A weekly round-up of men’s basketball in the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Baltimore trio could have Loyola primed for big season
While the media circus that was the Miami Heat played out 1,000 miles away, Loyola guard Dylon Cormier was orchestrating his own version of the Big Three, Baltimore style.
First Cormier helped persuade R.J. Williams, a speedy 5-foot-8 St. Frances guard, to join him at Loyola. Then that duo convinced big man Jordan Latham — a former standout at City who was looking to transfer from Xavier — to return home. Not only do Cormier and his Charm City crew give coach Jimmy Patsos’ squad a particularly local flavor, they also represent the Greyhounds’ best opportunity to earn their first postseason berth in almost two decades.
“I told them we can run this city and run this league,” said Cormier, a Cardinal Gibbons graduate. “With a Baltimore team together we could do big things. No one will stop us.”
This summer the trio has been sharpening their skills at the Gordon Institute Baltimore Summer League — which will crown its champion Sunday — at Loyola’s Reitz Arena. Started last year by Thayne Gould, a marketing manager at T. Rowe Price, Baltimore’s only NCAA sanctioned summer league is attracting some of the city’s top talents. Last year Lake Clifton standout Cleveland Melvin — the Big East Rookie of the Year at DePaul — highlighted the competition, and this summer Cormier, Williams and Latham join a bevy of their teammates who are also participating in the league.
Fairfield’s Sydney Johnson gets recognized as one of the nation’s top 16 mid-major coaches
Johnson recently left Princeton to take over for Ed Cooley at Fairfield. You can bet the Tigers were sad to see him go. After winning the Ivy League title, Johnson almost guided Princeton to a first-round NCAA tournament win over Kentucky, but Wildcats guard Brandon Knight made a shot in the final seconds to give Kentucky a 59-57 win. Princeton finished 25-7 and went 22-9 the previous season.
Iona set for the Puerto Rico tip-off
The field for the fifth annual tip-off includes Alabama, Colorado, Iona, Maryland, Purdue, Temple, Western Michigan and Wichita State. Both Purdue and Temple reached the second round of the NCAA Championship. Wichita State topped Alabama in the NIT championship game, while Colorado was a semifinalist. Iona earned a berth to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, advancing to a title game, while Western Michigan reached the second round.
Steve Masiello’s “On the Road” recruiting blog
July 14, 2011
We are beginning to see signs that the recruiting period is winding down. It is the eighth straight day of basketball and all the hard work is starting to take its toll on the players. Their excitement and intensity is not quite the same as it was on day one. This is the time when basketball junkies and the people with the most mental toughness separate themselves. I find it interesting how the losing teams always seem to be the most tired and the winning teams always seem to be fresh.
To give you an idea of just how crazy the particular AAU fan is, upon checking into Augusta there were no rental cars left in the whole city. Not only is every head coach in attendance, from Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, among the other top programs, but so are the top college basketball media members.
Listening and learning at the Jason Thompson summer basketball camp
Jordan Martin listened extra carefully.
He was one of around 20 kids (boys and girls), ages 7-16, who took part in the first day of the 2011 Jason Thompson Summer Basketball Camp at Life Center Academy on Monday.
The five-day camp features Lenape High School graduate and NBA forward Jason Thompson, who just finished his third season in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings. He was the 12th overall pick in the 2008 draft.
So, when Thompson talked, Martin listened. The 10-year-old point guard from Willingboro said he wants to be in the NBA one day. He’s a long way away, but he’s getting better and better and the camp is helping.
“I just try to learn something,” Martin said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I listen, it can help me.”
Thompson is running the camp with Life Center basketball coordinator Anthony Normill and his trainer, Chip Mitchell, from Next Blue Chip.
Rider’s Thompson to play in Italy
Rider University 2010 graduate Ryan Thompson has signed a professional basketball contract to play in Italy.
Thomson spent the last year playing in the NBA Development League for the Utah Flash.
“This is a great opportunity for Ryan,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “His goal is still to play in the NBA but with all of the uncertainty right now with the lockout I think this is the best move for Ryan. ”
Thompson will be the second American to play for Leonessa Brescia. The guard-forward will start his rookie career in Italy with the team newly promoted in Legadue.
“Italy is a beautiful country and basketball in Italy is played at a very high level,” Dempsey said. “We wish him the best.”
A 6’6″ point guard, Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape High) scored a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference-high 566 points as a senior in 2009-10, earning First Team All-MAAC, First Team All-MET, Second Team All-District 1 and Mid-Major All-America honors.
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Trips to Twin Cities and World Vision Challenge highlight St. Peter’s non-conference schedule
JERSEY CITY, NJ – Saint Peter’s College Men’s Basketball announced its 2011-12 non-conference schedule today. The schedule is highlighted by a trip to the Twin Cities to face the University of Minnesota and a trip to Logan, Utah for the World Vision Challenge, hosted by Utah State. Saint Peter’s will take on the Golden Gophers on December 10th in Minneapolis. They will also travel to Utah from December 20th-22nd for a round robin tournament with Utah State, Kent State and UT-Arlington.
Peacocks’ Brandon Hall heading to Europe
Saint Peter’s College senior men’s basketball player Brandon Hall has been invited to join the Global Sports Select All Star Team, which will train, compete, and tour in Europe. Hall will join players from Bryant, LIU, NYU, Elmira, St. Bonaventure, Le Moyne and Cortland for five games in Germany, Belgium and London from August 2nd-10th. You can follow the team’s progress on Twitter at (GlobalSports_US) and Facebook (Global Sports Academy). These Social Medias will be updated constantly throughout the trip and will allow you to track the player’s progress as they compete abroad.
Marlon Guild diary: Adjusting to the hazards of travel and finding the right players
ST. LOUIS — Good day to all.
Marlon Guild from St. Peter’s College checking in with you guys again. I am writing this week’s diary entry from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. I was supposed to be back in the metropolitan area by now, but flight delays have me waiting here at the gate.
The first week of the live period was great. I spent the first two days in Reading, Pa. The weather was pretty hot so watching some of the games on outside courts were difficult, but if the kids playing sucked it up and played hard, so could I. There was definitely a lot of talent in Pennsylvania and some players who I think could help us win another MAAC championship in the future.
Buonaguro steps up against crime
Siena College Men’s Basketball Coach Mitch Buonaguro will conduct a youth basketball clinic at the Town of Clifton Park’s sixth annual National Night Out Against Crime event, Tuesday August 2 at Clifton Common. The event is free and open to the public.
NewsChannel 13 Sports Director Rodger Wyland will be the Master of Ceremonies at the event which will include a free throw shooting contest for kids and demonstrations by law enforcement and other emergency response agencies.
Former Siena coach wins gold at Maccabi games
On July 6, former Siena assistant coach Adam Chaskin and his USA Juniors players visited Vienna’s City Hall Square, where Adolf Hitler had once held rallies to drive Jews out of Austria.
“He’s gone, but we’re still here,” Chaskin observed.
Chaskin, the head coach, and his team went on to capture the gold medal in the junior (16 and under) division of the European Maccabi Games, which brought together 2,000 Jewish athletes from around the world.
An early look at how they’ll finish
Here’s the annual commercial break to advise readers to purchase the upcoming College Basketball Annual issue of The Sporting News.
Although it will hit newsstands everywhere in late September, printing deadlines required an early July submission of league previews.
Your hoopscribe, as I have been doing for more than a decade, provided the preseason look at the MAAC.
I will say, hopefully with full objectivity, that The Sporting News’ college hoops preview magazine is the best of its kind out there. It only contracts with correspondents who actually cover leagues they write about. In my case … well, I’ve been covereing MAAC basketball in some form or other since 1989.
Phone-call rules may not be changing very soon
This time, it’s the coaches, not the NCAA, that’s holding college basketball back from its evolution.
Instead of making phone-call rules simpler, easier to govern, more logistical and pragmatic, 106 institutions and their coaches recently contacted the NCAA, asking for the organization — which passed Proposal 2010-30 earlier this year — to reconsider. These coaches had nothing to do with college basketball, by the way. It’s true; the new rule proposed had to do with other sports bringing in the same rule — calling kids in their junior year of high school — that college basketball already allows.
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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