A weekly round-up of men’s basketball in the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Marist to play in Hall-of-Fame tip-off tournament
Springfield, Mass. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame today announced game times for the 2011 Basketball Hall of Fame’s Tip-Off Tournament, an annual NCAA men’s basketball exempt tournament supported by the MAAC. The Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off will take place on Saturday, November 19, and Sunday November 20 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Eight schools will compete in two four-team brackets over the weekend at one of the premier destinations in New England.
Teams scheduled to compete in the 2011 Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off are: Long
Island University (Northeast), Marist College (MAAC), Old Dominion University (CAA), Penn State University (Big Ten), Radford University (Big South), University of Kentucky (SEC), University of South Florida (Big East) and the University of Vermont (America East).
Washington gets a fresh start at Canisius
Of the 10 newcomers to Canisius College’s basketball team next season, Harold Washington will be the one under the biggest microscope, but he’s also the most appreciative for the opportunity to play on the Division I level.
In 2008, Washington was arrested and charged with a hate crime while attending Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., and was immediately expelled. Washington played for two seasons at Cecil College in Maryland and was recruited by several schools, including Niagara University, before they decided he wasn’t worth the risk.
Now Washington, a junior shooting guard from Brandywine, Md., is trying to rebuild his career.
Fairfield slated to take on national champ UConn
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – While the bulk of the non-conference schedule will not be ready until August, Head Coach Sydney Johnson has proven he will not shy away from a challenge. Johnson announced that the Stags will play defending national champion University of Connecticut during his inaugural season as the program’s head coach.
The game will be played on December 22 with the site and time to be determined. UConn plays home games at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs as well as the XL Center in Hartford. The meeting will be the first since the 2008-09 season when the Huskies posted a 75-55 win at the XL Center. Greg Nero led all Fairfield scorers with 16 points, while Jeff Adrien (21 points, 14 rebounds) and Hasheem Thabeet (20 points and 11 rebounds) registered a double-double.
“We look forward to the opportunity of playing against the University of Connecticut. Playing a game close to home and against the national champion is a tremendous opportunity for our student-athletes, our alumni, our fans, and our program. Our coaches and players are eager to build on the strides that Ed Cooley and his staff made while at Fairfield. We want to be competitive on a national stage and within the MAAC conference and we hope that games like these will prepare us to do so.”
Ginyard joins Niagara staff
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Niagara men’s basketball head coach Joe Mihalich has hired Ron Ginyard to fill the position of assistant coach for the Purple Eagle coaching staff. Ginyard brings over five years of NCAA Division I coaching experience to Monteagle Ridge.
“We are very excited to welcome Coach Ron Ginyard to our Niagara University Basketball family,” Mihalich said. “Coach Ginyard brings a high level of basketball knowledge and experience both on the floor and in the recruiting world. He is a basketball lifer and basketball junkie. I was taught long ago that to be successful you need to surround yourself with good people and Coach G epitomizes this. Coach Ginyard, his wife Therese and their young son Xavier will be a welcome addition to the Niagara University community.”
Ginyard comes to Niagara after spending three years as an assistant coach at the United States Naval Academy. While at Navy, Ginyard built his reputation as a strong recruiter. He served as the recruiting coordinator for the last two seasons where he brought in consecutive highly-rated recruiting classes to the Patriot League. The 2010-11 freshman class scored the most points by a freshman class in program history and had two players (J.J. Avila and Isaiah Roberts) named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team; Avila became Navy’s first-ever Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
Meet Evan Hymes
Introducing Siena’s incoming class
Here’s a picture of Siena’s incoming freshman class, which began summer session today, courtesy of the school’s sports information department:
They are, from left to right, 6-9 forward Lionel Gomis of Senegal; 6-5 guard Rob Poole of Haddonfield, N.J.; 6-8 forward Imoh Silas of Nigeria, 6-2 guard DaVonte Beard of Akron, Ohio; 6-8 forward Marcus Hopper of Queens; and 5-9 guard Evan Hymes of Durham, N.C.
Buonaguro: Siena freshmen are an interesting class
Siena’s six-man freshman class will report for summer classes on Monday, getting a head start on their college careers.
It’s a group that intrigues head coach Mitch Buonaguro, who brought them in as the future of a program trying to regain prominence in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
“It’s an interesting class on paper,” Buonaguro said this week. “It filled a lot of needs, that’s what I like about it.”
He also mentioned that, “It’s going to create some interest. People want to see these kids play.”
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Former Rider star Jason Thompson returns to talk with local youths
TRENTON — Work hard and surround yourself with good people.
That was the message former Rider University and Sacramento Kings standout Jason Thompson had for elementary students at a Boys and Girls Club event held yesterday at the Gregory School in Trenton.
About 50 students attended the 30-minute talk, in which they could ask questions and get autographs of the local basketball star. Afterwards, Thompson even enjoyed a game of basketball with other students as well.
Road to “MAAC”-achusetts
As many know, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will be played in Springfield, MA at the MassMutual Center for the next three years, 2012-2014!
Therefore, the Road to MAAC-achusetts has begun! The official countdown began the day after St. Peter’s Men’s Basketball and Marist Women’s Basketball won their respective championships. And everyone is excited to see what the new season will bring.
As the offseason is underway, the “Road to MAAC-achusetts” webpage will be highlighting different schools, updating fans with news and scores around the MAAC’ s Men and Women basketball teams, as well as prepare everyone to come to Springfield, Massachusetts and the MassMutual Center in 2012.
Lessons of the NBA finals
If you’re like me, you watched last night’s NBA Finals with totally transparant bias. You cheered in joy when J.J. Barea carved Miami’s defense into shreds. You pumped your fist wildly when Dirk Nowitzki hit key shots down the stretch. You giggled like a schoolgirl at Dwyane Wade’s late turnovers, at LeBron James’ hot-potato passing, at this vaunted team’s apparent lack of spine. You hissed when James told the media that people who disliked him just did so as a distraction from their own problems. (First, not true. Second, how insulated can someone be?) You got slightly verklempt when Nowitzki, overcome with emotion, bolted off the court and into the locker room for a private, reflective, triumphant moment of release.
Then you sat back, drank it all in, took a deep breath and wondered … what does this NBA Finals teach us about basketball? And, in particular, about college basketball?
Ground control to Elton
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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