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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (6/28/2010)

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There are plenty of comings and goings around the Big East from the last couple days to get caught up on. Rutgers has a player transfer from the program and a 2011 commitment from Fred Hill’s tenure re-open his recruitment. On the other hand, Mike Rice has been quite busy hosting a bunch of unofficial visitors from the NYC area and those visits continue today. Also, the Scarlet Knights have an in on a possible transfer that would be immediately eligible to help next season in a position of dire need for RU.

Speaking of immediately eligible transfers, Louisville looks to have added one that will give their perimeter offense a boost. The Cards and Providence also have made staff additions. Seton Hall picks up a verbal commitment from a 2011 guard prospect. Cincinnati hopes for a big season from Yancy Gates and in preparation of Pitt’s 2010-2011 season, the Panthers get an early start to the campaign with an overseas trip ready to begin in a month. The Panthers also got good news with two recruits being eligible to enroll and make the trip with the Panthers. Pitt also had a player leave their program in the alst week as well.

Read on below for all of the latest News & Notes around the Big East basketball conference. Sports fans should also visit StubHub.com - The Safe Way to Buy & Sell Tickets Online for tickets to any NCAA event or NBA, MLB, NHL game or UFC, WWE or concert tickets at an arena near you this spring.

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Rutgers rising sophomore Brian Okam has been granted his transfer release, according to HoopsHaven. The 7-foot center averaged 1.1 points a game and 1.1 rebounds in 16 contests last season. Okam is Leaving Rutgers (mycentraljersey.com) and coach Mike Rice could look into a late JUCO addition to fill the spot.

Another possibility could come in the form of an immediately eligible transfer. John Fields Wont Return to UNC-W (Star News Online) and the 6-foot-9 center will look to play his final year of eligibility elsewhere. In one season on the court at UNC-W, Fields averaged 10.2 points and 8.7 rebounds a game while setting the school record for blocks in a season. Because he has an undergraduate degree, Fields could transfer to a Division I program and play next season.

Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman’s Twitter Feed reported last Thursday that Fields was visiting Rutgers last week and word was Xavier was also getting a visit. Fields also played his first two years at East Carolina before transferring to UNC-W where he sat out the 2008-2009 season.

While Okam is leaving the current RU team, 2011 verbal commitment Andrew Nicholas is reopening his recruitment. After committing to then-coach Fred Hill last summer and reconsidering that commitment when Hill was fired this past April, Eastern York’s Nicholas is now Back on the Market (York Daily Record) and is no longer considering the Scarlet Knights. For the time being, the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter has focused on two schools: St. Joseph’s and Penn State. Other schools that have expressed some level of interest include Davidson, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Miami.

One possible reason for the parting of ways between Nicholas and RU could be the targeting of a differnt style of player by new coach Mike Rice at Rutgers. Yesterday players such as Maurice Harkless, a recent UConn de-commit, Kamari Murphy, Shaq Stokes and Joel Wright made unofficial visits with Tyler Harris visiting late last week and Daniel Dingle visiting today. Harkless Highlights ‘NYC Day at Rutgers’ (ZagsBlog.com) as coach Rice gets an aggressive start on the recruiting trail while attempting to rebuild the program.
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RU’s in-state rival Seton Hall got on the baord for their 2011 recruiting class by picking up a verbal commitment from Northfield Mount Hermon guard Aaron Cosby while he was visiting the campus over the weekend. Cosby Chooses Seton Hall (ZagsBlog) over Boston College, Indiana, Providence, Northwestern, Marshall, Western Kentucky and St. Louis. The 6-foot-2, 185-lb guard played the point for John Carroll’s NMH squad this past season. The extremely athletic Cosby is originally from Louisville (KY) and was one-time an eary commitment for UMass.
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The comings and goings around the Big East continue as Louisville adds a player for the 2010-2011 season. Louisville Picks up Memphis Transfer Roburt Sallie for One Year (FoxSports.com). Sallie will graduate in August and is expected to be able to play his final season this year. The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 10.5 points a game last season and shot 41% from beyond the arc. Manhattan transfer Chris Smithis a 6-foot-3 wing that is also eligible this season after sitting out last year as they hope to replace the perimeter scoring lost by graduating seniors Edgar Sosa, Jerry Smith and Reginald Delk.

The Courier-Journal also is reporting that it looks like Tim Fuller will emerge as the newest men’s basketball staff member. Word is the decision came down to Fuller and Drake assistant Kareem Richardson. ——————————————————————————————-

Providence looks to stem the loss of assistant coach Pat Skerry and his tremendous New England recruiting ties by dipping into the BABC AAU program as PC Hires Chris Drisoll as Assistant Coach (Providence Journal). Driscoll, 40, grew up in Lowell (MA) and worked BABC and that program’s founder, Leo Papile, since 2000. Driscoll helped identify and select players for BABC’s 14- to 17-year-old teams that are annually New England and national powers. Incoming PC frosh Gerard Coleman and Ron Giplaye played for BABC in recent years.
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With Deonta Vaghn graduating as one of the school’s all-time leading scorers and Lance Stephenson taking his game to the NBA after one season, Cincinnati coaches and fans will be hoping this is the season Yancy Gates lives up to the advanced billing he had as a recruit. UC’s Gates is Expected to Step up this Season (Cincinnati Enquirer) as a junior and deliver on his potential. He has shown glimpses in the past, but inconsistency in his defense and rebounding has led to coach Mick Cronin placing him on the bench for extended periods. Now with the UC offense expected to turn to Gates it is his time to step up.
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Expectations for the coming season are high at Pittsburgh and the Panthers are getting a head start on the 2010-2011 campaign as Pitt Sets an Ireland Trip (Lebanon Daily News) that will see them head overseason July 29th and play games from the 31st through August 7th. Pitt is permitted 10 practices before the trip, with the first being held last Friday. The Panthers finished 25-9 last season, reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament, and returnseven of their top eight players from last year’s rotation.

New NCAA regulations allow for incoming freshmen to participate in overseas trip the summer before their freshman year officially begins if they complete classes toward their degree at their new University. Two Pitt Recruits Enroll Early (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) and are academically eligible for the 2010-2011 season and J.J. Moore and Cameron Wright are already practicing for the trip to Ireland and playing in the Pittsburgh Pro-Am Summer League. Isaiah Epps, the other incoming Pitt freshman, will not enroll until August as he finishes up some course work at a prep school this summer, but Jamie Dixon told the Post-Gazette it is expected Epps will be cleared come that time for freshman eligibility.

In other Panther basketball news, Dwight Miller transferred to Midland Junior College in Texas. Miller played sparingly for the Panthers last season after taking a redshirt in 2008-09.
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