A weekly round-up of Atlantic 10 men’s basketball.
Harper sold ruggedness
Justin Harper failed to make his middle school basketball team. But he kept shooting on the half-court concrete pad next to his family’s Chesterfield County home.
Harper wasn’t a starter at Meadowbrook High until his senior year.
At the University of Richmond, Harper was not a notable Atlantic 10 Conference player until his senior season.
This classic late-bloomer is projected to be selected in Thursday’s two-round NBA draft, in part because talent evaluators believe more improvement is coming for Harper, a 6-foot-10, 228-pounder with a 7-foot wingspan.
He didn’t need to prove he could shoot through a 10-workout tour with NBA teams. Harper did that during 37 games as a UR senior, making 45.2 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Harper was out to establish something else.
Harper next in line of UR draftees
UR and Meadowbrook High graduate Justin Harper is expected to be selected in Thursday night’s NBA draft. Former Spiders who were drafted:
Twenty-five years later, do the Spiders have another forward for the NBA?
Before the World Wide Web brought us countless NBA draft projections updated hourly, John Newman studied Basketball Digest and The Poop Sheet. Those paper-and-ink publications analyzed available talent for NBA teams, and what kind of personnel organizations lacked.
“Those were my tools, and I did the research,” said Newman, 47 and a Richmond resident. “It doesn’t seem like 25 years ago.”
The 6-foot-7 forward from Danville completed his illustrious University of Richmond career as the Spiders’ all-time leading scorer (2,383 points), and prepped for the 1986 draft with knock-’em-dead auditions at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, and in Hawaii, at a camp for the top 50 college prospects.
“The book on me was ‘great athlete, great shooter,'” Newman recalled Monday.
UD’s Wright anxiously awaiting NBA Draft
Chris Wright always imagined himself being surrounded by family and friends as he waited to see where he’d be picked in the NBA draft, turning the night into a festive occasion.
But with so much uncertainty surrounding his pro-basketball future, the University of Dayton forward has decided to take a low-key approach to Thursday night’s draft.
He may not even tune in.
“I always thought I’d want a draft party. But once you get there, going through the process, it’s a humbling experience in a way,” he said.
“I don’t know if I’ll watch the draft or not. I’ve put a lot of energy into this my whole life. And you’ll either hear your name called or won’t hear it called.”
Wright hopes to become the first UD player drafted since Negele Knight was picked in the second round in 1990 (31st overall) by the Phoenix Suns. He played six seasons in the NBA.
Pecora, Fordham ready to turn corner
Tom Pecora doesn’t like losing.
Not at golf, not at poker, and certainly not at basketball.
The outgoing Fordham coach had a new experience last year — and not one he’d like to replicate any time soon.
After winning an average of 19 games per season during his nine-year tenure as the head coach of Hofstra, Pecora won only seven during his first campaign in the Bronx.
Disappointment? Certainly. An education? Without question.
“It was something we anticipated for sure,” Pecora said of struggling last season. “We didn’t have a lot of depth and we didn’t have a lot of talent. We played every game to the final five minutes and then tried to see what would happen. It was a good coaching experience because we had to reteach everything and implement our style and philosophy.”
CBS picks up A-10 title game again
The Atlantic 10 announced the formats for its various championships after its spring athletic directors meetings, and the biggest news is that CBS-TV has agreed to pick up the tourney final in men’s basketball again this season.
That’s a coup for the league. The CBS contract was originally for just two years, which concluded last season. To have the game on network TV as part of the run up to the NCAA tournament selection show will give the A-10 great exposure.
Rhody athletics takes gold medal at NACMA ceremony
KINGSTON, R.I. — The University of Rhode Island athletics marketing department won the gold medal award at the 2011 National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) “Best Of” Awards ceremony for the 2010-11 academic year.
Rhode Island captured top honors in the top Season Ticket Sales Campaign category for the ExperienceRhody.com website.
“I am extremely proud of the efforts of Adam Schemm and the marketing office, as well as all our external efforts,” said Thorr Bjorn, URI’s director of athletics. “As we continue to make an effort to sell season tickets, we will continue to look to do so in the most creative way possible.”
Richmond’s Mooney takes to air waves
RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond men’s basketball coach Chris Mooney served as a guest host on ESPN Radio 950’s Hardly Workin’ on Tuesday from 3-6 p.m.
A regular guest on the show, Mooney filled a different role Tuesday as the co-host with Richmond alum Matt Smith.
While Richmond basketball was obviously a topic of conversation, Mooney gave his opinion on the designated hitter, read one of the sports updates and interviewed the guests.
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Huggins confirms Staten’s transfer
Juwan Staten announced on his Twitter account he was going to West Virginia, and coach Bob Huggins confirmed the move Monday, giving the program a pair of Atlantic 10 transfers.
Aaric Murray, a 6-foot-10 forward, also is headed to Morgantown after two seasons at La Salle.
Both players were top-75 national recruits as high school basketball prospects.
Fill in the blanks…Kareem Richardson
CINCINNATI — Kareem Richardson was announced as a Xavier men’s basketball assistant coach June 9, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of associate head coach Pat Kelsey. Richardson, 36, arrived by way of Drake, where he was the head assistant for three seasons. He also served on staffs at Missouri-Kansas City, Evansville, Indiana State, Wright State and Indianapolis. Richardson took a few minutes to “Fill in the blanks…” with The Enquirer.
Your duties at Xavier will be … Read more…
Goodman offers no love for Mack
CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman wrote a column about his top 5 college hoops coaches in four different age ranges.
Chris Mack was not among the seven Goodman included in his Top 5 for “prime-timers” (aged 40 to 50).
This was Goodman’s response on Twitter when someone asked where Mack might rank …
Click here for Goodman’s complete article
Big 5 first-rounders scarce since NBA ‘s lottery era began
THERE WON’T BE a Big 5 player selected in the first round of the NBA draft for the fifth consecutive season. In fact, only 18 Big 5 players have been taken in the first round since 1985, the first year of the lottery.
The lottery came not long after ESPN. Once some of the best local high school players got a look at the Atlantic Coast Conference and the other major conferences on television, it was that much more difficult to keep the best local high school players in the city.
With one open scholarship for the 2011-12 season and no clear candidate to fill it, the Muskies are now courting another high-profile transfer. Eric Angevine of CBSsports.com reports that the Muskies are a candidate for Vanderbilt graduate Andre Walker:
Friends of Bill Raftery golf outing
Colonials release 2011-12 season-ticket packages
Season tickets and donor club memberships are now available for the 2011-12 Colonials men’s basketball season. We are happy to announce that ticket prices will not change from last season.
Fan Services Representatives are currently calling 2010-11 season ticket holders to renew their seats and donor club memberships. Last year’s season ticket holders will have priority for their seats until August 1.
https://www.atlantic10.com/allaccess/?media=247040
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Coming soon
Stay tuned for the first annual Pickin’ Splinters rundown of the A10′s incoming class. Fans can get an in-depth look at the new student-athletes to play next season in the Atlantic 10.
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