News and Notes: Monday Edition

Below, news and notes for Monday...

• In action above from Friday night, Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) struggled to an 0/4 performance from the floor in 9 minutes as his Zalgiris (Lithuania) team was crushed 77-55 by Alba (Germany) in the EuroLeague Top 16.  To his credit, Foote did collect 4 rebounds.  Foote is expected to attend an NBA camp this summer after spending most of last season in the NBA D-League with the Springfield Armor and a 10-Day NBA contract with the New Orleans Hornets.  Jeff Aubry (Cornell '99), also veteran of the NBA D-League, signed a contract with Indios de Mayaguez of the Puerto Rico league, the BSN.  Former Siena star, Alex Franklin is a teammate of Aubry's.

• The University of Iowa game notes state, "Iowa has played in the state of New York five times in program history. Along with competing in New York City on two occasions, the Hawkeyes played in the 1958 Queen City Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., defeating Cornell (73-68) and Syracuse (58-52)."

• The Queens Chronicle writes, "For years, Penn and Princeton dominated Ivy League basketball. More recently, it’s been Cornell and Harvard. The Columbia Lions have not won an Ivy League title since 1968. The Columbia football program has been a national joke for years, but in fairness, New York City has never had a reputation for being a college football hotbed."

• Cornell's 2013-2014 schedule is nearly complete.  Below is a partial and TENTATIVE listing of opponents on the 28-game schedule which includes 6 home nonconference games.  The games listed are in no particular order:

1. at Western Michigan
2. at St. Bonaventure
3. at Stony Brook
4. at St. Peter's
5. vs. Loyola (MD)
6. vs. Radford
7. at Colgate
8. vs. St. Francis (PA)
9. vs. American
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

• The game against Loyola (MD) is a rematch of the 2008 meeting between Cornell and the Greyhounds.  The 2008 game, held on the campus of Boston College in the Preseason NIT was notable because of a particular incident creating a national buzz involving Loyola coach, Jimmy Patsos.  Loyola also has on its roster, Sean Tuohy, Jr., who was portrayed in the film, the Blind Side.  Loyola advanced to the quarterfinals of the 32-team, 2013 CollegeInsider.com Invitational Tournament (CIT).  Other postseason teams on the 2013-2014 schedule include Western Michigan, which played in the 2013 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) while Stony Brook was in the 2013 Postseason National Invitational Tournament (NIT).

• In offseason news, Holt Harmon and Braxston Bunce are 5th year senior eligible after they battled injuries most of 2012-2013 as freshmen.  They will effectively join Cornell's incoming freshmen as part of the "new" additions to the 2013-2014 roster.  The incoming freshmen include: Desmond Fleming (College Park Woodlands HS) Woodlands, TX, 6-0, G, Robert Hatter (Westside HS) Houston, TX, 6-1, G, and David Onuorah (Marist HS) Atlanta, GA, 6-8, 230, F.  A fourth and likely final recruit could potentially join the freshmen class.  Cornell's rising senior class, which includes Jamal Cherry, Dom Scelfo, Jake Matthews and Dwight Tarwater, may include only one true senior in Cherry.  The other three members of the class are 5th year eligible due to past injuries, should they opt to take advantage of the NCAA Rule.  Cornell's graduating seniors, Jonathan Gray and Errick Peck, may continue to play basketball next year.  Peck will pursue a graduate degree on scholarship and is eligible immediately to play outside of the Ivy League as the Ivy does not permit graduate students.  Big 10, ACC and Atlantic 10 schools are among those interested in his services.  Meanwhile, Gray might be testing the professional ranks overseas.  Galal Cancer, who missed the final weekend of the 2012-2013 season, has not decided if he will return to the team next season.  However, at this time, he is not pursuing a transfer and will remain at Cornell even if he does not play basketball.  Devin Cherry (high ankle sprain) and Shonn Miller (shoulder) are both nearly fully healthy after late season injuries.  Several members of the team are expected to remain in Ithaca during the summer, working the Cornell Prospect Camp, taking classes and training.  We hear that literally every position in the starting line-up is up for grabs next season for players not named, "Shonn Miller."  Braxston Bunce, Holt Harmon, David Onuorah, Dave Lamore, and Deion Giddens are among those in contention for starting roles.