A weekly round-up of men’s basketball in the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Mihalich and Parrotta discuss the implications of Tressel’s resignation
A day after Jim Tressel resigned from Ohio State in disgrace over a scandal involving Buckeyes players, Canisius College men’s basketball coach Tom Parrotta met with school Athletic Director Bill Maher. They talked about taking a more active approach on educating the players about how to avoid off-the-court issues.
Ohio State’s problems have Parrotta and other Big 4 coaches concerned about athletes’ activities away from the team. SI.com reported late Monday night that 28 players were involved in a memorabilia-for-tattoos scandal in which players traded or sold school memorabilia before their eligibility expired.
Yet the circumstances that could cripple the Ohio State football program serve as a teachable moment.
“I don’t know exactly what happened with the guys at Ohio State, but my guys could be put in situations like that,” Parrotta said. “I’m finding that you really, really have to educate guys so I’m going to do more with it.”
St. Bonaventure basketball coach Mark Schmidt said it starts during the recruiting process with identifying high-caliber kids.
Tressel’s mighty fall changes everything
What it’s done is provide a high-profile precedent that’ll force football and basketball coaches to report anything and everything once there’s proof that it’s been reported to them, and that’s not something football and basketball coaches are going to like doing. If a waiter sends an e-mail to Rick Pitino that says three of his seniors have been getting free bar tabs, Pitino is going to have to ask the Louisville compliance department to check it out. If a mechanic sends an e-mail to Rick Barnes that says two of his freshman have been driving discounted cars from a local lot, Barnes is going to have to ask the Texas compliance department to check it out. If a fan of a rival school sends an email to Lorenzo Romar that says one of his boosters paid a recruit’s summer coach $15,000 for a signed national letter of intent, Romar is going to have to ask the Washington compliance department to check it out, and you can see how this might be an issue for some head coaches, can’t you?
Tyler Simms joins Siena staff
Head coach Mitch Buonaguro recently welcomed Tyler Simms to his staff as the new director of basketball operations. Simms spent the last two seasons as the graduate assistant at Mercyhurst College.
“Tyler brings great energy and work ethic to our staff,” Buonaguro said. “This position requires a lot of time and commitment, and Tyler has the right attitude. I’m confident he’ll be a great addition to the program.”
Simms assisted in all aspects of the Mercyhurst program, from on-court coaching, advanced scouting and recruiting to game preparation and individual player development. At Siena, Simms will also play a key role in many aspects of the program, playing a vital part in the oversight of the team’s film exchange during the season.
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Full circle brings Hymes to Siena
Evan Hymes grew up in the Capital Region, spending six years of his childhood in Clifton Park because his father, Darryl, worked in Latham as an insurance agent.
Hymes’ family relocated to Long Island when he was about 10 years old.
Hymes, who now lives in Durham, N.C., will come full circle because he’s decided to play basketball at Siena College next season.
“I grew up in Albany and now I’m going to spend my next four years at Siena,” he said.
Hymes, a 5-foot-9 point guard, averaged 14 points, 5 assists and 2 steals per game this past season for Kestrel Heights Charter School in Durham.
Because the late signing period ended earlier this month, Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro can’t comment on Hymes until he signs and returns his scholarship papers.
NCAA approves restricted-area arc
The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel during its conference call on Monday approved adding a visible restricted-area arc three feet from the center of the basket where a secondary defender cannot legally take a charge in Division I men’s and women’s games.
The panel delayed implementation of the arc until the 2012-13 season for Divisions II and III to allow those schools time to plan and place the restricted-area arc in their home arenas. For the upcoming season, secondary defenders in Divisions II and III men’s games will not be allowed to draw a charge in an unmarked area directly beneath the basket, which was the men’s rule in 2010-11. In Divisions II and III women’s games, secondary defenders will not be allowed to draw a charge in an unmarked area three feet from the center of the basket.
The Playing Rules Oversight Panel is the final approval body for playing rules proposals from sport and rules committees. The panel of representatives from all three NCAA divisions convenes periodically to consider recommendations.
Coaches’ wives making connections through networking website
“It was my first time being a stay-at-home mom, and I was running on the treadmill, and I was like, ‘Certainly there are other wives who have gone through this transition,'” Martin said. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to connect with them,’ and I was just getting into Facebook at the time.”
After finding a hosting site, Martin asked her friend Shenetta Webster to help administer the site. Webster and Martin had gotten to know each other when their husbands were both Purdue assistants from 2003-04 and have been reunited in Knoxville, with Webster’s husband, Tracy, joining Cuonzo Martin’s staff this season.
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Basketball ties that bind
Mark Adams just may be perfectly placed in Bloomington, Ind., where nearly everyone reveres basketball; where children grow up with ball-in-hand and will shoot at anything with a hole in it; where one of the nation’s most respected AAU programs is based; and where the storied Indiana University Hoosiers are trying to recapture the glory years of college basketball domination.
Adams, a 54-year-old government worker, has had connections to all of it for years, as the father of a former IU basketball staff member, as a basketball coach for two decades, and as the current coach of the top team in that AAU program, Indiana Elite. Since 2003, he’s even used his Bloomington-based nonprofit, African Hoop Opportunities Providing an Education (A-HOPE) foundation to try to help fulfill the hoop dreams of young international players.
Coming soon
Stay tuned for the first annual Pickin’ Splinters rundown on the MAAC’s incoming class. Fans can get an in-depth look at all the new student-athletes who will play next season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
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