A weekly round-up of the latest comings and goings of Atlantic 10 men’s basketball.
Dayton Names Archie Miller New Men’s Basketball Coach
Miller served as the Associate Head Coach at Arizona the last two seasons.
DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton has selected one of the top young assistant coaches in the country to be its new men’s basketball coach, naming Ryan “Archie” Miller today. Miller, 32, comes to UD from the University of Arizona where as Associate Head Coach he helped the Wildcats to a 30-8 season that ended with an Elite Eight berth. Miller succeeds Brian Gregory, who was named head coach at Georgia Tech last Monday.
Miller has a recent connection to two teams that just missed the Final Four this year. Prior to the last two years at Arizona, he was at Ohio State for two seasons.
The Beaver Falls, Pa. native was at Arizona the last two seasons, where his brother Sean is head coach. After going 16-15 in 2009-10, the Wildcats had the biggest turnaround of any top program in the country, improving by 14 wins to 30-8.
Archie Miller radio interview on WHIO
Miller to visit UD’s Michigan recruits
UD cuts ties with Staten, Spearman
Flyers in the 2011 Old Spice Classic
The eight-team field for the Old Spice Classic has been unveiled with the addition of Indiana State for the 2011 event to be held Thanksgiving weekend, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 24, 25 & 27, at the HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla.
Joining Indiana State in the field for the sixth annual Old Spice Classic is Arizona State, Dayton, DePaul, Fairfield, Minnesota, Texas Tech and Wake Forest. ISU earned a bid to the 2011 NCAA Championship, while Dayton and Fairfield were National Invitation Tournament (NIT) participants.
The 2011 Old Spice Classic, a bracket-format tournament, will feature 12 games over the three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 27.
Xavier’s Chris Mack Named 2011 Skip Prosser Man Of The Year Award Winner
The Skip Prosser Award was established in 2008 to honor those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity off of it as well.
April 4, 2011
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Xavier University second-year head coach Chris Mack has been named as the recipient of the 2011 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award. The Skip Prosser Award was established in 2008 to honor those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity off of it as well.
“It’s an honor to receive an award that has Skip Prosser’s name attached to it,” said Mack. “It means an awful lot to me because Skip is the one who jump-started my coaching career and gave me a chance. I think about him every day. He was not only a great coach. It’s fitting that we honor his integrity and the person that he was. Skip was the most genuine person and friend that I have ever met in this business. Skip continues to be a great role model for me and everyone in this profession on how it should be done.”
Delroy James Set to Play in Portsmouth Invitational
Rhody standout among the top 64 seniors nationally invited to pre-NBA Draft showcase
KINGSTON, R.I. — Delroy James is among 64 players nationally who will participate in the 59th annual Portsmouth Invitational – a showcase for outstanding men’s basketball players in their senior year of college.
The tournament, which began in 1953, will be held from April 6-9 at Churchland H.S. in Portsmouth, Va.
Chicago’s Powell commits to Rhody
Saunders & Clark to Participate in Portsmouth Invitational Tournament
Duo joins Aaron Jackson as the second and third Dukes chosen for the P.I.T. in the past three years
PITTSBURGH – Duquesne seniors Damian Saunders (Waterbury, Conn./Notre Dame Prep) and Bill Clark (Redondo Beach, Calif./Worcester Academy) are among 64 college seniors who have been selected to participate in the 59th annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament it was announced today.
The P.I.T., which is routinely attended by representatives from all 30 NBA teams as well as a number international scouts, is the only post-season event for college seniors prior to the NBA Pre-Draft Camp and the only post-season event to include game competition.
Fifty-seven former P.I.T. players are on NBA rosters with many others in the top leagues in Europe.
Gurley gets invite to Portsmouth
Anthony Gurley’s chances to impress professional scouts got a significant boost Wednesday when the University of Massachusetts guard got an invitation to the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational Tournament. Gurley, a third-team, all-Atlantic 10 selection who averaged 18.7 points as a senior and scored 1,520 points in his college career, was a late addition to the event, which began play Wednesday night. Portsmouth annually serves as a showcase for seniors who want to play professionally. Scouts from the NBA and overseas professional leagues attend the event.
Porter Moser Named Head Coach at Loyola Chicago
Bills’ associate head coach returns to head coaching post
ST. LOUIS – Porter Moser was introduced today as the new head men’s basketball coach at Loyola University Chicago. He spent the previous four seasons as an assistant on the Saint Louis University coaching staff, the last three as associate head coach.
“We wish Porter and his family all the best at Loyola,” SLU head coach Rick Majerus said. “Loyola is getting a coach who truly embodies the Jesuit mission. We are thankful for his four years at the University and the impact he had on our student-athletes.”
GW’s Johnson and Fitzgerald Granted Transfer Release
WASHINGTON, DC — George Washington University sophomore Tim Johnson (Harvey, IL/Lee Academy) and freshman Chris Fitzgerald (Swansea, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon) have notified the GW men’s basketball coaching staff that they will not return to the team next season, GW head coach Karl Hobbs has announced. The University has granted their request for a release.
“Tim and Chris both have decided to continue their college careers elsewhere,” Hobbs said. “The coaches and myself appreciate what both Tim and Chris have done for our program and we wish them both the best in their futures.”
Coming soon
Stay tuned for the first annual Pickin’ Splinters rundown on the A10’s incoming class. Fans can get an in-depth look at all the new student-athletes to play next season in the Atlantic 10.
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Is Miller’s first recruiting task to convince Staten to stay??
A young coach, with a good pedigree. This makes absolute sense for Dayton.
Looking forward to reading the run down on the A-10’s incoming class. The Spiders lose at least 4 players and I am interested to see who Coach Mooney has coming in.
Temple has a good core returning – who are they adding to that team?
Is Coach Schmidt adding to an improving Bonnie team.
Looking forward to it.
Smitty,
Check out the article above: UD cuts ties with Spearman and Staten. Read through the thread of comments. It does not sound like Staten and his dad are easy to work with on a team. Doesn’t matter. He has been given his official release. Miller will focus his efforts on some recruits in Michigan.
Re Bonas – read through the article – White too visit Bonnies. Bonaventure lost one recruit who decided to go the prep school route.
Three-week signing period begins Monday. News should begin trickling.
https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/04/08/xavier.latham.canty.ap/index.html
https://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110408/SPT0102/304080084/2-Xavier-freshmen-transferring?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Sports|p
Comments from Portsmouth on Delroy James and Bill Clark: https://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/chris_dortch/04/09/portsmouth-invitational/index.html?ls=iref%3Anbahpt1
https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/04/09/saint.louis.reed.withdrawls.ap/index.html
Missed that link.. Really sounds like Gregory had serious team unity issues last year and probably lead to their inconsistency.
If that is the case Coach Miller is probably taking the right steps and getting rid of the problem.
I am beginning to wonder if it wasn’t just a case of an unfortunate string of events leading to Gregory’s departure. UD gave him a lengthy contract extension last year. He recruits these kids, and things don’t work.
Three years ago they won a first-round game in the NCAA tournament and returned their entire starting five. Since then, zero NCAA tournament appearances, and Gregory packs his bags. The opportunity is there for Miller to get the Flyers back into the NCAA tournament and win a game or two.
Casey, with a mid-major team do you think there is more little room for error with recruits?? ( if that just made sense) Seems to me that 3 years ago, Gregory had a great base to work off and seems that a great couple of recruits seemed to kinda derail it a little.
2 years ago, they should have gotten in the tournament. That was more evident by them winning the NIT tournament that year. But this year was full of inconsistency and lost promise.
I just feel like a team like Duke or North Carolina can get away with a “miss” on a recruit, more so then a Dayton or a Richmond.
Maybe I am off base on that or maybe I have been watching too much golf. Who knows??