News and Notes: Monday Edition

Below, news and notes for Monday...

• Discussion activity is starting to pick up again as the season approaches.  Share your thoughts on the upcoming season on The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board.  Membership is free, just create a user profile.

• New Cornell recruiting commitment, Will Bathurst, is profiled in the Olean Times Herald:

Olean High School senior Wil Bathurst has verbally committed to play basketball at Cornell University.  Bathurst verballed to the Ivy League program Friday afternoon following an official visit to its campus in Ithaca on Thursday, according to Olean varsity basketball coach Jeff Anastasia.

The athletic 6-foot-3 forward was a first-team All-State, All-Western New York and Big 30 selection as a junior. He led the Huskies in scoring, averaging 19 points per game while providing strong all-around play. He was at his best during the playoffs, when Olean won its second straight Section 6 Class B championship before falling to Batavia, 63-62, on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the Far West Regionals.

“Going to a top Ivy League school and a Division I school is a great opportunity for him,” Anastasia said. “I’m so happy for him and his family. It’s fantastic.

“It’s a tremendous academic school. Wil wants to major in anesthesiology, and to go to a school like that, he’ll probably have a job waiting for him once he graduates.”

During Bathurst’s first two years as a starter, the Huskies went 43-4 and advanced to the state Final Four in 2012. He’s one of four returning starters for Olean, which will play an independent schedule this season.

Anastasia said Bathurst fell in love with Cornell when he visited in the spring during the New York state golf championships at the university’s course. He also played at the Big Red’s summer basketball camp.

“The coaches pulled him in at the end of camp and said he was the best player there,” Anastasia said. “They were very, very impressed with him.”

Cornell was the first Division I school to offer Bathurst a scholarship, Anastasia said. While Ivy League schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, Bathurst will receive a similar scholarship. The Big Red are coming off a 13-18 season under fourth-year coach Bill Courtney.

Bathurst, who plays football in addition to basketball and golf, is the fourth Division I commitment to play under Anastasia during his 26 years on the OHS sideline. He joins Dean Edwards (Butler, later Rider), Charles Perry (St. Bonaventure) and Jake Houseknecht (St. Bonaventure).

“It’s just the beginning for him,” Anastasia said. “Hopefully there are a lot of big things for him in the future, and I think there will be.”

• Errick Peck (Cornell '13) is getting media attention for his hard play at Purdue's practices.  The Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette writes, "It doesn’t take much to see the energy, toughness and adrenaline that Purdue will bring to the basketball court this season.  All it took Saturday was 30 seconds, as sophomore guard Rapheal Davis and graduate transfer Errick Peck wrestled over a loose ball that would have been called dead long before under normal circumstances. Their fellow Boilermakers surrounded them, cheering and clapping, as the two tugged at the ball on the ground.  Finally, coach Matt Painter blew his whistle.  Davis and Peck got up, patted each other on the back and got back in line for the drill."  Matt Painter also mentioned Peck a few times to the media after practice (see the Indianapolis Star).  Peck is also mentioned in the Sports Bank's 111 in 111 preview.

• Check out The Cornell Basketball Blog's Season Preview Index for 2013-2014.  

• The Cornell Basketball Blog updated its Ivy League 2013-2014 Roster Report and Recruiting Commitments List.  The Recruiting Commitment List includes bios of Cornell's incoming recruits.   

• Cornell Basketball's "Junior Day"-- a recruiting event for high schoolers in the class of 2015-- will take place on October 19 in conjunction with Cornell's Red-White Game, the annual intersquad scrimmage which is open to the public.  The Red-White Game tips off at 11:30 am.

• Cornell Basketball will host Alumni and Friends Weekend from December 6-8. Included will be a Friday evening reception, Saturday's game against Saint Francis (Pa.) and a postgame reception, then Sunday's annual alumni game. 

• Cornell's games against Syracuse (ACC Sports Network and RSN), Louisville (WHAS), Notre Dame (ESPN3) and St. Bonaventure (NBC Sports Network) will all be televised.  The games against Louisville and Syracuse will also likely be carried on ESPN3 or another ESPN channel.  Time Warner Sports will also likely pick-up the Syracuse game as well.  Games vs Binghamton, vs Siena and at St. Peter's and at Stony Brook, might also be televised on MSG (St. Peter's), Time Warner Cable Sports (Binghamton and Siena) and Cablevision Sports (Stony Brook).