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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (7/21/2010)

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It is the eve before the second ‘live’ recruiting period of July. College coaches are packing their bags and most are making their way to Orlando or Las Vegas to check out the next wave of AAU events to close the summer evaluation period. NBE will be checking in from las Vegas, Orlando and later Phoenix, New York City and possibly the DC-area from some of the live events to close July.

In the meantime, here are some of the latest News & Notes from around the Big East to get people caught up on with some of the latest happenings in the conference. UConn’s AD has been a rumored candidate for a similar position at an ACC school, but now looks to be solidifying his place at the Big East school with his appointment as chair of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament committee in 2011, a coveted position that does not follow an AD to a new job.

Elsewhere, the turmoil-filled offseason at Providence continues with another arrest and roster shuffling. The Notre Dame duo recently arrested for alleged underage drinking at a house party over weekend will be sweating their arrest, likely in more ways than one. Also, Irish junior Scott Martin wil be back on the court soon competing, helping him knock off some of the rust from two seasons away from game action. In recruiting news, updates on Shaq Thomas and Jarrod Davis can be found, a pair of NJ small forwards who have seen their share of twists and turns on the recruiting trail.

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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Jeff Hathaway has been the Big East representative on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee for four seasons and beginning in September of 2011 he will step up and chair the committee, succeeding Ohio State AD Gene Smith. The announcement was made Monday that the UConn AD is Named men’s Basketball Committee Chairman for 2011-12 (Hartford Courant) and comes while the Connecticut men’s basketball program is facing allegations of eight major NCAA recruiting rules, including “a failure by the institution to adequately monitor the conduct and administration of the men’s basketball staff.

The appointment comes at a time that Hathaway is also a candidate to be the next AD at Maryland and the Baltimore Sun took a look at Hathaway’s Place in the Maryland AD Search with the announcement. Hathaway is a Maryland alum with deep roots in the area as a graduate of DeMatha High. Since the announcement last month came that Debbie Yow was stepping down after 16 seasons, hathaway’s name has been prominent in reports as a candidate to be her successor.

Greg Shaheen, senior vice president for basketball and business strategy for the NCAA, told the Baltimore Sun that Hathaway’s position on the committee would not follow him if he were to leave UConn for Maryland. Hathaway would be replaced by another Big East representative.

Hathaway recently completed his seventh year as AD at UConn, having replaced Lew Perkins in 2003. He was the executive associate AD at UConn from 1990 to 2001 before serving as AD at Colorado State in 2001-03.
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The turmoil-filled offseason for the Providence program continues as a PC Player is Facing a Disorderly Charge (Providence Journal) after Kadeem Batts, a red-shirt freshman, was arrested early Sunday morning by the Providence police and charged with failing to disperse and disorderly conduct as the city’s nightclubs were closing for the night.

PC’s athletic director Bob Driscoll told the Providence Journal that he and head coach Keno Davis both met with Batts in the last few days. He will remain on the team but faces disciplinary hearings on the PC campus and will suffer team-related penalties, according to Driscoll.

While these misdemeanor charges are relatively minor, the arrest is another incident that has piled up since the Friars ended their 200-2010 season with an 11-game losing streak. Batts is the third Friar player to be charged with a crime and the fourth to run into serious off-court trouble. In April, Johnnie Lacy and James Still were charged with felony assault on a fellow PC student in a late-night incident just off campus and have both since been expelled. Leading scorer and rebounder Jamine “Greedy” Peterson was dismissed from the program after an undisclosed violation of team rules in May.

The PC Roster Shuffle Continued (Providence Journal) yesterday in an unrelated scenario as Alexandre Gavrilovic, a Frenchman who signed with Providence in May, will need another year of prep school before being cleared to play in college and won’t be with the Friars this fall.

However, in his place, apparently Lee Goldsbrough will be a Friar. Goldsbrough is a 6-foot-9 forward that plays for the Manchester Magic in the England Basketball League. The official announcement of his addition to the program could come later this week. Goldsbrough has played for his country in several international competitions and averaged 5.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in the European Under 18 tournament last summer.

Providence looks to have 11 of their 13 scholarships in use for the 2010-2011 season, not counting Joseph Young, the shooting guard from Houston (TX) whose father says won’t be honoring a signed letter-of-intent and enrolling at Providence this fall. The Friars have yet to release Young from his letter of intent, but the process has continued with Young filing an appeal to be released with the NCAA.
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With senior Tim Abromaitis and incoming freshman Eric Atkins being arrested last weekend for underage drinking at an off-campus house party, Notre Dame head coach knows he will wait out the process on the penalty for two important memmbers of his 2010-2011 squad.

“It’s handled downtown, it’s handled by student affairs and then the old coach will handle it,” Brey said Tuesday during a 40-minute offseason session with the media, the South Bend Tribune reported. “We’ll deal with it as it runs its course.”

While Brey isn’t currently sweating the situation, it sounds like the Irish Duo Will Seat Out the Arrests (South Bend Tribune), at least in the coach’s view.

“The one thing I’ll say is a lot of sweating will be involved,” Brey said of the potential for Atkins and Abromaitis to have a whistle and ‘boat-load’ of wind sprints in their future. “What you look at is teaching moments for young people. I’ve had a few. We’ll have that with these two guys.”

In other Irish news, reported by the South Bend Tribune, junior swingman Scott Martin is overdue to get back on the court following the last two winters as a spectator – one after transferring from Purdue, the other after suffering a season-ending left knee injury last October. Martin will be a member of a college all-star team that will tour Europe for 10 days in early August with Mike Jones, the head coach at DeMatha (Md.) Catholic High School, Brey’s alma mater, serving as an assistant on the team. Jones coached Irish frosh Jerian Grant in high school. Grant, Alex Dragicevich and Atkins have all impressed upperclassmen in scrimmages this summer, but Brey knows they need work in the weight room. Atkins arrived at Notre Dame weighing in at just 170 pounds and, as the lone true point guard on the roster, is likely to get a long look as a starter this season.

“They took their shirts off and I said, ‘Whoa,’ ‘cause I know what the bodies look like with the rest of the Big East guards,” Brey said, according to the South Bend Tribune.
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Currently Shaquille Thomas lists Cincinnati, Seton Hall and Boston College as his top suitors right now. The well-traveled, 6-foot-8 small forward and nephew of 13-year NBA vet Tim Thomas looks to be completing his prep career as a member of the 2011 recruiting class at NIA Prep. Playing in the Jersey Shore Basketball League this summer, Thomas told the Asbury Park Press that he [Shaquille Thomas] is Focused on Improving his game for the next level. Since beginning his high school playing career at Paterson Catholic, where his uncle is one of the school’s all-time greats, Shaq has attended Montclair (NJ) High School, Mountain State Academy in Beckley (WV) and now NIA Prep where he is coached by Rudy King.
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The Bank Shots Blog at AllShoreMedia.com has the Latest on Jarrod Davis as the curious case of Jarrod Davis continues. When we last heard from Davis he was committed to Seton Hall, in his mnd, and was expecting to make that commitment official by now.

“I’m going to make [my commitment to Seton Hall] official after, or at the Peach Jam,” Davis said earlier this month. “But I’m still fully committed.”

Well, the official commitment has not come down and after getting little time on the court during the Peach jam with the NJ Playaz things are looking a little more open in the recruitment of Davis, at least according to his high school coach.

“Jarrod should have just told you that Seton Hall was at the top of his list, but he has not committed anywhere,” Lakewood head coach Randy Holmes told Scott Stump of AllShoreMedia Monday.

Holmes added that St. John’s, Cincinnati and LSU have entered the picture ad a commitment to SHU is no longer a sure thing.
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