News and Notes Monday Edition

Below, news and notes for Monday...

• The Daily Pennsylvanian published a details scouting report of every Ivy League team and writes of Cornell:

CORNELL
#0 David Onuorah – Forward 6’ 9” 230 Fr.
Onuorah, a freshman, played his senior year at Marist High School in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was named first-team all-state. His presence on the glass will be important for Cornell in replacing honorable mention All-Ivy Errick Peck. Onuorah should also be able to contribute on the defensive side as he was named his team’s defensive player of the year as a senior.
#1 Darryl Smith – Guard 6’ 2” 180 Fr.
Fresh from Virginia, Smith should be able to provide a spark for the Big Red with his athleticism. A three-sport athlete in high school, Smith was a defensive back for his state championship football team and a sprinter on the track and field team. Smith has the potential to fill the shoes of Mile Asafo-Adjei, who averaged 2.6 assists per game as the team’s point guard. Smith averaged 14.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game as a senior.
#3 Nolan Cressler – Guard 6’ 4” 198 So.
Going into his sophomore season, Cressler looks to build off of his impressive freshman campaign. Cressler was deadly from long-range last season, hitting on 40.3% of his three point attempts, good enough for sixth in the Ivy League. Cornell fans are hoping that the last four games of last season were a look into the future of Cressler’s Cornell career as he averaged 16.8 points and 6.0 rebounds.
#4 Dave LaMore – Forward/Center 6’ 9” 225 Jr.
LaMore saw his minutes drop last season from 136 his freshman year to just 36 last season. His points dropped from 33 to 5 and the highlight of his season was a stolen pass against No. 1 Duke. Look for LaMore to continue to come off of the bench for the Big Red, offering depth at the forward position.
#5 Robert Hatter – Guard 6’ 2” 165 Fr.
Hailing from the state of Texas, Hatter should offer Cornell an offensive weapon from day one. After averaging 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game as a junior, Hatter followed it up with an impressive senior year, during which he shot 50-88-39. Hopefully, Hatter can bring some of that efficiency into his limited minutes this season.
#11 Desmond Fleming – Guard 5’ 11” 180 Fr.
Another freshman from Texas, Fleming was able to do a bit of everything for The Woodlands College Park High School as a senior last year. Fleming averaged 12.0 points, 3.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, good enough for first-team all-district and all-county. Look for Fleming to provide a spark off of the bench for the Big Red this season.
#12 Dominick Scelfo – Guard 6’ 3” 185 Sr.
Scelfo had a bit of a breakout season last year, taking advantage of his 14.9 minutes per game in averaging 5.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists. He notched a career-high 15 points, four rebounds, and two steals in a win against Dartmouth. Scelfo also ranked third on the team in 3-pointers made with 30. Scelfo should be able to build off of this into his senior season as he embraces an even larger role on the team.
#15 Braxston Bunce – Center 6’ 11” 250 So.
After missing the entire season last year with a knee injury, Bunce looks to rebound during his first healthy season with the Big Red. Bunce has a history of knee injuries, missing parts of his sophomore and senior seasons in high school. Bunce was named high school player of the year in British Columbia during his senior year, as he averaged 16.4 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He should provide a strong interior presence for a Cornell team missing Errick Peck.
#20 Jake Matthews – Guard 6’ 2” 160 Sr.
Another player who has had his share of injuries during his Cornell career, Matthews will return to play this season after missing the past two seasons with injuries. Since he only played during his freshman season, it is difficult to project what sort of production Cornell will get from Matthews. The senior out of Greensburg, PA averaged 1.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 8.9 minutes per game during 21 games his freshman year.
#22 Robert Mischler – Guard 6’ 3” 183 So.
Coming off of a freshman season where he saw very little playing time, Mischler should see an increased role on this year’s team. Last season he recorded two assists and a blocked shot during his nine minutes of playing time. Mischler should be a productive shooter off the bench this season, as he shot 41% from three during his senior season.
#23 JoJo Fallas – Guard 5’ 11” 175 Fr.
Making his way across the country to join the Big Red is Fallas, a California native, should provide a strong presence off the bench. Fallas averaged 21 points per game during the regular season as a senior, leading his team to the Southern Section 5A basketball championship game. Fallas is yet another freshman guard with the potential to fill the hole left by guard Jonathan Gray.
#24 Devin Cherry – Guard 6’ 3” 185 Jr.
Last season Cherry was a strong presence off the bench for the Big Red averaging 6.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 15.9 minutes per game. Cherry was also an effective three-point shooter, hitting on 35.4% of his attempts last season. He should be able to take on an increased role this year in his junior season, potentially seeing some starts this year for the Big Red.
#32 Shonn Miller – Forward 6’ 7” 210 Jr.
Projected as one of the top players on the team, if not the entire Ivy League, Miller has quite a bit of weight on his broad shoulders. Last season, Miller was first-team All-Ivy as a sophomore, averaging 11.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 1.9 blocks and 0.9 assists in 27 starts. Miller was first in the Ivy League in defensive rebounding and fourth in total rebounding. Miller should be one of the leaders of this team both statistically and emotionally.
#33 Dwight Tarwater – Forward 6’ 6” 230 Sr.
Tarwater saw a reduced role last year as a junior, seeing only 6.7 minutes per game after playing 14.0 per game as a sophomore. Tarwater hit three 3-pointers in a game against Boston University last season where he scored a career-high 11 points. He should continue to see limited playing time off the bench this season.
#35 Nenad Tomic – Forward 6’ 7” 220 Jr.
Tomic, a junior from Ohio, had limited playing time last season, only logging 23 minutes, during which he scored 8 points and snagged 8 rebounds. He will likely start the season on the bench once again, though could see a bit of an increased role.
#50 Deion Giddens – Forward/Center 6’ 9” 202 Jr.
With a strong stretch to end the season last year, Giddens showed his potential as a dominant rebounding and defensive presence for Cornell. Over the final four games, Giddens averaged 2.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in only 12.8 minutes per game. Look for him to see an increased role as a defensive stopper for the Big Red.

• The Harvard Crimson writes, "Returning [Harvard] senior forward Kyle Casey was named to the Lindy’s Sports Annuals and College Sports Madness preseason All-Ivy second teams, but was left off both first team lists for Cornell forward Shonn Miller, who averaged 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in his junior season, when he made the All-Ivy first team and led the Big Red in scoring. In Casey’s junior season, when Miller was just a freshman, the Medway, Mass. native averaged 11.4 points and 5.5 rebounds a game while shooting 51 percent from the field."

• College Basketball Chalktalk writes:

First Team All-Ivy Selection Shonn Miller’s return uncertain

Injuries are a coach’s worst nightmare.  An injury to the team’s best player is a program’s nightmare aired night in and night out via lost scoring production, rebounding numbers, assists, leadership; so on and so forth.
Unfortunately, for fourth year Cornell Head Coach, Bill Courtney, he now faces such an episode.
Acccording to Cornell Basketball Blog and and also reported by NBC CollegeBasketballTalk, it appears that first team All-Ivy League Selection, Shonn Miller could sit out the entire 2013-14 season for the Cornell Big Red due to a reoccuring shoulder injury.
Miller, who earned 2013 first-team All-Ivy League honors after averaging 11.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 1.9 blocks in 27 starts, was sidelined the last four games of the 2012-2013 season due a the same shoulder — the Big Red dropped each of those contests.
The six-foot-seven inch forward shot 48 percent from the floor and 79 percent from the free-throw line while marking 18 double figure games, and four double-doubles in 2012-13.
Additionally, Miller ended up leading the Ivy League in defensive rebounding (5.5 per game), finishing third in blocks and second in steals.
However, all indications point to a very solid recruiting class for Cornell in 2014-15.  Assuming Miller pursues redshirt status this season, Coach Courtney and the Big Red could find themselves in even better shape for the 2014-15 campaign.

• Incoming Cornell recruit, Will Bathurst had quite a day on the football field on Saturday as he had five receptions for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns in a win. Per the Springville Journal, Bathurst hauled in touchdown receptions of 13 and 85 yards. 

• Drew Ferry (Cornell '12) had 13 points on Saturday in Spanish EBA action for Albacete.

• Check out the performances in the exhibition season of former Cornell players-- Manny Sahota and Alex Hill with the University of Toronto. 

• In front of several thousand fans, Errick Peck (Cornell '13) contributed 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists Saturday in Purdue's second Gold and Black scrimmage.  Hoosier Report writes, "Solid yet unspectacular, Peck did what his team needed. Surprisingly took the fourth most shots out of all players."  See other reviews of the game (and of Peck) in the Ft. Wayne Journal, Purdue Exponent, the Indianapolis Star, Channel 8 News, and Ft. Wayne News Sentinel. See a post-scrimmage video interview of Peck on Gold and Black.

• Peck is also interviewed in on Gold and Black Radio (37:30 MARK).  This is a must listen to interview.  One sites ranks Peck the #58 player in the Big 10.  See discussion of Peck in the Pittsburgh News.  See also Purdue preview on BT Powerhouse and an analysis of Peck from Hoosier Hoops Report which writes:

Today we take a look at the other 5th year senior transfer, Errick Peck.

What He’s Done
The 6-6 forward from Indianapolis previously spent his time at Cornell. Coming out of Cathedral HS, he was viewed as being too short to play power forward in high-major Division-I basketball. What he lacks in height or athleticism though, he has made up for in work ethic and intensity. Peck has shown himself to be a very smart player who understands his position well and is capable of doing all the little things (footwork, pace, positioning) to put himself in a position to succeed. At Cornell, he was often the best player for his team, though he could occasionally disappear during games (he had as many games where he scored one or fewer points as he did 20+). One thing I like to look for when evaluating 5th year senior transfers from smaller schools is how they performed against high major competition. Peck didn’t fare well last season, but three years ago (he was injured two years ago) he did quite well against top competition:

Date	Game	Min	Pts	FG	FG%	FT	FT%	3PT	3PT%	OR	DR	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF
2012-11-18	CORN 40, WISC 73	16	2	1-5	20.0	0-0		0-1	0.0	0	3	3	1	0	0	3	3
2012-11-20	CORN 53, ASU 64	20	4	2-8	25.0	0-0		0-1	0.0	1	2	3	0	2	1	3	3
2012-12-19	CORN 47, DUKE 88	16	4	2-9	22.2	0-0		0-0		2	3	5	1	0	0	1	0
2010-11-30	CORN 58, SU 78	24	14	5-9	55.6	3-4	75.0	1-3	33.3	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	4
2010-12-04	CORN 66, MINN 71	33	16	4-14	28.6	7-9	77.8	1-2	50.0	5	1	6	5	0	0	2	4

His career highs in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks are (respectively): 26, 10, seven, and five.

What We Can Expect
Leadership. Rebounding. Balance. Peck isn’t coming here to lead the team in scoring. But he will bring an every-possession effort to rebounding that this team sorely needs. Purdue was lethargic for long stretches of games last season, and Peck will be available to be a kick in the pants that this team needs in the front court. He’ll need to push young guys like Basil Smotherman, while also providing them with mentoring that they will hopefully carry with them for the rest of their career. I would expect his role to slowly diminish over the course of the season if the young front court develops as some hope, but regardless his place will be an important one. This may be surprising, but I’d expect him to be in the starting five at the beginning of the season. Will he still be there come Big 10 season? Ask me in a month.

Predicted Stats

Min / gm	Pts / gm	Rbs / gm	Ast / gm	Blk / gm
18.2	6.4	4.4	1.2	0.4

• The A.P. surveys conference realignment.

• The Ivy League's preseason "secret" scrimmages (per ESPN)- which are closed to the public, are as follows:

Oct. 26 
LaSalle at Princeton
UMass at Harvard
Stony Brook at Yale
Columbia at Lafayette
Hartford at Brown
Cornell at Buffalo

Oct. 27
Penn at Hofstra

Oct. 30
Harvard at Providence

Nov. 2
Quinnipiac at Columbia
Bucknell at Penn
Princeton at Lehigh
Yale at Boston University
Army at Cornell
Dartmouth vs. Central Connecticut at UMass
Brown at Colgate

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' social media Must Follow College Hoops Directory.

• 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.     

 Adam Gore (Cornell '09).

• 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.  During halftime of the St. Francis game, Cornell will honor its championship teams from 1953-1954 and 2008-2009. 

• 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).

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

  Jon Jaques (Cornell Class of '10)-Assistant coach at at Cornell. Played for Cornell under Steve Donahue. 

  Ryan Wittman (Cornell Class of '10)-Graduate student  assistant coach at Boston College.  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 Vanderbilt. 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.

  Ricky Yahn-Head coach, Concordia College of Michigan. He was an assistant coach at Cornell during 2010-2011 under Bill Courtney.

  Arlen Galloway-Head coach, Wentworth Institute of Technology.  He was an assistant coach at Cornell between 2011-2013 under Bill Courtney.

  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 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/diurector of basketball operations 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 Cal Poly. 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.

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

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico premier league/Indios de Mayaguez, BSN Puerto Rico premier 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 Cornell veterans of the NBA D-League.  (Cornell's four NBA D-League veterans is the most in Ivy League.)  During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry also played professionally in  the ABA (Miami Tropics) and abroad  in Puerto Rico (Mayaguez, 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 finished his rookie season during 2012-2013 with the Victors.

-Louis Dale ('10) (KAOD Dramas, Greece A1 premier league)-Dale spent his  first two professional seasons both in Germany's BBK Bundesliga, the country's premier league with Goettingen.  His third pro season during 2012-2013 was in Greece in the A1, country's premier league, with KAOD Dramas.                                         

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Zalgiris, Lithuania LKL premier league/EuroLeague/VTB Russian League)-Foote spent the 2012-2013 season with Zalgiris of Lithuania, one of Europe's top 10 teams and was named an All Star in the domestic LKL league, the country's premier league.  He also participated with the team in the EuroLeague.  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 and was named Second Team All NBA D-League. 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.    

Drew Ferry ('12) (Albacete, Spain EBA)-The 2013-2014 season is Ferry's rookie year in the Spanish league.

• Visit our growing directory of Cornell Basketball Linkedin profiles.

• 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)
-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)
-Jonathan Gray ('13)
-Miles Asafo Adjei ('13)
-Peter McMillan ('13)
-Errick Peck ('13)
-Errick Peck ('13)
-Josh Figini ('13)
-Manny Sahota (former player)
-Galal Cancer (former player)
-Holt Harmon (former player)
-The Cornell Rebounders Club

-Ned Tomic ()
-Dominick Scelfo ()
-Jake Mathews ()
-Dwight Tarwater ()
-Dave LaMore ()
-Shonn Miller ()
-Devin Cherry ()
-Nolan Cressler ()
-Braxston Bunce ()
-Robert Mischler ()
-David Onuorah ()
-Robert Hatter ()
-Desmond Fleming ()
-Darryl Smith ()
-Jordan Abdur Ra-oof (recruit)
-Pat Smith (recruit)
-William Bathurst (recruit)
-Jeremy Hartigan, Cornell SID ()
-Assistant Coach Jon Jaques ('10)
-Assistant Coach Mike Blaine ()
-Assistant Coach Marlon Sears ()
-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 ()
-Former assistant coach Arlen Galloway ()

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.