SHU. With the main attraction obviously being St Benedict’s and their loaded line-up of Division 1-A talent, led by 2 unsigned seniors in Eugene Harvery and Lance Thomas, it was senior Rashad Bishop of Kennedy HS (NJ) that put on a show at Walsh Gym on the SHU campus, scoring 34 pts and dishing out 8 assists in his team’s 81-69 loss to St Benedict’s. Not bad for a kid who has mostly Division II and III interest and a few calls from Morehead St, Delaware and Fordham. With reps from Connecticut, Seton Hall and Rutgers, among others watching, it was a nice statement from Bishop: Bishop Shines against St Benedict’s Stars.

For Syracuse recruits Paul Harris (2006) and Johnny Flynn (2007), their Strong Bond Remains Alive even while Harris is attending prep school at Notre Dame prep and Flynn is leading Niagara Falls HS to another fast start. They look forward to re-uniting at Syracuse in the Fall of 2007.

Juniors OJ Mayo and Bill Walker are the Huntington, WV natives that get the most ink in the class of 2007, but, Patrick Patterson of Huntington HS has his own following with John Beilein (WVU), Ron Jirsa (Marshall) and Tubby Smith (UK) being in attendence for his game over the weekend. The staff from Virginia Tech was also supposed to attend, but weather changed their plans. Patterson is Getting a lot of Attention (Huntington Herlad-Dispatch).

Southport HS was the center of attention in the Midwest for the Circle City Challenge and the Indianapolis Star reported that the Big 10 Future Was on Display but, Big East targets have also emerged, such as 6′2 junior Stephen Thomas who has interest from ND and Derrick Rose, who DePaul is recruiting very hard.

Another loaded weekend event was the Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic at Kean University in Union. The NJ Star-Ledger reports on the action that included Bloomfield Tech with Big East signees Desean Butler (WVU) and Caseim Drummond (Villanova) combining for 28 pts in their 62-54 win over Linden. Earl Clark’s (signed-Louisville) Rahway team fell to American Christian, who was led by super-soph Tyreke Evans’ 28 pts, despite not starting due to a disciplinary action. Clark finished with 26 pts, despite picking up his second foul with 2:33 left in the first quarter. The Hun School got 18 pts and 13 rebounds from Idris Hilliard to get past Paramus Cahtolic 54-48. Here is the Star Ledger’s article on the event: Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic Summaries.

Metro Hoops also looks at the action from Day 2 of Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic Recap. They also recaped the action from Day One: Metro Hoops Recaps Day 1 of the Hoop Group Tip Off Classic. Highlighting the action in day 1 was the anticipated match-up between St Patricks and Neumann-Goretti of Philadelphia. On this day, Corey Fisher got the best of 2007 counterpart Antonio Jardine in leading his team to the win.

Proviso East guard Jacob Pullen is a player starting to get some high-major looks, including from DePaul, as can be found in this article from the Chicago Tribune on Illinois Recruits.

Will Walker (DePaul-signed) continues to lead undefeated Bolingbrook: Walker Leads Bolingbrook with 31 (Herald News).

Larry Wright led Saginaw High with 29 pts in a win over Traverse City Central last week, according to the Saginaw News: Wright Scores 29 in Win. St John’s has watched Wright this year and, for this game, Tom Izzo and Tubby Smith were in the stands to see the 6′2 guard. This was on the heels of their opening 86-34 win over Bay City Central where they were led by junior forward Josh Southern, who also has some Big East interest, with 14 pts and 16 rebounds and Wright added 10 pts and 10 rebounds: Saginaw Opens with Win.

Pitt recruit Austin Wallace helped LaSalle pull away from St. Joseph-by-the-Sea 66-44: Staten Island Advance.

Sean Crawford is a player to watch for the Cardozo Judges, after turning heads playing with the Gauchos this summer, check out NY Hoops for an introuduction: Sean Crawford Turning heads.

St Thomas More got a tough win over Blair Academy as Antonio Pena (Villanova-signed) went head to head with BC recruit Shamari Spears. Pena scored 10 for the winner who also got 8 from Edwin Ubiles: St Thomas More Edges Blair. This was part of an impressive tournament put together by the Boys Club of NYC. St Thomas More advanced to the championship game where they met powerful Notre Dame Prep which were led by tournament MVP Paul Harris (Syracuse-signed) and Derrick Caracter (louisville-signed). Notre Dame Prep Captures Boys Club Title (from Yahoo! Sports). Ubiles scored 19 and Pena added 18 in their 76-57 loss to Notre Dame Prep.

Adam Walker played well for Northfield Mount Hermon in the Boys Club of New York tournament: Walker Scores 22 in Tourney Win (Yahoo! Sports). Walker is a 5th year prep, who originally played at Christ the King. He could be of interest to a Big East school in the spring.

Russ Blake of Scout.Com has an article on Yahoo! Sports about a high scoring JUCO lead guard that USF has interest in: Kevin Thomas of Compton Community College who is a Fort Lauderdale native.

Providence Recruit Corey Lowe Eyes State Title with teammate Anthony Gurley (Boston Herald).

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 20, 2005

Last night, Cincinnati and Marquette picked up 20+-pt victories. Cincinnati seemed to have their minds already in Vegas for upcoming games with Dayton and LSU, but got past Division II Arkansas-Monticello. Marquette survived a surge from Oakland and pulled away from a tie game over the last 14 minutes to register an easy win.

Tonight, Louisville looks to get back on track against MTSU and Providence has gone a long time between wins and will try to change that streak against Northeastern.

The newly configured NCAA graduation rates have been released and do not punish schools for transfers in good academic standing. Also, Gerry McNamara was named Big East player of the week and Erick Murray has been dismissed from the Cincinnati basketball program. Pitt is in the Top 25 for the first time this year, WVU is weighing the pros and cons of a tougher out of conference schedule and where that might leave them come March. Villanova has plenty of excuses available to them, but they just keep on winning. Ed Nelson works hard everyday and it is paying off and Marcus Williams is going to have to be ready to hear it from opposing crowds.

Check back later today for our High School Hoops round-up with player performance and recruiting information.

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YESTERDAY’S ACTION:
After a string of rather impressive wins and dates looming later this week with Dayton and LSU, it was understandable that the Cincinnati Enquirer)Bearcats Looked Sluggish in Winning last night against Division II Arkansas-Monticello, in a game that was part of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.

UC had 5 players in double figures, led by their 4 seniors: James White 18 pts, Erick Hicks and Jihad Muhammad 15 pts each and Armien Kirkland added 12. Freshmen devan Downey, the reigning Big East freshmen of the week, added 13 pts and junior Cedric McGowan chipped in 9 pts and 13 rebounds.

The Cincinnati Post also offers a game story: UC 84 Ark-Mon 63.

The Freshmen Class at Marquette Steps Forward (Appleton Post-Crescent) and leads the Golden Eagles to a 90-69 win over Oakland. Wesley Mathews set a career high with 21 pts and Jerel McNeal added 18 pts, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Dominic James overcame 7 turnovers to score 17 pts.

For Mathews, it was a bust-out game, coming out of a 5-29 funk over the last 3-games and shooting just 32.1% on the season. He scored 14 of his 21 in the last 11 minutes to help Marquette pull away, after they saw Oakland completely erase a 16-pt defecit to tie the game with under 14 minutes to play. Marquette responded with a 15-5 run to re-take a 10 pt lead and Marquette cruised from there. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a game story: Marquette 90 Oakland 69.

TONIGHT’S ACTION:
Louisville meets Middle Tennessee St tonight as part of the Billy Minardi Classic at Freedom Hall. Minardi was UL coach Rick Pitino’s brother-in-law that dies in the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center.

Following their loss to Kentucky on Saturday, Pitino is likely to shuffle his line-up and Brad Gianiny is Likely to Start for UL (Louisville Courier Journal).

Previously, UL has started junior Brandon Jenkins and senior Taquan Dean at guard and freshmen Terrence Williams at small forward, but Pitino is looking for a way to get Gianiny more time and might move Dean off the ball more, and let him worry about scoring, and Jenkins will play a 3rd guard slot. Pitino liked the way Gianiny ran the offense and worked the ball inside against Kentucky. Andre McGee will continue to see time at the point, too.

Providence has lost 4 in a row and Northeastern is No Cupcake for the Friars (Providence Journal) to munch on this Holiday season. Northeastern is led by Jose Juan Barea, the Puerto Rico national team star, that is averaging 24 PPG and 9 assists a game for the 5-1 Huskies. Barea, a senior, will spend a lot of time matched up against freshmen PC point guards Sharaud Curry and Weyinmi Efejuku. With exams ending today, this will not be an easy test for the Friars who are looking for their first win since November 28th, a stretch of 23 days.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Another day, another player is gone from the program at Cincinnati. Erick Murray, a walk-on, was dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules: Bearcats Dismiss Murray (Cincy Post). Court records show Murray tested positive for marijuana on December 15, which would be a violation of his probation from a misdemeanor assault charge from last April.

The Charleston Gazette and dave Hickman looks at the Risks and Rewards of the WVU Schedule which is only going to get tougher when they match-up with Oklahoma in Oklahoma City on Thursday. So far, the Mountaineers are 6-3 and own wins against La.-Monroe (4-6), Wofford (4-7), St Bonaventure (2-26 last year), Division III Washington and Jefferson (it actually counts), UMBC (4-4) and Duquesne (1-6). After OU they have Canisius and then face UCLA and Marshall once conference play begins. They lost at home to LSU, who has lost to Northern Iowa and Houston, both at home and lost on a neutral floor to Texas and Kentucky. No shame in any of their losses, but they might be putting themselves in a difficult situation come NCAA selection time if they can not find a win against Oklahoma or UCLA. Remember, this was a team that went 8-8 in the Big East last season, and might be leaving themselves in a must-win 10 in the league scenario…

With the new NCAA guidelines for figuring graduation rates, Syracuse Makes the Grade (Syracuse Post-Standard).

The reporting period of 1995-1998 was not very kind to the University of Pittsburgh in the new graduation rate surveys, but that was the year before Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon arrived and has made changes for the better: NCAA System Shows Better Grad rates (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

The Portsmouth Herald writes about Big East Teams Padding their NCAA Resumes.

Hard Work the Norm for UConn’s Nelson (New London Day).

The Waterbury Republican American has a story on another aspect that Connecticut’s Marcus Williams must prepare for, the verbal taunting he will face on the road: Wiliams Will Test Mental Toughness.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a Notebook on #25 Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also has a Pitt Basketball Notebook that looks at the Coppin St schedule and the upcoming break for the Pitt players for Christmas.

The Syracuse Post-Standard reports on the Big East Player of the Week: Gerry Mcnamara.

The Hartford Courant looks at Villanova’s early season success: Villanova Ignores Excuses and Keeps on Winning.

The Courier News has a Seton Hall Basketball Notebook. The Pirates are rebounding well, something you have to do when you miss as much as they do just to score sometimes.

Draft Express Top 25.

We released our weekly Power Poll yesterday: Big East Power Poll.

BIG EAST WEEKLY POWER POLL

Here is our 4th in-season weekly Bloggrs Power Poll and Round-up for the 2005-2006 season. Bloggers and Website admins from around the Big East took the time to rank the teams 1-16 and Big East Basketball Report tallied up the rankings. Here are this week’s contributors:

BlueDemonsNation.Com
Cracked Sidewalks (Marquette)
Pitt Sports Blather
Orangefan Blog
Draft Express
UC Bearcats Blog
RU Baksetball Blog
Big East Basketball Report
also, SPK, a frequent conrtibutor to the Seton Hall Rivals and Scout sites submitted an entry.

Exam week is over and the Holiday Season crunch is now upon us in full swing. Cincinnati is playing very good basketball right now and will put that on the line, especially later in the week while in Vegas, as they hook up with Dayton, who beat them earlier at home, and LSU in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. On Thursday, West Virginia is back in action after a long lay-off and faces Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. DePaul coninues their daunting road schedule with a trip to play at Cal. Rutgers has an intriguing game at home against UNC-Charlotte this week. St John’s goes to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face Duke. USF will be competing in the Rainbow Classic this week as well. The rest of the league is not playing too many games of note, as the tune-ups for Big East play continues, and the conference season is just 15 days away!

If you have a blog or a Big East Related web site and would like to participate, e-mail us at: [email protected]

Click below to see the poll results and an update on each team.

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BIG EAST BLOGGERS POWER POLL (1st place votes in parenthesis)

1) Connecticut (9) 144 pts. Wasted little time getting up big on New Hampshire and cruised from there for an easy win in their lone outing of the past week. They have a couple more gift-wrapped home games with Morehead St and Detroit this week. Last Week #1.

2) Villanova 134 pts. Any win in the “Big 5″ is a quality win, so their close call at the Palestra against Penn (who played Duke tough on the road) is nothing to shrug off. This week they face undefeated LaSalle. Last Week #2.

3) Pittsburgh 116 pts. (tie) Followed up exam week with a less than inspiring 11 pt win over Vermont. This week, they face the high-major punching bag Coppin St at home before the schedule gets much tougher. The Panthers will have to fight boredom one more time before we all see what exactly they have here. Last Week #4.

3) Syracuse 116 pts.(tie) So much for a shooting slump for Gerry McNamara as the coaches pre-season co-player of the year exploded for 38 points in Sunday’s win over Davidson. This week the Orange host Ill-Chicago on Wednesday. Last Week #5.

5) Louisville 114 pts. Took care of business in the 2nd half to clean up against Chicago St, but got a rude welcome by Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The young Cardinals are still earning the ropes and get back to the easy part of their schedule with Middle Tennessee St this week. Probably not the effort their fans were hoping for in their first test, but they have plenty of time to work together in practice and get better. Last Week #3.

6) West Virginia 90 pts.(tie) Was off last week and will meet Oklahoma in Oklahoma City on Thursday. Another chance for a win over a quality team, but a tall task for WVU to pull off. Last Week #6

6) Georgetown 90 pts.(tie) Took care of lowly Stetson this past weekend and will face lowly Savanah St on wednesday in what should be another cakewalk. Last Week #7.

Cincinnati 85 pts. A couple very impressive blow out wins last week agianst Ohio and Tennessee Tech have the Bearcats flying high right now. face Division II Arkansas-Monticello tonight as part of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic before meeting Dayton and LSU in Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday to complete the event. Dayton has beaten UC once this year and LSU owns a win at WVU, another good week to see where the Bearcats stand in their improvement. Last Week #8.

9) Notre Dame 78 pts. Escaped IPFW with a win on the road without Chris Quinn. This week the Irish host Niagara on Wednesday and Columbia on Friday. Last Week #9

10) Marquette 58 pts. Streuggled a little bit with the zone defense of the Dons from San Francisco, but Steve Novak stepped up like the senior leader he will be counted on to pull away late for a win. This week they have Oakland (Mon) and Delaware St (Thur). Last Week #10

11) Rutgers 54 pts. Rutgers picked up three easy wins over the past week, beating Division II St Thomas Aquinas, Maine and South Carolina St. Their lone game this week comes on Thursday and it is a key home game with UNC-Charlotte. Last Week #11.

12) DePaul 46 pts. They got the 1-1 week they probably hoped for, but in a comletely different fashion than expected. DePaul beat Wake Forest in Winston-Salem in a game that got a lot of attention for the Blue Demons, but followed it up by getting blasted by 43 pts at Old Dominion. This week, their tough road trip continues with a date at Cal on Wednesday night. Last Week #12.

13) Providence 32 pts. Were off all last week and are in the midst of a 4-game losing streak. They come back this week with home games against Northeastern and Yale. The young Friars are a good bet to start improving steadily, in my opinion. Last Week #14.

14) St John’s 31 pts. St. John’s dropped their second in a row by losing, at home, to Marist on Saturday. A very damaging blow to the rebuilding hopes of Norm Roberts and the Redstorm. While the game may provide extra motivation for their trip Wednesday to Duke, they are going to need a whole lot more than extra motivation to get a win. Making the game as ugly as possible might keep the score relatively close, but Duke has an awful lot of offensive firepower, judging by SJU’s 53 pts at home against Marist, SJU does not. Last Week #13.

15) Seton Hall 25 pts. Seton Hall laid an egg offensively Sunday, scoring 42 pts in a home loss to Northwestern. They are off this week, which will provide the staff a good opportunity to update resumes. Last Week #15.

16) South Florida 11 pts. Got the win over Florida Atlantic, but we will see this week when they participate in the Rainbow Classic how costly it was as Zaronn Cann and Melvin Buckley each left with injuries. They meet Iowa St first in Hawaii this week. Last Week #16.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 19, 2005

Four games yesterday in the Big East as Connecticut routed New Hampshire, Syracuse rode Gerry McNamara past Davidson and Notre Dame, without a key player, withstood a late IPFW rally to earn a victory on the road. Seton Hall, however, dropped a low-scoring home game with Northwestern.

Tonight, Marquette and Cincinnati are in action.

Around the league, we also have articles on Pittsburgh’s 3-pt defense and Carl Krauser’s move up their all-time scoring list. WVU prepares for an on-court test with Oklahoma. The Louisville early season schedule comes into question, but I will refer to Rick Pitino and his past success in readying a team, thank you! Dick Weiss and DraftExpress also look at the happenings around college basketball.

Later this afternoon, the weekly power poll will be out for everyone to talk about.

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YESTERDAY’S ACTION:
Playing Without Senior Chris Quinn (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette), who missed the game with a bone bruise in his left ankle, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish escaped IPFW with a 65-63 win over the 2-7 Mastodons. IPFW scored 7 straight points to close the gap to 65-63 and after a timeout with 3.3 seconds left, the Irish Prevent IPFW Last Second Shot (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette) with freshmen Ryan Ayers stripping Brad Pompey as he prepared to launch a potential game-winning 3-pter.

Now a senior and healthy, Torin Francis Feels at Home in the Post Again (South Bend Tribune) and against IPFW he looked like it, scoring a game-high 24 pts on 10-13 shooting from the floor and added 11 rebounds. Guard Russell Carter grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to go with his 11 pts and Colin Falls added 15 pts for the Irish.

Gerry McNamara Scores 38 pts (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle) on 11-20 shooting from the floor, including 8-12 from 3-pt range as the Orange outscored Davidson 90-80 in the Dome yesterday. McNamara got help from junior Demetris Nichols who hit for a career-high 26 pts, but it was Nichols Strong Defense (Rochester D&C) that Jim Boeheim singled out as a key to the game. Nichols held Davidson high-scorer Brendan Winters to just 4-18 shooting from the field.

The Orange were Going Long (Syracuse Post-Standard) to the tune of 14-26 from beyond the arc against Davidson, which is the most made 3-pters by a SU team in the Dome. They also got a lift from Matt Gorman in his play for Terrence Roberts who found himself (surprise!) in foul trouble. Gorman Made the Most of His Minutes (Syracuse P-S) with 18 minutes and 7 rebounds. He played 13 minutes in the 2nd half.

UConn scored 39 of the game’s first 49 points and Never felt Threatened (Hartford Courant) in their 86-44 drubbing of New Hampshire at the Hartford Civic Center.

After a 9-day layoff, the Huskies showed no ill-affects from the lay-off and had energy for the entire game. They turned in to Matinee Idols (New London day) with a couple tweaks to the starting line-up. Marcus Johnson, starting in place of Denham Brown whi has a sore knee, scored a career high 20 pts and Ed Nelson, getting the start, turned in a double-double with 12 pts and 11 rebounds. Rudy Gay led the Huskies with 22. Gay and Nelson make up UConn’s Version of the Off Couple (The Day).

A cold front moved through the Continental Airlines Arena yesterday and turned the Seton Hall offense into a deep freeze as the Pirates Were Chilled to the Bone (NorthJersey.com) by shooting 23.5% from the floor (12-51), which included a horrid 5-30 in the second half.

Despite the 23.5% shooting from the floor and 20 turnovers, Seton Hall Missed a Game-Winning Attempt (Star-Ledger) by Donald Copeland at the buzzer. The Courier-News has a game story: Northwester 44 DePaul 42.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Cincinnati meets Arkansas-Monticello, a Division II school, tonight, at home, for the 2nd game of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. Right now, Cincinnati is Winning, But Future is Uncertain (Cincinnati Enquirer)as newly appointed athletic director Mike Thomas will be evaluating the coaching situation over the course of the season. For coaching candidates, Gregg Doyel takes a look at three other names, including one name to get the Big East talking, that should be in consideration other than the “hot” name, Skip Prosser: UC Has Options Other than Prosser.

DeAndre Coleman’s family has cited Lack of Playing Time (Enquirer) as the reason for him to leave the team. He has still not talked with interim coach Kennedy about his situation. It is another freshmen that is turning into the talk of the town for UC: Devan Downey Gets UC Rolling (Cincy Post).

Mike Hutsell looks at the easy schedule Louisville played and how it hurt them against Kentucky: Weak Slate Costly for Louisville (New Albany Tribune). I am not going to second-guess Rick Pitino. He has a young team that also happened to be injured throughout the preseason. Was the schedule costly for the Kentucky game? Yes, I am sure it was…but, the Kentucky game is just one game and Rick Pitino has prepared teams before…for the long run, so, I am going to defer to him, unlike the others in the sports world that have to put a mid-December OOC game under the microscope.

Sunday, the Rutgers men’s basketball team returned to junior Marquis Webb’s hometown for a 2-hour practice at Eastside HS with 30-40 kids from the Paterson Recreation Department and their coaches. Webb came up through the Paterson Recreation Department playing baseball, football and basketball and played AAU ball for Jimm Salmons, who oprganized the event. It was a Rewarding Homecoming for Webb (NorthJersey.Com).

Dick Weiss of the NY daily News looks at the recruiting power of Rick Pitino and how the rest of the Big East is readying to up their game, however, Winning is Not in the Cards, yet. He also shares his top 25, which includes UConn #2, Villanova #3, Louisville #17 and Pitt at #20.

Carl Krauser is Moving Up (Pittsburgh Trib-Review) the Pittsburgh all-time scoring list. The 5th year senior has moved from 23rd to 15th since the season began. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks at Pitt’s concerns in defending the 3-pt Shot.

DraftExpress Bounces Around the Nation with their thoughts on a little of everything in college baksetball.

With final exams now behind them, the WVU men’s basketball team can now begin preparing for a big test on the court, with Oklahoma coming up on Thursday in Oklahoma City. Mickey Furfari of the Register-Herald has the story as WVU Prepares for Oklahoma.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 18, 2005

Yesterday in the Big East, DePaul and St John’s suffered embarrasing losses and Louisville flunked their first big test of the season at Kentucky. Cincinnati, Georgetown and Rutgers cruised to wins and Pittsburgh and Marquette got by with wins when it looked, at times, like they would have liked to be doing something else.

Also, Cincinnati sees another player leave the program. Syracuse will look for some more post offense and an injury has caused a change in the Connecticut line-up.

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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Four days earlier, a short-handed DePaul team went into Winston-Salem and knocked off 16th ranked Wake Forest. Yesterday, they got Karron Clarke back and went to Old Dominion and DePaul Suffered a Record-Setting Defeat (Richmond Times-Dispatch), 87-43.

It has been a yo-yo start for the 5-4 Blue Demons, but nothing has seen them as low as yesterday, on Demon Demolition Day (Chicago Tribube).

The Louisville Cardinals faced their first test of the young season and were never really in the game with their in-state rival, Kentucky. Taquan Dean Stood Up and Took the Blame (Danville Advocate), but ESPN’s Pat Forde says Pin this Loss on Pitino for the soft-serve schedule he served up his team.

Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal looks at Louisville’s Stumble on their Road Less Traveled. The Louisville Courier-Journal also has a game story: Kentucky 73 Louisville 61 and it was never really that close.

Quincy Douby leads Rutgers again, last night with 21 pts in their 63-45 win over South Carolina St. Here is the NJ Star-Ledger game story on the Rutgers win: Rutgers Leads as RU Cruises.

Marist had never beaten a Big East team…until yesterday as Marist Got a Feel-Good Win (Newsday) as Marist went in to Madison Square Garden and dealt the St John’s Redstorm an embarrasing home loss. The NY Daily News also has a game story: Marist 56 SJU 53. All I need to know on this game, Lamont Hamilton had more 3-pters (2) than he did 2-pters (1), and this was against Marist. Good luck against Duke on Wednesday.

It was not easy, but Marquette Solved San Francisco’s Zone (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) and pulled out a 61-48 win. Steve Novak hit 3-3 from beyond the arc as part of his 13 2nd hald points for the winners. Novak finished with 22 pts and freshmen Jerel McNeal added 15 for MU.

Cincinnati is down another player, as DeAndre Coleman has Left the Bearcat Program and has requested a release from his scholarship.

Freshmen Devan Downey scored 16 pts, dished out 9 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Bearcats to a 105-62 romp over Tennessee Tech (Don’t Miss Downey Cincinatti Enquirer).

Roy Hibbert led Georgetown with 17 pts and 10 rebounds and they did get a chance to play a lot of guys and freshmen Marc Egerson scored a career-high 12 pts for the Hoyas, who jetted out to a 15-0 lead against winless Stetson and was never challenged. Here is the Washington Post game story on the action: Georgetown 70 Stetson 50.

Pitt played much of their game last night against Vermont as if they head were still in the library studying for exams. However, a 25-4 run to close the 1st half and a 12-0 run midway through the 2nd half gave Pitt a 56-38 lead and they cruised, behind Carl Krauser’s 20 pts and Aaron Gray had his 6th double-double in 8 games this season with 11 pts and 12 rebounds. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the game story: Pitt 63 Vermont 52.

Syracuse hosts Davidson today and the Orange Will Look for Terrence Roberts to score more inside (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle).

The Hartford Courant looks at USF transfer Melvin Buckley: Buckley Happy with Move to USF.

Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal looks at: Guards Taking Charge in college basketball.

With Denham Brown out of action Marcus Johnson Gets First Start (Conn Post) for UConn today against New Hampshire. For Marcus Williams, his return to game action is not expected until January 3rd: Williams Will Wait to Join Rotation (NewsTimeLive).

SATURDAY AROUND THE BIG EAST

After a week in which many schools were battling tests off the court, 8 teams are in action today for tests on the court.

The battle of Kentucky highlights today’s action as the other seven games all should be wins for the Big East, even though Tennesse Tech and Old Dominion are unlikely to roll over for their opponents.

We have just two and a half weeks left until the conference season begins to roll, click below to read up on who is in action today!

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Here is a look at the action:

San Francisco @ Marquette, 1 PM.

Dominic James is among the Big East Freshmen Leaders (Cracked Sidewalks) in PPG, Assists and Rebounds. He is certainly living up to the hype as their starting point guard.

Louisville @ Kentucky, 2 PM.

Kentucky got good news from the NCAA when they reduced the suspension of Randolph Morris to 14 games, but that is not going to help them this weekend. Louisville will be getting their first test of the season and many are anxious to really see what the Cardinals have. Clark Kellogg looks at the game for Yahoo! Sports: Bluegrass Battle.

Marist @ St. John’s, 2 PM.

Should not be much of a challenge for the Red Storm, who travel to Duke next Wednesday, so they could get caught looking ahead a little bit. Anything less than a comfortable win, however, would surprise me.

DePaul @ Old Dominion, 4 PM.

This is the third game of four straight non-conference road games for DePaul. A week ago, we were wondering if they would win more than one in this stretch, well, after beating Dayton and Wake Forest, they already have two wins with ODU and Cal to go. ODU is coming off a lopsided loss to Drexel, but is a solid team and will put up a spirited effort at home. DePaul must avoid a letdown coming off the big win at Wake Forest. WeAreDePaul.Com from the scout network previews the game: DePaul vs. Old Dominion.

Vermont @ Pittsburgh, 4 PM.

Pittsburgh is back in action after a week of exams and face one of last year’s NCAA darlings, the Catamounts of Vermont. For Pittsburgh, it is another tune-up as they should not face too much of a test. In 12 days, the Panthers travel to face South Carolina before a New Year’s Eve match-up with Wisconsin, we will have to wait until then to learn how good these Panthers really are.

Tennessee Tech @ Cincinnati, 7 PM.

The Bearcats followed up their first two losses of the season with impressive wins over Vanderbilt on the road and Ohio U at home who were both previously unbeaten. Devan Downey has been providing Andy Kennedy with the offensive spark they seemed to have lacked earlier in their schedule. This game is actually one of four each team will play in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. Cincinnati is in action at home tonight and Monday before the action convenes again in Las Vegas later next week. UCBearcats.com offers a preview of the tonight’s game: UC hosts Tennessee Tech.

Stetson @ Georgetown, 7:30 PM.

Stetson is 0-7, which includes a 25-pt home loss to South Florida last time out. Georgetown should meet very little trouble in this one.

South Carolina St @ Rutgers, 7:30 PM.

South Carolina St is a low scoring team that will be hard-pressed to reach 50 tonight against Rutgers, who can play some defense. Rutgers is prone to some offensive struggles of their own, but should not have many worried tonight.

Feel free to leave your predictions for today’s games in the comments below…or, any observations from what you see in the action today.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 16, 2005

Last night, Rutgers and South Florida picked up wins yesterday over lesser-opponents. However, for USF, two more players hobbled off the court with injuries.

No Big East action tonight.

Around the league we have found stories on USF walk-on Chris Capko, the wounded Louisville interior as they head into their match-up with Kentucky this weekend and Randy Foye is earning recognition as one of the nation’s best. At UConn, Denham Brown is bothered by a sore knee and Marcus Williams is getting set to return to practice. Pittsburgh readies for tests on the court as tests off the court finish up.

Also, some recruit updates with stories on Doug Wiggins and the Hargrave Military Academy team in action. St Joseph in Illinois, which rose to fame in the documentary Hoop Dreams, also has a few players that the Big East is looking at

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YESTERDAY’S GAMES:
The Maturation of Quincy Douby into a Complete Player (Courier News) was on display again last night as Douby scored 22 pts, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, made 3 steals and blocked a shot in Rutgers 91-56 win over Maine at the RAC. The most impressed with his development is his head coach, Gary Waters:

“He’s starting to understand that in order to be a good basketball player you got to be able to play both ends (of the court), and he’s also looking to make people around him better.”

Rutgers Showed Intensity (NJ Star-Ledger) right from the start and did not let up last night for 40 minutes. Douby scored 19 of his 22 in the first half and also got help from Ollie Bailey and Marquis Webb, who both finished with 11 and freshmen Jaron Griffin added 10 and Anthony Farmer dished out 8 assists.

The NJ Star Ledger has a Rutgers Notebook where the positive impressions of Quincy Douby’s game keeps flowing. Byron Joynes re-injured a nagging shoulder injury in practice earlier in the week and did not play last night. NorthJersey.com has a game story: Rutgers cruises Past Maine, 91-56.

It was a win last night for South Florida, but the Bulls Lose Two More Key Players to Injury (WDAE) as Zaronn Cann looks to have re-injured a surgically repaired knee and Melvin Buckley left th egame with a groin injury.

Last night, the Bulls found themselves down 25-13 with just over 7 minutes left in the first half and cut the FAU lead to 27-25 at the half, as the Bulls Rallied for a Damaging Win (St Pete Times), in regards to injuries.

The Tampa Trib has a game story: USF 62 FAU 44 and also report that Collin Dennis will not be available until mid-January and is contemplating a medical redshirt. Cann will have an MRI today on his injured left knee. The Bulls, who outscored FAU 37-17 in the second half, were led by Soloman Jones who had 17 pts, 15 rebounds and 6 blocks, playing all 40 minutes. McHugh Mattis and Melvyn Richardson came off the bench to score 13 and 10, they may not be coming off the bench in their next game, when they will all be tested, with 3-games in 3 days in Hawaii for the Rainbow Classic next week.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
For the USF Bulls, junior walk-on Chris Capko Making Most of Playing Time (The Ledger) and has been thrown into the fire at point guard for the Bulls. With David Sills being dismissed and Chris Howard out for the season with a knee injury and Collin Dennis being slowed by ankle and an achilles injury, Capko has had to shoulder the load. Even with his own aches and pains you will not hear Capko, who leads the Big East in assists at 6.7, complaining. Last night, he had 7 pts, 7 assists and 7 turnovers against FAU.

Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune has an Irish Hoops Notebook where he reports that former ND player Omari Israel is set to enroll at Loyola (MD) where he will join for PC player Gerald Brown. Noie also looks at how some former Irish players are doing in the professional ranks around the world.

Bob Snyder of the Syracuse Post-Standard looks around the Big East and concentrates his story on the big Out of Conference, Made for TV match-ups that highlight the Big East schedule during January and February: Non-League Games are a Rare Commodity come January and February, but conference bragging rights are at stake.

Often overlooked and under-appreciated, Randy Foye is starting to get the recognition he deserves as one of the best players, not only in the Big East, but in the country: Foye to the World (Philly Daily News).

The Lexington Herlad-Leader continues to look ahead to this weekend’s Louisville/Kentucky match-up and today they look at Louisville’s Wounded Interior which is led by Juan Palacios and David Padgett.

Marcus Williams Set to Begin Practicing Sunday as he is ready to rejoin the UConn basketball team after sitting out the first semester for a University suspension following his arrest for his part in a plot to steal and sell laptops on the UConn campus (Hartford Courant).

Denham Brown once again has some knee pain: Brown Misses Practice (The Day).

Pittsburgh, after a week of final exams, will face Vermont at home this Saturday: Testing: On and Off the Court for Panthers (Pittsburgh Trib-Review). Pitt showed a willingness to go after their opponent for the full 40 minutes against Penn St and Auburn, now they want to continue that trend against all opponents: Pitt Tries to Avoid Letdowns (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

With wins on the road over Dayton and Wake Forest in their last two games, the DePaul Blue Demons are Feeling at Home on the Road (Daily Herald).

RECRUIT NEWS:
Vernon Macklin (Georgetown-signed) got a homecoming game when Hargrave Military Academy faced his old high school, Norcom. Hargrave (9-2) earned a 86-65 victory and Macklin scored 20, 10 on alley-oop dunks from Stefan Welsh and Tyler Smith (unsigned, Pitt target) led Hargrave with 25 pts. Jonathan Mandeldove (UConn-signed) scored 5 pts for the victors: Hargrave 86 Norcom 65 (Daily Press).

UConn recruit Doug Wiggins has been through a lot the past 5-6 weeks. Like the extra attention he received on his flip-flop in choice of schools, he will be getting extra attention from opponents all season, too: Wiggins Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking (Connecticut Post).

Chris Wright is a highly coveted PG on the east coast and has plenty of interest from the top teams in the Big East. His play continues to sparkle: Wright Leads St. John’s over Paul VI with 26 pts (Washington Post).

Gene Pingatore, coach of St Joseph (Ill) and of Hoop Dreams Fame, has three players that will interest Big East schools: Jonathan Peoples (unsigned senior), Evan Turner (JR) and Demetri McCamey. Last weekend, they showed they could be among the top teams in Wisconsin, as well as Illinois: St Joseph Topples Wisconsin’s Elite (Maywood Herald).

Many eyes will be on Fort Myers, beginning this weekend, for the 33rd annual Bank of America City of Palms Classic. The 16-team tournament begins Saturday and runs through Thursday: City of Palms Classic set to Tip-ff. This is from the Nashville City Paper as Brentwood Academy is one of the featured teams.

Another loaded event beginning this weekend is the Circle City Classic at Southport HS which will bring some of the top talent in the midwest to one location: Circle City Classic (Indianapolis Star).

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES

December 15, 2005

Cincinnati turned in another strong performance last night, earning their second straight win over a previously unbeaten team.

Tonight, Rutgers and South Florida are in action.

Around the rest of the league we have stories on the confidence level that is rising quickly around the DePaul program following Tuesday night’s upset win over Wake Forest. Juan Palacios expects to be ready for Louisville’s first test of the season. Dwight Brewington is preparing to move on with his basketball career and SU’s Andy Rautins is begining what might be a promising future shooting the ball for the Orange.

We also have several articles about recruiting and high school basketball action from current recruits, including many Big East coaches in attendence at one exciting game in New Jersey and a big man from the Pittsburgh area that is getting some 1-A interest from the Big East, too.

Read these article and more, just click the “READ REST OF ARTICLE” link below for links to the many stories from around the league we have found today!

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YESTERDAY’S ACTION:
For the second consecutive game, the Cincinnati Bearcats have been impressive in victory. On Saturday, a tough win at Vanderbilt seemed to give them some hope, but after turning a 1-pt halftime lead into a rout over previous unbeaten Ohio, Andy (Kennedy) Has ‘Em Rolling (Cincinnati Post).

Following up his play in a week in which he was named Big East Rookie of the Week, Devan Downey scored a career-high 24 pts and also finished with 5 assists and 4 steals last night to lead the Bearcats.

It was a seconf half run, both offensively and defensively that put the needed seperation between the Bearcats and Bobcats. UC held Ohio to just 2 field goals in the first 9 minutes of the 2nd half and UC shot 62.5% after halftime, in a half in shich they outscored OU 47-20. The steady improvement of Downey and the rest of his mates show that the Bearcats are catching On. Seniors James White added 18 pts, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and Armien Kirkland added 11 pts.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer also has a game story: UC 86 OU 58.

Gregg Doyel was all set to write about several different players during last nights game, but the Dimunitive Downey Demanded Attention with his sparkling play.

It has been over 43 years since Cincinnati and Ohio St have met on the hardwood, the wait is nearly over, as the two schools will meet next December in the Wooden Traditional: UC and OSU Game Finalized (Cincinnati Post).

TONIGHT’S ACTION:
The Courier News previews the Rutgers/Maine match-up: Rutgers & Maine Scouting Report.

The St Petersburg Times previews tongith’s match-up between South Florida and Florida Atlantic, coached by Matt Doherty: USF/FAU Scouting Report.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:
In the Wake of an Upset (Chicago Sun-Times) the confidence of the young DePaul Blue Demons is rising. On Monday, in preperation for their meeting with top-20 Wake Forest, Karron Clarke injured an ankle and their lone senior, Marlon Brumfield, reinjured his ankle. Clarke was unable to play on Tuesday and Brumfield managed just 6 minutes, however, DePaul rallied and, surprisingly, outrebounded Wake Forest 38-30 and were able to do pretty much what they wanted to do.

With Jerry Wainwright’s strong and deep ties to the Wake Forest program, the Winston-Salem Journal writes that DePaul’s Coach is Difficult to Dislike, even while leading his team to a stunning win over the Demon Deacons.

Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal writes on the final days of Dwight Brewington on the Providence college campus: Brewington Ready to Take Dreams Elsewhere.

Louisville seemed to get some good news on the latest tweak of Juan Palacios’ ankle. Despite missing practice yesterday, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports that Palacios Will Play Saturday against Kentucky. A statement from the school described the injury as a “slight sprain.”

The Lexington Herald-Leader looks at this coming weekend’s game with Louisville and Kentucky and John Clay reports that we will see if Beauty is only Skin Deep for the Cardinals as they face their first true test of the season. For a team with 7 new faces getting playing time, it is time to see what they have.

Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News understands that you can’t judge Villanova by the score of their game with Penn: ‘Cats Close Call a Big 5 Special.

Kim Baxter of the Syracuse Post-Standard has an article on the impressive shooting prowess of Orange frosh Andy Rautins: Rapid Fire. So far, he is looking to be more than just a legacy recruit.

SOME RECRUITING & HS ACTION:
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Male High School Athlete of the Week is a 6′9 240 lb junior from Elizabeth Forward HS that has interest from Pittsburgh and West Virginia for his play on the hardwood: Steve Swiech Has Interest From Pitt & WVU.

The Scout.com weekly recruiting buzz on Fox Sports has been updated and they take a look oat some of the top prospects in he class of 2008 (current HS sophomores). Evans, Samuels and Gates are names that will be familiar to Big East recruiting followers over the next couple years. They also take a look at Louisville commitment Earl Clark and give an update on some former Big East recruits now at UMass. Also, Tyrone Nash and Angel Alamo also might receive some Big East interest: Recruiting Buzz from Fox Sports.

With Vernon Macklin, DaJuan Summers and Jeremiah Rivers already signed, sealed and soon to be delivered to the Georgetown campus…can their 2006 class get any better? Gregg Doyel reports that it just might as Georgetown has Emerged as a Leader for Davon Jefferson, one of the top 10 recruits in the country. Jefferson is currently attending the Patterson School in Lenoir, NC. The uber-athletic 6′8 wing oozes with NBA potential. However, academics and the NBA could interupt his time in college. Jefferson signed with UNLV last year, but did not qualify academically, so he ended up in prep school. At age 19, one year removed from his high school graduating class, it would seem that Jefferson is eligile for the draft. However, his NBA stock has fallen rapidly of late, so college does make sense. But, academics, which caused him to miss a recent event in New Jersey, are going to be the final hurdle to seeing whether he can make it to college. Kansas and Oklahoma St have also been heavily involved.

Luke Harangody and his Andrean teammates cruise to victory: Harangody Scores 16 in Rout (NWI Times).

Big time head coaches and assistants were out in force to watch St Benedict’s battle the Hun School. The Gray Bees were led by junior Corey Stokes’ 15 pts and David Cubillan (Marquette-signed) added 15. Idris Hilliard scored 13 for Hun.

The big story was the amount of Division 1 coaches on hand for this contest. This scene was similar to Blue Chips when all the coaches came to see Penny Hardaway play. Top coaches in attendance were Coach Krzyzewski (Duke), Coach Calhoun (Connecticut) and Coach Waters (Rutgers). Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Kentucky and Villanova also sent representatives.

Metro Hoops has the story: Top Coaches Come Out to See St Benedict’s vs Hun.

Boys & Girls HS with Jamine Peterson (21 pts) and Dwan McMillan (24 pts) defeated Robeson, 71-69. Robeson got 24 from SHU commit Malcolm Grant in the loss: Robeson Falls to Boys & Girls.

BIG EAST ROSTER UPDATE: SOUTH FLORIDA

TRANSFER ALERT: Kentrell Gransberry (BF), LSU

For more on the transfer of Gransberry to USF, check out this article from the Tampa Trib: USF Adds LSU Transfer.

Projected 2006-2007 Roster:

Seniors: McHugh Mattis (SF), Melyvn Richardson (PF), Melvin Buckley (G/F)
Juniors: Collin Dennis (PG), Kentrell Gransberry (BF)
Sophomores: Aris Williams (PF), Chris Howard (PG), Zarron Cann (SF), Frane Markusovic (C)
Freshmen: Dante Curry (SG), Franklin Jones (C)

NOTE: Chris Capko is on the roster as a walk-on.

Previous recruiting reports: October 19 Report, Sept 14 Report, Recruiting Round-Up from 7/23 with USF and Recruiting Report from July 9, 2005.

Read More…Click Below!!

With the de-commitment of Rob Thomas, who the Bulls will still pursue, and the dismissal of David Sills from the team, the Bulls had a couple scholarships for next season open up. With a team heavy on transfers (Melvin Buckley from Purdue, Aris Williams from Valparaiso and JUCO’s McHugh Mattis and Melvyn Richardson), the Bulls have added mid-year transfer Kentrell Gransberry, who had been attending LSU this past semester.

Gransberry transferred into LSU from JUCO power San Jacinto (Texas) College. He averaged a double-double both seasons at San Jacinto, including leading the nation in rebounding as a sophomore with 13.6/game. Gransberry is a 6′9, 275 forward from Baton Rouge that was an early commitment the summer prior to his sophomore JUCO season to LSU. A tough rebounder with a big body and good hands, Gransberry will have 1 1/2 seasons of eligibility left when eligible between semesters next year.

At this time, the Bulls have 2 scholarships open. Rob Thomas will still remain a key target. With Chris Howard missing the season a knee injury, more guard depth could also be a target this spring, expect the Bulls to also hit the JUCO circuit once again in the spring.

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