News and Notes: Monday Edition

Above, A Date in Cornell Basketball History, the 2002-2003 media guide.  Below, news and notes for Monday...

• Mark your calendars for the next two big dates in the Cornell men's basketball program.  Cornell's season ending banquet is May 2, 2013 at 6 pm.  Meanwhile, The Cornell Basketball Prospect Camp will run from June 22-23, 2013.  The Camp is one of the program's most significant recruiting weekends.

• Each year Cornell Basketball holds its season ending awards banquet during which the program hands out three individual awards. These honors include the Most Valuable Player Award as well as the Rebounders Club Award for leadership and hard work on and off the court. A third honor, the James D. Paul II '88 Award is given to the top contributor off the bench for the Big Red.  Last year's team MVP was Chris Wroblewski while Drew Ferry took home the Rebounders Award.  Galal Cancer was the James Paul Award winner.  This year's banquet will also honor Shonn Miller (1st Team All Ivy League) and Errick Peck (Honorable Mention All Ivy League).  Cornell can also reflect on its victory as the Las Vegas Invitational divisional champion.

• If you missed it, we updated Cornell's projected 2013-2014 list of opponents.

• In alumni news, Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) and his Zalgiris team open the championship series against Lietuvos Rytas in the Lithuanian LKL premier league on April 30.  Further below in this post, additional Cornell alumni updates.

• Below is an updated list of players committed to Ivy League schools in the class of 2013 (unless otherwise noted):

Steven Spieth.(Jesuit HS) Dallas, TX, 6-6, F, Brown
Aram Martin (Miller School) Charlottesville, VA, 6-9, F, Brown
Lealand King (Brentwood School) Los Angeles, CA, 6-6, F, Brown
J.R. Hobbie (Manasquan HS) Manasquan, NJ, 6-4, G, Brown
Tavon Blackmon (Gonzaga) Washington, DC, 5-11, G, Brown
Matt Madigan (Mt. Tabor HS) Winston-Salem, NC, 6-4, G, Brown
Chris McComber (John McCrae School) Ottawa, ON, 6-7, F, Columbia
Kendall Jackson (Suffield Academy) Suffield, MA, 5-9, G, Columbia
Jeff Coby (Choate Rosemary Hall) Choate, CT, 6-6, F, Columbia

Connor Voss (St. Cloud Cathederal HS) St. Cloud, MN, 6-11, C, Columbia
Desmond Fleming (College Park Woodlands HS) Woodlands, TX, 6-0, G, Cornell
Robert Hatter (Westside HS) Houston, TX, 6-1, G, Cornell

David Onuorah (Marist HS) Atlanta, GA, 6-8, 230, F, Cornell
Braxston Bunce (Kelowna SS) Kelowna, B.C., Canada, 6-11, C (red shirt)
Holt Harmon (Plano West HS) Plano, TX, 6-9, F (red shirt)

Ikemefuna Ngwudo (Milton Academy) Milton, MA, 6-5, F, Dartmouth 

Eli Harrison (Sisters HS) Sisters, OR, 6-6, F, Dartmouth 

Mike Flemming (N'field Mt Hermon, MA) Lincolnshire, IL, 6-1, G, Dartmouth 

Matt Fraschila (Highland Park HS) Highland Park, TX, 5-10 G, Harvard 

Hunter Meyers (Douglas HS) Minden, NV, 6-6, F, Harvard 

Zena Edosomwan (Northfield Mt Hermon, MA) Hollywood, CA, 6-9, F, Harvard 

Matt Howard (A.J. Flora HS), Columbia, S.C., 6-4, G, Penn 

Dylan Jones (Village HS) Houston, TX, 6-8, F, Penn 

Dave Winfield (Harvard Westlake HS) Hollywood, CA, 6-8, F, Penn 

Tony Bagtas (Westlake HS) Atlanta, GA, 5-11, G, Penn
Preston Troutt (Trinity Christian) Dallas, TX 6-0, G, Penn
Khyan Rayner (Jesuit HS) Portland, OR, 5-9, G, Princeton

Henry Caruso (Serra HS) San Mateo, CA, 6-4, G, Princeton 

Hashim Moore (Hun School, NJ) Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 6-5, F, Princeton 

Spencer Weisz (Seton Hall Prep) Florham Park, NJ, 6-4, G, Princeton 

Steven Cook (New Trier HS) Winnetka, IL, 6-5, G, Princeton
Pete Miller (Northfield Mount Hermon, MA) Northfield, MA, 6-10, C, Princeton 

Amir Bell (East Brunswick HS) E.Brunswick, NJ, 6-4, G, Princeton (2014) 

Sam Downy (Lake Forest HS) Lake Forest, IL, 6-9, C, Yale
AJ Edwards (South Kent School) Kent, CT, 6-5, F, Yale

Anthony Dallier (Northfield Mount Hermon, MA) Wexford, PA, 6-6, F, Yale 

JT Flowers (Lincoln HS) Portland, OR, 6-5, F, Yale
Maki Mason (Hotchkiss School), Lakeville, CT, 5-11, G, Yale (2014)

• Below, a look at the "Cornell Coaching Plantations"  -- the men's basketball coaches in the NCAA with ties to Cornell University.

  Jon Jaques (Cornell Class of '10)-Graduate student ssistant coach at Columbia University. Played for Cornell under Steve Donahue.
  
  Kevin App (Cornell Class of '07)-Assistant coach at Army. Played for Cornell under Steve Donahue.
  
  Yanni Hufnagel (Cornell Class of '06)-Assistant coach at Harvard. Served as student-manager at Cornell under Steve Donahue.
  
  Steve Donahue-Head coach of Boston College. Served as head coach at Cornell between 2000-2010.
  
  Zach Spiker-Head coach of Army. He served as an assistant coach at Cornell under Steve Donahue from 2004-2009.
  
  Joe Burke-Head coach of Skidmore College (Division III). He was an assistant coach at Cornell under Steve Donahue between 2001-2004.
  
  Izzi Metz-Former Head coach Hobart College (Division III). He served as a Cornell assistant coach for five seasons between 2001-2006 under Steve Donahue and is currently an assistant coach and head of basketball operations at Boston College under Donahue.
  
  Nat Graham-Associate Head Coach (assistant) at Boston College under Steve Donahue. Served as an assistant coach under Donahue at Cornell from 2005-2010.
  
  Woody Kampmann-Assistant coach at Boston College under Steve Donahue. Served as an assistant coach under Donahue at Cornell from 2007-2010.
  
  Ryan Woerner-Former student intern coach under Steve Donahue during the 2009-2010 season and assistant coach for Cornell's women's team during 2010-2011. Currently director of basketball operations at St. Peter's.
  
  Steve Robinson-Assistant coach at North Carolina under Roy Williams. He was an assistant coach for Mike Dement at Cornell for two seasons, including on the 1988 Ivy League Championship team.
  
  Paul Fortier-Assistant coach at Washington under Lorenzo Romar. He served as an assistant coach at Cornell during 2003-2005 under Steve Donahue.

  
  

  Desmond Oliver-Assistant coach at Charlotte. He was an assistant coach at Cornell between 1998-2000 under Scott Thompson.
  
  

  Ricky Yahn-Assistant coach at Longwood. He was an assistant coach at Cornell during 2010-2011 under Bill Courtney.

  
  
  
• Throughout the year we provide periodic updates on Cornell's alumni playing professionally. Below, some updates:

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico premier league/Indios de Mayaguez, BSN Puerto Rico premier league)-As of April 28, Aubry is averaging 3.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rico BSN, the island's premier league.  Mayaquez is 6-7 and in 6th place out of 10 teams in the league.  A 6'11" center, Aubry splits his time in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican professional leagues. A well traveled pro player, Aubry spent several seasons in the NBA D League in the early part of his career with the Fayetteville Patriots and Florida Flame and earned honorable mention all NBA D League in 2002. Aubry joins Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) (Springfield Armor), Ryan Wittman (Cornell '10) (Ft. Wayne Mad Ants) and Cody Toppert (Cornell '05) (Albuquerque Thunderbirds) as veterans of the NBA D-League.  During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry also played professionally in  the ABA (Miami Tropics) and abroad  in Puerto Rico (Arecibo Capitanes, Leones de Ponce, and Santurce, BSN Puerto Rico), Spain (Tarragona, LEB Gold Spain 2nd Division), Mexico (Halcones Rojos and Chihuahua Dorados, LNBP Mexico premier league), Poland (Slask Wroclaw, PLK Poland premier league), Argentina (Libertad Sunchales, Liga A Argentina), Uruguay (Hebraica, LUB Uruguay )and Peru (Alas Peruanas, Peru).

-Alex Tyler ('10) (Rockville Victors, Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League)-Tyler is in his rookie season with the Victors.

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Zalgiris, Lithuania LKL premier league/EuroLeague/VTB Russian League)-As of April 28, Foote is averaging 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for Zalgiris in the Lithuanian premier league, the LKL.  Zalgiris finished 10-2 and in 4th place out of 12 teams in the LKL.  Zalgiris opens the postseason championship playoff series against Lietuvos Rytas in the Lithuanian LKL premier league on April 30.  Foote was named to the LKL's All Star team for the 2012-2013 season.  Zalgiris also finished 8-2 in the 6-team Group C in the opening round of the EuroLeague and was elimited after finishing 6-8 in Group E in the EuroLeague's Top 16 round.  In EuroLeague action, Foote averaged 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.  In a third league of competition, the Eastern European VTB League, Zalgiris finished 16-2 and in 1st place out of 10 teams in Group B.  Zalgiris awaits its first playoff opponent in the VTB.  Zalgiris is currently ranked #6 in Europe.  Prior to the start of the 2012-2013 season, Foote played with the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA Summer League and participated in the team's free agent mini-camp.  During 2011-2012, Foote averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in the NBA D-League for the Springfield Armor (the Brooklyn Nets' affiliate) after being named a starter at the D-League's All-Star Game during February. Foote finished the D-League season ranked 4th in double-doubles and also 4th in rebounds. Foote averaged 1.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in 4 games for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets during a 10-day contract between March 9 and March 19. Foote was ranked by the D-League as its #6 overall NBA prospect.  During April 2012 he was profiled in a video on NBA.com.  He participated in the Portland Trailblazers' 2011-2012 preseason training camp and played the 2011-2012 preseason with with Zastal of       the PLK Poland premier league and the full 2010-2011 season in Spain (Melilla, LEB Gold Spain 2nd division) while on loan from Euro League powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel's premier league.

• Below is a directory listing of some Twitter feeds associated with the Cornell basketball program.

-Josh Wexler ('88)
-Rich Medina ('92)
-Bo Buttenback ('98)
-Dan Wendt ('98)
-Brian Williamson ('03)
-Jacques Vigneault ('03)
-Cody Toppert ('05)
-Steve Cobb ('05)
-Ryan Rourke ('06)
-Andrew Naeve ('07)
-Jason Canady ('08)
-Khaliq Gant ('09)
-Conor Mullen ('09)
-Brian Kreefer ('09)
-Ryan Wittman ('10)
-Pete Reynolds ('10)
-Jon Jaques ('10)
-Louis Dale ('10)
-Alex Tyler ('10)
-Geoff Reeves ('10)
-Jeff Foote ('10)
-Andre Wilkins ('10) (inactive)
-Aaron Osgood ('11)
-Adam Wire ('11)
-Max Groebe ('12)
-Chris Wroblewski ('12)
-Andrew Ferry ('12)
-The Cornell Rebounders Club
-Jonathan Gray ()
-Miles Asafo Adjei ()
-Peter McMillan ()
-Errick Peck ()
-Josh Figini ()
-Galal Cancer ()
-Ned Tomic ()
-Dominick Scelfo ()
-Jake Mathews ()
-Dwight Tarwater ()
-Manny Sahota ()
-Dave LaMore ()
-Shonn Miller ()
-Devin Cherry ()
-Nolan Cressler ()
-Braxston Bunce ()
-Holt Harmon ()
-Robert Mischler ()
-David Onuorah (committed recruit)
-Robert Hatter (committed recruit)
-Desmond Fleming (committed recruit)
-Jeremy Hartigan, Cornell SID
-Assistant Coach Mike Blaine ()
-Assistant Coach Marlon Sears ()
-Assistant Coach Arlen Galloway ()
-Brian Delaney, ESPN Radio Ithaca ()
-Barry Leonard, Cornell Redcast/Play-By-Play Annnouncer
-Ed Boulat, Ithaca Journal
-Cornell Daily Sun Sports ()
-Slope Sports ()
-WVBR Sports
-Former assistant coach, Jay Larranaga
-Former assistant coach, Ricky Yahn ()
-Former head coach, Steve Donahue ()
-Former intern assistant Ryan Woerner ()
-Former assistant coach, Zach Spiker ()
-Former assistant coach, Nat Graham ()
-Former assistant coach, Woody Kampmann ()
-Former assistant coach, Izzi Metz ()
-Former assistant coach, Paul Fortier ()

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter.  Not a member of Twitter? See what The Cornell Basketball Blog is tweeting and retweeting each day by just visiting our Twitter Timeline.  The Cornell Basketball Blog received mention on NBC Sports' very impressive social media Must Follow College Hoops Directory.

Blueprint for Success, the yearbook commemorating Cornell's memorable 2009-2010 season is on sale. Visit the Cornell Athletics website to order your copy today! Or pick up a copy sold in the Cornell Store on campus.

Fans of the basketball program in the Ithaca area should not miss the opportunity to join the Cornell Rebounders Club.

News and Notes: Saturday Edition

Above, a Date in Cornell Basketball History, the 1983-1984 Media Guide.  Below, news and notes for Saturday...

• The Indianapolis Star and Lafayette Journal & Courier write on Errick Peck who is ineligible for Ivy League play next season as a graduate student:

Purdue basketball explores possibilities of incoming transfer with former Cathedral player Errick Peck

Just because Matt Painter suddenly has three scholarships available for the 2013-14 season, the Purdue coach isn’t certain he will add a player or players to next season’s roster.

Guard Anthony Johnson and forward Jacob Lawson definitely are leaving the Boilermaker program, and there’s a strong possibility redshirt junior center Sandi Marcius won’t be back either, although the 6-foot-9 Marcius has been given the option to return for what would be his final year of eligibility.

Because eight of the 10 scholarship players on next season’s roster will have freshman or sophomore athletic eligibility, Painter ideally would like to add a fifth-year graduate student or possibly a junior college transfer.

It appears that one possible option is 6-6 wing player Errick Peck, who played three seasons at Ivy League member Cornell and is in line to graduate with one season of athletic eligibility remaining. Peck played at Indianapolis Cathedral with Kelsey Barlow. The Purdue coaching staff saw Peck multiple times when they were recruiting Barlow.

Peck averaged 14 points as a Cathedral senior and was selected to the Indiana All-Star team.

Cathedral principal Dave Worland, a Lafayette native and a varsity boys’ basketball head coach for 24 total seasons, admires Peck very much.

“When he made the Indiana All-Star team four years ago, people were saying, ‘Who is this Errick Peck?’ ” Worland said. “All he did was be one of the leading scorers and leading rebounders. He just makes things happen. During his junior and senior years at Cathedral, we had a lot of kids who were very flashy, had great skills and could dunk.

“Errick was the guy who wasn’t flashy, but he just always got the job done. He would grab a rebound and follow it by scoring. He could hit a 15-foot jumper when they needed a bucket. When he went to the Top 40 Workout, people saw that in him. Errick was the most steady of all those good players. 

As a redshirt junior in 2012-13, Peck averaged 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds, shooting 43.7 percent from the field for a team that finished 13-18. Peck was Cornell’s No. 3 scorer this past season.

“There’s some guys out there, but there’s not a lot of guys,” Painter said when asked about possible additions this spring or summer. “The fifth-year guys are the ones people are really looking for all over the country. They probably are the most over-recruited guys in the history of college basketball just because you have them for one year and they already have their degree and some years of experience.

“A lot of people are looking for that quick fix. If they need a shooter, they try to get a shooter. Yet, everybody is trying to get them. It gets confusing for some of these kids, because no one really has done the data of who is leaving and the success rate they are having. Schools are coming after them, but how successful have these guys been who have been doing these one-year stints? A couple have been successful, but there’s not a lot of them.”

Painter said some players from low-major or mid-major programs suddenly are attractive to high-major programs because they are older and have plenty of Division I experience. The X factor is that a high-major coach has no idea how productive these players can be in BCS conferences.

In a perfect world, Painter would like to add an experienced perimeter shooter. Right now, Purdue has only two seniors (Terone Johnson and Travis Carroll) and no scholarship juniors on the 2013-14 roster.

“If we take someone, it has to be the right guy, someone who would help us in an area in which we are deficient,” Painter said.

Because his freshman class will have four members, including redshirt Jay Simpson, Painter likely will not sign an additional high school senior. He will look at JUCOs but added that getting a player who fits the Boilermakers’ needs thins the available pool.

As Purdue moves forward in its recruiting, Painter knows what the program needs.“There’s no doubt we have to have a more skilled player,” Painter said. “We got away from that. Obviously, we hoped we would have a guy or two make some strides in terms of making open shots. We convinced our guys after the non-conference season that we needed to take fewer 3s.”

News and Notes: Friday Edition

Above, A Date in Cornell Basketball History, the 2005-2006 Media Guide.  Below, news and notes for Friday...

• The Ivy League announced a new league-wide digital platform that will allow fans to watch all eight Ivy schools for one universal ticket price.  The Princeton Tiger Blog comments on the new platform.

• Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) and his Zalgiris team won the best of 3 semifinal playoff series winning both games against Neptunas in the Lithuanian LKL premier last night with a 90-73 win. Foote finished with 2 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal. He was 1/1 from the floor.

• Cornell may be close to securing its third and final BCS opponent for the 2013-2014 schedule.  Two of the three BCS opponents are projected Top 20 teams.

• HammerandRails.com, a Purdue blog, discusses Errick Peck as a possible transfer at length.  The site writes:

It's been a slow couple of days on the site, so to give you SOMETHING to read I've got a quick, albeit not significant update on potential fifth-year transfer Errick Peck.

It's been a week and a half since Anthony Johnson announced he was leaving the Purdue basketball team, days after Jacob Lawson and Sandi Marciusmade the same announcements. With three scholarships available for use next year, many have speculated Purdue would look to add a 5th-year player. Indianapolis native and Cornell grad Errick Peck seems, to me at least, the most likely to land at Purdue.

I have no sources on this one, it's just the only one I can see happening. I've reached out to Peck for a comment, but he (not surprisingly) hasn't gotten back to me.

As I wrote in this post, Peck played with former Boiler Kelsey Barlow at Cathedral in Indianapolis when they were in high school. SI.com's Andy Glockner calls Peck, "A one-year option for teams looking for a decent rotation guy who can score and rebound a bit. " How big of an impact he'd make on a rotation obviously varies by team.

Anyway, as for the promised "slight" update, here is the latest news I found, as of today, from a Cornell basketball blog:

"Schools which could end up as landing points for Errick Peck include (but are not limited to): Indiana, Butler, Purdue, Boston College, Creighton, Detroit, Duquesne, Evansville, Indiana State, Loyola-Chicago and North Texas."

Hey, I warned you it was a slight update.

The one thing I will point out about this is that suddenly Indiana is a contender for a transfer, after Maurice Creek and Remy Abell suddenly decided to transfer and leave one scholarship open for Tom Crean to use, making for a potential of seven newcomers in Bloomington next year.

IU, Purdue, Butler and Boston College would seem to be the biggest "names" in that group, with the first three being closest to his hometown of Indianapolis.

Another update that mentions IU as a potential destination for him is at KentSterling.com, though Sterling is basically an IU fanboy so I don't know how seriously to take him. He has Sandi Marcius as another potential IU transfer, which is against Big Ten rules, so I wouldn't take that one too seriously.

He does provide one interesting anecdote at least, which illustrates why Purdue might be interested in Peck:

"This is a vanity pick for me, as I love Errick Peck as a kid and player. The Indianapolis Cathedral product spent the last four years in the Ivy League, and scored 10 ppg over the last two seasons. He's athletic, smart, and very coachable. He looked me in the eye and did what I said during the rec game in which I coached him. If that doesn't make a kid coachable, I don't know what does."

Again, I'm not sure where Peck will land. I've heard Purdue is in as good of shape as anybody with him, but I can't even tell for sure if Painter has offeredhim, so take it with a grain of salt.

Keep in mind what Matt Painter said earlier this week about fifth-year transfer guys:

"They're probably the most over-recruited guys in college basketball just because you have them for a year and they already have a degree and they have four years of experience," Painter said. "There's been a couple guys who have been successful, (as fifth-year transfers) but there hasn't been a lot of them."

The immediately-eligible 5th-year mercenary guys are extremely in demand in this day and age, so landing one that can make an impact is tough. Remember, these guys are leaving their school for a reason. Usually it's because they want more playing time or they want to win, neither of which Purdue can guarantee.

In Peck's case, he's transferring because the Ivy League doesn't allow guys who have graduated to play a 5th year.

"We're in the position where if we can get the right fit with some guys who can shoot the basketball and have good experience, it really helps us," Painter said. "We have two seniors in our program and no juniors. It's exciting to talk to some of these guys because you're recruiting a 22-to-23 year old, and they can come in help you from a mature standout."

"I don't feel like we have to (get someone); I feel like we have to have the right guy," Painter said. "That's something we always try to do is to make sure we're choosing the right person who wants to come and get their education at Purdue, in this case, someone who is working towards getting their Master's. We want to make sure that is the case first and foremost ... then trying to get somebody who helps us out in some areas that we suffered attrition in."

News and Notes: Thursday Edition

Above, a Date in Cornell Basketball History, the 1995-1996 Cornell Basketball Media Guide.  On the cover, the team's captains.  On the left, former U.S. Air Force Sergeant and All Ivy League forward, Eddie Samuel, a transfer to Cornell from Pensacola Junior College.  Right, Brandt Shuckman.  Below, news and notes for Thursday...

• Schools which could end up as landing points for Errick Peck include (but are not limited to): Indiana, Butler, Purdue, Boston College, Creighton, Detroit, Duquesne, Evansville, Indiana State, Loyola-Chicago and North Texas.    Sports Illustrated's Andy Glockner writes of Peck on the transfer market, "A one-year option for teams looking for a decent rotation guy who can score and rebound a bit." Meanwhile, KentSterling.com thinks Peck is a good fit for Indiana and writes:

Errick Peck, 6-6, Cornell – This is a vanity pick for me, as I love Errick Peck as a kid and player. The Indianapolis Cathedral product spent the last four years in the Ivy League, and scored 10 ppg over the last two seasons. He’s athletic, smart, and very coachable. He looked me in the eye and did what I said during the rec game in which I coached him. If that doesn’t make a kid coachable, I don’t know what does.

• Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) and his Zalgiris team play game 2 of their semifinal playoff series against Neptunas in the Lithuanian LKL premier toight

News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

Above, a Date in Cornell Basketball History, the 2001-2002 Media Guide.  Below, news and notes for Wednesday...

• Above, on the cover of the media guide, Wallace Prather (Cornell '02) is currently a sports agent and represents several NBA stars that grew up in his hometown of Atlanta.

• Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) and his Zalgiris team opened their semifinal playoff series against Neptunas in the Lithuanian LKL premier last night with a 99-83 win and take a 1-0 series lead. 

• The News and Observer of North Carolina says that Alex Murphy's shining moment last year at Duke was against Cornell. Speaking of Duke, Errick Peck is photographed in today's Durham Herald Sun. 

• A former Cornell prospect committed to Kansas State after receiving an offer from the Big Red.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter.  Not a member of Twitter? See what The Cornell Basketball Blog is tweeting and retweeting each day by just visiting our Twitter Timeline.  The Cornell Basketball Blog received mention on NBC Sports'  Must Follow College Hoops Directory.

News and Notes: Monday Edition

Above, A Date in Cornell Basketball History... Cornell's 1950-1951 Media Guide.  Below, news and notes for Monday...

• The upcoming 2013-2014 season will mark three major championship anniversaries for Cornell.  The 100th anniversary of the 1913-1914, 90th anniversary of the 1923-1924 and 60th anniversary of the 1953-1954 Ivy League championships.  Both the '24 and '54 titles were clinched with wins over Princeton while a win over Yale secured the 1914 title. 

• Mark your calendars for the next two big dates in the Cornell men's basketball program.  Cornell's season ending banquet is May 2, 2013 at 6 pm.  Meanwhile, The Cornell Basketball Prospect Camp will run from June 22-23, 2013.  The Camp is one of the program's most significant recruiting weekends.

• If you missed it, we updated Cornell's projected 2013-2014 list of opponents.

• In alumni news, Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) and his Zalgiris team open the semifinal playoff series against Neptunas in the Lithuanian LKL premier league on Tuesday.  Further below in this post, additional Cornell alumni updates.

• Below is an updated list of players committed to Ivy League schools in the class of 2013 (unless otherwise noted):

Steven Spieth.(Jesuit HS) Dallas, TX, 6-6, F, Brown
Aram Martin (Miller School) Charlottesville, VA, 6-9, F, Brown
Lealand King (Brentwood School) Los Angeles, CA, 6-6, F, Brown
J.R. Hobbie (Manasquan HS) Manasquan, NJ, 6-4, G, Brown
Tavon Blackmon (Gonzaga) Washington, DC, 5-11, G, Brown
Matt Madigan (Mt. Tabor HS) Winston-Salem, NC, 6-4, G, Brown
Chris McComber (John McCrae School) Ottawa, ON, 6-7, F, Columbia
Kendall Jackson (Suffield Academy) Suffield, MA, 5-9, G, Columbia
Jeff Coby (Choate Rosemary Hall) Choate, CT, 6-6, F, Columbia

Connor Voss (St. Cloud Cathederal HS) St. Cloud, MN, 6-11, C, Columbia
Desmond Fleming (College Park Woodlands HS) Woodlands, TX, 6-0, G, Cornell
Robert Hatter (Westside HS) Houston, TX, 6-1, G, Cornell

David Onuorah (Marist HS) Atlanta, GA, 6-8, 230, F, Cornell
Braxston Bunce (Kelowna SS) Kelowna, B.C., Canada, 6-11, C (red shirt)
Holt Harmon (Plano West HS) Plano, TX, 6-9, F (red shirt)

Ikemefuna Ngwudo (Milton Academy) Milton, MA, 6-5, F, Dartmouth 

Eli Harrison (Sisters HS) Sisters, OR, 6-6, F, Dartmouth 

Mike Flemming (N'field Mt Hermon, MA) Lincolnshire, IL, 6-1, G, Dartmouth 

Matt Fraschila (Highland Park HS) Highland Park, TX, 5-10 G, Harvard 

Hunter Meyers (Douglas HS) Minden, NV, 6-6, F, Harvard 

Zena Edosomwan (Northfield Mt Hermon, MA) Hollywood, CA, 6-9, F, Harvard 

Matt Howard (A.J. Flora HS), Columbia, S.C., 6-4, G, Penn 

Dylan Jones (Village HS) Houston, TX, 6-8, F, Penn 

Dave Winfield (Harvard Westlake HS) Hollywood, CA, 6-8, F, Penn 

Tony Bagtas (Westlake HS) Atlanta, GA, 5-11, G, Penn
Khyan Rayner (Jesuit HS) Portland, OR, 5-9, G, Princeton

Henry Caruso (Serra HS) San Mateo, CA, 6-4, G, Princeton 

Hashim Moore (Hun School, NJ) Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 6-5, F, Princeton 

Spencer Weisz (Seton Hall Prep) Florham Park, NJ, 6-4, G, Princeton 

Steven Cook (New Trier HS) Winnetka, IL, 6-5, G, Princeton
Pete Miller (Northfield Mount Hermon, MA) Northfield, MA, 6-10, C, Princeton 

Amir Bell (East Brunswick HS) E.Brunswick, NJ, 6-4, G, Princeton (2014) 

Sam Downy (Lake Forest HS) Lake Forest, IL, 6-9, C, Yale
AJ Edwards (South Kent School) Kent, CT, 6-5, F, Yale

Anthony Dallier (Northfield Mount Hermon, MA) Wexford, PA, 6-6, F, Yale 

JT Flowers (Lincoln HS) Portland, OR, 6-5, F, Yale
Maki Mason (Hotchkiss School), Lakeville, CT, 5-11, G, Yale (2014)

• Below, a look at the "Cornell Coaching Plantations"  -- the men's basketball coaches in the NCAA with ties to Cornell University.

  Jon Jaques (Cornell Class of '10)-Graduate student ssistant coach at Columbia University. Played for Cornell under Steve Donahue.
  
  Kevin App (Cornell Class of '07)-Assistant coach at Army. Played for Cornell under Steve Donahue.
  
  Yanni Hufnagel (Cornell Class of '06)-Assistant coach at Harvard. Served as student-manager at Cornell under Steve Donahue.
  
  Steve Donahue-Head coach of Boston College. Served as head coach at Cornell between 2000-2010.
  
  Zach Spiker-Head coach of Army. He served as an assistant coach at Cornell under Steve Donahue from 2004-2009.
  
  Joe Burke-Head coach of Skidmore College (Division III). He was an assistant coach at Cornell under Steve Donahue between 2001-2004.
  
  Izzi Metz-Former Head coach Hobart College (Division III). He served as a Cornell assistant coach for five seasons between 2001-2006 under Steve Donahue and is currently an assistant coach and head of basketball operations at Boston College under Donahue.
  
  Nat Graham-Associate Head Coach (assistant) at Boston College under Steve Donahue. Served as an assistant coach under Donahue at Cornell from 2005-2010.
  
  Woody Kampmann-Assistant coach at Boston College under Steve Donahue. Served as an assistant coach under Donahue at Cornell from 2007-2010.
  
  Ryan Woerner-Former student intern coach under Steve Donahue during the 2009-2010 season and assistant coach for Cornell's women's team during 2010-2011. Currently director of basketball operations at St. Peter's.
  
  Steve Robinson-Assistant coach at North Carolina under Roy Williams. He was an assistant coach for Mike Dement at Cornell for two seasons, including on the 1988 Ivy League Championship team.
  
  Paul Fortier-Assistant coach at Washington under Lorenzo Romar. He served as an assistant coach at Cornell during 2003-2005 under Steve Donahue.

  
  

  Desmond Oliver-Assistant coach at Charlotte. He was an assistant coach at Cornell between 1998-2000 under Scott Thompson.
  
  

  Ricky Yahn-Assistant coach at Longwood. He was an assistant coach at Cornell during 2010-2011 under Bill Courtney.

  
  
  
• Throughout the year we provide periodic updates on Cornell's alumni playing professionally. Below, some updates:

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico premier league/Indios de Mayaguez, BSN Puerto Rico premier league)-As of April 21, Aubry is averaging 2.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rico BSN.  Mayaquez is 5-4 and in 4th place out of 10 teams in the league.  A 6'11" center, Aubry splits his time in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican professional leagues. A well traveled pro player, Aubry spent several seasons in the NBA D League in the early part of his career with the Fayetteville Patriots and Florida Flame and earned honorable mention all NBA D League in 2002. Aubry joins Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) (Springfield Armor), Ryan Wittman (Cornell '10) (Ft. Wayne Mad Ants) and Cody Toppert (Cornell '05) (Albuquerque Thunderbirds) as veterans of the NBA D-League.  During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry also played professionally in  the ABA (Miami Tropics) and abroad  in Puerto Rico (Arecibo Capitanes, Leones de Ponce, and Santurce, BSN Puerto Rico), Spain (Tarragona, LEB Gold Spain 2nd Division), Mexico (Halcones Rojos and Chihuahua Dorados, LNBP Mexico premier league), Poland (Slask Wroclaw, PLK Poland premier league), Argentina (Libertad Sunchales, Liga A Argentina), Uruguay (Hebraica, LUB Uruguay )and Peru (Alas Peruanas, Peru).

-Alex Tyler ('10) (Rockville Victors, Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League)-Tyler is in his rookie season with the Victors.

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Zalgiris, Lithuania LKL premier league/EuroLeague/VTB Russian League)-As of April 21, Foote is averaging 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for Zalgiris in the Lithuanian premier league, the LKL.  Zalgiris finished 10-2 and in 4th place out of 12 teams in the LKL.  Foote was named to the LKL's All Star team for the 2012-2013 season.  Zalgiris also finished 8-2 in the 6-team Group C in the opening round of the EuroLeague and was elimited after finishing 6-8 in Group E in the EuroLeague's Top 16 round.  In EuroLeague action, Foote averaged 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.  In a third league of competition, the Eastern European VTB League, Zalgiris finished 16-2 and in 1st place out of 10 teams in Group B.  Zalgiris awaits its first playoff opponent in the VTB.  Zalgiris is currently ranked #8 in Europe.  Prior to the start of the 2012-2013 season, Foote played with the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA Summer League and participated in the team's free agent mini-camp.  During 2011-2012, Foote averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in the NBA D-League for the Springfield Armor (the Brooklyn Nets' affiliate) after being named a starter at the D-League's All-Star Game during February. Foote finished the D-League season ranked 4th in double-doubles and also 4th in rebounds. Foote averaged 1.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in 4 games for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets during a 10-day contract between March 9 and March 19. Foote was ranked by the D-League as its #6 overall NBA prospect.  During April 2012 he was profiled in a video on NBA.com.  He participated in the Portland Trailblazers' 2011-2012 preseason training camp and played the 2011-2012 preseason with with Zastal of       the PLK Poland premier league and the full 2010-2011 season in Spain (Melilla, LEB Gold Spain 2nd division) while on loan from Euro League powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel's premier league.

• Below is a directory listing of some Twitter feeds associated with the Cornell basketball program.

-Josh Wexler ('88)
-Rich Medina ('92)
-Bo Buttenback ('98)
-Dan Wendt ('98)
-Brian Williamson ('03)
-Jacques Vigneault ('03)
-Cody Toppert ('05)
-Steve Cobb ('05)
-Ryan Rourke ('06)
-Andrew Naeve ('07)
-Jason Canady ('08)
-Khaliq Gant ('09)
-Conor Mullen ('09)
-Brian Kreefer ('09)
-Ryan Wittman ('10)
-Pete Reynolds ('10)
-Jon Jaques ('10)
-Louis Dale ('10)
-Alex Tyler ('10)
-Geoff Reeves ('10)
-Jeff Foote ('10)
-Andre Wilkins ('10) (inactive)
-Aaron Osgood ('11)
-Adam Wire ('11)
-Max Groebe ('12)
-Chris Wroblewski ('12)
-Andrew Ferry ('12)
-The Cornell Rebounders Club
-Jonathan Gray ()
-Miles Asafo Adjei ()
-Peter McMillan ()
-Errick Peck ()
-Josh Figini ()
-Galal Cancer ()
-Ned Tomic ()
-Dominick Scelfo ()
-Jake Mathews ()
-Dwight Tarwater ()
-Manny Sahota ()
-Dave LaMore ()
-Shonn Miller ()
-Devin Cherry ()
-Nolan Cressler ()
-Braxston Bunce ()
-Holt Harmon ()
-Robert Mischler ()
-David Onuorah (committed recruit)
-Robert Hatter (committed recruit)
-Desmond Fleming (committed recruit)
-Jeremy Hartigan, Cornell SID
-Assistant Coach Mike Blaine ()
-Assistant Coach Marlon Sears ()
-Assistant Coach Arlen Galloway ()
-Brian Delaney, ESPN Radio Ithaca ()
-Barry Leonard, Cornell Redcast/Play-By-Play Annnouncer
-Ed Boulat, Ithaca Journal
-Cornell Daily Sun Sports ()
-Slope Sports ()
-WVBR Sports
-Former assistant coach, Jay Larranaga
-Former assistant coach, Ricky Yahn ()
-Former head coach, Steve Donahue ()
-Former intern assistant Ryan Woerner ()
-Former assistant coach, Zach Spiker ()
-Former assistant coach, Nat Graham ()
-Former assistant coach, Woody Kampmann ()
-Former assistant coach, Izzi Metz ()
-Former assistant coach, Paul Fortier ()

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter.  Not a member of Twitter? See what The Cornell Basketball Blog is tweeting and retweeting each day by just visiting our Twitter Timeline.  The Cornell Basketball Blog received mention on NBC Sports' very impressive social media Must Follow College Hoops Directory.

Blueprint for Success, the yearbook commemorating Cornell's memorable 2009-2010 season is on sale. Visit the Cornell Athletics website to order your copy today! Or pick up a copy sold in the Cornell Store on campus.

Fans of the basketball program in the Ithaca area should not miss the opportunity to join the Cornell Rebounders Club.

News and Notes: Thursday Edition

Above, A Date in Cornell Basketball History, Cornell's 1978-1979 media guide.  Below, news and notes for Thursday...

• Cornell's season ending banquet is May 2, 2013 at 6 pm.

• Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) and his Zalgiris team face Nevezis in game 2 of the first round of the Lithuanian LKL playoffs today. Zalgiris leads the best of 3 series 1-0.

• The Houston Chronicle mentions the "signings" of Cornell's two committed recruits from the Houston area (Robert Hatter and Desmond Fleming).

• The Huffington Post asks whether Canadian athletes should attend U.S. Colleges and specifically references Cornell's lure to Canadian athletes.

• The Indianapolis Star writes:

Published reports have linked Butler to two basketball prospects, a transfer and a high school senior. It remains to be seen how intense that is or if the interest is indeed mutual.

Errick Peck is a 6-foot-6 forward from Cornell who intends to transfer. He falls into the category of players who will graduate and be granted immediate eligibility.

Peck is an Indianapolis native who played at Cathedral High School. He said Monday that he would like to play a final season in his hometown but was unsure of Butler’s level of interest.

He said other schools that have contacted him include: Detroit, Loyola, North Texas, Evansville, Duquesne, Indiana State, Boston College and Creighton.

Peck averaged 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds for Cornell and earned honorable mention on the All-Ivy League team. He finished with a flourish, averaging 18.0 ppg in his final four games.

It’s hard to say how Peck would fit in on a roster that will include five forwards/centers: Erik Fromm, Khyle Marshall, Kameron Woods, Nolan Berry, Andrew Chrabascz.

A Date in Cornell Basketball History: 1954 Ivy League Title

March 9, 2014 marks the 60th Anniversary of Cornell's 1954 Ivy League Championship.  Above, side-by-side, the front pages of the March 10, 1954 issues of the Cornell Daily Sun and Daily Princetonian recapping Cornell's 46-44 win over Princeton in a single game playoff held at the Palestra in Philadelphia.  Below, an A.P. Image following the game which appeared in the Binghamton Press.

News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

Above, A Date in Cornell Basketball History, Cornell's 1985-1986 media guide which features photos of the team's summer 1985 trip to Europe and a photo from the team's 1984 participation in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.  Below, news and notes for Wednesday...

• As we tweeted last night, there is a slight change in Cornell's tentative 2013-2014 schedule.  American University is dropped while a home game with Siena is added. Below is a partial listing of opponents on the 28-game schedule which includes 6 home nonconference games.  The games listed are in no particular order.  Teams which participated in the 2013 postseason are noted:
1. at Western Michigan (2013 College Basketball Invitational)
2. at St. Bonaventure
3. at Stony Brook (2013 Postseason National Invitational Tournament)
4. at St. Peter's
5. at Colgate
6. vs. Loyola (MD) (2013 CollegeInsider.com Invitational Tournament)
7. vs. Radford
8. vs. St. Francis (PA)
9. vs. Siena 
10. vs. Binghamton
11. at BCS Opponent (Verbal agreement, Contract not signed yet)
12. at BCS Opponent (Verbal agreement, Contract not signed yet)
13. at BCS Opponent (not yet determined)
14. vs. Division III Opponent (not yet determined)
15. PLUS 14 Ivy League Games

• On next season's schedule, A Daily Does of Hoops quotes Jimmy Patsos on the Cornell-Siena game while St. Bonaventure's public address announcer tweeted about the Bonnies meeting with Cornell.

• Hammerandrails.com, a Purdue blog writes on the potential of Errick Peck playing in the Big 10 for the Boilermakers:

Cornell 6-foot-6 forward Errick Peck. He's originally from Indianapolis, but went to Cornell over offers from Butler and most of what was then the Horizon League out of high school. I'm told he ended up with an Ivy League degree instead of two national title game appearances with Butler because he wasn't first in a "first come, first served" scholarship offer. Peck averaged 9.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 28 games with with Cornell this year, after sitting out the whole 2011-12 season with a knee injury (Hey, he'll fit right in with the Purdue...uh..,culture, right?). Oh, and he played in high school at Cathedral with Kelsey Barlow, which may help or hurt Purdue's chances, depending on the guy's relationship with Barlow.

The Indy Star's Butler beat writer, David Woods, said on twitter that Peck would love to play his 5th year in Indianapolis, but that he (Peck) wasn't sure of Butler's interest. I'd like to think West Lafayette is close enough to his hometown of Indianapolis to count, right? Other schools listed as possibilities include Boston College and Duquesne, both a heck of a lot farther away. Here's BC Interrupted's take on him.

One last note on Peck: The Ivy League doesn't allow athletes to use their fifth season of eligibility for redshirting unless it's for medical reasons, and even then they don't allow guys that have graduated (like Peck) to use it. So Peck isn't necessarily transferring because he wants to; he has to transfer if he wants to keep playing.

• Cornell Athletics announced:

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell senior men's basketball player Eitan Chemerinski has been named to the U.S.A. Basketball Team that will compete at the 19th Maccabiah Games from July 17-30 in Israel. Chemerinski will play for the Open Team that includes several familiar names to Ivy League fans, including Penn's Zack Rosen and Columbia's Alex Rosenberg.

The U.S. team will be coached by Brad Greenberg, the former coach at Radford who is now at Maccabi Haifa. The games are an international Jewish athletic event held in Israel every four years. The games are open to Jewish athletes, as well as Israeli athletes regardless of religion.

A 6-8, 225-pound forward, Chemerinski will graduate as Cornell's career leader in field goal percentage (.617), He shot .632 from the floor in his final season in 31 contests, including 20 starts. Chemerinski had six double figure scoring efforts that included a career-high 19-point, six-rebound effort in the win over Longwood and a 17-point effort in a triumph at Binghamton. For the season, Chemerinski averaged 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds to go with 25 steals in 19.5 minutes per game. The two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection was part of the 2009-10 squad that won the Ivy League title, advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and finished the season ranked No. 17 in the final national polls.

• Chemerisnki is also mentioned and wished a "congrats" in the Binghamton Press Sun & Bulletin.

• The Duke Chronicle writes:

Coach K never forgave a tie after a loss this year. The team’s first defeat came against N.C. State when he was wearing a navy cravat with white dots. He wore it earlier in the year against Cornell—a 41-point win—but never put it on again after the Blue Devils lost to the Wolfpack.

Jonathan Gray at the 2012 FIBA CentroBasket Tournament

The Caribbean Basketball Association published highlights of the 2012 FIBA CentroBasket Tournament in Puerto Rico.  The tournament featured several NBA players as well as Cornell's Jonathan Gray who play for the Virgin Islands National Team.

See Rebound, the official magazine of the CBA for coverage of the tournament.

News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Above, A Date in Cornell Basketball History, Cornell's 1980-1981 media guide.  On the cover, head coach Tom Miller and captains Mike Allen and Kevin McCarthy.  Below, news and notes for Tuesday...

• MaccabiUSA formally announced that Eitan Chemerinski (Cornell '13) will be a member of the Senior/Open USA team that will compete in the Maccabi Games in Israel between July 17-30.  Yanni Hufnagel (Cornell '05) will coach the Junior/Youth team.

• Former All Ivy League guard, Rich Medina (Cornell '92) will moderate a symposium, the Business of Hip Hop Music in New York City.

• On Monday evening, Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) finished with 7 points (3/3 FGs) and 4 rebounds in 13 minutes as his Zalgiris club crushed Nevezis, 94-51 in the Lithuanian LKL.

• Above, an article on the Cornell basketball team published in Cornell's Spirit Magazine.

• The Cornell Basketball Blog can confirm that Boston College will visit Harvard next season.  

• The Indianapolis Star confirms Errick Peck's interest in Butler.  Other schools reportedly involved and/or interested include but are not limited to Boston College, Purdue and Duquesne.

• Boiled Sports considers Peck for Purdue and writes, "Errick Peck, Cornell
  6'6" Forward who averaged 9.7/4.8...smart guy from Indy. Rumors swirl about him heading to Butler and Boston College; this guy would be my number one choice...if I had a choice. Interestingly, Peck played his HS ball with Kelsey Barlow at Cathedral in Indianapolis."

• BC Interruption wonders if Errick Peck could land at Boston College.  (See also WFTV.com and Eagle in Atlanta)  The BC Interruption writes:

...Steve Donahue and the Eagles have two scholarships to give over the next two classes. If the Don doesn't add another four-year player to this year's incoming recruiting class, he could dip back into the graduate student transfer market as he did with Harvard forward Andrew Van Nest. One name to keep an eye on is Cornell forward Errick Peck.

Peck, a 6-foot-6 forward originally from Indianapolis, will graduate from Cornell and will have one year of eligibility remaining, eligible to play immediately. Donahue recruited Peck at Cornell. The forward was the only freshman in the regular rotation of Donahue's Cornell team that made a run to the Sweet 16 in 2009-10. He originally committed to Cornell over claimed offers from Butler, Evansville and Missouri State.

This past season, Peck averaged 9.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 28 games for the Big Red, coming back from an knee injury that forced him to miss his entire junior season (2011-12). Over his 86 game playing career at Cornell, Peck has averaged 7.9, 3.2 and 1.1.

The Cornell Basketball Blog mentioned that Boston College was recruiting Peck hard and lists Purdue, Butler and Duquesne as possible destinations for the grad student. Peck would likely slot in at the 4 spot and give some needed rest to Ryan Anderson. That's of course assuming Clifford can return to form and gives the Eagles minutes at the 5...Be sure to check out Jeff Goodman's complete 2013 transfer list for the names of other possible transfers ... 6-foot-8 or taller, preferably.